Sunday, May 8, 2011

Webb de Vlam


Last Thursday, I attended an AIGA Chicago Studio Walk in the West Loop.  There were four studio spaces in the area that were open for the evening.  Each studio would give attendees a brief tour of their work space, and discuss, over cheap wine in a plastic cup, their function as creatives.  The first studio I visited was called Webb De Vlam.  They are a company based in London and Chicago.  They assist in branding and packaging.  As kind of a "noob" in AIGA events, I was immediately taken away with the studio space.  It looked like every other swanky loft studio featured in Computer Arts magazines; equipped with Macs, bean bags, and colorful Herman-miller furniture.  It was essentially a playground for designers. 


In addition, the workers in the studio appeared to be a very tight-knit group.  The graphic designers who gave me the studio tour highlighted two essential factors in working in a design group:  the need to inspire one another and the need to be comfortable with the group members.  This resonated with me because of the fact that their design team sounded very similar to the design community I've grown so found of here at DePaul.  At this point of our senior year (for most of us), we have learned to an extent how each artist operates, and we are comfortable with one another to share our honest feedback during critiques.  We also inspire one another, at some degree.

I suppose these are the things that are most important to me as a growing designer, trying to find work right out of college.  Not only does the environment I work in have to be in a space conducive for creativity--there also needs to be a strong sense of community that leaves room for growth.  

14 comments:

  1. Being comfortable with your peers is a must, creativity can be blocked if the energy isn't right between you and your peers and also no one really wants to present work to an audience that they don't feel comfortable around, the critiques always feel that much harsher.

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  2. having worked in a small printing company's prepress dept. (Me and one other guy). I very much agree with what you are saying James. You spend 8 or more hours with these people all week, it is important to not only like and be inspired by those around you, but it behooves us to learn to accept other people's quirks (though sometimes this isn't possible). The work day is so much of a hell when the guy you work with is at odds with you.

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  3. That is totally the environment I hope to work in. A place where my coworkeres are also my close friends, people I'd want to get a drink with after work!

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  4. I am still undecided about whether I want to do freelance or work more for a company with a design team. I know even doing freelance you have to create a friendly environment also. Either way you look at it, there are always going to be peers that you are working with or working for.

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  5. Man I wish I knew about this happening.
    I started that facebook group, you should have posted it there!

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  6. This is definitely a place I would like to end up, working with just a few designers would be awesome because we can always pull inspiration from each other and get each others opinions on things. Also if you can gain friends out of your work experience it makes it that much better and more fun to go to work everyday.

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  7. I also agree you have to have a good trusting bond with the people you work with. If your not comfortable your work will show it.

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  8. Definitely true that you have to like the people that you work with. With the places we've visited in Portfolio it's easy to see that many of the groups are filled with people who are very much alike even in the way they look and dress. BUT it's also important to remember that surrounding yourself with people who ALSO have diverse interests is good too!

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  9. totally agree that atrust is a huge factor in a team. not just for design, but for any type of collective team, whether it is a company or a sports team.

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  10. I agree with John's comment. You need to feel comfortable with your coworkers to let your guard down. Then you have no reservations as far as your creativity goes and can trust your teammates to be honest.

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  11. That sounds awesome! I saw that on AIG's facebook and wish I could have been able to make it.

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  12. Studio life is the designer equivalent of Cribs.

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  13. That definitely sounds like a space I'd want to work in. Environment (physical and social) is absolutely crucial to productivity in any field, and should not be taken for granted or left out of consideration.

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