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Week 1: Philosophies, Roles and Approach

Updated: Sep 27, 2023

Weekly Objectives:

  1. Research and analyse different models of creative practice;

  2. Distil your research and understanding into a personal outline for future development;

  3. Communicate your current positioning or one you would like to establish through a written ‘about paragraph’;

  4. Imagine translating your perceived design ethos and positioning to your defined audience.


LECTURES //

Lecture 1: Practitioner Case Studies

Simon Manchipp, SomeOne

  • You need to have at least 3 loyal clients before starting a studio

  • You don't need a studio - you can run a remote agency. Traditional clients expect a traditional agencies

  • Get an accountant (my sister is an accountant, so Im all sorted)

  • Don't promise more than you can deliver because clients remember this and will talk to potential clients. Focus on overdelivering at the start.

  • Repeat business is the best business

  • First studio was working at home and often worked from cafes or bus stops.

  • 90% isnt about design. Finaces, systems, meetings, etc to manage studio.

Sarah Boris

  • Space, equipment, accountant, financial cushion for breakages

  • Group of supporters to help inspire projects or critique work.

  • First studio space was a print studio as part of a collective - 40 people. Learnt a lot from fine artists but found unwelcome comments on work drove her to find her own space.

  • Don't take no for an answer - job hunting. Reinvent yourself when reapplying again - change the way you present your work, etc.

  • Follow your gut feeling - understand why you feel that way and ask more questions. Learning to say no to some projects and define practice more.

  • Don't compromise - wanting to please clients sometimes reduces the quality of a project.

Julian House and Adrian Talbot, Into

  • Be a good designer - so I would need to wait until Im at least a mid-weight designer before I consider setting up my own studio. As a Junior, I have the opportunity to intern at different studios and learn from how they manage their work.

  • Passion

  • Be a people person - a lot of time selling what you do and dealing with people. Listen to what they want - putting ideas through as if it were their idea. Do the client's suggestion but move it on a stage - you can't say that their idea won't work without trying it. This sounds like an interview question (I got the job by the way), which asked me what I would do if they suggested an idea that I thought wouldn't work - I said I would try it anyway but also see if I could add to it to make it better. No big ego! Stop designing for yourself, design for the client. They suggest young designers are guilty of designing for themselves, but I feel I am the opposite because I often forget to add my own ideas into the client's ideas - probably because there are a lot of time restraints involved.

  • Head for business - Set up with someone that has a head for business.

  • First studio space was small.

  • Need to be able to present what you've designed and engage with clients. Handling criticism. Not let jobs run forever - some clients would want to see more options, so it is important to set a limit on edits. Its important to understand what the client wants and try to help them understand what they want.

Sam Winston

  • Financial trouble after first setting up his studio. His first taste of studio culture was when his old tutor offered to share desk space with him and he was able to meet clients at the studio. A 6 year learning curb for making money and doing his own practice, so having a transparent relationship with money is key.

  • Skills Swap helps you extend your network

  • Trust is the key to growing your business - this not only applies to customers but also when asking investors to pay 1/3 up front.

  • Trust yourself. Perserverance.

Tom Finn and Kristoffer Soelling, Regular Practise

  • A computer. A space was a financial decision made on the basis of professionalising their business. Keep costs low in the beginning- need a chance to make work. Need to know the difference between essential equipment and convenience. Do you need a website, or is a well curated instagram just as helpful?

  • See other people work in a studio- how one should not work, how you like to work, etc.

  • Side Projects - show your passion and help understand how you work.


Lecture 2: Interview with Gem Barton

Gem Barton is the author of 'Don't Get a Job..Make a Job'.


Notes:

  • When writing your 'about paragraph', Barton says we need to be honest with ourselves and understand what we might want to change about our position. This is quite difficult because I have only just got my first design job as a graduate, and I am content with the ethical values surrounding my job.

  • "Make sure your dream isn't constructed by society, family or your past". I've always been fond of card making and didn't start turning it into a side business until a family member suggested it.

  • "Do your research and contact the right people"

  • "You need to determine where you place your value". I think considering young designers feel more social responsibility, this is part of how society has played a role in my current values of design. I wanted to be a logo designer at the start of my BA, but then got educated on the effects of consumerism - it changed my values completely. So does value building start the moment you are on the hunt for universities? And how do you know whether your values aren't influenced by society? I know my values are based off of knowledge, however, this knowledge was still curated in a way to influence these values.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

When talking about general steps to follow in building careers (work hard | take chances | take care of your emotional intelligence | Have meaning), I think the later two are the most essential because the others are most obvious to consider. How do you look after you're emotional intelligence?

  • Emotional Intelligence is the ability to manage your own emotions in positive ways: relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict. I always thought Emotional Intelligence was about reading other people's emotions and being able to communicate in a way that responds to their reactions.



Value of collaboration

  • Obtaining skills / knowledge from others, like the swap skills event mentioned in the first lecture.

  • Understanding the whole can be greater than the sum of parts. This was unclear to me at first, however, I think as a dyslexic looking at things from a whole comes naturally.

  • Experience of connection and communication. This sounds similar to how the first lecture mentioned the importance of being a people person. As a introverted person, I am able to give myself mental space to do this, however, most of this would be down to practise and having a consistent schedule.

Communicating your perceived design ethos and positioning to a defined audience.

  • Play to your strengths (what is my dyslexic super power?) Seeing patterns and being able to create connections between two different things. Seeing things and interpreting things from different angles - would explain the times when my employer has to go into more detail in what they mean.

  • Be consistent

  • Perfect your personal brand

  • Jeff Bezos famously said that your personal brand is what people say about you when you are not in a room - reverse engineer this. How do you want to be described in your absence? Strategic approach to identity | media | propaganda maintains this. Strategy changes overtime.


What I need to do:


RESEARCH //

John Maeda

Redesigning Leadship at USI

  • https://www.usievents.com

  • https://blog.usievents.com/john-maeda-design-service-des-leaders/

  • Framing today's chaos with Moore's Law, helps. What is Moore's Law? 20 years of progress.

  • End-ups are still as relevant as start-ups. A start-up's goal is to become stable and successful: to become an end-up. Working at a End-up enables you to learn structure

  • Design is about inclusion, not beauty. Design can grow your Total Addressable Market (TAM) by starting Inclusively. Inclusive is about involving people and collaborating. As you get smarter, you get dumber - you end up thinking you are always right, which disrupts inclusivity. He stopped designing and started educating people to do things he could do in computing. He stopped doing that when he ran out of things to teach. I think this shows how important inclusivity is because he wan't learning anything new whilst educating people - knowledge is unlimited and always updating, and sometimes specialists forget this. Including people different from yourself enables you to develop empathy - when you design stuff that doesn't associate with you, you need to develop an understanding of that audience and recognise that you do not have the answer to everything.

  • Marketing and Design is seen as a cost or as an investment. It's important to reframe this because the product is an experience, and the design and marketing are part of the product.

  • The larger your organisation gets, the dumber you get. You have a better chance of making an impact. It's easier to move and reorganise people in a smaller organisation. Customer service is about being inclusive of their viewpoint.

  • Everyone needs to have an external viewpoint- talking to people, networking, connecting with the world.

  • Need a combination of safe and creative. End-ups spend too much time in safe, Start-ups spend too much time in creative; End-ups have everything to lose and Start-ups have nothing to lose. Start-up leaders need to talk to End-up leaders.


Design thinking and creative leadership

  • Paul Rane

  • In an era of social media, John talks about how design and technology can bring clarity to leadership.

  • John Maeda is an artist, graphic designer and educator

  • Recommends 'Orbiting the Giant Hairball'. How can creative people learn how to lead.

  • Design by Numbers book by John Maeda (programming). Processing is an improved version made by his students; less constraints.

  • tHE ODASITY OF HOPE BY oBAMA

  • Start-ups have a less organised system in terms of empowerment, whilst End-ups have hierarchies with rules.

  • Design can lie. Using the same data, graphs can be produced in a way that makes pay rolls look stable or excelling.








Traditional Leadership vs Creative Leadership

  • Creatives love to learn from mistakes

  • Creatives hope to be right, whilst Traditional wants to be right

  • Traditional Leadership have a closed system


How to launch and run a design studio

  • Michael C.Place, David Bailey, Ian Anderson, Nick Bax and Matt Pyke

  • A business structure enables creativity to thrive more.

  • Confidence is attractive to clients

  • Knowing yourself as a designer enables you to connect with clients.



IDEAS WALL //

Warm-up Questions

Me: How do you know if your values haven't been shaped by society? I am passionate about social design, which is a trend amongst todays designers. I didn't start looking into social design until my second year of my Undergraduate course started looking into the effects of Consumerism.


I know my values are based off of knowledge, however, this knowledge was still curated in a way to influence these values - do values start to take shape the moment you start hunting for universities?


Another thing mentioned in the second lecture was advising values not to be influenced by your past? Wouldn't different experiences and backgrounds shape your values?


Very interested to hear your thoughts.



Research

How To Run A Creative Business: In-depth breakdown w/ Melinda Livsey

  • 40 hours a week isn't enough when you are your own boss- get some help. Requires Marketing, Networking, Projects, Maintenance, Finance.

  • Take time to develop a process with employees - Skype, Trello, Google Drive. Its less time consuming to work with in-house people. I have worked with someone that used Trello to manage the team, which I have found helpful to know which jobs need doing first- my current job uses Teamwork, which is difficult to navigate.

  • Day ends with writing down what team needs to do the next day.

  • Social listening - content ideas come from the people. Giving people what they ask for.

  • Daily Goals (lists)

  • Responsiveness to clients.

  • Ask what cleint's budget is before figuring out their project.

  • If you say no to the jobs that can't afford you, you are saying yes to jobs that can.

  • Don't let money have power over you. It shouldn't limit what you do as in your design business - take risks. Change the mindset.

  • Show the kind of people you work with to give potential clients an idea on budget. Or show the list of costs on your website. Showing my costs would sustain this idea of transparency in my brand values.

  • Limit the amount of work displayed - show your best projects in their best possible light.


Analysing 'about paragraph' of different agencies and studios


I liked how &walsh and Pearlfisher they highlighted how they have more than one mission depending on the category they are working in.


Dearness had a video in their about page, which is great for showing off your work, but it didn't really explain to me the culture and leaves me more confused on what their philosophy is. All I know is they make beautiful work and attempts to personify the brand as a parent of some sort.


Here Design seem to have different connections in their brand that they managed to link togther: its an old pen factory that uses the Art and Craft movement to explain how high quality work can help with a sustainable world.


Post summarises themselves in 3 key words and takes the reader through a story of where they are and what they do. They only mention their desire for social and environmental change at the end, so its kind of hidden. Maybe this is because most designers are trying to make the world a better place now? But its interesting they haven't outlined or made it clear in their website what their mission is.


Initial thoughts

Me: At the moment Im working at my first graduate job for a non-profit as a marketer, which is definitely the direction I want to go but Im not sure how to have a bit more creative freedom - something that isn't just limited to social media platforms.


Whilst I was on my job hunt, I got inspired by dyslexic designers and started branding myself as a 'dyslexic designer' - to create more transparency over my creative process. One think I have found interesting this week is how dyslexic designers don't mention 'dyslexia' in their website. I do like the idea of inspiring the next generation to place a more positive aspect to their alternative ways of thinking.


I also like the idea of creating a working environment that caters to different ways of working. Ive also looked into the B Corporate status, which looks very appealing - just need to figure what kind of business I want to do.


Reflection from comment: There is a Facebook group for dyslexic designers, however, this group is very inactive. Perhaps I could collaborate with them to inspire the next generation? Or maybe I need to use a platform that is easier to collaborate in, create a blog with newsletters to members. This would certainly be a cheaper option than opening up a studio, but how could this be profitable? Could turn it into a charity and use my marketing skills to promote the charity and ask for funding?


WORKSHOP CHALLENGE //

For this workshop challenge, I am going to write an 'about paragraph' that outlines my current positioning or one I would like to establish.


The briefing for this workshop starts off by asking 'have your values changed since you began this course'. At first I though no because I started thinking about social change since my second year of my undergraduate degree, however, I did change my 'about paragraph' at the start of last module when I started rebranding myself from 'graphic designer' to 'dyslexic designer'; I wanted to highlight the strengths of dyslexia (spreading awareness) and at the time I was job hunting, so I wanted to be upfront about who they were employing. This way, they know I will require more time, but at least something good will come out of it. It also also creates more transparency over how I think.


What I need to do:

  • Research what it means to be a dyslexic designer. Are there any dyslexic designers that look into social change.

  • Can you have more than one value?

  • Create a section specific to Dyslexia Projects. Particularly October's 'Dyslexia Awareness Month'.

  • Figure out my dyslexic 'gift'


Values:

  • Social Change (health & wellbeing)

  • Spreading awareness about dyslexia (or is this interlinked with the first value)

  • Goal of setting up my own 'Card Design Business'

  • Current job: Marketing for non-profit environmental company


Keywords:

  1. Transparency (honesty)

  2. Inclusivity (inviting other's perspective)

  3. Simplify complex ideas

  4. Big Picture thinking



Dyslexic Design

  • Thinking of the bigger picture. Helen Taylor wrote 'Dyslexia and Design', which explores how dyslexia affects design practice.

  • Processing information in a more exploratory way - more globally. Taking in the whole. 3D thinking was mentioned, which reminds me of how a Dyslexic Artist described his experience - Benedict Phillips.

  • Making mountains out of molehills - extracting details and exploring further into it.

  • Find it easier to borrow ideas from different disciplines and improve them. Thinking beyond rigid fields.

  • Nadia-Anne Ricketts, “I always look at the strengths other people have that I don’t have – the best piece of advice I ever got was to hire someone who is better then you at the things you aren’t good at".

  • Ab Rogers runs an interior design studio, who says it's easier with people to fill in the gaps when it comes to strengths and weaknesses."Sometimes you take longer to get somewhere and sometimes you jump straight there without knowing how, to an idea fully formed. I find my dyslexia gives me a kind of intense focus. I can see through things, dissecting them and editing out what others may be distracted by.”

Jim Rokos

Jim Rokos wanted to submit a list of dyslexic designers to a press release but couldn't because there needed to be an event. He created an event to spread awareness on the positives of dyslexia. Had no budget for the even, so contacted trade shows like design junction, CARO, AB Rogers Design and LondoNewCastle. LondoNewCastle gave him a budget. AB Rogers offered help. Design Junction offered space. CARO is Design Junction's PR agency who manages design press all over the world.


This has opened up possible ideas for planning my strategy, such as collaborating with people that cover areas I struggle with. The first step would be to understand what business I want to do, and then identify my weaknesses.


Ustwo Studios

  • Family-like studio. Founded in London 2004 by two best friends

  • Creating values into a manifesto

  • Mix of introverts and extroverts

  • Culture in a studio is important

  • Hunger for change

  • Honesty and friendship makes business more personal. Creates a good work to life balance.

  • from 6 to 20 people employed. Expanded to New York, Sydney and Malmo.

  • Value in caring for staff, clients and partners, which enables collaboration and creating an environment that creativity can thrive.

Both Mills and Sinx are dyslexic but Mills also has ADHD. Knowing they have stuck to a group hierarchy rather than the traditional pyramid tells me they have a strong support system (team members) that are strong in places they are weakest at. They already had a friendship network that offered them work, which allowed them to build their culture.

  • Saying no for the right reasons is makes great leadership.

  • Profit shouldn't be a dirty word to creatives because this is what maintains a business.

  • Miles moved out the way of the business. How could you move out of the way of your own business when the business is based around your own values? They wanted to create a reverse pyramid where people would believe in themselves rather than relying on two people to support the business. They still check-in with the business to check that everything is okay, but they don't get a salary from them. No longer within their own friendship group.

  • https://linktr.ee/millsustwo

  • https://www.ustwo.com

  • The 'about page' mainly talks about what they offer their customers rather than going into depth in their values.

Is it possible for me to have this symbol?

  • Goes beyond a product or service. Also considers social and environmental performance, and considers how the business model impacts your workers, community, environment and customers.

  • Companies over 1 years of old can apply for certification. Under 1 year can apply for pending B Corp Status.


Simon Winston

In Simon's about page, he talks about his love of language in its visual form, which he mentions in his past lectures how his dyslexia influences this; however, this isn't mentioned in his website and I think this is a missed opportunity to inspire other dyslexic designers.


Its made me think about my interview with my current job, who asked why I labeled myself as a dyslexic designer. Knowing well-known designers like Simon or Sinx don't tell clients about their dyslexia, this has now made me less certain why I did this. I think at the time I assumed designers embraced it but my aim was to show clients the positive aspects of something that has a stigma behind it.


  • Disclosing your Dyslexia to your employer enables them to help you with your difficulties. Employers are not allowed to ask any job applicant about their health or disability until the person has been offered a job - why is it something people disclose?

  • Some organisations have an Equal Opportunities Policy

  • Companies that sign up to the government’s ‘Disability Confident’ scheme should guarantee an interview to all disabled applicants who fulfil the minimum requirements

  • Employers Forum on Disability is a leading employer membership organisation focusing on developing best practice on disability. Check if the organisation you are applying to is a member of the forum

  • You can market your dyslexia positively and take control of the situation. If someone does see your disability status (dyslexic designer), you know it's not going to be a pleasant experience working with them.


Made By Dyslexia

Made By Dyslexia is a global charity led by successful dyslexics with the aim to help the world understand, value and support dyslexia. Their main objective is to provide free training for teachers to identify dyslexia in the classroom and to help empower schools.


The Website has 'The Made By Dyslexia pledge', which is for companies, educators and governments to pledge a value to dyslexic thinking. They also have recommended a book for children to learn a bit more about the skills they might have. Social media banners are also provided for fellow dyslexics to state their pride in their diverse way of thinking.


A blog and YouTube channel is made to educate and spread awareness.


The Dyslexia skills test


Tramaine is made by dyslexia! They simplify the complex, see things from different angles, find connections between two different things, and a big picture thinker.
An online platform is used to connect and bring dyslexic designers together for collaborative work.


CHARITY DESIGN

Toast: Charity Design Agency

About Toast. Toast design agency was founded in 1997 by three founding partners. We’re based in Banbury, Oxfordshire (just an hour outside London) and we work clients across the UK. We currently have a team of 14 qualified staff with a diverse set of skills, from art working to web design and everything in-between. We work with marketers, marketing departments and individuals to provide all the creative services they need under one roof. We save our clients time and money and we improve the consistency of their communications. Get in touch or Meet the team


What we do. Toast is a full-service design and marketing agency. We offer branding, good-old graphic design, inbound marketing and website design and build. Our team has experience in working on a wide range of projects, from small art working jobs to larger projects encompassing branding, print and digital. Our real strength is our ability to effectively provide everything you need from our 14 staff, three floors and one building. We know you need an agency that will help you with the small stuff as well as the larger projects. That’s us. This is the kind of studio I would like to work in, however, its not the ideal location for me. So maybe I should set up a remote based one? I've also looked at the kind of jobs offered at this agency, which includes designers and a creative director. Once I have a few more years of agency experience, I would consider a creative director role because compared to an art director, a creative director is more of a big picture thinker that focuses on concepts rather than getting caught up in the finer details, which is ideal for me; I am stronger in my concepts than I am at polished design work.


Flying Kite

We're graphic designers who specialise in UK charities. Flying Kite has over 16 years experience designing fundraising and promotional materials for some of the biggest charities in the UK. As well as charity fundraising design, Flying Kite creates marketing materials, infographics, leaflets and posters.


Graphic design delivered on time!

Based in the UK, you can have complete confidence in Flying Kite's quality, reliability (essential in fundraising appeals!) and creative ability. We specialise in newsletter design, direct mail artwork, leaflets, posters, annual reviews, reports, infographics, adverts and legacy appeals.


Low-cost design

Need a competitive price for graphic design services? Someone experienced with large brands and organisations? Reliable and hits deadlines? Let's get to know each other! Have a browse through some of Flying Kite's recent work and then contact Jon to find out more.



My Current Job: Marketing Assistant for Swopz Shop

My current job is within a Start-up, which is very disorganised at the moment. And because it is a non-profit organisation, they rely on temporary volunteers, which takes up time for the co-founder to explain everything.


At the moment, my payslip comes from government funding, however, there is a lot of time constraint when setting tasks, which limits how long you spend on a design. I've found mixing design and admin jobs allow me to stay focused rather than drifting off into my own world.


I enjoy working with them because the values are very close to mine. I come from a poor background, so the idea of cashless transactions for second hand clothing and not putting anything to waste really resonates with me. There is also this idea of creating a healthier planet for future generations. I am very curious to know whether there are other creative jobs in non-profit organisations or whether I could make my own non-profit group that enables me to be more in control of the creative process.


What are my aims

1. To challenge the stigma behind Dyslexia

2. B Corporate status

  • Create events around Dyslexia - inspire and uplift the next generation

  • Continue to present my Dyslexia on my website to challenge clients. Would need to make sure I develop my design skills for this, and create a PDF guideline on how to work with Dyslexics - maybe this could be a consultancy service I provide for employers? Look at Futura and how they made their lectures profitable.

  • Swap Events - design a website for people to exchange skillsets with a donation for charity.

Where can I see myself in the future?

  • Work with Non-profit organisations - look at different job descriptions.

  • Perhaps make my own business? Non-profit organisations are exempt from B-Corporate status. How do I turn design jobs into one business?

  • A studio that only accepts community beneficial projects. Could see if I can get funding to design for charities. Or maybe a platform where designers can donate their time - they can choose their own brief presented on the platform and charities can be informed that someone is working on it.

  • In-housing for services or products that benefit the community.

  • Setting up my own studio - would need specialist equipment for disabilities and a planned out schedule to process information effectively (time taken out of the day for staff naps or exercises). Open plan area for easy collaboration in the idea generation process.

  • Continue to grow my marketing career in the non-profit sector - but how do I get more creative freedom?

  • Create a charity where I can support young dyslexics in their creative career. Could use Futur as an example to build a plan- they have a YouTube channel to educate in the design world and charge for in-person or online lessons.

  • A community platform that is easier to collaborate in, create a blog with newsletters to members. This would certainly be a cheaper option than opening up a studio, but how could this be profitable? Could turn it into a charity and use my marketing skills to promote the charity and ask for funding?

This week has made me feel slightly lost because there is no definition of how far into the future I need to look, which is overwhelming. What I need to do is simplify this process and treat it as a step-by-step process. When writing my 'about me' paragraph, I think it is important to write about the present job status, ethos and the next direct step to take once this job is completed. Building a business requires experience of working within other businesses and learning how it is managed, so due to my lack of work experience the first step would be to search for places to work after my 6-month contract ends. I am aware that running a business and studying would be next to impossible as Chris Do recommends a minimum of 40 hours a week running it. Additionally, when searching for work placements, I need to make sure the place matches my location as I have recently moved. I do need to rebrand myself to match my dyslexic designer label and allow my website to interact with potential employers through a journey that helps them understand the way I think a bit more.


Action plan

  • Provide potential employers with information on how to make the most of my skills and solutions to barriers they could apply to the workplace.

  • Become an active member of the Dyslexia Design community by encouraging collaboration. And rather than using my instagram platform as a portfolio, I am going to spread awareness of Dyslexia; in one of Chris Do's videos, he advises people to increase their followers by creating content that people can use. This would show collaboration projects made by dyslexics, promote dyslexic charities, motivational quotes, etc.


Where do I draw the line when choosing employment

  • By disclosing my dyslexia on my website, I am getting rid of potential employers that aren't adaptable in the way they work.

  • Anything that directly harms others or has no link to improving the community. Music, Food and Gaming industries tend to be the industries I avoid.

  • Studios with low ethics

  • Wed design and development. As nice as an agency like ' charity & biscuits' may be, I do not specialise in this area of design

  • Admin work


About me paragraph (Draft 1)

They simplify the complicated, see the bigger picture and interpret things in different ways! Tramaine is #MadeByDyslexia!


Their mission? To increase Dyslexia awareness!


If you are a potential employer

Tramaine will provide you with a clear analysis on how to utilise their skills and how to adapt to their barriers. Their passion is to help you make the world a better place!


If you are a fellow Dyslexic

Visit their instagram! Tramaine will provide you with opportunities for collaboration, inspire and advise!


TUTORIAL //

When taking to Harret about my idea of collaborating with dyslexics and helping employers understand dyslexia, it translated into a consultancy plan, which is something I quite like the idea of. My main competitor would be MadeByDyslexia because they are a global charity that trains teachers and educators on how to spot and value Dyslexia.

  • How am I going to make this profitable? Or would this be a side business that I do? A charity? I would see this more of a charity because I don't want to create the perception that having a dyslexic can be a financial burden. Would need to partner with other dyslexic charities.

  • Identity would need to support the service I offer. New brand name! Fonts that help

  • Establish what kind of services I could offer employers. Maybe employers could reach out during the first couple of weeks of working, and I can review what tasks employees find difficult and solutions to those problems. Simplify tasks for dyslexics to understand a bit more. Provide employers with a personalised system that fits a potential employee's way of working - interview the dyslexic candidates and look at the employer's task requirements.

Competitors

  • Dyslexia Foundation: Support for Dyslexics and providing Dyslexia assessments in Education or Employment.

  • Helen Arkell: advice on dyslexic needs for teachers, employers, etc. A lot of writing and difficult to navigate.

  • British Dyslexia Association: Assessments, Training on dyslexia and workplace needs (£120 fee)

  • The Brain Charity: provides job search support through recommending suitable working environments and advice.

  • Dyslexia research trust: Supporting children

  • Dyslexia Assistant: Ideal inclusive user experience- would need to make the audio less robotic, a human voice for better information processing. For Parents with dyslexic children.

  • Dyslexia Cornwall: Workshops on dyslexia for students, employers and adults

Typefaces for Dyslexics

  • Open Dyslexia

  • Sylexiad

  • Comic Sans

  • Less crowded typefaces like: Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Century Gothic, Trebuchet, Open Sans, Calibri, Trebuchet.

  • Myriad Pro

  • Sassoon

  • Tiresias

  • Lexie Readable

  • Read Regular

  • Dyslexie - made by a dyslexic but there is a fee. https://www.dyslexiefont.com/en/about-us/ is a really good example of the type of design style to go for.


What Services will I provide to Employers?

Recruitment: During the recruitment process, I will be reviewing potential dyslexic employees on their strengths and weaknesses, and informing the employer how best to utilise their skills.


Establishing a work system: Consult employers on accessibility needs and different ways of working. This would involve one-to-one sessions.


A follow-up service: After 2 weeks, follow-up with employer and employee to see what works and what doesn't work - improve the system from there.


A platform for their Dyslexic employees to collaborate with fellow creative Dyslexics, online workshops, and gain advice from each other based from their own experiences. The aim for this is to boost self-esteem. Once their employment is over, they will be given the option to invest in their own membership- with the option to reach out to their future employers.



REFLECTION //

After listening to the lectures and researching how dyslexics run studios, I have come to the understanding that I will need to collaborate with a group of people that are stronger in areas I am weakest at. Asking for help doesn't come natural to me, so I think this is going involve personal development.


Research has established that running any kind of business involves needing to be a people person. So as an introvert, the goal would be to organise my time so I can mentally prepare for meeting people as well as having a consistent schedule that allows me to sustain mental energy throughout the day - in my own experience, I prefer to leave communication to the end of the day so I sustain focus on more introverted tasks.


Another thing I will sustain is my inclusivity. Inclusitivity is about inviting other people's perspective to improve your design project, service or business. The first lecture talked about how young people design for themselves rather than the client, however, John Maeda refers to seniors using their knowledge as an excuse to be closed minded about client ideas.


RESOURCES //

RESEARCH

Videos

Articles

To read


Sagmeister inc – https://sagmeister.com

Maeda Studio – https://maedastudio.com/

Sagmeister, Stefan (2013) ‘Medalist Stefan Sagmeister, AIGA. https://www.aiga.org


IDEAS WALL //

Studio Analysis



WORKSHOP CHALLENGE //

Dyslexic Design

Charity Design

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