Evaluate the Strengths and Weaknesses of 3 practitioners or design agencies as objectively as you can.
What opportunities for you own practice have revealed themselves to you as a results of this analytical evaluation?
It is essential that you make reference to SWOT and evaluate its usefulness as an analysis or evaluation tool
The SWAT analysis looks at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of businesses. The strengths include customer bases, location, customer loyalty, reputation, access to market pool, growth / expansion, type of design, finances and its sustainability. When looking at a company you should evaluate the opportunities that are available both now and in the future in relation to new technology, changing customer tastes / new market areas, government backing, new opportunities and the expansion of the industry that the company is based within. You should look at the weaknesses objectively especially in relation to the current and future economy; look at the size of the company / studio, its sustainability, its location - city / country, and the size of the business. The main threat to any business is the economy. The financial threats to a company can be affected by increased competition from other companies, falling sales / demand, seasonal demand, cost of production, and non-loyal customers.
For me when I leave University, my greatest threat to finding a job will be my peers on my course, but also the vast pool of other Graphic Design graduates. The Design Industry is already overcrowd so I need to ensure that I can be seen and heard, and to make sure that I stand out and bring something more to the table. than other graduates and designers do. I need to look at other courses and their outlines and how my degree and course outlines differentiate and excel in comparison. Once I am employed, for the business / designs studio that I will be working for, the greatest threat is other design studios / agencies / businesses already out there.
I have found 3 design agencies / companies that vary in size, location the calibre of the company. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. I have chosen these agencies as they stand out and when I look at their work ethics, and the design work they have produced I am inspired and feel very driven - they provide me with goals as to what I want to achieve. Ideally, when I leave Leeds College of Art I would like to be living and working in London. I want to stay in England primarily and London is the heart of business and design.
My course at Leeds College of Art has provided me with experience in different areas which will help me to stand out when I graduate; a module in Typography, Enterprise (how to establish yourself and manage yourself as a designer and also within a business), Designing in an Industry, hard working, dedicated and good communication skills.
FOUR LETTER WORD
http://www.fourletterword.co.uk
COMANY OUTLINES
Size doesn't matter.
“Four-letter word's team is responsive, flexible, and has responded to the brief with cost effective, creative, confident and versatile visual solutions.”
In our world of design and brand identity, we're seeing how major companies are confidently partnering with small agile design firms - National Grid approached us to redesign their internal literature which led to the creation of new brand guidelines. We believe it's just smart confident thinking that happens to make sound economic sense in these challenging times.
What does matter in a small design firm is the people, its network and the collective experience. We bring all this together in abundance to suit your project so you only pay for what's needed, nothing more.
From our perspective, whether your company is large or small makes no difference. What we do look for in client relationships is some understanding of, and appreciation for, good design and the value this can bring
Gaining a clear and concise understanding of your brand and how it is perceived, both internally and externally, is essential in creating an effective design solution.
Using our years of experience we combine online surveys, interviews, focus groups and desk research to quickly and cost-effectively gather the data you need. We then draw out the conclusions and recommend specific actions that will deliver tangible benefits to your business.
STRENGTHS
- Well established company for the last 20 years gives good business, design and customer experience.
- Small agency - more personal, more communication and more powerful / successful team within the company.
- Studio is based in Central London, the centre of business of England, easily accessible to clients, good location for client research, heart of commerce.
- Individual, approachable, friendly impression
- Wide range of design work - lots of opportunities; branding, identity, screen based design, print based design, publishing, editorial, advertising - all of these areas I am interested in working in and this company shows that it is flexible and has a wide range of experience in each of the areas.
- Really like the portfolio of work with clients that they have produced - it is very inspirational for my design and developing a style.
- Good design - client relationship and inspiring business objectives.
- The team - a huge and wide amount of experience in different areas - all bringing new and different factors to the company making it a well built with a huge amount of experience from all around the world.
WEAKNESSES
- none as of yet
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VITAMIN T
COMANY OUTLINES
Aquent's Vitamin T division was created to exclusively meet the unique needs of ad agencies, mid-sized companies and the digital creatives we all love.
We spend our time connecting the best digital creatives in the industry. Sounds like a pretty sweet job, huh? We think so. Even better for you, we’ve been doing this for over 25 years as part of Aquent, so our talent network is unparalleled. We’re proud to say that we personally meet our candidates, have proprietary hands-on assessments, and are great at digging down to what our talent can do – and what they want to do – so that we can make the perfect match for our clients.
In a nutshell, Vitamin T provides carefully screened freelance designers, developers and copywriters on a freelance and contract-to-hire basis. Sometimes we also provide cookies and milk, just when you need them.
- Who we work with
- Our clients include mid-sized, design-minded businesses and
advertising agencies. In fact we’re the only creative talent
agency who chooses specifically (and exclusively) to work
with these awesome clients. Sure, that means we need to
know the absolute best
creatives in the market
– and provide them
instantaneously, since
that’s how fast our clients
need them. But hey, we’re
gluttons for punishment,
and there’s nothing we
won’t do to help make the world a better place through design.
- How we're different
- Vitamin T isn’t some faceless, computer-driven online staffing engine.
- Like everyone else we love algorithms, but let's get serious. It's one thing to suggest a book for your summer read, but another thing to let a database choose your company's next Creative Director. Let's not even get into the Next Day Priority shipping costs for a Creative Director, either.
Here’s what makes us different: - Exclusive focus on mid-market and agency
customers, so we know what you need
(and how fast you need it) - Exclusive focus on temp and
temp-to-perm placements. - Personally screened candidates for
every position. And while you’re in
between positions, we recruit and retain
the hottest talent in the industry, so they’re ready when you need them - 110% guarantee on all placements. Enough said.
- 25 years of creative staffing experience and a premier network of talent through our parent company, Aquent – the world’s leading marketing and design staffing agency.
- Cookies and milk. (We just had to bring that up again, didn't we?)
STRENGTHS
- Very inspirational work and client group - they chose the best clients to work with; they have a very good reputation.
- Established company for the last 25 years - sustainable and will still be around when I leave university. Very good experience and know-how, they are at the high end of the design world.
- Expanding and developing technology
- Carefully selected designers for the company - providing clients with the best quality services and designs.
WEAKNESSES
- Large company meaning it is less personal and could be too big for me
- Free-lance bases; the company is made up of carefully selected designers who work on a free-land and contract-to-hire bases. Working on a free lance bases could prove to be problematic as there would be a worry as to where and when your next design job would be. It also means that you are working more on your own rather than in a team.
- It is a local based company in United States - a larger continent and different from England. They may work in different ways from the UK. It would involve me moving from England and across the world.
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BRANCH
COMPANY OUTLINES
Branch is an independent design consultancy based in the heart of London. We are an experienced team working across many disciplines and believe that the key to good design and communication is simplicity.
Our services include identities, branding & strategy, design for print, web, art direction and advertising.
Our clients range from small start up businesses to multinational companies
STRENGTHS
- Independent and smaller but very well established agency which started up in 2008. The size of the agency makes a stronger and more personal team where communication will be at its highest.
- Great work ethic and design strategy and very influential on me; simplicity is key.
- Based in London - at the heart of design and business, easy to access and prime location for clients.
- This company really stands out for me - I love all their work, very inspirational, they have a large range of clients (both large and small). They design for branding, print, web and advertising - these are all areas that I want to gain experience..
- Started in 2008 - they have a new and fresh look at design and good experience in advancing technologies of the world.
WEAKNESSES
- Smaller and independent industry - competition from bigger agencies.
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