Visiting UK Greetings

Upon my arrival I was met in reception by one of the Studio Directors, after a cup of tea, we then took a tour of the studios. The studios were divided by specific roles played within the company. The largest studio was for a team of general designers, which a small team of illustrators also resided within. It was interesting talking to a couple of the illustrators, they spoke about different ways in which they work from digital to traditional media. They all had sketchbooks used for initial ideas and things that may be used later on in a different brief. I also found out that their illustrations are then passed on to a designer to then be made into a product, I hadn’t realised prior to my visit that the illustrators wouldn’t solely take the lead on designing their products. I was also taken to see the studio which had teams for; character design, humour and Disney. As well as the studio for external brands I.e. Sainsbury’s, and the gift wrap and packaging studio. It was interesting to find that each greetings card produced go through a series of different designers and teams before reaching the end product that will be put on shelves to sell. As a perfectionist I think I would find this aspect of the industry quite difficult to adjust to, because it’s so different to how I’d usually work. Although this process could offer a great chance to collaborate with designers across the whole company. 

The feel of the professional working environment was really exciting, and inspiring. The studios were very open plan which gave a feel of community and even though there were Macs at every desk, there were still some artists painting. It was interesting to see how each designer take a different approach to their work. There are a number of ways to work for UK Greetings, freelancing appealed to me the most as I felt like this would offer the most freedom with the way I work. As a company, they select artists to freelance for them based on which projects are running at a specific time. No matter how good the artists work is, they can’t pay someone to freelance if they can’t find a use for their work, or don’t have a demand for what the artist is producing. This gave me some insight into how the industry works, as it all comes down to what the consumer wants and catering for the widest audience. 

During my portfolio review, it was encouraging to hear it was my character design that really interested the studio directors. This is an area I’m not very confident in, and feel needs improvement. This has given me the confidence to approach character design more often than I would usually. The studio directors also commented on my use of shape and colour, and could see my work transferring to wrapping paper, this is something I had already pondered and would be interested in trying. The experience of being in a creative environment made me think more about what I would like to do after my degree. On reflection, I think I would like to work in a studio with other creatives, so I can work around likeminded people and have the opportunity to get instant feedback. I think I would find this way of working motivating.