In Conversation with Fred Deakin
- FONG SAY KIAT
- Oct 26, 2016
- 3 min read
Right after a full-day lecture on art movement on 18th-19th century, there I head back to Camden - not to cook dinner, but to attend a workshop session with Fred Deakin.
Who's Fred Deakin?
1. Formed music bands during his teenage years.
2. DJing and ran a few clubs.
3. Inhouse designer for his clubs.
4. Ran more clubs and DJing.
5. Inhouse desginer for his clubs again.
6. Co-founder his very own Airside studios.
7. One of the member of British electronic music duo, Jelly Bean.
8. Nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and BRIT Awards.
9. Professor of Interactive Digital Arts at the University of Arts London
10. Ran workshops on digital collaborative
There's too much to describe him here are the links related to his career. Click here, here, here, here and here.
All links are arranged so you can open them in tabs. Welcome.
In short word, he's a musician / designer / artist / educator.
So much talented. In his workshop, he shared his career journey and thoughts on career and design. He started his professional design career during the rise (not exploding) period of web technology. His deep passion in various music genre during his teenage years had exposed him different design styles (especially the blooming days of GTA vector art).
He called himself as "a big fan of collaboration", which later motivates him to become an educator on running workshops that encourage young designers learn how to properly work within a team of designers/non-designer to bring out solutions to the real world.
"When I was running Airside, I knew damn well that was not Fred Deakin PLC. It was a team of people. Some had much more visible skills than others,”
“You need three different skills on a board of a startup: a business head, tech head and design head. If you have all of those in the room then the startup has a chance of succeeding. If one is missing, you’re missing a crucial ingredient."
-Fred Deakin-
"All of them are true, especially when tech guys are taking over the CEO room by storm with their crazy low cheap budget startups which require designers to design a RM20 logo for them."
-Mr.Fong-
At the end of the session, I had the chance to ask him two questions that confused me since last year, the questions:
1. As a 19-year-old fresh designer who wants to start a "online studio", would you recommend to use my own name (like Paul Rand, Milton Glaser) or corporate name (Pentagram or so)
- It all depends on the designer, there are designers who choose to just work under studios so they don't need to worry too much. IMO, using own name as a brand is more like a "lifestyle business" which tells a lot of your personality (and clients will be picky on that sometimes). If you create a design company with corporate name, you had the mindset of scaling up your company by recruiting more young designer.
The term "lifestyle business" is a lot to research.
2. As famous artists from early centuries had developed their painting/design style, and famous companies do so too, do you recommend me to develop my kind of design style and start practicing on my projects and assignment?
- This question is similar to the first questions and it is very subject too, my opinion is to test your design style and if it generates positive feedback and get people to talk about it, it is nice to continue your style. If things do not work out, then you have to quickly shift away.
It's all like DJing, when people are not enjoying your musics then you have to quickly change the atmosphere. In a nutshell, read your audiences' feedback and decide.
It's nice to learn the background of an artist that is multi-talented. I end this article with his quote:
"Trust your gut feelings because sometimes your brain thinks it's right but it's not."
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