Day 13

Sunday 24th April 2011

There Is Still So Much To Learn!

I think I am more exhausted being a teacher for 3 days than I was, when working 9-5 at Cadbury for 2 weeks!

Everything came together perfectly today, after picking up a few new techniques yesterday and having a lot of things refreshed. I joined in creating pieces on Photoshop to test out my new and enhanced skills.

Although I haven't learned lots of new things, this has been a really valuable experience as I have had the chance to work on my one to one skills which can be applied to a client when back in my field of interest, but I have also created a contact that I can possibly call upon later in my career as an Advertiser!

Day 12

Saturday 23rd April 2011

You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks - Well Apparently You Can!

After the somewhat tedious lesson of yesterday, today was a breathe of fresh air! 

Hannah ( The Textile Design Student) set about the tasks I had set after a few hours of basic technique teaching and before I knew it she was ready for the next task.

The designs I'm used to creating are logo's and advertisments, so now working on fabric print designs my skills are being pushed to the limit but it's surprisingly pretty interesting.

Even though I am meant to be the teacher, I'm learning more from watching Hannah use the trial and error method than I think I am teaching her! 

A pretty successful day in my eyes as we have created 1 print and I've been taught a few new techniques which I'm sure I can put back into my way of working.

Design by Hannah Ware

Day 11

Friday 22nd April 2011

This is going to take a while...

Today I began the second of my professional experiences: Teaching Photoshop!

A friend of mine from DeMontfort University on the Textile Design BA (Hons) course, has recently started a project based around Photoshop, and like myself when first started with the software, could do with a helping hand.

Today was the boring day.

Nothing exciting would be made today, I plan to teach from the very beginning and create a prodigy!

With all the basics now in place, tomorrow I can begin refreshing my own mind on the techniques and methods used to create masterpieces.

Day 10 cont.

Saturday 16th April 2011

Chocolate Sam Will Go Down In Cadbury History cont.

I have had an absolutely fantastic two weeks, I was going to write up a short conclusion of everything I have done, but in a few weeks time I will be posting my final presentation video.

Day 10

Friday 15th April 2011

Chocolate Sam Will Go Down In Cadbury History

As they say Live For The Weekend

and that's exactly what I plan to do tonight

Blog to be resumed tomorrow

Day 9

Thursday April 14th 2011

Enter The Time Warp

The meetings at the end of each day seem the longest as before you know it hours have gone by, however, these are also the most valuable and informative parts of my day by far.

We started the day off in the usual fashion of setting up our meeting space in the office, a few ideas were jotted down for the progression of Bits and Bites, before the day took more of a personal stance with us all working on our portfolios getting ready for print.

We had just returned from the printers and continued working on the progression ideas when Rachel our ‘go to girl’ and fair to say saviour with the whole Choco incident presented us with four bulging at the seams bags of Cadbury products as recognition of the work we had competed over the two weeks.

This however, put a spanner in our works

Not knowing today was Rachel’s last day we had planned to get her some flowers and give them to her on Friday. Ever the think on your feet sort of group, we navigated our way to the local village and purchased some flowers to brighten up her desk after lunch.

This small gesture went down a treat

Female colleagues surrounded her desk!

We were the men of the moment.

The afternoon carried on finalising our progression ideas before the meeting at the end of the day with Martin. We entered his office and the feedback began. The overall comments were extremely positive with the ideas we had generated meeting approval and even being told the OoDs idea we had pitched at the start of the week would be brought up with the BIG BIG client in another pitch meeting.

Hearing this news, I left another day knowing safe in my knowledge this is definitely an industry I want to be part of, but also one I’ll make sure my name is made in!

SAM // TUBB

creative agent

HIRED // GUNS

advertising

Day 8

Wednesday April 13th 2011

The Guy In The Shirt, You Come With Me

FORWARD!

A new day a new start was my plan for today, we went straight to our Sofa Office and before Windows had time to boot, Martin greeted us with the latest in the Cadbury – Milka battle.

They won’t work together they can’t work together; Milka and Cadbury packaging designs are too far apart.

A nice early challenge had been set down. Bits and Bites and Pebbles were the best place to focus our thinking and designs. For each platform two designs were needed, one to represent Cadbury and the other Milka.

Moving to our second office space we set up shop sketching a few ideas before a colleague we hadn’t met before knocked on our door.

Queue the start of my modelling career

The Cadbury Vending Brochure was being produced today and an image was required to fill one of the pages, not one to back out of a new opportunity I happily went through to the photo shoot area and posed for a photos, showing my enjoyment of the Cadbury chocolate range. Payment of a Cadbury brunch bar was made and I went back to my life as a creative agent – my fifteen minutes of modelling fame over.

Our ideas for the two platforms came thick and fast as was becoming expected from our group and before we knew it, the pile had grown quite considerably. We each took our own route towards the platforms with ideas for both Cadbury and Milka being produced ready for our last meeting of the day with Andy and Martin.

HIRED // GUNS – Business Cards had finally been completed

Another step to success was forming

The day felt much more structured and my overall enjoyment once again peaked after the slight dip of yesterday. The last meeting, at the end of the day, couldn’t of gone much better. Two of the ideas we had been working on caught the boss’s eye and were picked as the designs to take to the next stage.

A task I’m thoroughly looking forward to completing tomorrow

Day 7

Tuesday April 12th 2011

If It Isn’t Going To Produce Millions, It Tends Not To Be Worth Getting Out Of Bed For

The BIG client arrived today to view the 6 platforms we as the design team at Cadbury had been working on. As expected with clients whose time is money, he arrived 30minutes before the scheduled meeting and took us all by surprise.

In true professional form we had our design themes / concepts completed well before the deadline and so remained calm upon his arrival. As mention this was a serious client for Cadbury and so only the head design team bosses went into the office with the actual client to view the work we had produced and worked on since Friday.

An hour or so later, the team leaders and clients emerged from the office, everything we had been working on rested on the feedback we would soon receive from Martin in the debrief.

One step forward, two steps back

It turned out the client liked our OdDs pitch and ideas but not so much the Choices – it’s fair to say I was pretty gutted with that  news as although we work as a team I felt the most inspired when working on the Choices idea. However, one out of two is pretty good going for a TEAM who have actually only been together 7 days.

It was fair to say I wasn’t the only one who felt a little knocked back. Martin (boss for the brief) debriefed us and explained these things happen and he too would spend the next few hours reflecting and redesigning based on the clients words - DOESN’T FIT MILKA.

Life Lesson Number 1 at Cadbury

500 ideas will probably pass through the design studio on this one brief; 5 will make it through if your lucky.

The design wall is effectively a funnel, we can throw hundreds at it, only a small amount can make it through the tiny hole and even then they must survive the market.

Life Lesson Number 2 at Cadbury

It’s all a game of Snakes and Ladders.

We rolled at 6 with our ideas but met a Snakes Head with the client and fell straight back to square one.

Quote courtesy of C. Thornton: Friend, Competition and seemingly Man Of Wisdom.

My way of looking at today, yes, we are now effectively back at square one but there is only one direction from here and that’s FORWARD!  

Day 6

Monday April 11th 2011

Born at TWO TWENTY TWO

Hired // Guns Advertising officially went live as of today.

The collaboration of myself Sam Tubb and fellow advertising creative Phil Barden form:

Hired // Guns Advertising.  Creative’s // not corporate.

Today was a more laid back approach to our placement as the focus was more on our personal portfolios rather than that of Cadbury, another meeting at the end of the day put us back on track for tomorrows liaison with the client but for now, my sights are firmly fixed on ensuring Hired // Guns exceeds its potential.

Day 5 cont.

Sunday 10th April 2011

The Fortune Reads: Someone Will Get Fired cont.

The few beers in the sun turned into a weekend of relaxing, thoroughly deserved though after a great first week on placement. Going back to Friday I will continue the post.

After the success of Thursday our spirits were pretty high as we arrived for our last day of the first week, we were a man down but had constant access through emails and mobiles if help was required.

Smiles on faces and brains switched on to Creative Thinking we started throwing ideas out about the latest brief, this was soon cut short.

If you remember, on Wednesday the sticker designs for the HRC were beginning to get finalised with the design itself incorporating the chocolate product. For this we had to use an existing product, which we thought, luckily was on our desk. Clarifying with Jason in our office we opened the product, took the photos and placed the packet back in the fridge so it wouldn’t melt. Images done, that would be the last we would hear of it…WRONG!

Paul whose office we had been using and inevitably his chocolate we had used returned after being away, rightly so he came over to where we were working and asked if we had seen the chocolate, as it was the only one in production and his only point of reference so if we could return it, FULLY IN TACT.

The penny dropped and then so did our faces.

I led Paul to the fridge, hoping we had constructed it all back together before leaving on Thursday. My hands rummaged for a while before placing onto numerous hard chocolate circles and a foil unwrapped. Needless to say, Paul wasn’t overly amused. Leaving Paul at his office door with the last words to each other being an apology on my behalf, I returned to where we had been working.

40 minutes passed my page remained empty, I couldn’t work knowing I had blown any chance of forming a good relationship with my Cadbury colleagues.

Bite the bullet and take the punishment like a man

We approached Paul’s office door and asked to speak to him, anything we could do to rectify the situation we would do. The shouting at commenced! Well actually no, Paul explained he had put in a new order and the problem was over, appreciated our apology but mistakes happen and everything as far as he was concerned was sorted.

All of this within 3 hours!

The guilt finally lifted, ideas could once again bombard our working space. New approaches were coming out the woodwork and a meeting with Martin was next on the agenda.

Pitching to the professional I started feeling like a real advertiser! Ideas were challenged and reasons given but the words that were left ringing in my ears stated  

‘The guys out there who have been doing this for thirty years have come up with the same ideas as you, you have achieved this in just three days’

Feeling pretty much on top of the world after that comment, bring on Monday for the final week of placement!

Day 5

Friday April 8th 2011

The Fortune Reads: Someone Will Get Fired!

The BBQ is calling and the beers are cooling, I would be mad to spend another minute inside after a pretty intense week.

More on today's events tomorrow

Day 4

Thursday 7th April 2011

Hi Hannah, It’s Sam from the Design Studio

Today was definitely the hardest I’ve worked so far but also the most rewarding. Project HRC finally came together with a grand total of 375 products now sporting our sticker designs.

Before even arriving this morning it was apparent today would be deadline central. Three meetings with various people and clients were booked in.

Beginning at 9.30 we met with Kirsty from the Art Department who sorted us out with the stock image we needed to finalise the bag design. This would later become a blockade on our path to client satisfaction.

11 o’clock the clients arrived led by Hannah Bird, they too had deadlines to meet so an update on the progress of the stickers was a crucial part of the day. We had worked solidly all morning with little time to even speak casually with each other. Thermometer design perfect! The clients were satisfied we could all see the hard work about to pay off…or not. The bag design would be our temporary down fall.

The imagery didn’t work

The stock image we had arrived early to secure didn’t meet the clients initial approval, however, quick to think we assured them, thirty minutes and the problem would be resolved. So with an exchange of numbers and a second meeting planned we set about rectifying the problem.

Twenty minutes in, new image courtesy of our own photography skills, new design and problem solved…once again so we thought.

Professional phone call later, our clients returned.

The chocolate piece we had placed onto the design no longer resembled chocolate and more of as the clients put it ‘a brown pillow’. One to thrive off one to one communication I clarified how the chocolate would best look and asked the clients to give us a few minutes and assured them, this time it would be right!

SUCCESS

THE DESIGNS WOULD FEATURE ON CADBURY/KRAFT PRODUCTS AT THE 2011 INNOVATIONS EXPO!

The designs were finished, the clients were happy and most importantly I was proud to have my name associated with it.

375 printed stickers later, an exchange of thanks, the name Sam Tubb along with my fellow group members had joined the list of, its fair to say professionals, who had produced real live work for Cadbury.

To top off an extremely successful day we had our final meeting regarding a concept brief in which a postproduction theme was required for a new chocolate range.  More on that tomorrow though.

Needless to say a good nights rest is on the cards

Day 3

Wednesday 6th April 2011

9 to 5 job? Not A Chance!

There is no such thing as going from A to B. It goes A to B,C,D,E to F – never has a truer word been spoken.

Eager to get cracking we arrived early to the office and got straight into bringing yesterdays concepts to life. After clarifying, I can know speak freely about this mysterious project I cut short explaining yesterday. I am currently involved in a project regarding HRC (heat resistant chocolate) specifically the stickers attached to the product to show potential customers at a innovation fare exactly what it is. Along with my group, in which we are becoming closer and creating better ideas each day, have spent a good four hours ensuring we are proud to put our name to the work.

After staring at my screen for countless hours using the trial and error method, I finally conceded to the fact it may have got the better of me, MAY being the crucial word here. Remembering why I had come to Cadbury I approached the Art Design department and picked a few peoples brains to solve my problem. Within minutes I once again felt like a Photoshop pro. Through asking the people who know this program like the back of their hand had shown me, if you don’t ask you don’t get. A few helpful pieces of advice had turned my constant losing battle into a very once sided victory. The thickness of the line no longer haunted me. An hour or so later and our concept drawings had come to life!

Minutes after printing and creating our packaging, the client arrived at our office door and asked for an update. My heart could of pounded straight out my chest, had we met the client’s expectations? I was proud of my work, it looked professional even worthy of a place at an awards evening in my eyes, but was I completely delusional!

THANKFULLY NO

The client loved the concept!

A few tweaks to be made over night and I can officially add my name to the list of people who have produced professional work for Cadbury.

Of course this is no Gorilla or even Eyebrows but time to move aside,

HRC Stickers are in town!

Day 2

Tuesday 5th April 2011

Three little words Real Live Brief

Arriving at my desk aka The Cadbury - Kraft Sofa Area, we set about reviewing our ideas from yesterday. It was a unanimous decision, we had possibly gone too far off topic but a clear mind and fresh eyes from a good nights sleep had made this apparent.

Ideas once again started bouncing around the group until Caress was reborn with a new approach and more importantly a new pitch. However, being only the second day of this upcoming brand I think I will end this here.

 Sketch, alter, sketch, and alter. That pretty much sums up my sketchpad at the moment. This is one side of the placement if I’m honest I have been dreading. Not one to back away from a challenge I persevered with my amateur sketching ability and surprisingly, before I knew it five pages of fairly decent ideas had been created.

 A few hours later a slight buzz of excitement seemed to take over the office, contagiously I soon had this buzz. News of a real live brief had just been secured and to top it off I would get to be part of it.

 Unfortunately, this will have to be resumed in tomorrows post, as although it should be fine, I don’t fancy breaking my confidentiality contract and being faced with a Cadbury lawsuit.

Day 1

Monday 4th April 2011

Hired Guns

 

Today was the first day of my placement at Cadbury and as expected I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. The day began with an introductory tour around the offices and departments by Rachel Eaton, before the mandatory sorting out of ID cards, security access and signing of forms.

With the ‘boring’ stuff out of the way, we went into the design studio (our working area for 2 weeks) and met up with David Pegg who gave us a quick briefing of what would be happening over our time at Cadbury before giving us a tour around the office. For me this was the most insightful part of the day as I got to see real people within the industry putting their skills and talents to good use. Ranging from photography departments through to art directors the office was a constant hive of activity.

Taking position on the sofas we held our first group meeting to discuss the brief we had been given.  The brief task read as follows:

 To produce a packaging design concept for a chocolate countline bar together with a concept for a poster, promoting the bar to its target audience. The target audience is 25-35 females.

Straight away our group erupted in an explosion of ideas, this ensured we kept bouncing concepts off each other and creating new ones in the process. This reminded me of exactly why I had chosen to study this course at University.

I could get paid to do this day in day out!

This process of working soon gave birth to the brand name Caress.

Caress - To touch or stroke in an affectionate or loving manner

Introduction

Monday April 4th 2011

This is my first video post for my time at Cadbury. 

Each video will sum up my day in just 3 words with a written blog entry beneath.