Design studios provide insight into design futures

As part of their professional practice BA Graphic Design student made a recent visit to two graphic design studios in Manchester. First was Textbook, based in Hotspur House, established by three graduates of the BA (Hons) Design & Visual Arts course, John, Chris and Vicky. The group also visited a larger studio called LOVE, in the Northern Quarter of Manchester City Centre.

The visits allowed students to compare a young, small studio still attempting to make a name for themselves, with a larger, established agency that has different teams working on different areas of a project. One of the benefits of visiting design studios is that students hear from the designers themselves exactly what they'd like to see in portfolios from job applicants, and also that they went through the same set of challenges that I myself go through from time to time.

Meeting Steve and Patrick at LOVE was a great confidence boost for the students and it was immediately obvious just how down-to-earth and approachable they both were, which made attempting to make contact with design professionals seem much less daunting. A quick chat with them after the visit also allowed students to discuss the possibility of future portfolio critiques,