This is nonsense. Of course you should meet your heroes. I have mentioned before my admiration for Jonathan Barnbrook, every so often we have a brief exchange on Twitter, and each time I learn something.
Previously it has been about copywriting digital work (a company he sold fonts through offered refunds...on digital items that had already been downloaded) and more recently the software he uses, I also asked Erik Spiekerman. Both replied with pretty much the same software that hopefully I shall be using for my project.
These exchanges are only brief with the 140 characters Twitter offers but, thats all you really need.
I have also had the pleasure of talking to David Pearson, Tim Quinn, Curtis Jobling and Kim Hiorthoy, all were incredibly inspirational.
The other week we did a fantastic exercise to spark our creativity. We were given a short amount of time to generate as many ideas as possible around a given theme such as "Anti Royalist souvenirs for the Diamond Jubilee" and "uses for old tin cans".
The main aim for this exercise was not necessarily to produce good ideas, simply to loosen the ability to generate them. Below are some of the ideas generated and their topics.
Alternative uses for tin cans
Alternative souvenirs for anti Royalists
I found this exercise extremely useful, I all to often get caught up in wondering if an idea is good enough rather than getting on with having ideas.
I think it is important just to keep doing stuff, there are times when work can dry up slightly and motivation can be lost. I find keeping momentum when there is less work a real struggle. I have decided to start an ongoing project/exercise that I can do to maintain this momentum and keep the flow of ideas.
There is a wonderful project by Johnny Selman www.bbcx365.com where he is interpreting news events as posters for a year, aiming to make the American public more aware of world events.
I would like to do a similar project, taking headlines and generating ideas from them. No set rules of how I can interpret them, the aim would not be to build up pieces of work, simply to generate ideas like the exercise I have mentioned. Some of these ideas or articles may then lead onto other thing as a way of exercising my creativity and ideas generation.
I am a really big fan of A List Apart. There are some brilliant articles on there that, although mostly on web design can be applicable to most creative practices. Two articles that really stand out, in terms of these exercises are, "Staying Motivated" and "Reigniting Your Creative Spark".
It makes sense to surround yourself with like minded people, professionally and personally. They can help you grow, learn things and be better at what you do. There are many organisations around for Graphic Design, some act as a hub of talks, events, competitions and discounts while a few others offer a form of accreditation that can help bolster you as a creative individual or company.
D&AD - Design and Art Direction
Price
Awarded Member — £100.00 Member — £100.00 New Creative — £35.00
Benefits
2 free President’s Lecture tickets per year, and discounts thereafter
Free tickets for Sharp’ners (Lively pub events, for Members and friends to share opinions and exchange ideas)
Invitations to Member events such as D&AD Awards judging tours and the Annual launch
Showcase yourself and your work with your online profile. (Awarded members only)
Previews of filmed President’s Lectures and Sharp’ners. Spend an hour or so with the greats - Terry Jones, Bob Gill and company. Members get to watch them first
Exclusive online content and opinion pieces
Download high res files from D&AD’s huge online winners Archive
Shape the future by casting your vote on the members of the D&AD Executive Committee
Take the opportunity to buy the Limited Edition D&AD Annual
Your name immortalised in print in the D&AD Annual
The discounts
5-10% off Apple products
15% off howies clothing
Up to 50% off magazines such as Creative Review and Wallpaper
20% off publications from publishers such as Taschen and Phaidon
10% off D&AD’s creative professional development programme – Workout
20% off your D&AD Awards Night ticket
15% off studio materials from London Graphic Centre
2 for 1 on tickets for the Barbican, Design Museum and V&A and selected shows at The Lowry, 20% off exhibitions at Tate Liverpool
Leading Creatives talk about what D&AD means to them.
ISTD - International Society of Typographic Designers
Admission
Membership by Application
Candidates for membership will normally be required to support their application by submitting their CV with between six and ten examples of their typographic design work, including background information on one item. Design concept, typographic competence, creativity, scope and presentation are all taken into account.
Price
Member — £100.00
Benefits
Professional Recognition
International Society
Views from Assessors and Society members on the ISTD Student assessment in 2011
AIGA - American Institute of Graphic Arts
Price
Member — $230.00 Member 4yrs + Experience — $315.00
Benefits
Access to Live webinars
AIGA Jobs
AIGA Member Gallery
Design Business and Ethis Publication
AIGA Designer Directory
The discounts
Discounted Apple products
Discounted Shutterstock
Discounted Adobe products
Conferences and Events
The Association of Professional Design Firms Discounted services
Print on Demand services at Blurb
Rockport Publishers events and discounts
What AIGA is and what it has to offer
TDC - Type Directors Club
Price
Member outside USA — $190
Benefits
Publication in Type Directors Annual "Typography"
Access to TDC Archive
The discounts
Discounted Entry to competitions
Discounted Fees for Events
Icograda - International Council of Graphic design Associations
Price
Mainly Company Based
Individual Zone A - $120
Zone B - $90
Zone C - $60
Benefits
Icograda General Assembly
Best Practice Papers
Networking
Icograda Design Weeks and Regional Meetings
Programmes and Activities
Member Toolkit
CSD - Chartered Society of Designers
Price
Associate (Assoc.CSD) - £100
Member (MCSD) - £180
Fellow (FCSD) - £264
Applicants are required to demonstrate their competence and that they are suitably qualified to be awarded a particular category of membership reflecting the stage in their career development.
Member 4yrs + Experience — $315.00
Benefits
Associate Membership includes
Use of the affix Assoc.CSD after your name
Discounts on CPD training modules
An Associate class membership certificate
Discounts on CSD events
Access to the members pages of the CSD website
Membership of Design Pool and Design Mine
Access to available professional services
Regional networking group access
Access to online fora
Access to available professional information & publications in CSD online Library
Membership (MCSD) includes
Use of the affix MCSD™.
A MCSD membership certificate.
Access to the members pages of the CSD website
Membership of Design Pool and Design Mine
Your own online profile and portfolio
Listing on 'Find a Designer'
Eligibility to vote at the Society's AGM.
Discounts on CPD training modules.
Discounts on CSD events.
Access to available professional services.
Professional advice and initial consultation with advisors.
Regional networking.
Access to available professional information & publications.
Criteria for Fellowship of CSD
The basic criteria for achieving FCSD:
Existing full membership of CSD.
In addition:
In order to award Fellowship, the assessors will be looking for you to demonstrate:
exceptional professional practice skills
a high degree of creativity
demonstrable management and business understanding.
You will also be expected to have made a significant contribution in 3 key areas:
to the design profession
to your own professional life in design
to the Society
Fellowship (FCSD) membership includes
Use of the affix FCSD™.
A FCSD membership certificate.
Eligibility to vote at the Society's AGM.
Access to the members pages of the CSD website
Membership of Design Pool and Design Mine
Your own online profile and portfolio
Listing on 'Find a Designer'
Discounts on CPD training modules.
Discounts on CSD events.
Access to available professional services.
Professional advice and initial consultation with advisors.
Regional networking.
Access to available professional information & publications.
Invitations to Fellowship only events.
Chief Executive talks about CSD and what it has to offer
The Typographic Circle
Price
Individual £30 Student (current full-time student or graduate within the last year*) £15 Company/College £125
Benefits
Advance email alerts and booking for upcoming events Access to members-only events Discounts with selected sponsors Discounted tickets for our events: £10 per ticket (saving £5 on a full-price ticket) A free copy of the award-winning Circular magazine
Company/college members also:
Are able to reserve up to ten places at events Are able to receive up to ten discounted tickets at events for their members Receive three members cards for designated staff Receive an extra two studio copies of the award-winning Circular magazine
Thoughts
D&AD has always been "the one" for creative professionals. They celebrate good work, provide talks and events and are a large active body within the design world. Not just Graphic Design either, all forms of creativity. This is really appealing, and they offer a lot in the way of discounts and entry to events and shows.
There is also the ISTD, which is internationally held in high regard for high standards and quality, offering nothing in the way of discounts or perks you would get but, making up for this with the accreditation and "seal of approval" they offer to professional practice.
AIGA trees the same vain as D&AD, mainly focussing on America although they are expanding worldwide. The only real advantage I can see to becoming a member of this is if I was going to be going over to America to work...and I do like the idea of California!
CSD for me is a strange one. They are very much a professional, business organisation from what I can tell, but they don't strike me as particularly inspiring. This sort of organisation seems more for clients than designers, offering a reassurance that a designers practice is to a high standard.
Icograda is one for the future. Should I ever achieve my dream of owning a studio then, this would be worth becoming a member. They offer much in the way of business advice and help (as do CSD) and again, its a mark of approval for a prospective client.
The Typographic Circle is the cheapest of the organisations, offering discounted access to events, and with sponsors. Possibly worth it just for the early booking on events.
I am not really sure how much accreditation is necessary within Graphic Design, they are rarely mentioned past winning a D&AD pencil. I would be interested to hear from people within the industry what the view is on some of these organisations, whether they are worth joining, why they aren't mentioned and what they are members of.
For me, my immediate thoughts are D&AD and ISTD, I feel more points of view on the others would be beneficial.
