Who are you and what do you do?
I'm Andy, I run a design and development studio called The Higgs Design Co. on St Paul's Square. We work predominantly in web, but do brand, print and graphic work too.
What was your route into this job?
I freelanced while I was at university and when I finished my degree, it was pretty obvious to me that although I was now qualified as an Industrial Designer, I was definitely more motivated to work with shiny fast-moving digital stuff than products. That was five years ago, I'm now 25, and I'm still doing it.
What companies/ organisations are doing really interesting things at the moment?
The folk at Rattle impress me time and again, and for this reason I love working with them when I get the chance.
Urban Coffee Co do online customer engagement really well (we only facilitate what they ask for), and they should be a model for any small business looking to embrace social media.
Buffer App is a fantastic little local startup for stacking up and regularly posting tweets, and much kudos to the guys running it. If you want to see how to setup and foster a web app properly, go checkout their stuff.
As for people I don't get paid to be nice about, I'm a big fan of what jkr say, what Apple make and what Virgin do.
Which tools of the trade could you not do without?
Black-inked pens. Some kind of camera. Probably a kettle.
What events might we catch you at?
Since 2006 I've been a regular at Multipack (and spin off event Geek In The Park when it happens).
In recent weeks Hydrahack, BrumWebBeers and Likemind. I enjoy Popcorn Comedy too. It really matters to me is there is a thriving set of web and digital communities in the city.
How do you keep up with what’s going on in your industry?
Coffee-fuelled discussions and bottomless news feeds at breakfast help. Twitter is useful too, but I struggle a bit to filter out the noise on there.
Are there any emerging trends that you think people should keep an eye on?
Probably too far off to be an emerging trend, but at some point in the not too distant future, search engines will be able to contextually comprehend every bit of data they ever had any access to, no matter what, when or where. I'm not sure we realise the importance of this yet. Every ounce of context will be crunched out of everything we've ever done online. Things will be amazing. We will all reminisce about how naïve we were, even though right now, many of us think we are living in the future.
Describe your office/ workspace decor in five words...
Tech-laced mid-century mix?
Where do you tend to look for new team members?
Dan (our developer) joined me as my first full-time employee in February, and we came across each other via Multipack. That said, I had some interesting and good applications via both Jobplot and Twitter. I get quite a lot of CVs emailed to me too.
From the perspective of a complete novice at hiring, I think recruitment can be very tricky, and perhaps I was a bit lucky. Friends of mine who are looking to fill roles in their own businesses seem to have found it difficult to locate fantastic people who want to work in smaller companies. The best thing is that there are some very talented people around Birmingham, and some of the more long-standing business owners around here have been kind enough to impart to me their own experiences. That really helped and I'm very grateful.
Do you have any recommended resources for people trying to get into your industry?
It's less of a resource, and more of a tip. So many folk who are trying to break into web and who have done digital degrees seem to lack basic, up-to-date knowledge, mainly due to the speed a curriculum evolves vs. the speed the web progresses. You can't just rely on what your tutors tell you.
If you're not drinking or meeting with real web folk towards the end of your period of study, your knowledge is going to be at least six months behind the rest of the industry. There's no excuse not to meet interesting web people in Birmingham; they congregate in pubs and coffee shops. I should know, I keep meeting them.
Generally, I think that the people who engage most seem to enjoy their work, remain more informed and produce more interesting stuff.
Who are you and what do you do?
I am a Dj, Graphic Artist, Producer and most importantly food lover. I perform live with Hiphop artists. Recently I was djing for Big dada Artist Juice Aleem on his European tour. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-juice-aleem-jerusalaam-come-big-dada-1765063.html
I also do a lot of art projects with young people. The last was a Hiphop music projects in a young offenders institute where we taught them dj skills, lyric writing and music production.
On the graphic art front I started a project with a new character that goes by the name of P.Chiddy, there will be more from him later this year. I also blog about these things: http://www.moyma.co.uk/site/
What was your route into this job?
My brother got me into Hiphop culture when we were really young. When we hit late teens he bought decks and I taught myself the how to mix and scratch….by ear. No YouTube! I did a lot of gigs at university while studying graphic design and played down the Student Union bar regularly.
They liked me so much I ended up being asked to play the main slot at the Leavers Ball. Goldie was playing in the other room and I played a mix of independent Hiphop and Funk. After uni I worked as a designer for a year and hated it. I was thankfully made redundant and from then I pursued a career in music. Some great things happened since then like winning a BBC New Talent Award and having the privilege of djing in a lot of different places worldwide.
What companies/ organisations are doing really interesting things at the moment?
http://www.qubeseven.com/, http://www.associatedminds.com/, http://www.arearecordings.com/
Which tools of the trade could you not do without?
I cant really live without my computer. I say that but it can cause me massive headaches so I would like to live without it sometimes.
What events might we catch you at?
I am in the studio day and night at the moment working on projects so I don't get a chance to go to anything. Its cool though I have some cool stuff being cooked up.
How do you keep up with what’s going on in your industry?
I read some blogs but their is so much going on so I don't try and keep up and just carry doing my own thing. Hugh Macleod said it best : 'Ignore Everyone.'
Who or what inspires your work?
Other people who have really learnt their craft whether that is painting, dancing, music. You can see when some has someone has got skill when their work has a clear voice.
Do you have any recommended resources for people trying to get into your industry?
Youtube has a lot but it can be a bit sporadic, www.djtechtools.com has some good stuff on djing and music production. Future music is a good resource as you get a free dvd with the mag which really good sounds, tutorials and interviews.
Describe your office/ workspace decor in five words…in short
'minimal abode of aural pleasure.'
What would you like to see more of in your industry?
More artists taking control of getting their work out their rather than waiting for 'the big A&R deal.' All the tools are there to get your stuff out.
Performing arts ranges from acting, to dancing to live art projects, and there are of plenty of opportunities to get involved and find support for developing ideas in the Midlands.
- DanceXchange provides artistic support, education, performances and participation opportunities, and advocates for dance at all levels.
- Youth Dance England works towards creating opportunities for young people in dance, in and out of a school setting. They also offer advice, training, support and resources to both young people and those who have developed, or are thinking about developing, a career in dance.
- Dancescape is a development organisation for Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire.
- The Stage provides industry news, events, advice, classifieds and audition listings
- Box of Frogs is an improv group held in Moseley every Tuesday night.
- The Traditional Arts Team have a range of social meets and workshops in performance, music and storytelling around the West Midlands.
- Sampad is a development agency for South Asian arts, they also offer work placements and opportunities for performance and artist development.
- Live Art Development Agency offers offers resources, professional development initiatives, and projects for the support and development of live art practices and critical discourses in the UK and internationally.
- Fierce Platinum Scheme supports live artists with a platform to present work in progress, and to develop individual learning plans, provide artist-led workshops and one to one mentoring from a practicing artist.
- Community Dance provides professional development with resources for funding and useful contacts within the dance industry.
- Motionhouse are based in Leamington Spa and offer professional development and training for dance artists and dance teachers, along with student placements.
(Image by Hey nadders)
