Guest speaker - Briony Hartley

Today we also had the opportunity to listen to Briony Hartley speak about her work. She is a book  and magazine designer based in Bournemouth.

I found the talk very interesting as this is an area that I would like to work in.

She showed us some of the work she has produced over the years and gave us a bit more insight into what is in involved in being a freelancer - the good and the bad things! I had already heard of her and was recommended to try and and arrange to get a placement with her at the Enterprise Pavilion but unfortunately she is off work at the moment.

Overall it was an inspiring talk.

A few notes from talk..

When designing a book or magazine, assume the reader will flip around pages. Make sure you grab their attention!

Structure:

Intro - Summary the article in a sentence (not many words);

Sub heading - Break up long text into easily readable chinks;

Boxes - Short related features;

Colour palette - use 2 or 3 colours;

Fonts - don't use more than 2 or 3;

Grid - versatile and flexible;

size - vary the size of text

Baseline grid - must line up;

Style sheets - paragraph, characters and object style;

Hanging points - have objects hanging at the same level;

Being mathematical.

Tips:

- Gain professional experience first;

- Make contacts;

- Be nice;

- Listen to the client;
- Trust is important;
- Get a 2nd opinion on things;
- Don't take negative feedback personally;
- What's the worst thing that can happen? (Risk!)
- Don't be afraid to ask questions!

Her website: http://www.goldustdesign.co.uk/Contact.html