Field Trip

Date
8 November 2011

Field Trip took place last week, and ever since we’ve been digesting all the nuggets of wisdom, advice and ideas that the workshop practitioners and creatives shared with us (and the participants). We had a blast, watched a lot of great bits of work being produced, bounced around some brilliant and bonkers ideas, drank a lot of tea, listened to some fascinating talks, bonded with the studio cats, and met some really interesting people.

Over the three-days, Yuri Suzuki came in with lots of awesome gadgets and kit to cut vinyl records for the record sleeves that participants designed earlier in the day, we watched Carl Burgess’ satirical music videos and slick digital animations, and then had a great group chat with him over lunch. Later Riitta Ikonen and Ian Wright helped us loosen up, experiment and think through making, opening our eyes to working in new ways and getting stuck in (particularly when you’re having an ideas drought). 

We also had Abake and photographer Erika Wall demonstrating how a successful creative collaboration can take many forms (as well as treating us to some of their home-made chutney and jams), Johnny Kelly talking us through the creative process for his jaw-droppingly detailed animation featured on our site in September, and the lovely Marion Deuchars made us all very envious talking through her portfolio and how she’s got to a stage where she enjoys what she does so much it doesn’t feel like work. 

A big thank you to all the aforementioned creatives for delivering such a magnificent and jam-packed three days, and also to all the participants for taking part, bringing some excellent ideas and work to the table and being a great bunch to get to know.

Overall, we learnt that no two client relationships are the same, to continue with and find new hobbies and passions as they can be great springboards for new projects, and that working on things you love always tends to lead to better outcomes, as does working with people you respect.

Yuri finds it useful spending time creating narratives (back stories) for his design, Carl was adamant that you should try and avoid pitching an idea or project you don’t believe in as your lack of enthusiasm will be obvious, but equally there will always be times you need to work on things that you’re less excited about to pay the bills (Marion used to think of this as buying time for things you are more passionate about).

And everyone reiterated the value of looking for inspiration in unexpected places, collecting things, getting out, meeting people, and visiting new places. 

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Maya Davies

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