Freelance

During the summer I wanted to continue doing some form of design work and after looking at David Aireys Blog and reading various books, the phrase Pro Bona kept popping up, the thought of working on a design project for a charity or organisation really appealed to me as I thought it would not only be good practice but also an experience of working on a 'real' project.

After searching various charity websites I came across a local charity The Cheshire Academy who were looking for someone to help them with the designing of a new logo, promotional materials and ideas for promotional activity. 

After applying with the charity I was invited to go along to the centre to see what they do and have a look at their current branding. I arranged to begin working on the logo and put some ideas together which I emailed to the organiser, they had a discussion about it, then got back to me to discuss the ideas they liked and asked me to work on a promotional booklet and flyer,advertising upcoming events.

Sadly I have not had a chance to work on much for them over the last couple of months due to college workload but plan to continue working with them to complete the rebranding. The experience has been really good, to see how things can change quickly, for example details on promotional material may need to be altered which doesn't necessarily fit in with the original design or differing views within the organisation may cause conflict with ideas. 

The main thing I have learnt is that the main thing a client wants on their material, especially a charity is the information they are trying to promote, they are not always worried about the design, it is important to listen to what they actually want and not to do your own thing. This was something which Neil Marra from Creative Spark also spoke about when he was looking at my work for the Together Trust, he said that sometimes we may think we know what the client wants but they may not agree, which is something which I have come to realise whilst working with 'real' clients.