TASK 4

1) CHERMAYEFF AND GEISMAR


http://www.cgstudionyc.com/


137 East 25th Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10010
212.532.4595 
info@cgstudionyc.com

This company is legendary for creating some of the most well known brands in the world.

A strength in their work is consistently stylish which makes people see it as reliable and trustworthy.

They adapt a Modernist ideal; that design is a problem solving dicipline. Clients will go to them for something clean, sleek and to the point, occassionally humourous. This could be a weakness for them in that it could limiting  when clients that don't want somehting like this, perhaps for clients that want something a little more intriquing or complicated.

Another strength in their work is that they work across most deiciplines of graphic design making them extremely versatile which must open up a lot more oppertunities for commisions. One of my weaknesses is that my specialised areas are far more limited. Comanies such as this could pose a threat to me.
The firm has a global reach, with projects in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East as well as throughout the United States. This and the companies well known well established reputation means that networking and promotion for this agency is not difficult, creating lots of oppertunites for the company. I will have to build my network of clients and communication from scratch.

2) MATTHEW THE HORSE

"Matthew the horse" is an independant graphic designer/illustrator. Despite being a team of just one with a very specific style and themes, his client list includes :

The Guardian, AA Driving School, PlanB Magazine, We are what we do, Illustrated Ape, Venue Magazine, Stergeon White Moss, Creative Review, The Economist, Nature Magazine, Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes....... and more!

This gives me motivation for my own practice which to the greater extent takes a very particular illustrative style...

His promotion is mainly web based, and I actually found it difficult to find out any information on the designer himself, which leads me to believe that perhaps he relies on networking and reviews of his work, for which there is a fair amount from the likes of Creative Review etc. In this respect, I would say that this is his weakness, he doesn't seem short of work, but better promotion could open even more oppertunities. I think promotion and communication is extremely important, especially for new designers like myself. 'Matthew the Horse' is doing a talk on friday the 14th of January so that may give me some better understanding of how is practice works.

3)  MANNSHAFT

vijzelstraat 72 - 3.55
1017 hl   amsterdam, the netherlands
t +31 (0) 20 - 463 30 63

info@mannschaft.org

Mannschaft is a team of graphic designers based in Amsterdam. They value working closely with clients; communication being essential to the way that they work. They have an extensive client list featuring both Dutch and English speaking countries. Being situated in Amsterdam allows them to attract a cosmopolitain mix of clients, ultimately broadenning their network and creating lots of job oppertunities. However, a weakness and potential threat is that  Amsterdam is an incredibly small city but densly populated with companies and possible clients, therefore, the competition to get the commissions is stiff.

I would like the oppertunity to work abroad, however starting off in this way could make networking and establishing yourself twice as hard.