Jumping in the saddle at Vivid, my journey from University to agency

Fresh out of Uni

Back in April this year doomsday was fast approaching, university was coming to an end. This institution had been my life for the past 5 years – it was all I had come to know and now I was heading into the unknown. Half of me was excited about the start of something new but the other half was freaking out big time, what do I do now? Where will I live? How will I survive getting up at 7am everyday? I decided that I didn’t want to move back home so I had to hit the ground running in Sheffield.

First of all I had to land an interview. So I updated my CV and created a portfolio demonstrating a range of what I could do. A lot of my work was cross media involving web, print, 3D, photography and film. This held me in good stead as agencies do look for people with multiple skills. During my interview I was asked to go away and come up with a re-brand concept for La Squadra, a local cycling club. The brief required it to be reminiscent of classic Italian cycling and design, to reflect the clubs ethos and lifestyle of enjoying good food and drink, creativity and of course, cycling. This was a great first project as it allowed for a lot of creativity.

Getting the creative wheels turning

I first looked at how La Squadra could use photography to reinforce their identity. As for any lifestyle brand, how their audience sees them is crucial to getting people to want to join up. I created a mood board to show how imagery could reflect the active, adventurous, fast-paced nature of cycling whilst still retaining a classic look. I then matched these with lifestyle images such as food, clothing and landscape shots to help build up a complete brand image. This influenced colour palettes and how a logo might look and feel. I considered how the concept would carry across onto clothing, accessories and other materials. So, I kept the design simple and clean using stripes and block colours to marry all the elements together, keeping a consistent look throughout.

I sent this concept back to be reviewed and as a result I was offered a two-week trial. Trials are pretty normal for anyone trying to get into the creative industry as it is all about what you can bring to the company. But this being my first design job I didn’t know what to expect. My first two weeks involved developing La Squadra further, having quite a lot of creative freedom and direction from the team. Alongside this I worked on different types of projects for a number of clients with existing brand guidelines. I had experience working with clients at university so working within brand guidelines in terms of design and style wasn’t new to me.

Working in the Real World

One thing that was new to me though was the time scale of projects. At university you have the freedom to complete work as and when you wanted. Generally projects would last a couple of months. However, work that you may have had months to work on at university; you now had several days/hours along with a budget to be mindful of. After all time is money! This is something university doesn’t prepare you for.

I feel I have settled into the Vivid team nicely and have been here nearly 5 months now. Time has gone really quickly, which proves if you enjoy the work you’re doing it doesn’t feel like a job at all. Unlike some of my summer jobs which were a living hell – a scrapyard and bottling factory to name just two.

Vivid is the complete opposite; it is a relaxed, supportive environment working alongside a great team, who together create some awesome stuff.

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