I thought that emails would be my best route of communication for the type of work I want to create, creating something physical wouldn't be relevant to my practice and so the pdf portfolio I created will be perfect, a small selection of my work with descriptions - rather than sending out the link to my website. I imagine this would put agencies off at this point having to open that link rather than just opening the pdf within the email.
When drafting the emails to send out, I decided to create a rough template that I could personalise for each agency I am interested in contacting and working with. As I am imagining that I will have to email quite a few, I thought this tactic will be easier than rewriting the whole thing but it still maintains a personal touch as I will research each and every agency thoroughly and only email if there are particular projects I am interested in.
Black and Ginger
Black and Ginger is an agency in Liverpool that I emailed over last summer to enquire about a placement - see below, but I didn't hear back from, I presume is because I was only in second year and they prefer to focus on graduates or people in final year.
We’re Black & Ginger, a close knit creative team that finds ambition in brands, helping them to fulfil their goals. Set up in 2003 in Liverpool with a vision to push and improve the quality of creative and design in the city, our vision has expanded, working with established brands & aspiring startups the world over, from Abu Dhabi to Sydney, to businesses just a few hundred meters down the road.
I am particularly interested in this design agency as a lot of their projects are packaging and branding, and being based in Liverpool I have actually seen their work in situation. An example of the work I appreciate is below.
Love Thy Neighbour
A new healthy hang out was proposed and this needed a name and a brand identity that would stand out and represent their new offering; fresh food, matcha coffees and juices at its core, backed to the soundtrack of mellow tunes. Somewhere you could chill and relax during the day and in the evening let your hair down.
The branding of Love Thy Neighbour is inspired by tattoo style illustrations and the typeface is clear and concise. Below you can see their food and drink menus, the drinks is a little booklet, whilst the food is presented as more of a landscape place mate. As they are only produced on paper they can easily be changed seasonally, a lot easier than having a fancy card/ heavier material produced.
The menu is fun and contains a lot of choice, the ingredients are listed and there are additions at the bottom of the menu. There is also a section informing the customer of what symbols and letters mean in terms with food allergies and dietary requirements. The menu is easy to follow - everything flows and is where you would expect.
Smiling Wolf
'At Smiling Wolf we create holistic brand experiences which are memorable and distinct. An established team, steeped in experience, expertise and energy, we create ideas and develop brands with personality and resonance.
A joined up approach to design and branding–graphics, apps, web, digital, packaging, spatial, art direction and more, enables us to provide an all encompassing experience to connect and engage our clients and their customers.
We work with the creative, cultural, entertainment and lifestyle industries: Architectural practices to television, games to music, restaurants to festivals, we make great work – whoever the client.
Smiling Wolf welcome a broad range of briefs: a website that enthuses, a campaign that inspires, a poster that energises or an urban landscape which transforms – using appropriate means to develop beautiful, useful and effective results.
Offering ideas, strategies and vision to create complete brand worlds, we provide our clients with work that their customers will love, remember and cherish.'
Branding, web, digital and packaging are the areas I am most interested in so I feel as though I would be a good fit in this agency and I could gain some valuable hands on experience.
Kalo
'We develop and build brands. From an individual with an idea, to an organisation with an ethos, we provide clients with a design led identity to drive their business forward through print and digital channels. Whether from inception or just a refresh, we can help you establish or reposition your brand to thrive in your sector.'
The logo is simply the restaurant name and an illustration of a monkey, this is very effective as it can be used in signage, on the website, on menus etc. and is very recognisable.
The menus are very descriptive about the food on the menu - you want to know what is going into your food, especially with so many people having dietary requirements. The typeface is clear and black to contrast with the white background. As the menus are on clipboards and just printed on paper, they can be easily changed seasonally without great expense.
Oslo
We had a talk from this agency back in first year and I really liked their approach to design and the fact they had started when they were young, it was motivating to me and I would love the chance to gain an insight.
At Oslo, we believe we can take your business to the next level. We take care of your creative needs in order to effectively tell the story of your brand and make you stand out. We don’t like to set limits on what we do, that isn’t our vibe, but, if you really must know then we've listed of some of our services on this page.
The branding for Laynes was inspired by the tiles in the cafe, the style of the menu and other collateral were thoroughly thought out and this is the type of work I want to create, something beautiful with tonnes of context - created through research.
Hypergram
Hypergram specialise in branding and web design which is exactly what I want to do when I graduate, the type of studio they have would be ideal for a creative like myself.
The agencies I emailed above are ones that I would choose to work at if it were up to me, so I thought I should email them first as a priority. After reaching out to these 5 agencies I decided to expand my search and emailed a few other agencies in Leeds/ Manchester.
