Questionnaire response from Ed Williams - WIlliams and crosby

Re: Everyone Starts Somewhere‏

From:	Edward Williams (ed@wandc.com)
Sent:	30 November 2009 10:39:14
To:	emma georgiou (emmageorgiou88@hotmail.co.uk)

Best regards

Ed Williams

Hi

My names Emma Georgiou and I am currently at Stockport College completing my final year for my graphic design degree.I came across an interesting article on the DandAD website called Everyone starts somewhere. This is a collection of old work produced by big names in the Graphic Design industry including degree work.

This Article made me question how much does old work help later on in your career and does everybody keep and refer to this.

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

Yes if it's worthy of showcasing - unfortunately not all work a designer is asked to do is what we would like to show as 'good' examples. Also as a designer we should always look to improve on our previous, in which case, show the best!

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

Not really, we do sometimes refer back in order to see what we did or to illustrate a point. We find it better to look at other designers solutions as this may take you in a fresh direction and inspire. There is nothing wrong with using reference books etc to kick start an idea - commonly known as research, but never replicate.

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

See above

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

Not all, but you'll often find in the commercial world, your best ideas aren't always the ones that go live, clients may have a different view of what they want, they may get diluted or simply aren't right for that client, so keeping reference can sometimes be useful.

Thank you for taking your time to read my questions and I would be very grateful for some feedback.

You can find the collection of work Everyone starts somewhere at: http://www.dandad.org/everyone_starts_exhibition/

Many thanks

Emma Georgiou