IDEA alumni at One Twenty Three West offer career advice to 4th years as they prepare for industry practicums
Three of our grads work at Vancouver’s One Twenty Three West. Thank you to our talented alumni John Larigakis, Kim Ridgewell, and Taeyeon Kim for the great group photos and career advice for our 4th-year students!
“As we grow, we hire mostly senior people who do the work, not just manage. We never pitch with an all star team and then staff with juniors.”
John Larigakis, Creative Director
You probably know what you like to do most – maybe it's packaging, maybe it's ads, maybe it's videos. Find a way to get more of that kind of work in your portfolio at all costs. You may only have one packaging class in your schedule, and a web design class, and a bunch of writing classes. Try to fit a few more packaging projects in on the side, or work it in as a part of another class. For instance, if you have a branding or logo design class, do a package design for that brand and work it in. Then when you're ready to put your portfolio together, it highlights what you're best at, you have a lot of it, and you are more likely to land a position doing what you actually like doing. Share it with your instructors and classmates and get lots of feedback, even if it's something you did in between classes.
“One Twenty Three West is an independent idea & design collective based out of Vancouver. Some of their favourite work: Tim Hortons, KOHO, BCAA, Canada Media Fund, Diane’s Lingerie, Muskoka Brewery and White Spot.”
Kim Ridgewell, Creative Director
Create a unique portfolio. Agencies and studios see so many student books – find a way to stand out from the crowd. Focus on creative and insightful ideas, instead of worrying about your work looking like something you've seen online.
Your work should tell a story – think about what that narrative is before you go into an interview. Show that you're keen and willing to push your work and ideas, and be open to feedback in your interviews – someone might give you a nugget that could help to take your work to the next level and turn something into gold!
Shown left to right above: Kim Ridgewell, Creative Director (IDEA Grad 2007); Taeyeon Kim (IDEA Grad 2016), Designer; and John Larigakis, Creative Director (IDEA Grad 2010).
Taeyeon Kim, Designer
Show that you're passionate: When you're first starting out, it's hard to be confident about your work when you're surrounded by people whose experience and expertise exceed your own. But remember that you bring a lot of the table, too, and others will appreciate that you work hard. So show up to creative check-ins with a lot of sketches. Show them you can be conceptual and explain the thinking behind all of your ideas, even if you think they're bad. If you have some extra time on your hands, ask the people around you if they need help with their projects (you never know if you'll end up helping out on an awesome project!) Ask questions if you get stuck, even if it seems like a minor problem (your co-workers will be happy to help you figure stuff out!)
Surround yourself with people that you can learn from: There's so much you can learn by surrounding yourself with highly talented people. See how they brainstorm, where they get their inspiration from, how they collaborate with other designers and copywriters, how they pace themselves with their workload, and how they present their work to clients. This is a great way to pick up helpful tips that you can use later.
Keep going! Some days, it might seem like you're not achieving much and doing very repetitive tasks. You might get sent back to come up with more ideas because your original ideas are not working out. You might have to revise your designs many times based on feedback. If you ever feel like you're bogged down with these day-to-day tasks, take it slow and remember that this is just practice for your future as an awesome creative and these tasks will only make you a better and faster designer!
For more on One Twenty Three West see 123w.ca.
“IDEA School of Design—Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication at Capilano University—is a career-oriented program for the next generation of creative professionals, with concentrations in branding, illustration and interactive design. We’re located on Canada’s beautiful west coast in North Vancouver, British Columbia.”
