Chip shops, law firms and passionate ambition

I’ve previously written about what I feel it will take for me to succeed, but it wasn’t until recently, when some said something to me that made me consider the even bigger picture. I’ve chosen to go down the avenue of internships and work experience to enhance my career prospects, though this isn’t to say someone who chooses who improve their credentials through further education or post graduate study won’t succeed too. It was during this conversation that I had the realisation that it was very naive of me to not be thinking about the even bigger picture.

Gaining experience or furthering credentials is the part that will help you achieve your dreams on paper. Although more than willing, I’ve never considered what it takes beyond that. If I didn’t consider the even bigger picture, it would be pretty shallow of me to assume experience is the only way to success. Reflecting on people I consider successful, there are definitely attributes they have in common beyond the paper credentials.  It’s the drive and ambition. I don’t think you can be truely successful unless you’ve got the passion.

The people I refer to are guaranteed to be up every morning when the hour hand is in the lower right quartile of the clock and not going to bed until its back in the upper right quartile.  They all found themselves doing mundane, ‘working in a chip shop’ jobs to support themselves, while going through unpaid internships or Masters/PhD studies. But all the while, it is the passion that keeps them going, the reward of the success. Although the success never happens all at once, the drip feed of passing an exam or receiving a glowing reference gives the little boosts of encouragement to keep going, to maintain the passion.

As recent graduates, we sometimes loose sight of the bigger picture.  Whether you are 23 and finding yourself hiding from freshers during fresher’s week as you begin your Masters, or fed up of making coffee and photocopying case notes in a law firm – think beyond the next 6 weeks, or even the next 6 months. Look at the bigger picture, and consider what you are doing now as a small part of achieving the dream. As long you've got a goal, you can't go wrong.

Ambiance and the Chair

For those that know me, will know I’ve got a secret love of chairs. (roll your eyes and laugh all you like. I can take it. ) During my first two years of my degree it was all about the chairs. I was designing them, writing about them and reading about them. The science behind a structure that held a weight and then the design that has been applied to make the practicalities exciting is something rather fascinating. Towards the end of my degree my work took less of a seated approach and more towards other design, but the consideration of the body was still there.

Given my recent thoughts of spatial design, I’ve began to realise how important seating can be when in context. Previously I have only really considered seating as an isolated object of design but when considering the space in which it stands opens up an entire can of new worms. The arrangement of chairs can create an intimate or inviting space, the type of chair can indicate the formality of a situation or in some cases the informality.

When it comes to the events, I’ve never really stopped to consider the fact the guests can spend the majority of their evening in a chair. In terms of time, it can be a place where someone would spend a considerable amount of their time, yet some times the seating is not necessarily considered beyond colour.

The layout of seating in an event is important too. I found myself organising an event in a long rectangular room, which posed difficulty when locating the dance floor where ultimately speeches would take place and a band was to peform. As it transpired the only layout that was truly realistic was having 300 people either side and the stage in the centre. As a result other factors then had to be introduced to recreate the involvement and intimate feeling that would have come naturally in a room with more centralised the seating.

From this I can definitely conclude, that (I hope) there will be a lot more ‘chair chat’ in my future than I initally realised – in a way the seating could make or break the ambiance of an event. The science of seating is a complete subject on its own - when your next at an event, consider how the seating is playing a part in your experience.

Ps: For those that read this far – Thanks. One day, when I have more than the space of a blog post I’ll try and explain my love of seating.

Playing with Space

In 6 months time I need to hit the real world running – And I need to know what I want to do and why I want to do it. I’m always going to be creative, that is a given. I came out of uni wanting to do creative events, which is still the path that I am aiming for. Though it is only recently that I have really found more clarity and reasoning behind this choice. If someone was going to ask me why I wanted to do creative events, the answer of I like events and I like being creative would just not cut it.  I’ve recently realised I enjoy designing not just events but with space. Designing within a space. I see it almost like a 3D brief. Here is a space, this what we want the outcome to achieve, this is a space we want people to enjoy, make it happen. PostEvents certainly lend itself to a job that involves space manipulation, designing to a brief, to enhance visual and human interaction. This is the challenge I want. I know I could be happy designing for any space, whether it be a ballroom, a sports hall, or a living room.

The idea of re-creating the space into a clients visions, or to create a certain atmosphere within a space is positively exciting. There are so many ways it can be done! I like a challenge. The constant challenge of creating something new and something that makes people go wow.

The dream would have to be to own my own company that offers an expertise in spatial design. From temporary event design to permanent architectural design to the space people have around them at home and work. Although I’m now getting ahead of myself, my big dreams most definitely fuel the first leg of the race.

The £11,000 Pen. No mistake on the zeros.

We have all been window shopping or flicked through magazines and gawped at the price tag of an item and added it to the never granted wish list. I’m sure we’ve all heard a man say ‘those shoes are how much? I’ll make you a pair for that’ too. Although as a designer, I appreciate the value and possibly have a greater understanding of the cost of design pieces than the average person, I couldn’t believe it when I found myself reading a mini catalogue that arrived in my subscription of a well known interior design magazine advertising a pen at the mere cost of £11,000. Eleven Thousand British Pounds. I couldn’t believe it. I’d consider paying 11,000 Japanese Yen for pen but £11,000!? It got me thinking as to what factors are considered when pricing an object.  Obviously materials, time taken, machinery used, packaging, advertising, transport and shipping are included but unless this pen was made from the rarest of materials, and is shipped first class on a private jet I have to question where the value comes from.

Can value come in a less physical form? Can the concepts or meaning of a piece give it value? I think the answer is yes.  I mean people pay millions for paintings don’t they?  Though the majority of the cost comes from the reputation when it comes to famous artists, which was not the case for the pen in question.  The sentimental value could add to it – but that comes from the buyer. Something that it determined after the price is decided.

I will never understand the thought process behind buying £11,000 pen. I can understand people putting personal value on an item but I’d love to understand how some can justify the £11,000 pen in the first place.