Further Contacting and Responses

Since the designers that I originally emailed didn't reply, I decided to send an Instagram DM to the same artists with a shorter message, incase they just hadn't seen the email or if it went into the spam folder for example. However, I still got no response from them a week later, so I decided to write a new message to some other artists and designers that have interested me for some time.

So far I have had 3 replies which I am really happy about considering I had no luck with the first designers I contacted. I sent them the DM off of my design account rather than my personal account, so that they could see the type of work I like to create. I also used their name at the start of the DM for a more friendly approach.

Old DM, that I sent to the designers that
I had already emailed

New, improved DM that I sent to new designers

I am so pleased with the responses that I got from the 3 designers that I contacted, they were all extremely friendly and their responses were fast which was really helpful. I am looking forward to receiving their responses to my questions.

The 3 designers that replied were @colorscollective, @hackettillustration and @hanna.k.l. I have had an interest in their work for a long time, all of them also have a different work aesthetic which I really enjoy- some of them focus more on illustration, art direction, photography etc, which is useful to find out more about through them because the creative industry is so wide and I feel that Graphic design is so unrestricted which I love.

The responses and questions that I sent over:

@colorscollective / Alexis Jesup:

@hackettillustration / Phil Hackett:

@hanna.k.l / Hanna Kastl-Lungberg:

Contacting Designers

I have begun to research further into the designers that I really enjoy the work of and would love to base my creative report on. I decided to email Hattie Stewart, Laura Callaghan and Alex Norris/web comic name. I focused on questions that will help me develop my own practice and address any concerns that I have about the creative industry, as well as each designers questions about their own design practice. For each email, I used a quirky/eye catching subject title in order to grab their attention.

I sent off my emails at 7:30am on a Tuesday as this is the time and day that people are most likely to reply- it is the first thing that they will see in the morning before they get flooded with more emails and work throughout the day.

Email to Laura Callaghan:

Email to Hattie Stewart:

Email to Alex Norris/web comic name:

Lifes A Pitch- First Task

Individually generate and come up with as many ideas for an event, exhibition or creative opportunity in Leeds.

Group: Me, Jake, Will, Chapman and Zak
Team name: The Lakers (inspired by the top that Chapman was wearing at the time)

The ideas that we had on our post sticky notes:

• 1. Childhood nostalgia exhibition; create a piece of art based on your favourite childhood toy OR create a piece of art based on your favourite childhood TV show or film
• 2 .Workshop on how print can be turned into digital, displayed in an exhibition 
• 3. Collaboration networking
• 4. Least favourite exhibition: create a piece of art based on an artist who's work you don't enjoy
• 5. Event/exhibition based on a specific music genre where you can collaborate with others to create a piece of work which celebrates it, can bring your own music too!
• 6. An exhibition celebrating the cultural/racial diversity in Leeds
• 7. One day workshop where you can create a poster based on a specific personal interest then collaborate with someone that has a similar interest in order to create a new poster
• 8.Turn the city into a canvas: Lamb banana type inspired but instead on walls, floor, buildings etc. Mapped out so you can actually find them all and explore the city which boosts tourism...each area is commisioned to one designer
• 9. Pop up shows in different cities so design students can sell their work, prints etc...gives them more exposure and helps them make money.

As a group, we decided to go with idea number 8 (City Canvas) as we all agreed that it was interesting as it is fun and creative whilst at the same time promoting and celebrating the city that we live in.

Additionally, we decided that the art work would be displayed on sculptures (maybe of Rhinos) all around Leeds in popular locations- Rhinos relate to Leeds as they are the professional rugby team. We decided to name the creative opportunity/public space concept 'Ey up' which is a slang term used in Leeds, it is playful and fun. We would create an 'Ey up' typographic sculpture. The sculptures will be mapped out so people can go and find them whilst exploring the city.

Roles:

• Budget: Jake
• Venue: Laveeza
• Location: Laveeza
• Logistics: Zak
• Materials: Jake
• Tech: Will
• Branding: Input from all
• Marketing: Will

I will also be creating a fold out map which will display all of the locations. The user will be able to stamp the map each time they have visited a location (the stamps will be available at each location). The map will use the same elements as the rest of the branding.