Rick Bell ... Visiting Professionals - Kent Lyons

Rick Bell was a freelance graphic designer who also had experience in photography and believed in two things, working hard and presentation. If you did these two things well then he believed that you are able to do anything. 


If you do your presentation well then this is the key to getting recognised, but find a balance, good presentation is only worth it if you have good work, so don't only focus on one or the other, you need to find a balance between the two. 




By this time we should all have a website which is payed for a created to make sure you can get yourself out there and its something which is simple and easy for people to look at, no one likes it when you have to struggle to get your self out and fight to make a name for yourself. 
If you are handing out your website you want it to be easy for people to navigate around not something which will prove to be rather challenging. 




Shows...


IF / WHEN you go to a show, you need to be on it, if you have a chance to get yourself out there more, take advantage of this. make sure that you can impress them by your knowledge of the work you have produced.


If someone is to come over to your stand where your work is stood out, make yourself known so that people are there to talk to you, if someone is showing an interest in your work, talk to them with confidence. but under no circumstances. DO NOT HOUND THEM. 




Placements...


when your applying for a placement or some sort of work experience, do not forget to add, a cover story, a one page CV, and remember to give specific dates when you are able to go and work for them, if you are too vague this will most likely put them off and make them lost instant interest in you. 


When you hand out this CV to places, don't just do 10 that you like, send it out to 100's as hardly any will get back to you. the more you hand out the more you will be able to get done in the time in which you need to have it done. 


When you get some replies back accept any of them, at the end of the day. Experience is Experience. 

Rick Bells Personal Recommendation.don't jump straight into a job after university, get some experience by testing more jobs and seeing what best interests you and what you think should happen when it comes to the time to do this. 

When you get a placement don't expect to be able to jump straight into a design seat and make some tea instantly, you need to be able to make alot of tea, as this will be your starting job. Also when you are sat there with nothing to do, your doing it wrong!! ... if you have nothing to do make sure you do... confusing i know but if your sat on your lazy arse get up and ask if anyone needs help. offer to make tea, read a book, look through there archives of information, anything to make yourself progress. 




GET YOUR FINGERS IN SOME PIES. (get more then one job opportunity on the go at anyone time)




and remember you wont always get payed to do the little nitty jobs when you are a designer, sometimes they will allow you to go on there amazon account and get a free book from them or maybe even a little payment may happen.  You could get anything from £50 - 250 for a weeks work, its not much but it certainly helps pay the bills. 




Some inspirational work from Kent Lyons. (these are some of the very simple design work which they have created, this is the style of work which i think really suits my style of creating and something which i find really inspirational)