EC: How do you, as a collective, how would you describe your practice in general, run through from initial ideas through to final outcome. What’s the process that you guys take?
AW: It’s always the research, creative refinement kind of thing for everything, everything’s based on research everything we do, so we always starts there trying to find an avenue that way And within the studio people have different roles in that cipher was more in the beginning part of the project like the creative side and then got people like Ashley focuses on refinement so that’s how it works really well within a collective, everyone’s got their ending that they do but we all do everything as well.
PW: I suppose a typical project would be everybody’s got a particular role in a broader strategy so they know where their strengths are within that but they’ve also got particular practice they are really good at, so even though for example Alex mentioned there like she reference the beginning there that kind of creative exploration almost and ash is being almost like a systems approach to design refinement that if you are to kind of turn that sideways you’ve got to almost very different practitioners in terms of what they produce independently. So you got your really kind of formal discipline towards traditional contemporary design that’s very arts and culture orientated around somebody like Alex somebody who has a much more branded approach where it’s very lively it’s very expressive it’s allowed to let the design play a central role a little bit more. Whether content submissive focus more on the other side of things so it always kind of makes the duality of those things we recognise when to be one went the other in terms of engagement. So everybody’s being brought in from my perspective of the roles or people because of the personality or because of their practice really would contribute to our broad ambitions of the studio. Andrew again elected and that in that he was somebody although I have a really had a good discipline around its design practice he was very interested in technology and mock technology could do so again all love technology but we didn’t have somebody who lived and breathed in quite the same way.
AW: Understood it in the same way.
Eval
It was really interesting to hear in-depth about the way Pat views a studio. As he is the founder his perspective of how things work, or how he wants them to work is particularly interesting. Especially since I haven't spoken to anyone with this perspective. Pat clearly sees every member of the team as an individual and understands the way they'd work within the collective, and how this informs the design process.
EC: Would you say then out of everything that goes into creating a brief the research element is the most important step in that process? PW: I think substance is. Everyone: yeah. PW: I think it’s two things, I think substance is absolute it’s got to be there. We want to make good decisions and therefore need to be informed as to why we’re making those good decisions. But the bit I value in terms of our identity and the bit I’ve always valued is the way in which you mix ingredients and you mix people together and you get these things that come out on the other side of that that you wouldn’t predict, so that’s a reward. It’s almost hard to say but yes research is very important. AR: It’s like a raw input and then whoever is on the project that process like chips way and reveals answers from that. PW: I think that’s the thing, that’s another aspect of it and early days we had lots of talk about what role we want to play with a studio like ours. The work would be like musical chairs. It will just rotate, it will go around and the things that you care about and liked as it got passed round would disappear. And we learnt to love that. And actually we learnt to trust that process. That was something that was easy to do in a smaller studio of two or three people, not so easy now but the principles of that are still there. People have to trust.
Eval
Substance here is synonymous with research, it seems as though without research there is a lack of substance to the work. The notion of not getting precious around the work is really interesting to talk about, and learning that Pat feels like that is a strength.
- It would've been great to hear from Alex and Andy if this is something they agreed with or not. Obviously difficult to do when Pat was there as he is essentially their boss and I know that could've been an uncomfortable thing to bring up so I didn't ask. (could be something to try and reword and email Alex and Andy about, just need to be cautious of the way it could be interpreted.)
EC: How did the collective form in its early days, when you bring on new team members how does that work? PW: I worked in industry, I have taught and I wanted to make some nice work, I wanted to do some good stuff. I got a couple of projects lined up, I got a friend asking would you be interested in looking at this, and so within that there weren’t any long-term ambition for setting up a design studio or a commercial practice or anything like that. I just really liked the idea of trying out some of my ideas that I’d played around with a little bit in more public spaces. And it got really busy and the times are very different. There weren’t a lot of design studios there weren’t anywhere near as many as there are now. So, the first people involved were the people I studied with, and that was a typographer, Allen. He’s somebody who’s more concept orientated, more a physical maker, and it was all with this view of you’re bringing these things together to complete the vision of what it is you want to make. Then as time went on it just became almost, like we said as we came up the stairs ‘it’s not roles it’s individuals’, we recognise that studios are made from account managers and designers and all these different things, and personality became so important to working with somebody like us. We’re quite an oddity as a studio in terms of our relationships and so on. I think personality became so important that we got to this thing where we just had to get an inkling of what somebody was about, we like them and then we were just willing to invest. We’d grow people into things that they want to be and what we want to be. So we’ve taken a lot of graduates, we put senior people in the places at key moments in history when big big projects came into view. But most of the people that we approached, or approached us actually is more the case, were people that we looked at where they were as graduates who were ready to try new things. So yeah that’s how it was from my perspective anyway as somebody being approached I don’t know.
Eval
It was good to hear how the collective started, how Pat had the initiative to go make the collective for himself. However, I don't particularly want to start my own collective, I feel as though I would ideally want to find a team I can work with, especially as there are more and more design studios now it would be a larger risk to develop one from scratch than to join one. But this insight into how Pat created Dust will be useful further down the line if things change, and I rethink my plan.
-does all this need to go into report?
- think the elements of what he is looking for is more useful to me than the part where he talks about how he started the collective.
- it's okay to be selective about what to include in the report.
EC: So how did you guys get involved? AW: I saw a tweet.[laughter] So any of the graduates that came in for a chat [at uni] I ignored it and then I got a message saying why be not answered the tweet and so I came in for a chat seven years ago and I’m still here. PW: It’s a funny story because of the small studio dynamic as much as trying to work together you’ve got personalities, but we knew Alex and we knew what personality she was and what can a person she was. So that tweet although we put it out publicly there was only one person we wanted to answer it who didn’t answer it at the time. But we knew that if we could get Alex in and, there is real talent in the studio, but some of the dynamics that we may be getting a bit feisty Alex would help out with that which she did. AW: You came and then went back to London didn’t you? Andy: So I graduated and went to Dublin for a few months to work on a festival and then I came back did a few weeks here and Pat offered me a job, but I had to go to London three months because it had already been arranged before I started. And no one thought, well AW: We didn’t think you were gonna come back. Andy: They didn’t think I was gonna come back, but after that three months I came straight back and I’ve been here for 3 plus years now. Mine were pretty straightforward I think. Someone saw some work that I did in my final year and just asked me to come in and have a chat so I spoke to Ash stairs and that were it.
EC: If you don’t mind me asking what were you doing in London and what made you come back here? AR: I was working for a brand strategy agency, like doing a really late night working till 10:30 on some things I’d rather not spend time on. So it wasn’t terrible and the people were really nice but I just knew it would be better coming back here it was a pretty clear-cut choice.
Eval
Interesting to have some insight into how Alex and Andy got involved with the collective. For both of them they got approached by the collective. Interesting as previously Pat mentioned how more often they get approached by people wanting work, so interesting to find out that the two people i was asking had been approached by dust. Maybe they're selective and as Pat mentioned go a lot off of personalities.
Also very interesting to hear about Andy and how he moved to London but then moved back, didn't enjoy the job he was working at, didn't seem to be anything to do with London but more the job being rather strenuous.
Both Alex and Andrew got scouted for their Uni work, similar to something Dan mentioned about they (Peter and Paul) got to LAU final year show and look for people. Good info to know!
EC: Have you guys worked in Sheffield or works in other cities? AR: I’ve only ever worked here. PW: With the studio and with pre-dust I’ve worked all over the place, but with the studio worked all over the place so it’s been quite interesting. Sheffield is very unique in terms of what it offers. So I spent time in London, I’ve obviously spent some time in Leeds, and I’m not originally from Sheffield and from Barnsley so it was just one of those really it was an easy place to come and settle and operate internationally actually. So it was never, and even more so now it doesn’t matter where you are. And certainly then the idea of not having to pay London prices was very appealing, and the countryside speaks for itself so is one of them really.
Eval
Pat finds it easy to work internationally from Sheffield - good to know it isn't limiting the collective. Had a lot of reservations about Sheffield being a city where people can access a wide range of clients. Talking to Pat and Dan it definitely feels as though the location isn't a barrier.
EC: How does Sheffield compared to the other places that you guys have worked in? PW: I suppose personally it’s the it goes back to that idea of what hectic is, and it goes back to the idea of where peace and quiet or what relief looks like. Do you know what I mean? I think it’s a matter of head space more than anything.
AW: But also in Sheffield I feel like because it has been a few years since I’ve been doing this I’ve gotten to know so many different creators in Sheffield so it feels really easy and away. Because when you go to things you always see people and then work might come of it. And we’ve been thinking about doing an exhibition in the future in a few months and we just know we can get people involved and create some excitement. You feel like you’re kind of in control a little bit as well, because in London you’d feel like such a tiny little thing. PW: I think it becomes a bit more, not to say that aren’t cliques in Sheffield because there definitely are but the ones in London are much bigger. Where at least here I think you pass a point where a clique is, will join in anyway. I suppose, something to mention is the universities as well, Hallam is a bit of a powerhouse now with its suit of arts and the opportunities that brings is much greater than we had before. And there’s alignment so we work with the University of Sheffield, work with Hallam, that brings us into contact with researchers with artists with practitioners, it’s funny how these things work, because in theory you could think of Sheffield as a small place but it’s not as absolutely huge. EC: It’s that thing where everyone describes as a massive village. Everyone knows everyone and if you don’t know them directly there will be 2 or 3 degrees of separation. Everyone: yeah!
Eval
The way I see Sheffield seems to be true (the size, the relationships people have, the overall vibe of the city) and therefore benefits those in the creative scene as you start to know people by association. It seems as though there is a community feel, Alex expresses this very strongly.
the universities are mentioned in this interview as being a way to expand, Dust harnesses the opportunities the unis give them which is interesting.
EC: So you mentioned how you work with people inside Sheffield the museums of Sheffield Uni’s how’s it work with clients that are further afield? Is there a barrier you feel because of your location at all or is that not the case? PW: Nah, we got signed up by a central illustration agency really early doors again and that opened up the world in respect of you working with brands then and when you’re working with brands those calls for activity could come from anywhere. I think once again it’s all about the portfolio really it's all about what you got what you can demonstrate. Some of the enquiries we were getting in it were with people at the time that were prepared to fly in that were prepared to do this, they knew what they wanted. There is so much more choice now, the actually you can probably get something that’s a bit like you just down the road. And so then the level of integrity or the level of desire of the client to be, it’s like saying I want to work with a photographer or I want to work with that individual, it comes down to that. Because the sphere of creative practice has changed so dramatically, so has the sphere of creative curators and commissioners so all these things had their own kind of knock-on effect really.
Eval
Again interesting to hear about the location not being a barrier, and how clients are willing to travel for them . However, people won't approach Dust if they're not willing to work with someone long distance. There might be people who want to work with them but don't contact due to the distance, but we will never know if this is happening. on the other hand, as the collective is working and has work coming in there must be enough clientele.
EC: Being someone who’s grown up here I’ve always known there’s been creative scene in Sheffield but it’s never been such an obvious presence until I’ve tried to find it . It seems as though you have to show an interest and then it reveals itself. What advice would you give to someone in my position wanting to get their foot in the door? AW: I think going to events, exhibition speaking to people, just collaborating with people. One of my first jobs was, you shouldn’t do stuff for free, but I did some stuff for the site gallery and I ended up meeting artists and stuff and then it kind of ripples. As soon as you meet somebody then somebody else will know someone, and it’s like what you are saying everybody knows somebody. Because I got really good friends with India Hobson ,a photographer, and we were like a little duo then, we were just young going out meeting people. It just kind of came from that, just like we are creating something. Rather than kind of involving yourself with other things creating your own thing as well and then that can eventually be connected to all the other bubbles around if that makes sense? PW: it does make sense, I think one thing that I’d add to that is this kind of notion of events and exhibitions you can’t ignore where creators hang out, you can’t ignore where people socialise, I think because ultimately that is where you meet people and have a more meaningful relationship. Obviously at an event or exhibition people there being friendly but they’re still working and I think you get a very different light when you see people enjoying themselves. With Sheffield, it’s actually easy to identify whether spaces are, you know it’s not between Ecclesall Road or Sharrow or Abbeydale Road or whether Kelham you know there are certain agencies you know, there are certain places to go. I was in the Rutland on a Friday night and surprise surprise it were full of people that work in agencies around there. And be brave, just talk to people. AR: Just get in touch with people, yeah. Give them a shout, and see if you can organise like, you know, going for a drink or something. I think people are quite open to that, especially when you can tell it’s a sincere thing and not just something that’s being sent to everyone, which is funny when that happens. If you’re interested in them, they’ll be interested in you.
Eval
The answer almost the same as Nick Deakin and Dan's answer, it seems the best way to get yourself into the industry is ot get yourself known. Being the name and face people think of when they need someone seems to be the best way of getting a head start.
Will be good to keep up these relationships over the summer, and also contact more people in more studios. Talk to people, ask for portfolio reviews, tours of their studio etc.
EC: So going back to more of the work that you create here, I’ve noticed a lot of this stuff is very physical. Within that do you feel like digital and physical design needs to be handled differently or do you handle them similarly and then decide on the output? How does that dynamic work? PW: I personally, you know, Andrew will have a very different answer to this, but mine’s a philosophical answer. I think that we should look for the same touch points in whatever medium, whether it’s physical or digital. I still think there should be an opportunity to be intimate. It should be an opportunity to be material, to actually make somebody feel something and to behave a certain way. And there are good examples of where we’ve achieved that with digital work. And we know that because people have told us, we’ve not told them that’s what we wanted to do. I think the detail, which is something Andrew will have more to say about, is completely different at that point I care less about how it’s done, do you know what I mean? AR: Yeah, the approach is very similar. I think that the outcome is very different. If you were to pick up a book and look at a website, you know, two very different mediums, but you can approach each design task in the same way and I don’t disagree at all. I think you’re right, I think you try and have that connection with your audience. When you get down to the details, yeah, it’s different. It’s different things like paper stock on a book versus some nice interactions on a website, like different ways of doing it. But the same outcome, essentially. PW: We did recognise that our work is, probably nine times out of ten started in a physical format, and then it’s transferred into digital. Through that process, we recognise we’re actually really good at it, we’re really good at taking those things and not losing a lot and maintaining something. And so actually we started saying loud people, people and kind of presenting it as this is something that we specialise in rather than just thinking, oh, it’s just it’s just dust making a website. It’s dust taking something through that kind of process. So I think it’s a really interesting one. And now we’ve got you know, you get the other way around where things start online because it’s cheap really. AR: People don’t always have the time and then eventually they’ll get money to do a printed publication. But I think that translation process, you know, some people would do a book and that’ll be the end result, and then the website would be an afterthought, but you can’t treat it like that. I think there are two different audiences there, and that translation process is just really fun anyway, like, how do you take this physical thing and get that same feeling from something that you interact with in a different way. I think it’s quite interesting.
Eval
Really interesting to hear about the relationship between physical design, and digital design, how they can work together and don't need to be seen as different all of the time. As I've been getting more and more interested in publication and physical design it is interesting to hear Andy talk about how they can work together, one doesn't need to be an afterthought. But also about being able to harness the things that make them different to develop an even greater final outcome.
EC: You’re mentioning a lot of how does take something that starts the digitally or physically you can translate it through to another medium. And would you say that you have a sort of house style as a studio through doing that process or is that not something you’d identify with? PW: I think ultimately it’s the process that makes out house style if you like. And within that, you have individuals who work a certain way. So there’s probably more than one. And I think that is also combining two of those things that have got very defined house styles you, you’d find a third quite easily. Again, very much depends on the project, it depends on what you want to achieve with the projects and, you know, all sorts of things really.I suppose ultimately. There would be people that would say that’s obviously a dust piece of work. AR: So it’s quite funny actually, there’s a print and in the bathroom, I saw when I first started and, it’s got contributions from part Alex and some other members of dust. And when I started I had no idea who did what, but I couldn’t tell them apart there was quite a blurred border. But just after knowing everyone for a long time, you know, you can pick up on distinct things as well. So it’s quite interesting. PW: The thing I want to say about our style is I kind of refer to a design short hand, and design shorthand makes life easy. So it means that when you are up against that, you’ve got a lot to do reverting back to your design shorthand allows you to achieve big things quite quickly. But I don’t think I should be where you start, and I think that would be reflective of what everybody does. I actually think a lot of people start projects in the studio to learn something, to achieve something, not to apply something that they’ve done before, you know. So I think a lot of people are very objective oriented with the work it’s not simply put, the hours in, get the invoice out, get paid. You know, it’s more there’s a lot of time. You know, I know for a fact that, probably every project that Andrew starts will have ‘I want to do this by the end’, you know? And with Alex, that will just be set automatically by as you go through the creative process there’ll be this thing of like we arrived here last time. How could we arrive there? Are we going to push that? And that’s kind of a reflection of what I’d say is actually closest to us. And how we might exist. And the bit, you know, this kind of design shorthand that’s the bit we figured out. And we know we know it works.. We know it can make life easy sometimes. But that’s about it. EC: When I’ve spoken to a few people. They kind of say as a graphic designer, having a house style is not necessarily the best thing to have, that’s more what illustrators do. But then referring to it as a design shorthand makes much more sense. PW: I think there’s a again for change the world said do we have a brand? I think we do. And you know house style versus brand completely different. And certainly. You know, there are many, many design studios that have a cheap range because of their design brand. Because people want exactly what they do. They want exactly what they did for the person before. Even though they are a completely different company. And I find it really interesting, it’s where it’s where you have a completely different client partnership. It’s like,you’re going to somebody asking them to paint a portrait because of how they paint, you know, and you don’t really care what it ends up looking like. So I would say a lot of people who have or haven’t got house styles ultimately have, and that’s the reason why it’s successful, you know. So that is one of those things.
Eval
The notion of a design shorthand is interesting. It's a different to what Dan said. Dust doesn't seem to see having a 'design shorthand' as a negative, but they acknowledge how it shouldn't be seen as an automatic process. Dan seemed to associate any house style as something a designer shouldn't do, it was more for illustrators. EC: Within that then, as you’ve said, you’re all individual designers as well when you’re working on a project that is potentially using your design shorthand. Have you all learned how to do a similar process of getting from A to B? Or is it still, like you said when with the poster that you can tell there’s are little tweaks that are different to each person? PW: I think it depends how long you’ve been in the studio. AR: Yeah I think you’re right, you could start it by day one and you’ve got your own process, right. And that over time your process is influenced by overanalysis process, which is influenced by, you know, we work together on things. PW: At some point I’ll walk out because I’m talking too much. [laughter] But it’s of interest, for example, Alex who’s been here for eight years to Andrew he’s kind of like he’s not been here as long. And it does take time, it’s time to develop things that you are identifiable by. You know, that’s not just by what we think or what the individual thinks is what the outside world thinks, you know? For us there’s this sweet spot of a moment in time where you can look at the individual, they’ve reached kind of almost like a plateau in terms of their ability and the kind of knowledge and reference. And then you’ve also seen that actually, what they really enjoy themselves these are the things that they do. And that’s when, you know, you create those opportunities. As somebody who’s kind of seen that happen multiple times, it’s been really so rewarding to just see somebody kind of step over the threshold from being a designer to being, you know, on an individual kind of practitioner. It’s quite an interesting one with Andrew because his playground’s completely different from, you know, just designers being 2D or, you know, or kind of presentation of content and pictures and imagery and things like that. He’s playing around with much more ethereal things. So how he finds and develops those things that will define him further down the line. I’m going to leave is that all right? EC: Yeah, thanks so much, nice to meet you.
Eval
interesting follow up question, but isn't necessarily the most informative for me to know for my personal practice. It is interesting to find out but it won't impact me directly as I'm not in their shoes. Not sure this needs to be included int he final report.
EC: So I was looking and you guys [Alex and Andrew] have set up your own studio AWAR. So what inspired you guys to set that up? AW: So you know the collective thing it’s given us quite a bit of freedom kind of like part of this big company, pharmaceutical company. And we were doing that in-house stuff and everything. And then things have changed from that. It’s kind of us a bit more freedom to go back to the collective kind of model, and so we decided to kind of explore what we can do. AR: something, you know, Alex works in one way of working and I work in another, and I think that compliments each other really well. So, you know I’m systematic and you’re fluid right, so you know from start to finish of a project everything’s , I think we can figure it out. So we’ve still got some things to figure out, but I can see how the process can work really nicely. And it’s you know, we’re just we enjoy similar things, and we just want to AW: It felt like a good time to do it, didn’t it? AR:Exactly. So yeah. We’re starting something but everyone is still going to be working together with the collection model’s in place. So there’ll be times when you know people assemble to work on a project. Yeah. But yeah we’re just at the beginning really. AW: Yeah. Three weeks in. But we’ve got loads of work on at the minute, you know through dust, so. AR: Yeah, it’s like finishing bits off and then we’ve got our stuff sorted out AW: Got a plan in place. So we’re going to be doing what you are doing. We’ll be going seeing people. And that’s why we were talking about doing the exhibition thing because that aligns us with all the other creative Sheffield. Even though people know we work at dust. AR: It’ll be nice to be part of the reason why Sheffield, like the creative scene gets along. I think you can go to so many other events and enjoy what other people have put on for you. But to actually be the person who organises that and AW: gets people together. AR: Yeah, we’re doing it for other reasons as well, like charities. You know, we want to kind of give back in some way. So, you know, I think Peter and Paul did a charity auction not long back. I think you can look at what we do and what designers do as, oh they just make things look nice and all this. But, you know, you communicate something. And you know Mick, he’s a brilliant illustrator and he’s got an exhibition down at Kommune and people are people buying it so you can actually generate value from things and it would be nice to actually put that towards a good cause.
Eval
After Pat left it felt as though we were more having a conversation, Alex and Andy were able to talk more and open up about their practice. It was really good to be able to talk to them about how they feel about the studio with any other potential influences.
They're both very passionate designers, interested in getting out there and becoming a part of this scene in Sheffield, and doing good with their work.
EC: Would you say it’s important for designers to have substance or is it fine for designers to make work that just looks good? AW: Well, I think substance needs to be there in part, but sometimes you’re looking for too much in something. Sometimes things just need to be done. AR: Oh yeah, you could be at a point where. Well, my work’s got all this meaning behind it. But you can look at people’s work and. If the meaning is not communicated to the audience, is it just for you? And I think we all get into design, I’ll speak for myself, I love things that look good, we all like things that look good. And that’s just intuitive. When it’s got meaning it’s just another level. Especially when you can look at a piece of work and that communicates, and it’s really how that meaning is communicated I think is really interesting. If it’s just route one and if it’s just easy to understand. You know, there’s a book,a smile in mind, I’m not sure if you’ve read it, it’s the idea when you look at something and your mind smiles because you get it. I love that stuff, and I think that’s like peek meaning. And just to have fun. We went to design Manchester and there was a designer called Hansje van Halem, and she just does experiments. They’ve not got like a philosophical meaning unless it’s her philosophy. But she’s just doing things because she enjoys doing it. And then she just builds up this collection and then, you know, it’s just her having fun. And I think there’s nothing bad about that.
Eval
Interesting to hear their response on this, as I wanted to see if they felt making design just for the sake of making design was a negative thing and they didn't which was really nice. I felt as though people can often become so involved with it being their career and having to be something that needed to be 'good' theoretically as well as aesthetically. But they didn't seem to have this opinion, experimental work seemed just as valid to them as systematic work.
EC: So where do you see AWAR going? AW: What we want to do is, we want to start creating some work that we enjoy that will bring in work that pays us to do that work that we enjoy. AR: Any work that comes off of that will be purely coincidental. We like design for fun, we see people doing all this great stuff out there as well, and i think to be a part of that is nice to, not make a mark, but just to have fun. AW: It’s that work/life thing I don’t want it to be that work and that’s life I want it to kind of like merge. AR: Any creative job is like that, people who’ve got a 9 to 5 will go to work come home and completely switch off. Whereas we’re in this really good position where we’re actually worrying about how we can have fun and what we can do differently. It’s a very different challenge to what people usually have. And we’re quite, blessed. AW: Hashtag blessed. AW: Fortunate. AR: Fortunate! It’s a fortunate challenge to have. I think part of it is wanting to have fun and obviously we need to make a living, but money’s not the reason it’s just a side effect.
Eval
Nice to hear they even after 8 years at Dust Alex is still so passionate about design, wanting to be able to make the stuff she wants to make is still a priority of hers and this is where she is aiming to go with AWAR.
The quote 'money's not the reason, it's just a side effect.' is so perfect as summing up the approach these two have to their design work. So nice to be able to hear from people so involved in their work.
EC: Wow. That was very profound. I guess then going sort of more bringing back towards being a creative person here. Would you say that the design scene is accessible to those who aren’t already in it? AR: I mean I think, again, to point out the fact that Alex is on one end and I’m on the other end, like Alex’s sociable creature, number one and how you started, just hearing about that I mean, it’s so different to how I started. I wasn’t involved in it at all. I was just fortunate to be offered a job, and eventually I got to know people through just working here. AW: I guess it is. It’s hard to think back to it now but I think I just knew that I wanted to be in that scene, and I knew other young people that wanted to be in it, and we all want to do really good stuff. We wanted to kind of be like our peers.It’s taken a long time but it feels like we’ve got there now.which is really nice. And you can see the work that we do, and the stuff India’s doing. It just feels like we’re really part of something. I can imagine it’s quite difficult to start with. AR: I think it’s difficult to imagine until you’ve just done that first thing that even this is like if you’ve been going around interviewing. AW: That’s mega! AR: It’s exactly what you need to be doing. AW: Because we’re going to remember you, and if anything comes up, like you’re the only graduate we’ve spoken to, so it’s like right we’ll get in touch with you. I think that’s definitely the right thing to do. AR: Part of it is letting people know that you exist. But not in a needy way. Which some people can be like that. But then I also remember back in my final year, I didn’t know anyone, how am I going to do this, it’s pretty intimidating, but I think it just gets easier.
Eval
Asked this as I had felt like from my interviews the design scene isn't super accessible until you decide to show yourself, and even then it'll take a lot of work. I don;t think this is exclusive to Sheffield but I think it as a city it isn't known for being full of designers and creatives.
EC: Something to round off on is there a project that you felt like has a particular impact? AW: Definitely Mess for me. I love mess so much. I think we did 8 all together, and we did events off of it as well do it felt like we were actually making quite a big impact in Sheffield. And it was one of those things where it was kind of getting people together, not just in the creative industry, like in food, music, writer. Is that it felt good. And I feel like it’s going to continue, but just not yet. AR: I think just being honest, I think there are lots of projects I’m proud of, but not particularly one, not to that extent, not yet. It’s not like I’ve totally given up on life. I think it’s just yet to come. So you know, we’re just finished a website for a Haarlem artspace in Wirksworth and that’s been a good project, a nice outcome and lovely people to work with, it’s kind of ticked all the boxes.
Eval
It was really interesting to hear in-depth about the way Pat views a studio. As he is the founder his perspective of how things work, or how he wants them to work is particularly interesting. Especially since I haven't spoken to anyone with this perspective. Pat clearly sees every member of the team as an individual and understands the way they'd work within the collective, and how this informs the design process.
EC: Would you say then out of everything that goes into creating a brief the research element is the most important step in that process? PW: I think substance is. Everyone: yeah. PW: I think it’s two things, I think substance is absolute it’s got to be there. We want to make good decisions and therefore need to be informed as to why we’re making those good decisions. But the bit I value in terms of our identity and the bit I’ve always valued is the way in which you mix ingredients and you mix people together and you get these things that come out on the other side of that that you wouldn’t predict, so that’s a reward. It’s almost hard to say but yes research is very important. AR: It’s like a raw input and then whoever is on the project that process like chips way and reveals answers from that. PW: I think that’s the thing, that’s another aspect of it and early days we had lots of talk about what role we want to play with a studio like ours. The work would be like musical chairs. It will just rotate, it will go around and the things that you care about and liked as it got passed round would disappear. And we learnt to love that. And actually we learnt to trust that process. That was something that was easy to do in a smaller studio of two or three people, not so easy now but the principles of that are still there. People have to trust.
Eval
Substance here is synonymous with research, it seems as though without research there is a lack of substance to the work. The notion of not getting precious around the work is really interesting to talk about, and learning that Pat feels like that is a strength.
- It would've been great to hear from Alex and Andy if this is something they agreed with or not. Obviously difficult to do when Pat was there as he is essentially their boss and I know that could've been an uncomfortable thing to bring up so I didn't ask. (could be something to try and reword and email Alex and Andy about, just need to be cautious of the way it could be interpreted.)
EC: How did the collective form in its early days, when you bring on new team members how does that work? PW: I worked in industry, I have taught and I wanted to make some nice work, I wanted to do some good stuff. I got a couple of projects lined up, I got a friend asking would you be interested in looking at this, and so within that there weren’t any long-term ambition for setting up a design studio or a commercial practice or anything like that. I just really liked the idea of trying out some of my ideas that I’d played around with a little bit in more public spaces. And it got really busy and the times are very different. There weren’t a lot of design studios there weren’t anywhere near as many as there are now. So, the first people involved were the people I studied with, and that was a typographer, Allen. He’s somebody who’s more concept orientated, more a physical maker, and it was all with this view of you’re bringing these things together to complete the vision of what it is you want to make. Then as time went on it just became almost, like we said as we came up the stairs ‘it’s not roles it’s individuals’, we recognise that studios are made from account managers and designers and all these different things, and personality became so important to working with somebody like us. We’re quite an oddity as a studio in terms of our relationships and so on. I think personality became so important that we got to this thing where we just had to get an inkling of what somebody was about, we like them and then we were just willing to invest. We’d grow people into things that they want to be and what we want to be. So we’ve taken a lot of graduates, we put senior people in the places at key moments in history when big big projects came into view. But most of the people that we approached, or approached us actually is more the case, were people that we looked at where they were as graduates who were ready to try new things. So yeah that’s how it was from my perspective anyway as somebody being approached I don’t know.
Eval
It was good to hear how the collective started, how Pat had the initiative to go make the collective for himself. However, I don't particularly want to start my own collective, I feel as though I would ideally want to find a team I can work with, especially as there are more and more design studios now it would be a larger risk to develop one from scratch than to join one. But this insight into how Pat created Dust will be useful further down the line if things change, and I rethink my plan.
-does all this need to go into report?
- think the elements of what he is looking for is more useful to me than the part where he talks about how he started the collective.
- it's okay to be selective about what to include in the report.
EC: So how did you guys get involved? AW: I saw a tweet.[laughter] So any of the graduates that came in for a chat [at uni] I ignored it and then I got a message saying why be not answered the tweet and so I came in for a chat seven years ago and I’m still here. PW: It’s a funny story because of the small studio dynamic as much as trying to work together you’ve got personalities, but we knew Alex and we knew what personality she was and what can a person she was. So that tweet although we put it out publicly there was only one person we wanted to answer it who didn’t answer it at the time. But we knew that if we could get Alex in and, there is real talent in the studio, but some of the dynamics that we may be getting a bit feisty Alex would help out with that which she did. AW: You came and then went back to London didn’t you? Andy: So I graduated and went to Dublin for a few months to work on a festival and then I came back did a few weeks here and Pat offered me a job, but I had to go to London three months because it had already been arranged before I started. And no one thought, well AW: We didn’t think you were gonna come back. Andy: They didn’t think I was gonna come back, but after that three months I came straight back and I’ve been here for 3 plus years now. Mine were pretty straightforward I think. Someone saw some work that I did in my final year and just asked me to come in and have a chat so I spoke to Ash stairs and that were it.
EC: If you don’t mind me asking what were you doing in London and what made you come back here? AR: I was working for a brand strategy agency, like doing a really late night working till 10:30 on some things I’d rather not spend time on. So it wasn’t terrible and the people were really nice but I just knew it would be better coming back here it was a pretty clear-cut choice.
Eval
Interesting to have some insight into how Alex and Andy got involved with the collective. For both of them they got approached by the collective. Interesting as previously Pat mentioned how more often they get approached by people wanting work, so interesting to find out that the two people i was asking had been approached by dust. Maybe they're selective and as Pat mentioned go a lot off of personalities.
Also very interesting to hear about Andy and how he moved to London but then moved back, didn't enjoy the job he was working at, didn't seem to be anything to do with London but more the job being rather strenuous.
Both Alex and Andrew got scouted for their Uni work, similar to something Dan mentioned about they (Peter and Paul) got to LAU final year show and look for people. Good info to know!
EC: Have you guys worked in Sheffield or works in other cities? AR: I’ve only ever worked here. PW: With the studio and with pre-dust I’ve worked all over the place, but with the studio worked all over the place so it’s been quite interesting. Sheffield is very unique in terms of what it offers. So I spent time in London, I’ve obviously spent some time in Leeds, and I’m not originally from Sheffield and from Barnsley so it was just one of those really it was an easy place to come and settle and operate internationally actually. So it was never, and even more so now it doesn’t matter where you are. And certainly then the idea of not having to pay London prices was very appealing, and the countryside speaks for itself so is one of them really.
Eval
Pat finds it easy to work internationally from Sheffield - good to know it isn't limiting the collective. Had a lot of reservations about Sheffield being a city where people can access a wide range of clients. Talking to Pat and Dan it definitely feels as though the location isn't a barrier.
EC: How does Sheffield compared to the other places that you guys have worked in? PW: I suppose personally it’s the it goes back to that idea of what hectic is, and it goes back to the idea of where peace and quiet or what relief looks like. Do you know what I mean? I think it’s a matter of head space more than anything.
AW: But also in Sheffield I feel like because it has been a few years since I’ve been doing this I’ve gotten to know so many different creators in Sheffield so it feels really easy and away. Because when you go to things you always see people and then work might come of it. And we’ve been thinking about doing an exhibition in the future in a few months and we just know we can get people involved and create some excitement. You feel like you’re kind of in control a little bit as well, because in London you’d feel like such a tiny little thing. PW: I think it becomes a bit more, not to say that aren’t cliques in Sheffield because there definitely are but the ones in London are much bigger. Where at least here I think you pass a point where a clique is, will join in anyway. I suppose, something to mention is the universities as well, Hallam is a bit of a powerhouse now with its suit of arts and the opportunities that brings is much greater than we had before. And there’s alignment so we work with the University of Sheffield, work with Hallam, that brings us into contact with researchers with artists with practitioners, it’s funny how these things work, because in theory you could think of Sheffield as a small place but it’s not as absolutely huge. EC: It’s that thing where everyone describes as a massive village. Everyone knows everyone and if you don’t know them directly there will be 2 or 3 degrees of separation. Everyone: yeah!
Eval
The way I see Sheffield seems to be true (the size, the relationships people have, the overall vibe of the city) and therefore benefits those in the creative scene as you start to know people by association. It seems as though there is a community feel, Alex expresses this very strongly.
the universities are mentioned in this interview as being a way to expand, Dust harnesses the opportunities the unis give them which is interesting.
EC: So you mentioned how you work with people inside Sheffield the museums of Sheffield Uni’s how’s it work with clients that are further afield? Is there a barrier you feel because of your location at all or is that not the case? PW: Nah, we got signed up by a central illustration agency really early doors again and that opened up the world in respect of you working with brands then and when you’re working with brands those calls for activity could come from anywhere. I think once again it’s all about the portfolio really it's all about what you got what you can demonstrate. Some of the enquiries we were getting in it were with people at the time that were prepared to fly in that were prepared to do this, they knew what they wanted. There is so much more choice now, the actually you can probably get something that’s a bit like you just down the road. And so then the level of integrity or the level of desire of the client to be, it’s like saying I want to work with a photographer or I want to work with that individual, it comes down to that. Because the sphere of creative practice has changed so dramatically, so has the sphere of creative curators and commissioners so all these things had their own kind of knock-on effect really.
Eval
Again interesting to hear about the location not being a barrier, and how clients are willing to travel for them . However, people won't approach Dust if they're not willing to work with someone long distance. There might be people who want to work with them but don't contact due to the distance, but we will never know if this is happening. on the other hand, as the collective is working and has work coming in there must be enough clientele.
EC: Being someone who’s grown up here I’ve always known there’s been creative scene in Sheffield but it’s never been such an obvious presence until I’ve tried to find it . It seems as though you have to show an interest and then it reveals itself. What advice would you give to someone in my position wanting to get their foot in the door? AW: I think going to events, exhibition speaking to people, just collaborating with people. One of my first jobs was, you shouldn’t do stuff for free, but I did some stuff for the site gallery and I ended up meeting artists and stuff and then it kind of ripples. As soon as you meet somebody then somebody else will know someone, and it’s like what you are saying everybody knows somebody. Because I got really good friends with India Hobson ,a photographer, and we were like a little duo then, we were just young going out meeting people. It just kind of came from that, just like we are creating something. Rather than kind of involving yourself with other things creating your own thing as well and then that can eventually be connected to all the other bubbles around if that makes sense? PW: it does make sense, I think one thing that I’d add to that is this kind of notion of events and exhibitions you can’t ignore where creators hang out, you can’t ignore where people socialise, I think because ultimately that is where you meet people and have a more meaningful relationship. Obviously at an event or exhibition people there being friendly but they’re still working and I think you get a very different light when you see people enjoying themselves. With Sheffield, it’s actually easy to identify whether spaces are, you know it’s not between Ecclesall Road or Sharrow or Abbeydale Road or whether Kelham you know there are certain agencies you know, there are certain places to go. I was in the Rutland on a Friday night and surprise surprise it were full of people that work in agencies around there. And be brave, just talk to people. AR: Just get in touch with people, yeah. Give them a shout, and see if you can organise like, you know, going for a drink or something. I think people are quite open to that, especially when you can tell it’s a sincere thing and not just something that’s being sent to everyone, which is funny when that happens. If you’re interested in them, they’ll be interested in you.
Eval
The answer almost the same as Nick Deakin and Dan's answer, it seems the best way to get yourself into the industry is ot get yourself known. Being the name and face people think of when they need someone seems to be the best way of getting a head start.
Will be good to keep up these relationships over the summer, and also contact more people in more studios. Talk to people, ask for portfolio reviews, tours of their studio etc.
EC: So going back to more of the work that you create here, I’ve noticed a lot of this stuff is very physical. Within that do you feel like digital and physical design needs to be handled differently or do you handle them similarly and then decide on the output? How does that dynamic work? PW: I personally, you know, Andrew will have a very different answer to this, but mine’s a philosophical answer. I think that we should look for the same touch points in whatever medium, whether it’s physical or digital. I still think there should be an opportunity to be intimate. It should be an opportunity to be material, to actually make somebody feel something and to behave a certain way. And there are good examples of where we’ve achieved that with digital work. And we know that because people have told us, we’ve not told them that’s what we wanted to do. I think the detail, which is something Andrew will have more to say about, is completely different at that point I care less about how it’s done, do you know what I mean? AR: Yeah, the approach is very similar. I think that the outcome is very different. If you were to pick up a book and look at a website, you know, two very different mediums, but you can approach each design task in the same way and I don’t disagree at all. I think you’re right, I think you try and have that connection with your audience. When you get down to the details, yeah, it’s different. It’s different things like paper stock on a book versus some nice interactions on a website, like different ways of doing it. But the same outcome, essentially. PW: We did recognise that our work is, probably nine times out of ten started in a physical format, and then it’s transferred into digital. Through that process, we recognise we’re actually really good at it, we’re really good at taking those things and not losing a lot and maintaining something. And so actually we started saying loud people, people and kind of presenting it as this is something that we specialise in rather than just thinking, oh, it’s just it’s just dust making a website. It’s dust taking something through that kind of process. So I think it’s a really interesting one. And now we’ve got you know, you get the other way around where things start online because it’s cheap really. AR: People don’t always have the time and then eventually they’ll get money to do a printed publication. But I think that translation process, you know, some people would do a book and that’ll be the end result, and then the website would be an afterthought, but you can’t treat it like that. I think there are two different audiences there, and that translation process is just really fun anyway, like, how do you take this physical thing and get that same feeling from something that you interact with in a different way. I think it’s quite interesting.
Eval
Really interesting to hear about the relationship between physical design, and digital design, how they can work together and don't need to be seen as different all of the time. As I've been getting more and more interested in publication and physical design it is interesting to hear Andy talk about how they can work together, one doesn't need to be an afterthought. But also about being able to harness the things that make them different to develop an even greater final outcome.
EC: You’re mentioning a lot of how does take something that starts the digitally or physically you can translate it through to another medium. And would you say that you have a sort of house style as a studio through doing that process or is that not something you’d identify with? PW: I think ultimately it’s the process that makes out house style if you like. And within that, you have individuals who work a certain way. So there’s probably more than one. And I think that is also combining two of those things that have got very defined house styles you, you’d find a third quite easily. Again, very much depends on the project, it depends on what you want to achieve with the projects and, you know, all sorts of things really.I suppose ultimately. There would be people that would say that’s obviously a dust piece of work. AR: So it’s quite funny actually, there’s a print and in the bathroom, I saw when I first started and, it’s got contributions from part Alex and some other members of dust. And when I started I had no idea who did what, but I couldn’t tell them apart there was quite a blurred border. But just after knowing everyone for a long time, you know, you can pick up on distinct things as well. So it’s quite interesting. PW: The thing I want to say about our style is I kind of refer to a design short hand, and design shorthand makes life easy. So it means that when you are up against that, you’ve got a lot to do reverting back to your design shorthand allows you to achieve big things quite quickly. But I don’t think I should be where you start, and I think that would be reflective of what everybody does. I actually think a lot of people start projects in the studio to learn something, to achieve something, not to apply something that they’ve done before, you know. So I think a lot of people are very objective oriented with the work it’s not simply put, the hours in, get the invoice out, get paid. You know, it’s more there’s a lot of time. You know, I know for a fact that, probably every project that Andrew starts will have ‘I want to do this by the end’, you know? And with Alex, that will just be set automatically by as you go through the creative process there’ll be this thing of like we arrived here last time. How could we arrive there? Are we going to push that? And that’s kind of a reflection of what I’d say is actually closest to us. And how we might exist. And the bit, you know, this kind of design shorthand that’s the bit we figured out. And we know we know it works.. We know it can make life easy sometimes. But that’s about it. EC: When I’ve spoken to a few people. They kind of say as a graphic designer, having a house style is not necessarily the best thing to have, that’s more what illustrators do. But then referring to it as a design shorthand makes much more sense. PW: I think there’s a again for change the world said do we have a brand? I think we do. And you know house style versus brand completely different. And certainly. You know, there are many, many design studios that have a cheap range because of their design brand. Because people want exactly what they do. They want exactly what they did for the person before. Even though they are a completely different company. And I find it really interesting, it’s where it’s where you have a completely different client partnership. It’s like,you’re going to somebody asking them to paint a portrait because of how they paint, you know, and you don’t really care what it ends up looking like. So I would say a lot of people who have or haven’t got house styles ultimately have, and that’s the reason why it’s successful, you know. So that is one of those things.
Eval
The notion of a design shorthand is interesting. It's a different to what Dan said. Dust doesn't seem to see having a 'design shorthand' as a negative, but they acknowledge how it shouldn't be seen as an automatic process. Dan seemed to associate any house style as something a designer shouldn't do, it was more for illustrators. EC: Within that then, as you’ve said, you’re all individual designers as well when you’re working on a project that is potentially using your design shorthand. Have you all learned how to do a similar process of getting from A to B? Or is it still, like you said when with the poster that you can tell there’s are little tweaks that are different to each person? PW: I think it depends how long you’ve been in the studio. AR: Yeah I think you’re right, you could start it by day one and you’ve got your own process, right. And that over time your process is influenced by overanalysis process, which is influenced by, you know, we work together on things. PW: At some point I’ll walk out because I’m talking too much. [laughter] But it’s of interest, for example, Alex who’s been here for eight years to Andrew he’s kind of like he’s not been here as long. And it does take time, it’s time to develop things that you are identifiable by. You know, that’s not just by what we think or what the individual thinks is what the outside world thinks, you know? For us there’s this sweet spot of a moment in time where you can look at the individual, they’ve reached kind of almost like a plateau in terms of their ability and the kind of knowledge and reference. And then you’ve also seen that actually, what they really enjoy themselves these are the things that they do. And that’s when, you know, you create those opportunities. As somebody who’s kind of seen that happen multiple times, it’s been really so rewarding to just see somebody kind of step over the threshold from being a designer to being, you know, on an individual kind of practitioner. It’s quite an interesting one with Andrew because his playground’s completely different from, you know, just designers being 2D or, you know, or kind of presentation of content and pictures and imagery and things like that. He’s playing around with much more ethereal things. So how he finds and develops those things that will define him further down the line. I’m going to leave is that all right? EC: Yeah, thanks so much, nice to meet you.
Eval
interesting follow up question, but isn't necessarily the most informative for me to know for my personal practice. It is interesting to find out but it won't impact me directly as I'm not in their shoes. Not sure this needs to be included int he final report.
EC: So I was looking and you guys [Alex and Andrew] have set up your own studio AWAR. So what inspired you guys to set that up? AW: So you know the collective thing it’s given us quite a bit of freedom kind of like part of this big company, pharmaceutical company. And we were doing that in-house stuff and everything. And then things have changed from that. It’s kind of us a bit more freedom to go back to the collective kind of model, and so we decided to kind of explore what we can do. AR: something, you know, Alex works in one way of working and I work in another, and I think that compliments each other really well. So, you know I’m systematic and you’re fluid right, so you know from start to finish of a project everything’s , I think we can figure it out. So we’ve still got some things to figure out, but I can see how the process can work really nicely. And it’s you know, we’re just we enjoy similar things, and we just want to AW: It felt like a good time to do it, didn’t it? AR:Exactly. So yeah. We’re starting something but everyone is still going to be working together with the collection model’s in place. So there’ll be times when you know people assemble to work on a project. Yeah. But yeah we’re just at the beginning really. AW: Yeah. Three weeks in. But we’ve got loads of work on at the minute, you know through dust, so. AR: Yeah, it’s like finishing bits off and then we’ve got our stuff sorted out AW: Got a plan in place. So we’re going to be doing what you are doing. We’ll be going seeing people. And that’s why we were talking about doing the exhibition thing because that aligns us with all the other creative Sheffield. Even though people know we work at dust. AR: It’ll be nice to be part of the reason why Sheffield, like the creative scene gets along. I think you can go to so many other events and enjoy what other people have put on for you. But to actually be the person who organises that and AW: gets people together. AR: Yeah, we’re doing it for other reasons as well, like charities. You know, we want to kind of give back in some way. So, you know, I think Peter and Paul did a charity auction not long back. I think you can look at what we do and what designers do as, oh they just make things look nice and all this. But, you know, you communicate something. And you know Mick, he’s a brilliant illustrator and he’s got an exhibition down at Kommune and people are people buying it so you can actually generate value from things and it would be nice to actually put that towards a good cause.
Eval
After Pat left it felt as though we were more having a conversation, Alex and Andy were able to talk more and open up about their practice. It was really good to be able to talk to them about how they feel about the studio with any other potential influences.
They're both very passionate designers, interested in getting out there and becoming a part of this scene in Sheffield, and doing good with their work.
EC: Would you say it’s important for designers to have substance or is it fine for designers to make work that just looks good? AW: Well, I think substance needs to be there in part, but sometimes you’re looking for too much in something. Sometimes things just need to be done. AR: Oh yeah, you could be at a point where. Well, my work’s got all this meaning behind it. But you can look at people’s work and. If the meaning is not communicated to the audience, is it just for you? And I think we all get into design, I’ll speak for myself, I love things that look good, we all like things that look good. And that’s just intuitive. When it’s got meaning it’s just another level. Especially when you can look at a piece of work and that communicates, and it’s really how that meaning is communicated I think is really interesting. If it’s just route one and if it’s just easy to understand. You know, there’s a book,a smile in mind, I’m not sure if you’ve read it, it’s the idea when you look at something and your mind smiles because you get it. I love that stuff, and I think that’s like peek meaning. And just to have fun. We went to design Manchester and there was a designer called Hansje van Halem, and she just does experiments. They’ve not got like a philosophical meaning unless it’s her philosophy. But she’s just doing things because she enjoys doing it. And then she just builds up this collection and then, you know, it’s just her having fun. And I think there’s nothing bad about that.
Eval
Interesting to hear their response on this, as I wanted to see if they felt making design just for the sake of making design was a negative thing and they didn't which was really nice. I felt as though people can often become so involved with it being their career and having to be something that needed to be 'good' theoretically as well as aesthetically. But they didn't seem to have this opinion, experimental work seemed just as valid to them as systematic work.
EC: So where do you see AWAR going? AW: What we want to do is, we want to start creating some work that we enjoy that will bring in work that pays us to do that work that we enjoy. AR: Any work that comes off of that will be purely coincidental. We like design for fun, we see people doing all this great stuff out there as well, and i think to be a part of that is nice to, not make a mark, but just to have fun. AW: It’s that work/life thing I don’t want it to be that work and that’s life I want it to kind of like merge. AR: Any creative job is like that, people who’ve got a 9 to 5 will go to work come home and completely switch off. Whereas we’re in this really good position where we’re actually worrying about how we can have fun and what we can do differently. It’s a very different challenge to what people usually have. And we’re quite, blessed. AW: Hashtag blessed. AW: Fortunate. AR: Fortunate! It’s a fortunate challenge to have. I think part of it is wanting to have fun and obviously we need to make a living, but money’s not the reason it’s just a side effect.
Eval
Nice to hear they even after 8 years at Dust Alex is still so passionate about design, wanting to be able to make the stuff she wants to make is still a priority of hers and this is where she is aiming to go with AWAR.
The quote 'money's not the reason, it's just a side effect.' is so perfect as summing up the approach these two have to their design work. So nice to be able to hear from people so involved in their work.
EC: Wow. That was very profound. I guess then going sort of more bringing back towards being a creative person here. Would you say that the design scene is accessible to those who aren’t already in it? AR: I mean I think, again, to point out the fact that Alex is on one end and I’m on the other end, like Alex’s sociable creature, number one and how you started, just hearing about that I mean, it’s so different to how I started. I wasn’t involved in it at all. I was just fortunate to be offered a job, and eventually I got to know people through just working here. AW: I guess it is. It’s hard to think back to it now but I think I just knew that I wanted to be in that scene, and I knew other young people that wanted to be in it, and we all want to do really good stuff. We wanted to kind of be like our peers.It’s taken a long time but it feels like we’ve got there now.which is really nice. And you can see the work that we do, and the stuff India’s doing. It just feels like we’re really part of something. I can imagine it’s quite difficult to start with. AR: I think it’s difficult to imagine until you’ve just done that first thing that even this is like if you’ve been going around interviewing. AW: That’s mega! AR: It’s exactly what you need to be doing. AW: Because we’re going to remember you, and if anything comes up, like you’re the only graduate we’ve spoken to, so it’s like right we’ll get in touch with you. I think that’s definitely the right thing to do. AR: Part of it is letting people know that you exist. But not in a needy way. Which some people can be like that. But then I also remember back in my final year, I didn’t know anyone, how am I going to do this, it’s pretty intimidating, but I think it just gets easier.
Eval
Asked this as I had felt like from my interviews the design scene isn't super accessible until you decide to show yourself, and even then it'll take a lot of work. I don;t think this is exclusive to Sheffield but I think it as a city it isn't known for being full of designers and creatives.
EC: Something to round off on is there a project that you felt like has a particular impact? AW: Definitely Mess for me. I love mess so much. I think we did 8 all together, and we did events off of it as well do it felt like we were actually making quite a big impact in Sheffield. And it was one of those things where it was kind of getting people together, not just in the creative industry, like in food, music, writer. Is that it felt good. And I feel like it’s going to continue, but just not yet. AR: I think just being honest, I think there are lots of projects I’m proud of, but not particularly one, not to that extent, not yet. It’s not like I’ve totally given up on life. I think it’s just yet to come. So you know, we’re just finished a website for a Haarlem artspace in Wirksworth and that’s been a good project, a nice outcome and lovely people to work with, it’s kind of ticked all the boxes.
No comments:
Post a Comment