In February we had a gallery show and this month two University events. One with students from Manchester Metropolitan's School of Art, and the other from The University of Manchester (Don't get them mixed up!), Creative Manchester and Digital Futures.
There was a lot of discussion on the subject of art, design & technology and how they influence learning and education. This connects strongly with my work, as I bridge the gap between the artistic side of design with illustration and the technical side of design with websites and coding.
The opportunity to speak to the students and also listen to their plans and concerns was insightful. Of course, the subject of AI came up, as well as the purpose and the practicality of finding work that we want to do versus the work that we need to do, and finding that balance.
Client work and passion projects don't always need to be separate. As designers and creatives, any work that improves our skills is time well spent. We can bring our best work to potential new clients where we can create scenarios where both win.
With more events planned, there's a bit of a buzz, and it's great to be at the heart of it.
Massive thanks to John and Sophie for their work so far in making this such a great space.
Links;
Digital Futures
Creative Manchester
Manchester School of Art
Turing Innovation Catalyst
It's a new community of creative professionals from all different arts, design and crafts backgrounds, with years of skill under their collective belts.
This is where clients can come and chat about live art, illustration, design, motion graphics, websites and all the things I do, and also soak up the creative vibes. It's early days at the moment but I can already feel the buzz, with creatives joining and setting up their spaces.
Located in the Great Northern building, just off Deansgate, the studio is based upstairs in the old Barclays Bank RISE business incubator suite where I taught workshops many years ago!
This is the second GRIT, the first one being a very popular space in nearby Stockport. Big thanks to John and Sophie at People with Grit for making it happen.
It's not forever. As John Macauley said when I went to take a look at the space, "it’s not your forever space, but it is your forever community.” The whole building will be redeveloped at some point in the future, and that's fine. In the creative industries, change is an inevitable part of the process.
Connect, create and embrace this amazing opportunity as it's happening, right now.
