Today I went to Top Corner's studio in Manchester to meet Barry McManus and get some feedback on my portfolio.
My initial reaction to going along to the studio was as to be expected.. quite nervous! It's quite a daunting experience going showing your work to someone who quite frankly has more knowledge than yourself and could slate your work but it was something that had to be done.
I'll be honest, I don't think my portfolio was quite up to scratch. It was quite thin looking and probably didn't have enough work in but all the same I went to see Barry to get some much needed critiscism.
Top Corner is based near Manchester University and after a while of walking around and getting caught up in crowds of other students I eventually found the building. I was quite amazed as the building alone was quite interesting. Set near the train station it was clear that the building may of been part of the rail way at some time as large beams and metal structures helped to hold the building up.
I met Barry upon arriving and he took me into a very large board room filled with lots of work, by now my nerves had gone and I started to feel slightly more relaxed. I began by talking through my portfolio and explaining briefly what my ideas were for each piece. Barry then spoke about what he liked and what could be a developed further. Barry said that he was surprised by the work I had shown him as normally he recieves PDF's from students and is not normally overwhelmed by them. He particularly liked my typeface 'Play thing' I had developed in the typography elective and he especially liked the editorial spreads I produced for the British Dental Museum.
We spoke for a while about College as Barry said he has heard really good things about the degree. I told him about the Thoughtful six placement and also the 3rd years hiring out a big red bus to drive around town showing their portfolios on. He thought these were very exciting ideas and ones he never recieved as after college he got a job straight away.
Barry gave me some really useful hints and advice such as; maybe making my portfolio slightly bigger - maybe even square, try adding more content to it as at the moment there isn't a lot of work, try adding some of my scamp or sketched idea's into it otherwise other people looking at my portfolio may think it only took me a few hours to produce some of the work when in fact it took weeks. Barry also said that my Saatchi Gallery end-sting didn't really make sense as a storyboard and maybe it would be better to see it actually moving on flash.
We spoke about placements and Barry said that their studio wasn't really big enough to have someone else coming into work as they had no desk space. However, he did say that in a couple of weeks when they recieve a brief that he will send the brief over to me so I can have a look at it and come up with some ideas and for me to then send them over to him. He also said anytime I need some work critiquing he will be more than happy to have a look.
In all I came away from the studio feeling quite suprised that someone liked my work and suddenly found a new confidence that I should be happy with the work I produce but that also maybe I should try slightly harder and push myself a bit more. I want to get better and I will follow his advice and push my portfolio forwards.
