Trevor Johnson, Creative Lynx

Back on December 12th (seriously behind here, forgive me!) Trevor Johnson, of Creative Lynx - one of the UK's leading design agencies - came to speak to us. Their client list is incredibly impressive and long; they have worked with the likes of the British Council, Colgate, London 2012 and on numerous county Police schemes. Not only this, but Johnson himself has had an extremely dynamic career, starting in the industry as a commercial illustrator before moving onto freelance graphic design. His most acknowledged for the work he produced for Factory Records and the Haçienda nightclub (alongside Peter Saville and Malcom Garrett, another 2 notable Manchester-based designers). Because both he and Creative Lynx are based in Manchester, this was a really valuable lecture as we were able to discover more about Manchester's creative industry, which is right on our doorstep.


Trevor talked us through some of his earlier works, and how he has developed since working as an illustrator.  He has been a consistently notable contributor to the urban renaissance of the city through his work for many of Manchester's most prestigious brands and organisations. Trevor has most definitely played a massive role in establishing Manchester as an international city of creative excellence. He has produced many record sleeves, for bands such as New Order, and was influenced by Constructivism. This movement is also one of my biggest influences, so to see his work and how it referenced similar aesthetics was really interesting. I found it to be really beautiful; sometimes I find it difficult to find commercial art or design that I really enjoy so it made a pleasant change to see something that really reflected what I am interested in. 

Above: FACT 137: Shorts. Various Artists. (video promotion)

Above: A Certain Ratio, Wild Party.

Trevor was really good at advising us about how to approach our work and the graphic design industry. He encouraged us to make mistakes: as this will only help you to improve, but also to know when to stop. Johnson described how we shouldn't be overcome by "Optophobia" - or the fear of opening one's eyes. He explained that his best work has been influenced by the world around him, and we should be influenced in the same way too. This was a really valuable piece of advice; as I often find myself falling at hurdles when I make mistakes in my work. I can give up far too easily.

Trevor was a keen promoter of hand-rendered design; although Creative Lynx works with a lot of Digital media, Trevor finds it hard to embrace (as he explained, it is mostly a generational thing, as he has been in the industry for so long). Most of his work is hand crafted, and this was really refreshing to see as so much of our commercial art today is digitally created, it loses a lot of the individuality that more hand-made pieces can hold. I found this encouraging; I love being able to move away from the computer when creating my own work (although it doesn't happen as often as I would like it to) so I will make the conscious effort to try and bring more hand rendered elements into my work again. A very inspiring lecture!

I HAVE [A] PLAN

Over Christmas, I worked on a live brief set by YCN. The brief was for Marks and Spencer, in which I had to "create a visual identity for our Plan A campaign and develop campaign elements to bring your identity to life." This was a bit of a change for me; I don't often pick 'campaign' or 'branding' project briefs, as it is an area I am not so comfortable with, but I wanted to try something different as a challenge and to add more variation to my overall portfolio.

M&S's 'launched Plan A in January 2007 – ‘committing to change 100 things over 5 years, because we’ve only got one world and time is running out.’ Three years on, we have made good progress against our five Plan A pillars: Climate Change, Waste, Natural resources, Fair partner and Health and Wellbeing – achieving 62 of the original 100 Plan A commitments. So, in March 2010, we unveiled and expanded a more demanding Plan A, setting out 80 new commitments for the next five years and our ambition to become the world’s most sustainable major retailer by 2015.'

I really struggled with the brief. I found it difficult to get the ball rolling, and I feel that I spent far too long worrying about branding "Plan A" than I did actually promoting it. Because of this, I was really pushed for time when it came developing my format. I chose to create an identity for the plan, as the existing logo didn't seem to stand out from the rest of M&S's branding, and I felt it wasn't memorable enough. Working with the idea of the plan having "5 pillars of change" I created a design that incorporated 5 triangles and reflected the shape of a letter A. I then used the tagline "I have [A] Plan" in order to draw the customers in. 

I chose to create a concertina book, featuring postcards that can be placed around the home as a reminder of what the plan is about. The booklet explained 5 ways for each of the 5 pillars of improving the way we live and becoming involved with M&S's campaign. I was quite pleased with the aesthetic of the piece, and even created a magnetic backing so that it could be placed in the home on fridges, for instance. I also created a set of stickers to work alongside the booklet, which can be placed around the home or in the car, to act as a reminder of the plan to the customer. 

However, during my review, John (my tutor) and I both agreed that it seemed a little clumsy; the booklet opened awkwardly and I am aware that it is not my best piece of design. With this considered though, John felt that it was a really nice attempt and that in the future I should perhaps stick to briefs that are more suitable to my style and interests - which couldn't have been a more welcomed piece of advice if I tried! I am relieved to have finished this brief, it's a shame I didn't get into it more.

ZUT ALORS!

Awesome identity design and art direction from ZUT ALORS!