Wednesday 27 May 2015

PPP3 - ROBOT FOOD - STUDIO VISIT

Today I finally visited Leeds based branding and packaging design firm Robot Food for my prearranged studio visit. 

Currently, I am still putting the finishing touches to my professional portfolio and so did not have a finished set of presentation boards I could take to the studio to showcase my work. To surpass the problem, I quickly put together some digital impact boards in the two hours I had spare before the visit, giving me something to both display and talk through. 





As a designer with a love for print and the hands on production process involved with the creation of many of my outcomes, I decided that taking some physical elements to support the digital portfolio would help to communicate who I am as a designer and help to further showcase some of my work.

Therefore, as well as the quick portfolio I created I took physical elements consisting of;

  • Transition Newspaper - Screen printed using vegetable inks (COP module).
  • Robot Food - Tailored gift for the studio (PPP module)



THE GIFT 


In preparation for the studio visit I created a bespoke gift, the primary function of which was to help create a lasting impression and showcase my individual creativity. 



Images of the gift can be seen below.







After speaking through my digital portfolio, I gave the Robot Food gift to Martin, the design director at the firm, who was both impressed with the concept and design of the outcome. Creating intrigue, the Robot Food slowly made its way around the members of studio who inspected the piece individually. 



STUDIO AND WORK 

Upon arriving at the studio I was greeted by Martin, the design director at Robot Food, who showed me round the office and introduced me to the individual team members that wrre working that day.

After the introductions, I was seated and shown some of the recent projects the studio have been working on, a process which covered the various steps of the project from initial research through to the refined final outcome. Talking through the various projects was fascinating, as I found the journeys projects undertook had a number different stages that accumulated to form an informed final resolution. 

While going through the projects I also asked questions about project timescale, workload division, client input and how problems (if any) were overcome. 



IMPROVING PROCESS 

The methodical process applied by the Robot Food team when approaching a brief allowed them to consistently create innovative design outcomes that impress both the client and their customers. When talking about this process I defined aspects I can subsequently utilise to help improve my design practice. 

  • Research - Review products outside of specific area of focus.
    • Example - If researching beer, review beer related products, such as bar snacks etc.
  • Competition overview - what are the competitors making? 
  • Brand positioning - where will the brand lie?
    • Luxury, cheap?
  • Mock ups - Show product in context against competition. 
    • Helps to show impact.  



CONCLUSION

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the studio, meeting the Robot Food team and learning a bit about their creative process and projects. 

Additionally, I feel that the visit was really successful, the digital portfolio of work I talked through created interest amongst those reviewing it indicating that they were impressed by the design thinking and standard of work. Furthermore, the gift I presented to the studio was well received and seemed to impress the members of the team who got a chance to review it. 

Upon finishing my visit, me and martin discussed my progression plans for after I finish university, specifically inquiring if I had any work placements arranged. I subsequently informed him about my placement with the guys from Something More, to which he took the dates and asked me to send through the digital portfolio I presented so he could show it to Simon, the creative director, who did not get a chance to look through it. Hopefully, he will be impressed, as I would love to intern for the studio. 

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