The A-Z Manifesto

As a graphic designer I’m literally always learning

new things, getting new insights and gaining

knowledge, I have long term goals, strong, focused

targets that I will meet, for example, I will work

in branding & marketing then after a few years

set up a practice in the south west region. I have

strong ties to the sea and my local environment

and I noticed that the area is not design conscious,

many businesses masquerade as design companies

but none deliver good ideas and impactful,

meaningful design. I’m going to help educate

local businesses and communities with the help of

like-minded designers and creatives. Firstly though

I need to get a wealth of experience in all areas

my work mainly focuses on print, illustration and

some film but I need to get to grips with a whole

range of skills like digital design and use technical

knowledge to improve my typographical and

editorial design.

I have created an A-Z of points that I use every

single day. The list tracks my thought process and

attitude toward a spectrum of aspects, situations

and problems I face everyday in the Graphic

Design field.

Advocate good use of

design, it doesn’t have

to be expensive, design

doesn’t have to be big

and bold and huge and

in your face, everything is

designed, teach people.

Make them aware.

ADV OCATE.

Big yourself up. No one

e l s e i s g o i n g t o d o

it for you, publicise

a n d p r o m o t e , d o n ’ t

u n d e r s e l l yo u r s e l f .

People will constantly

be trying to undervalue

your time and benefit

from your generosity.

Don’t include yourself

in this bunch.

BIGYOUUP.

COMPETE!

Compete . Don ’ t be

a key b o a rd wa r r i o r

s l a g g i n g o f f o t h e r

designs, get your work

out there compliments

are good but criticism

is even better.

DOMORE.

D o m o re w i t h l e s s .

Think lateral ly. A lot

c a n b e d o n e w i t h a

printer and scanner or

a c a m e ra a n d p a i n t ,

penc i l and paper etc

t w e a k p r o c e s s a n d

experiment, this is the

most enjoyable part of

being a designer.

EXPERIENCE.

E x p e r i e n c e . E v e r y

p r o j e c t i s a u n i q u e

e x p e r i e n c e a n d

b r o a d e n s y o u r

u n d e r s t a n d i n g . Two

b r a n d i n g p r o j e c t s

f o r a s i m i l a r h e a l t h

p r o d u c t w i l l n e v e r

b e t h e e x a c t s a m e ,

H o w e v e r i f i t l o o k s

l i k e a s h i t p r o j e c t

a n d w i l l s t o p y o u

f r o m t a k i n g o n

o t h e r m o re c re a t i ve

p r o j e c t s , d o u b l e

o r t r i p l e t h e p r i c e

t o m a k e i t w o r t h

yo u r w h i l e . I f t h ey

d e c l i n e w h o c a re s ,

i f t h ey a c c e p t yo u ’ l l

b e l a u g h i n g .

FINANCE.

F i n a n c e . Ta k e c a r e

o f t h i s . D e s i g n i s

a b o u t s a t i s f a c t i o n

a n d p e r s o n a l

r e w a r d , b u t y o u

c a n t e a t t h o s e .

GUT. A d v i c e o n w h a t

d i r e c t i o n y o u w a n t

t o g o i n w i t h a

p r o j e c t c a n b e

g r e a t , i n s i g h t f u l

a n d r e a l l y u s e f u l

b u t a l s o c a n b e

c o n f u s i n g , e v e n i f

e v e r y b o d y e l s e i s

t e l l i n g y o u c h o i c e

B , i f y o u r g u t s a y s

cho ice A , go w i th i t .

HELP.Yo u r i n s t i n c t t e l l s

y o u t o k e e p y o u r

c a r d s c l o s e t o

y o u r c h e s t . D e s i g n

i s n ’ t a l w a y s a

c o m p e t i t i o n , i t ’ s a

community and I can’t

stress that enough.

INDIVIDUAL.

Our design styles a r e

a l l o u t c o m e s o f o u r

l i f e e x p e r i e n c e s ,

s o w h a t u s e i s i t

s t e a l i n g s o m e o n e

e l s e ’ s s t y l e w h e n

y o u h a v e n o

c o n n e c t i o n t o t h e i r

i n i t i a l i n f l u e n c e ?

JOKE.D e s i g n i s n ’ t a l ways

d o o r d i e y o u a r e

occas iona l ly a l lowed

to have fun wi th i t .

Th is doesn ’ t inc lude

typographic puns.

KILL.K i l l b a d d e s i g n . I t ’ s

y o u r r e s p o n s i b i l i t y

a s a d e s i g n e r t o

s lowly eradicate bad

design, by m e a n s o f

t e a c h i n g , crit ique

and tearing d o w n

the occasional poster.

LIFE.I t s o u n d s c l i c h é

b u t i t r e a l l y i s a

l i f e s t y l e , i t ’ s a w a y

o f t h i n k i n g a n d a

w a y o f v i s u a l i s i n g

t h a t s h o u l d n e ve r

l e a v e y o u r h e a d

w h e n yo u s e e a n i c e

p i e c e o f d e s i g n i n

y o u r h e a d v i s u a l i s e

h o w y o u w o u l d

r e p l i c a t e i t ? T h i s

i s a p r a c t i c e I u s e

e v e r y s i n g l e d a y .

MASTER.

Master of al l trades

jack of none. I t wi l l

be tough out there,

become a Swiss army

knife…of creativity.

NAFFTYPE.

Free typefaces l ike

Lost Type may seem

l i k e a g o o d i d e a

b u t i t u n d e r m i n e s

y o u r w o r k . C h o o s e

o n e o f t h e m a n y

h i g h l y r e p u t a b l e

fonts l i ke Futura or

Helvetica, don’t over

c o m p l i c a t e t h i n g s ,

t h e y a r e p o p u l a r

f o r a r e a s o n .

ORGANISE.

Leaving things to the

l a s t m i n u t e s e e m s

t h e o n l y w a y , u n t i l

you actual ly prepare

for something using

t i m e b o u n d a r i e s

a n d f e e l t h e r e l i e f

wash over you in an

awe s o m e wave .

PRESENT.

E v e r y t h i n g s h o u l d

b e d e s i g n e d a n d

c o n s i d e r e d . F a c t .

QUESTION.

Its good to question

and research designer’s

r a t i o n a l e b e h i n d

y o u r f a v o u r i t e

p r o j e c t s . I t i s n ’ t

j u s t a b o u t l o o k i n g

g o o d t h e r e n e e d s

t o b e a c o n c e p t

b e h i n d i t .

RESTRAIN.

Being outspoken can

be a good thing, but

restrain yourself from

c o m p l e t e l y t e a r i n g

apart someone’s work

no matter how bad,

I’m sure you wouldn’t

like it. But do let them

know if there are any

i m p r o v e m e n t s t h a t

c a n b e m a d e a n d

focus on the positives.

SAULBASS.

T a k e i n s p i r a t i o n

f ro m p e o p l e t h a t

are renowned as the

best designers ever.

Not from flavours of

the m o n t h . W h e n

y o u s e e a t r e n d

forming influenced by

a time period, certain

designer or technique

use your next project

t o d o s o m e t h i n g

the complete opposite

of that.

TRY.T R Y . T r y h a r d ,

d o n ’ t w r i t e i d e a s

o f f b e c a u s e y o u

t h i n k i t w i l l t a k e

t o o l o n g o r b e

m o r e e f f o r t , i f

i t f a i l s y o u ’ v e

l e a r n t a n d i f i t

w o r k s y o u ’ l l l o o k

rea l l y coo l and stu f f.

UTILISE.

Utilise your uniqueness.

Use your characteristics

and i n te res t s f rom

o u t s i d e d e s i g n t o

feed your c reat iv i ty.

VEXED?

Vexed? Don’t be afraid

to have a rest and take

a break.

WEB.Get your mug all over the

web as much as possible,

anywhere you can, no

publicity is bad publicity.

XYLOPHONE.

Xylophone?

YOUTH.

Youth and inexperience.

Paula Scher talks about

serious play and solemn

play, she could only do

her serious most exciting

work , when she was

young, inexperienced

and naive, breaking the

rules of correct practice

in design, use this to your

advantage. Your allowed

to make mistakes and

sometimes that leads to

the best ideas.

ZEROTOLERANCE.

Lastly Its ok to know what

you want, most of the points

you have already read are

sugar coated versions of what

I follow for best practice. I

want to be nice to people, I

want to help, I want to teach,

I want to let everyone in on

my little secret tricks and fixes

for things. I want to do all that

stuff and more, but I know

along the way I will take an

attitude and principles towards

design and my contemporaries

sometimes that will be selfish. I

will be seen as arrogant, rude,

and egotistical but I hope

this shows an insight into my

psyche, because I know exactly

what I want to do and I wont let

anything stop me…and neither

should you.