questionnaire response from Dave Sedgwick

Hello Emma

Thanks for your kind words on the talk!
I think you've touched on an interesting topic here and certainly different! I'll try and answer your questions as best as I can!

1. Would you recommend Students keeping a record of all previous work they have produced?

Yep, I certainly do, although I didn’t! I don’t think I have any of my old university work now in all honesty! In actual fact I’m pretty gutted that I I don’t have it.

2. Have you ever personally refereed back to previous work when finding it hard to come up with ideas?

Again, certainly. I often find myself referencing old ideas, logos, scribbles etc and if they didn’t go ahead with one particular client I don’t think there’s anything wrong with revisiting them, so to speak. That said however, sometimes looking back on old ideas can cloud judgement and in many ways restirct the creative flow in relation to new ideas. 

3. Would you find idea generation more effective referring back to your old work or books and other sources?

I think that coming up with a new idea is very subjective. We all do it differently. Some do it by looking at older work, whether done by themselves or other agencies/designers. Some lock themselves away, preferring the peace and quiet of an empty blank piece of paper. Some like to get away from the whole concept of worrying about ideas and prefer to do something different altogether, hopeing for a spark of creative genius! It really depends on the person and of course the brief. If I am doing a logo for a recruitment agency for example, and I;ve done something like this before, I would possibly look back over my old ideas. But more often than not I do look at them and think they were pretty shit! So I start a fresh!


And finally, How important is it to record all your work and ideas into a journal or blog?

It’s probably more important whilst at University than in the real world as this helps with marking and explaining to your tutors how you came up with your ideas. Although, I do still keep my sketch books and back up files, so in a way I am keeping a form of journal. Speaking as someone who doesn’t have a blog as such I think they are great when they’re relevant. 


Hope some of this helps! Sorry it’s Friday and it’s been a long week! 
Dave