Studio Visit: Ruben Doornweerd

A couple of weeks ago I sent an email to Ruben Doornweerd, who runs a graphic design studio in Amsterdam. I had planned on taking a trip there and would have loved the opportunity to meet Ruben and see his work and studio first. I was in luck as he was available for me to visit his studio while I was in Amsterdam!

Dear Mr. Doornweerd,

I am a third year BA (Hons) Graphic Design student at Leeds College of Art in the UK, and would love the opportunity to visit your studio while I am in Amsterdam next week (14th-17th November).

I am a huge admirer of your work, particularly your typographic design, and would love to see the environment you work in.

Please let me know if you will be available for a visit in those days.

Best regards,

Sarah Butler

Hi Sarah,

I will be in the office on Friday 14th, so you are welcome to come in that morning.

See you then,

RD

So after I flew in on Friday morning, we went to the hotel and then swiftly on to Ruben's studio, only a short walk south out of central Amsterdam.

I knew it was a small studio, but I was surprised at how small it was, consisting of only a few small rooms. However it was wonderfully laid out, featuring large wooden beams across the ceiling. Work was stuck up on the walls and it almost looked like a converted bedroom.

Ruben spoke only briefly about his work, saying that he shouldn't be telling people how to see his work and they should see it in their own way. He spoke about how he is consistently conceptual in his approach to design, which often results in completely unique and purposeful solutions.

I loved his studio, and have started to become really interested in working in a small studio with only a few other people, so I really enjoyed being able to look around and gage how they work on a typical Friday afternoon.

Duke Studios Visit

Today I visited Duke Studios on Duke Street in Leeds, where the people working there were very helpful and informative.

I loved the environment and atmosphere of the work space, it was small, relaxed and casual, and everyone seemed to be very in sync with each other, possible due to the small workforce. The kind of environment would be an ideal workplace for me, working with just a few people with a 'get on with it' attitude. My favourite way to work is putting my head down by myself and just getting it done, which was an ethic reflected in this studio. The focus of the company is to put people before business which automatically makes it a unique and unusual workplace.

I could definitely see myself spending some time working in a place like this after finishing my degree and would be hugely interested in staying in touch with them.

Extended Practice Tutorial

Today I had a tutorial with Danny in which I wanted to discuss a few of my briefs, as I had some concerns that they may not have been varied enough. While I am interesting in going into Branding and Identity I thought that my branding briefs were too similar. However after talking to Danny I was reassured that if this was the field I wanted to go into then it was a plus to do a lot of them, and to bare in mind that the content is not similar so the outcomes will be varied.

I had some other reservations about my Film brief (to make a series of minimalist film posters based on one actor/director), mainly as I was struggling to find the actor/director I wanted to base them on. I didn't wan't to go down a route that I thought could be quite expected (eg, Tarantino, Hitchcock, Dicaprio, Freeman).

I chose this brief as I found a similar one online asking designers to create a commemorative poster design of a Robin Williams film. I didn't initially want to do Williams as I felt it would be harder to find variation in his films as they are primarily comedy. After expressing this concern to Danny, he liked the idea of doing something on Robin Williams, and suggested I found a way around the comedy, also featuring some of his more serious psychological thrillers, eg., Insomnia, One Hour Photo. After giving this some thought, I found myself agreeing that I could vary his films myself, choosing more serious aspects in his comedies, and maybe find the humorous side of his darker films.

I found tht after talking to Danny I had much more direction with a couple of my briefs and was given a good starting point for the Film brief.

Post- LCA Plans

Over summer I spent a lot of time thinking about my plans for after completing this degree. I have finally been able to settle on my areas of interest within graphic design, branding and typography, with a heavier focus on branding.

I have been able to make the decision to go into branding at least at first, but I'm not convinced that branding is all I want to do. All three of our Context of Practice modules have highlighted to me that I am greatly interested in design in direct relation to advertising, and I have been thinking that this is something I would like to look into pursuing. While I would still like to go into branding, I would like to be able to tick the creative box and the strategic box, essentially being able to do to two separate jobs within an agency.

I had a look around at some Masters courses in the UK and by chance found that the two that I thought most applicable were at Leeds University. These two courses are MA Marketing and Advertising and MA Advertising and Design.

Marketing and Advertising

MA Advertising and Marketing

Our Masters in Advertising and Marketing offers a genuinely dedicated programme of study. This Masters is ideal if you wish to gain specialised knowledge in the fields of marketing communications and advertising. You will also gain comprehensive understanding in key areas of marketing strategy and research.

Taught by specialists with professional experience and research expertise in their relevant fields, you will gain the skills and knowledge to prepare for a successful marketing career

HOW TO APPLY

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The course offers a balanced academic and practical programme of study, giving you the opportunity to apply your knowledge to genuine business situations. You will explore contemporary developments in marketing and marketing communications theory and practice.

Dedicated modules will introduce you to key concepts, frameworks and approaches, whilst equipping you with the skills you need to work in a professional marketing communications or advertising environment.

This Masters degree has been approved and accredited by The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) to provide entry on to the CIM Chartered Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing.

Advertising and Design

Overview

Qualification: MA
Modes of study and duration of the course: 12 Months Full Time

This innovative and distinctive course is run by the School of Design and Leeds University Business School. The concept behind the course is the continuing fusion between advertising and design. It is at this point of convergence, along with a rapidly expanding media landscape, from which the most interesting ideas emerge.

The course enables you to focus on a creative approach to solving communication problems in advertising and branding. Alongside this, you will study theoretical modules to provide you with insight into the strategic thinking necessary to create effective and memorable communication campaigns.

The core modules, studied in the School of Design, are: Visual Communication; Persuasion; Integrated Communication; and a Creative Direction project or dissertation. You will study these alongside modules offered by the Business School: Consumer Behaviour; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Advertising; and Media Policy.

Optional modules include: Relationship and Direct Marketing; Sales Promotion and Sponsorship; and Internet Marketing.

The taught modules reflect the expertise from both Schools and provide you with a unique learning experience and perspective on this dynamic discipline.

• View MA Advertising and Design course brochure
• MA Advertising and Design website

Course Structure

The course runs over two semesters and a shorter summer period. In the first semester you will undertake two foundation weeks, followed by five taught modules. In the second semester you undertake four modules, then either a Creative Direction module or dissertation.

Learning takes place through a combination of lectures, seminars, creative workshops and tutorials with supporting workshops in photography, video, graphic design and on-line media. Teamwork is a key feature of this programme and there are many opportunities to test your ability and develop the skills you need to become an effective team player.

For the field I want to go into I found that the Advertising and Design course might be more relevant than the Marketing and Advertising but I am still keen to look into doing both of these.

OUGD602 Atha Developments

Atha Developments is a property development company that specialises in student properties in the Newcastle/Middlesborough area. It is run by twin brothers Jack and Tom whom I met on holiday two years ago, and contacted again when they expressed a need for a new logo design and van design.

They sent me some examples of logos that they liked/tried to do and asked if I could do something that fitted that aesthetic, using the A and D, and connecting them in some way which would translate well onto the side of the van and would work in conjunction with some sort of geometric pattern for the van.

I was told they needed the logo very soon but to take time over the van design as that wasn't a pressing issue. As I hadn't some something design related in the property development field, nor had I designed the aesthetic of a vehicle, I am interested in seeing how well I can fit the brief they've given me.

OUGD602 Level 6 Presentation

OUGD502 Module Evaluation

OUGD502 A Design Presence - Photographs and Mock Ups

While I was happy with the overall aesthetic of my promotional materials and branding, I had hoped that I would have given myself the time to experiment more with it and to properly code my website instead of just proposing it. This would have made it a bit more fluid and succinct but I made the mistake of not giving myself enough time to try out other methods of printing and finishing.

OUGD502 A Design Presence - Website

I mocked up some initial scamps so I could cement a consistent layout and format to each page before I started designing. This would keep the same design as all other elements to the brief so I wanted to ensure it would translate as well on screen as off.

I concluded that putting the logo at the top of the webpage gave me more allowance to alternate the design in the content part of the page. I selected a few of the designs that I thought would work well for each page (Projects, About, Services and Contact).

I chose on the Projects page to use the layout that gave me the biggest scope to showcase a lot of work on page, and so I was able to show snapshots of each project, giving the viewer the opportunity to look at all or a few of them.

I used the same typeface as on my branding and promo pack to keep things simple. I wanted to create a rollover image that would provide a title or small amount of information about each project to give an explanation before it was opened:

While I wanted to ensure that the website looked simple, I found that this design was a bit boring and would become quite same-ish. I experimented with using more visuals to break up the white space on the page:

I tried out some changed with the colour, and while I liked the black header it seemed then to go in the opposite direction and became a bit much.

I decided to keep the first version I tried. However, I found at this point that I had now left it too late to find the time to code the website properly, and so had to just create the proposals: