Today we met Jack Owen from Icehouse Design - it was interesting and informative to talk to someone who has been in the business for a while. Icehouse design focus mainly on print-based clients - among these are the NHS and National Trust. He showed us a recent project, an annual review for the local NHS trust, where some small changes had been made during the process, some of these before consulting the customer. He said that this can be part of the job - sometimes small changes need to be pushed to create a better finished product for the customer - but sometimes it can backfire and it is important to always sign off changes with the client!
He told us that design can be a very difficult profession to start out in and that there can be times when you may earn very little - he also said that at some point we are likely to end up dealing with a customer who doesn't pay, or could end up in a situation where our integrity as a designer may lead us to withdraw our services if talking and explaining to the client does not present a compromise. This is because any work you do can obviously have a positive or negative impact on your portfolio - so if a customer demands something that you know to be terrible it can occasionally be less damaging to refuse the work.
The situation may also arise in the future where some requests by potential clients may have to be rejected because they do not bring in enough money to meet overheads etc.
Most of the Icehouse clients are found by word of mouth from previous clients - including their larger customers, large brands like Marks and Spencer, Boots and Tesco. Jack told us that advertising can often be a massive waste of money and that the most important piece of advertising we could buy would be business cards.
In regards to looking for placements or a job as a studio junior, he told us the most important thing is attitude as the skills required for the job can be taught in house.
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