Employability Week - Connect With Professionals: Abbas Mushtaq

Studied in Leeds 4/5 years ago then moved to Manchester to create Alphabet

Design Agency: Alphabet
Branding and communication agency, based in Manchester.
Build brands and tell stories
Build brands that live and breathe in the millennial generation

• Branding
• Print
• Web
• Social
• Physical forms
• Concepts: applying different stories and concepts to everything.

Alphabet's design approach is to combine both good looks and personality to create brands. The aesthetic is important but the way you communicate the idea is what sells it. People don't buy what you do. They buy why you do it.

In the industry, you need to design for the real world, not for tutors. So know your audience, what they want to buy and what you're selling to them.

• Sam, Seb, Abbas created Alphabet
• Abbas went an internship route, and freelanced around Leeds
• They all took the first jobs they could get
• Sam worked for Uniform in Liverpool, Seb worked for ad agency 
• Bigger agencies tend to do more commercial projects, smaller agencies are more boutique, with more direct communication with their clients. Working with both allows you to see what you want to do, and what you don't want to do.
• Learn a lot, fast, working in industry
• Fake it till you make it - try to get work wherever you can, freelance work at Uni, etc. You're always employable so there's nothing to lose
• Put your student briefs onto Behance, have a portfolio on there
• 1+ saw Abbas's Behance, and thought he was a design studio (called A+), and asked him to do their branding, got in touch with Sam and Seb, helped out remotely
• This created their first client, and is also their biggest client

Duke Studio: Apply to get an office for 6 months for free through the LAU scheme

• Branded the Present! Design Festival and submitted work from different studios and designers. Didn't get paid for this one but gained lots of exposure.

Hyde Park Picture House: didn't get paid, but made signage boards to advertise the movies playing by making a typeface and making plates for the signage, imagery etc. 

Headrow House: made light boxes and got the job through being at Duke Studios

Chaology: New shop opening up when he moved to Manchester,  asked if they wanted branding done for it. Created illustrations, graphics, print, photography, etc

Tiqld: Branding

• Thinking about the language used on packaging, branding, advertising, etc
• How can you reword things to be/sound interesting?- gives the brand a personality
• Keep the audience in mind, relate the language you use back to this (keep it appropriate)
• Get a good concept, the design will come with this
• Created a fictional heritage to the brand (Hendrick's Gin does this as well)
• Created characters for each blend of herbs, communicates the ingredients through the story, in. playful, fun way
• Created custom typeface (painted it, scanned it, edited it/played around with it on Photoshop), makes a lot of difference, adds to the personality of the brand

How to form and approach your portfolio

• Give your work some form of how it speaks, some system that stays consistent. This is what makes each brand consistent and personal. 
• Photograph your work properly, take time with it. 
• Think about how you word products, make things punchy. But keep the audience in mind. Give it some form of a story. Have custom elements, make typefaces, handmade elements. 
• Slogans are an important part of the brand. 

Top Tips for the Industry

• Have a USP, know yourself and your specialism. Be very specific about it. Is it a specific target audience? Be really good in this specific area.
• Should you have a specific style? or not? Weigh the pros and cons 
• Don't work for free. Value yourself. Charge with what you can get away with, charge high and see if it's too much, lower it slowly but don't sell yourself cheap.
• Charge what you feel your work is worth.
• Email companies saying you need branding, and see how much they'll charge. Charge them money. 
• Made a fake e-mail address, asked those companies what their prices were and stole their price.
• Only work for free if it has something in it for you.
• A project is either creatively rewarding or financially rewarding.
• Reach out and show initiative. Don't be afraid to email or people 
• Get in with the local community. It's not who you know of, its who knows of you.
• Don't take yourself too seriously. 
• Get yourself out there, meet people and network.
• Do self- initiated creative work to keep you happy and sane. 
• Don't feel guilty for taking time out for things you love.
• Have fun. Make work that you want, what you're into. 

Getting yourself out there:

• Behance was a huge help - helped to get noticed by people, companies
• Have social media accounts, share your work
• Get your work out there, present it well, show it off
• Don't say you're a Graphic Design Student, say you're a Graphic Designer (makes you look more professional, showcase your speciality/what you want to go into)
• Do self-initiated creative work to keep you happy and sane - do things you enjoy, and don't feel guilty for it

What we look for in applicants: 

• Concepts: Having an idea behind what you do. Don't just focus on making them look nice.
• Big ideas and application: Think about how far can you take the branding, could there be an app, a website, posters, newsletters, billboards, social media posts etc
• Test out all the relevant applications for your project
• Work with context
• Be brave, take risks. 
• Likeable.

hello@madebyalphabet.com