Lee Goater Talk

Lee spoke about his experience within the industry so far, some of the key points I took from his talk were:

• If you're self-employed say yes to as much work as possible - you'll naturally learn to prioritise whilst doing this.
• Work in London tends to be very corporate and specialised - work in the north tends to be more varied.
• Big clients try to take advantage of you because they know everyone wants work for them in their portfolios.
• When working freelance business cards tend not to be used, things that have everyday applications such as fridge magnets work better.
• Try to get your clients to be as honest as possible to find out what it is they really want from the project.
• Don't do pitches for free as every hour you work is important and valuable.
• When working out an estimate account for twice the time you'll think you need.
• Make sure you're getting something out of every brief you do.
• Social media is important for getting work.
• Try to keep your portfolio as free from text as possible - the work should speak for itself.
• Know your audience to make sure you don't waste time chasing clients that aren't right for you.
• 80% of work is repeat business so it's important to have a good relationship with clients.
• He doesn't "really have a website" - he doesn't think it's necessary.
• Make an effort to physically see clients so they know you're interested in what they're doing.
• Don't show someone all your work at one time, hold some work back to show them when you next talk to them.

I spoke to Lee after about how he'd suggest I present my work in a portfolio and how I'd send samples of them to potential employers. We spoke with particular reference to the Fish Travel Packaging, Harri Larkins Logo, the Football Programme Covers, and the Euro 2016 Posters. In general the advice was about being more ambitious with the thoroughness of the finishing of each project - something I've struggled with in the past. He suggested I look at this project for Hyde Park Picture House by Alphabet as an example of this.

I found his advice really useful as it made me re-think my approach to extended practice after Easter. Perhaps rather then take on new briefs I should be focussing on my presentation of my current ones.