Student Symposium

Today Angela and I went to the student symposium. It was the part of the confrence that is directed towards the students. Very inspiring, here is the skinny.

The first presentation we saw was by the lovely ladies of Principle. There business model was vey interesting, cosidering that the are each at seperate offices scattered throughout the country. This is what they had said in short.

Envision the type of firm you would like to own, or be a partner of. ,ow find a firm that exists now that closly resembles that vision and work for them. Doing so will not only allow you to understand the business of design, but will also expose you to a variety of important contacts such as vendors, printers and so on.
Be good. The golden rule should be applied to your interaction with people in the design community. It's a very small world, and your reputation will follow you.
Always keep a dream list of clients. Go after work that inspires you. And most importantly, make time to do it all.
The next presentation was the two partners of Volume inc. The basis of their presentation is that specialization is for suckers. Which was very interesting since many of us feel that it is important to find a nitch. They feel in order for them to grow as designers, and people is to always push themselves into unfamiliar territory.
Adrian Shaugnessy spoke after the volume guys. He said that he was a self taught designer, and felt that the most important thing he missed out on was the experimentation that students are allowed to have. He also spoke about the three most important attributes of a graphic designer. Cultural awareness, having a broad vision of the worlf around us. We should make our lives research.
Communication. Designers should posess an about our work in a cohesive and collective way. You must be able to explain every nook and cranny, every nuance of your work. Most clients are terrified, because they have no idea what they are getting. You wouldn't walk into a furniture store and buy a 6ive thousand dollar sofa you've can't see. But that is precisley what we ask our clients to do. Great work is created when the relationship between the designer and client are perfectly ballanced.
Integrety. We need integrety in order to esablish our own code of ethical standards. If you stand up for what you believe, you may not always get the work, but you will get respect. And eventually that means more workam either be a hero or a doormat.

That was pretty much the jist of what happened today. Right now Angela and I are pretty tired. More adventures later.