Alumni Night Mint Lounge Manchester

20/04/17

On the 20th of April stockport college arranged an event in which designers and artists who are now active and working within the industry were invited to come and network with student still studying at the campus. A selection of these artists gave presentations in a petite cute format on their journey from studying at stockport college and insight into where they have progressed to within the industry.
The event was held at the mint lounge in manchester so it was had a more casual feel towards it and created a more comfortable and sociable environment which was good for the networking side of the event after the presentations and gave chance to ask for portfolio presentations to the designers and get feedback from professionals on the work i had done so far without it feeling too formal and there fore gives more options to engage on a social level as well and connect more with these people and build up a reputation and connections with people.

Presentations:

 Andrew Mosely
Gallery Educator, Lecturer and Atelierista at Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester College and co organiser for FORMAT Photography Festival.

he explained that he worked for the guardian newspaper for 10 years as a photojournalist and then became passionate about working on projects to help people and bring people together, he also worked on FACT which is a Foundation for Art and Creative Technology which dressed issues such as mental health.

some of his work:

Everything is Fine (Season 2) from Andrew Moseley on Vimeo.

Some of the key factors of inspiration and advice that i picked up on through out his speech was that he mentioned that it is important to have broad idea of what it is you want to do with regards to what area of the industry you will end up in as there is such a broad cross over within the creative industry that it is too hard to try and pin yourself down to one area so soon before seeing where you interests or preferences take you and you will have a more fulfilling time working if you go towards areas that make you passionate even if that isn't what the initial plan after education was intended. 

He also explained that networking is key and is a big part of this industry and very important to get yourself out to events and to create contacts.

Textbook Studio:


Textbook is a design studio based in Manchester / Salford. Our work focuses on printed materials, especially editorial and publication design, for arts and culture sector clients. Physically making things is really important to us, so our studio often functions as a workshop and print room.

Vik and Chris who are designers and co founders of textbook studios did their petite ketch presentation together.

they explained that they graduated stockport college in 2010 studying graphic design. And that they did a lot of broad experimentation work whilst on the course which  got them to start creating and thinking in broader ways. They explained that they were taught to think crazy as well as to not be afraid to be commercial. 

They said that it is very good to do your own personal projects where ever you can as this design process and active mindset within the creative area of your own inspirations feeds into and can influence and help with projects that are being paid for as well.

They explained that they decided to start a business together as when they were studying the did a lot of collaborative projects together and realised that they worked well and understood each other way of thinking creatively and so explained that it felt natural to continue this after their study. 

They said that they got talking to some people at an event they attended who have them the idea to get funding to start their business and explained that it was the right place at the right time for them and they were able to get the connections. 

To start their business off and to gain recognition they said that they made books which they left around manchester in train station coffee shops and cafes for people to find and explained that this is what gained them recognition and that they still have people to this day asking them about the books.


Natalie Wood:
Natalie wood is another inspirational designer who gave a presentation about her work and her journey and who began her journey at stockport college. 
She explained that she studied illustration when she was a stockport college but was able to be flexible with her approach to working methods and was able to have some experience using after effects to animate her illustrations to some degree whilst she was studying.
She is now an animator at Fuzzy Duck studios in media city and her talk gave an insight into how designers are not tied down to one specific category and metholgy of practise as she applied for the job whilst she was technically defining herself as an illustrator and is now skilful in the world of animation and motion design. 
She explained that it is good to be flexible across numerous pathways of techniques so that you as a designer can mould to the shape of what creative outcome you are aiming for without the restrictions of ability to do so. 

It was very interesting because of this to she how her work had evolved and progressed through out her career.



By day she is a full time Illustrator and Animator at Fuzzy Duck in Stockport. By night she is a Freelance Illustrator, which is something I have been doing since graduating in 2010. Before the world of Facebook she ran my own clothing company, Livid Thorn, which took up the majority of her time while studying for her first degree, and gave a brilliant grounding in working for herself. The first time round she's explained that she studied Design & Art Direction at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2008. Not feeling completely fulfilled after one course, she opted to study Illustration and graduated for the second time from Stockport College in 2010 which really highlights the quality and standards of the college that i have experienced myself whilst studying her and the appreciation i have built whilst studying here.

She also mentioned that she is influenced by a lot of different styles, with the main runners being Shepard Fairey, David Weidman and Jim Flora.”

Gemma Roe:

Another presentation given at this event was by Gemma Roe who is an interior designer who studied at stockport college as she explained a very inspiring and aspirational journey of bravery in taking risks and being true to yourself and finding happiness for yourself and doing somthing that you love and are passionate about and working hard for it. 

She explained that she was stuck in an unrewarding job working as an accountant, and decided to take the risk to do something she would enjoy and took an interior design course at stockport college at the night school courses that stockport offers. 

She explained how she was able to help out on site of the launch of a project for the building of eco homes in which she presented models that she made of the pods to the creator and was given the opportunities although for free, to help out with this project on something that she was very interested and passionate about. From here she explained dhow this eventually lead her to become a co owner of the company Rotunda which was initially created in 2011 to create a sustainable modular eco building which would enhance wellbeing and encourage togetherness. She drew inspiration 

from the curves in nature and the neolithic and iron age roundhouses. And the first prototype was tested in 2012.

I found it inspirational how passionately she spoke about what it is that she is doing now and how your self love and belief in yourself shone through and i think that this kind of speech and the honsety in what she was talking about i felt really does rub off onto those that hear as it did so for me. I have since had a further look at the rotundas that she creates and they are so beautiful and breath taking and i love the natural and spiritual quality that she has managed to weave into these creations which is clear to see has come from the heart and has been based on something she believes in. It was really amazing to hear about when she was explaining about why she chose to make the pods circular, taking design back to our historical roots, less disconnected from nature and how the flow of energy can be effected by design and therefore how important design is in everyday! somthing that i think we as a society have become slightly disconnected from in everyday life, but work like hers is drip feeding this connection back which i find very inspiring as a thought for when i am creating my own work!Although i have always admired and appreciated architecture and interior design i have never been so inspired and touched by it until Gemmas presentation and this has opened my eyes even further in the world of design as i think its very rewarding to find admiration and qualitys in all aspects of the creative industry to enrich my approach of thinking about creatively.

Over View:

Overall from the presentations at this event the themes of advice i found that i have taken from this is self love and passion for what it is i am doing and to work hard towards achieving my goals but enjoy what i am doing as well.

On top of this i also think especially after how great this event was for inspiring my approach to work and admiration for all corners of the design and creative industry, would be to stay active within the industry with regards to attending events such as these and hearing other people as this can be really great for opening up my mind to design approaches and new ideas, as well as creating nd forming great connections with others within the industry.