After reviewing Week 08's interviews, I realised something: Self-branding was really a big deal for local designers. Based on the feedback, what mattered the most to them were:
Personality and individuality
Online presence and self-marketing
Professional network
Work experience
Communication
Personality and individuality
Although self-branding does help significantly in defining personality in a visual sense, it is not the only way to express it. According to two of my designer interviewees, personality is what seals the deal when employers are on the fence when hiring someone relatively new.
Online presence and self-marketing
Sharing your work online is one of the most helpful things that can help new and budding designers. This actually was mentioned by the guest lecturer on Week 06, Dominique Falla:
Say YES to everything, explore and publish (even if it's not perfect)!
Self-marketing was apparently more important than self-branding especially for younger designers who may or may not yet have a fully realised brand identity. The designer's exisiting body of work serves as the brand and it should already speak for itself.
Professional network
Building a professional contacts list greatly increases your chances of getting noticed and potentially hired. Some of the interviewees mentioned that it was actually though word of mouth that they got jobs and projects. Referrals are a big help for people who hardly know anyone in the industry.
Work experience
The interviewees stressed the importance of getting work experience even if it sometimes means not getting paid. Being immersed in a work environment will also help new designers learn to adjust and be more adaptable to all sorts of situations.
Communication
In general, Aussies are very vocal and direct so it's important to see the opportunity in these traits. Feedback is essential to understanding what people look for in a designer. New designers shouldn't be afraid to ask questions and request for constructive criticism, these are all useful in tailoring your work to suit your desired audience or target employer.
So to put it simply:
Self-marketing + networking > Self-branding
This conclusion made me realise that maybe my brand guideline outcome wasn't the most appropriate in addressing my unemployment problem. The question that this realisation posed was:
How might I be able to help new designers achieve all these 5 key points? What could be a practical and creative way of doing so?
While having another conversation with one of my interviewees, she suggested why not gamify the task? She suggested that I create a board game like Snakes and Ladders or Monoply to make it fun. It sounded like a brilliant idea but unfortunately, I had to nix it because to me, it made the process seem a bit trivial. I wanted something that was fun but still professional and handy of course (a game board would definitely prove to be to tedious to lug around). I got the answer in the palm of my hand, quite literally – an app! Today's job seekers depend heavily on apps like SEEK, Indeed, Jora, etc. because they're convenient, user-friendly, effective and free. Why not create one specifically tailored to designers? This was the new direction I wanted to take my project in. The next step was to do some research on apps and app development.
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