Lucid Design

I was approached on Twitter by Jan Blanchard at Lucid Design and she wanted me to forward over my portfolio to her and was wondering whether I’d b interested in commuting back n forth to Liverpool, to which my reply was, yes.
It took a few days for her to get back to me but she liked my portfolio and forwarded it onto her colleague to take a look at. It was only then that Matthew had contacted me back after he had taken a look too, gave me some advice on what to change, gave me a hint as to which projects were commercial and which were creative, and then invited me over to their studio for an interview.

On the evening I was due to arrive at the location of their studio, I was greeted by Jan, who welcomed me into their residential space. I think because of the casual set up of the design studio, the entire crit session was relaxed and welcoming especially since it was close to evening time.
It had only dawned on me when I was introduced to Matthew, that he was her son. And it was him I was going to be showing my work to.
We began with how I had got in touch with them and whether I had an online portfolio too, we also touched on where I felt I wanted to head after I graduate and where I saw myself.

From going through each of my projects in my portfolio I normally get into my stride, and I think Matthew and Jan had a few questions throughout, so it was a bit of a start and stop explanation.
He brought up that there were quite a few projects where I had worked in partnership with other people, but I reassured him that I worked well with my partners and the outcome of the work was a team effort.
There wasn’t really much of a stand out piece for them to really believe that I could work with them on a creative level, but when it came to my Barnbrook poster I think they really liked it and weren’t too sure how it worked, but mostly being a digital agency, they liked the interaction with the mobile technology.

From my constant impersonation of mastermind, throwing questions at them, I had found out that they tend to see students and graduates for portfolio crits usually in the evening. Having seen quite a few students based in the Liverpool area, they mentioned that I was quite a breath of fresh air. Having never had that expression used to describe me, I was a bit hesitant to carry on asking so many questions, but I think it showed that I was interested in their agency, which was true.
We got to chatting more about the certain skills required in a digital agency and with Matthew going through the process of creating websites and apps for the iPhone; it became apparent that my interview was going well.
They have a few more staff working at the moment in Preston and he mentioned that they would be moving into the centre of Liverpool soon, which would see them open up a retail shop below and working above. It was suggested that I come and help them move into the new premises when the time comes, whilst sharing ideas alongside on how best to market the retail shop, but also showing initiative rather than relying on them to tell me what to do next.

Before we were done talking, he offered me some work experience working with them during the summer and if that went well, then I would be kept on for longer. He said that I should keep in touch with them after I graduate and see how things turn out. So that’ll give me some time to hone my skills before working with them.

I enjoyed this visit to see Jan and Matthew, because even though it wasn’t apparent that it was an interview, they liked that I was showing initiative and interest into their agency.