Shift Live No.1

Following the success of our launch event, Open For Business, we’re hosting a series of upcoming events called Shift Live.

These events will promote our exciting internship programme, and are designed to engage and inspire young creatives by helping to develop their skills, introducing them to leading industry professionals and creating employment opportunities.

Taking the form of Shift’s first birthday, Shift Live No.1, is taking place at Think Tank, HoultsYard, Newcastle on Thurs 28 March from 4pm until 2am.

With free food, drinks flowing and talks from leading creative industry professionals, Shift Live No.1 will introduce our new online platform, and offer young people the chance to apply for the latest internship positions, as well giving industry practitioners the opportunity to become a Shift mentor.

To end the afternoon there’ll be stand-up from fabulous comic, Fern Brady, to get everyone in the mood for the after party.

Taking place from 7.45pm until 2am, the after party will offer live music from Static Soul and This Ground Moves, in addition to a set from Dean Paul Walton, resident DJ at Gotham Town.

Tickets cost £10 and if you’ve not already got yours sorted then there’s still some available to buy from our Eventbrite page. Make sure you don’t miss out!

WeAre_Shift: Gone networking, back in 5..

If you’re serious about getting your work out there in front of an audience, chances are you’ll have to give networking a try. Not only will it test your ability to balance a cup of tea, biscuits, your bag, coat and your business cards/ portfolio all in one hand, but it’s a great chance to meet like-minded creative types and have a go at making contacts in the industry.

We’ve recently attended a few events at the Northern Design Centre organised by Design Network North. They’re definitely an organisation to keep your eye on.. Not only is it a great resource for creatives in the region, but they organise some pretty useful events.

As you know Shift’s approach to working is through collaboration, so getting the chance to network with other creative disciplines means we’ve met quite a few people we’re excited about working with in the future. If you’re considering attending next month make sure you come and say hello. We’ll be found next to the bacon sandwiches..

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WeAre_Shift: Mark Lenthall

If you head over to Shift HQ you’re not going to get very far without bumping into Mark Lenthall. After coming from a background in hand drawn animation and illustration, Mark is now part of the team that’s setting up the Shift internship program. He managed to find a few minutes to answer our questions about life at Shift..

How did you come to intern at Shift?

I was originally a design intern with Studio Precept. Then when Shift came about, Nick (the gaffer at Precept) and Andy (co-creator of Shift) seemed to want me on board. I wasn’t about to let an opportunity to be involved in something like this slip by!

What is your role in Shift?

Andy would say I’m his right hand man and that seems like a pretty fair description. I work with him to create the internship programme structure, build networks with suppliers and mentors and generally help to ‘build the brand’. I also like to get involved with the live briefs as I get a kick out of cross discipline working and love the off the wall ideas we come up with.

How is the programme collaborative? Are you working with any particular discipline that you hadn’t worked with before?

It’s basically what we’re all about, and not just in a superficial buzzwordy kind of way. Having come from a pretty varied background before getting into design, I’ve had the good fortune to work with lots of different people in the past. Without consciously looking for it, Shift turned out to be a continuation of that theme.

Are you learning any new skills from collaborating? Do you get to teach anyone new skills?

Oh yeah, how could you not learn new skills?! Whether it’s from the guys at Precept teaching me about design processes and getting the best from client relationships, to one of the interns telling me that my idea might actually be possible (sometimes not though!). I figure there’s always things to learn from other people, regardless of whether they’re graphic designers or not.

Yeah, I would like to think I’ve taught others new skills, not the flashy stuff I don’t suppose, but more about how to approach things and how to have a different perspective than others might – I just want people to think for themselves a bit more, see the bigger picture.

Has collaborating with other disciplines changed your attitude to how you work and/or working within the creative industry in general?

It’s made me a lot more confident when presenting my ideas, whilst being a bit less precious about them. I’d always heard that that’s what you were meant to be, but I never quite got my head around that until I came here. Now, I just throw it out there and see what happens. It’s not just me who can have ideas that need a bit of work on, you just need to go through a process to get that winning idea – getting other people involved usually equals better results!

What’s next?

Future plans? Tricky, that one. I’m involved with Shift & Precept now, and am focused on making that a success. Beyond that, who knows – I wasn’t expecting Shift to come along 12 months ago so I’m sure I won’t be expecting the next thing, whenever that happens. I’ll just make sure I always keep my ear to the ground!

Have you got a question for Mark? You can find him on Twitter @mark_lenthall..

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Launch Party Winner – Team Life member 5of5, Roger Wilson

Here is the final and fifth in a series of insights from one of the winners from our Shift Launch Party. As part of a winning pitch, he and his fellow Team Life members got to spend some time working in our Shift studio to develop their concept brand and business to a point where it is ready for market.

What is your name and where are you studying and/or what is your discipline?

I Am Roger Wilson, Graphic designer, Newcastle College

Have you enjoyed your time at SHIFT?

I have loved my time at shift it’s been excellent and extremely helpful

You were given a collaborative programme during your time at SHIFT do you think it helped you?

Yes, working as part of a team worked significantly well as it gave me an insight into working in industry with different disciplines and putting work together in a professional way

Do you feel you better understand the roles of your collaborative team?

Yes definitely, I now understand the roles of my team and how they coincide together

Has collaborating with other disciplines changed your attitude to how you will work in the creative industry?

Yes, working with other disciplines has changed me in the way of creating work to make things easier to work with

Do you feel you better understand the working of a Creative studio?

Yes, from working with shift I have a better understanding of how people work in the industry and how to structure my work in a collaborative way

Do you appreciate the need for research on a Creative project?

Yes, I now know that research is an extremely vital part of any project in the understanding and ‘putting together’ of a project fail to research prepare to fail

Do you appreciate the value of a brand statement?

Brand statement is incredibly vital as it portrays the company/project to its target audience/people who use it

Are you happy with the business concept and how it could be given to market?

Yes! Definitely, there is a gap in the market for this type of concept and the way it is given to the market is also brilliant

Do you think your skills were utilized sufficiently throughout the project?

Yes, I was clearly shown and given advice on how to enhance my skills and they were used very efficiently

Would you recommend Shift approach of collaborative working to others?

Yes!!!, I would recommend shift to anyone who wants to show off their creativeness and work with an excellent team of creative individuals

Launch Party Winner – Team Life member 4of5, Kirk Conner

Here is the fourth in a series of insights from one of the winners from our Shift Launch Party. As part of a winning pitch, he and his fellow Team Life members got to spend some time working in our Shift studio to develop their concept brand and business to a point where it is ready for market.

What is your name and where are you studying and/or what is your discipline?

My Name is Kirk Connor, I am currently studying Digital media at Newcastle College & I am a web Programmer/designer.

Have you enjoyed your time at SHIFT?

I have enjoyed my time at shift as it has allowed me to experience working amongst a team towards a common goal with each member having a different area of expertise and something different to contribute.

You were given a collaborative programme during your time at SHIFT do you think it helped you?

The collaborative project has helped me as it has given me experience of studio work and what different people can bring to a project based on their skill set.

Do you feel you better understand the roles of your collaborative team?

Each member of the team had something different to bring to the table, the skills varying from graphic design and animation to industry design, game design and web programming, these skills all played a part in the process of designing and completing our project.

Has collaborating with other disciplines changed your attitude to how you will work in the creative industry?

Working with people from other disciplines has made me more aware of how collaborating with differing fields on a project can help spread the work load as well as generate more ideas, it is definitely a process I could see being useful in my future work in the industry.

Do you feel you better understand the working of a Creative studio?

I feel I have got a better Idea of working in a creative studio, the time spent at shift has shown my group how even a small group like ourselves working together on a project makes the project more enjoyable and how each of us can contribute something to any project.

Do you appreciate the need for research on a Creative project?

Research is very important in a creative project, at every stage, whether it is for the design of a logo or web page or into possible competitors for your product. It allows you to see what is already out there and what you need to do to make your product stand out from the rest and fulfil its goals.

Do you appreciate the value of a brand statement?

The brand statement is a lot clearer to me now, I had not come across them before my time working at shift and I can see now how it clearly defines what your project/product is about.

Are you happy with the business concept and how it could be given to market?

I feel we have developed the business concept well from our initial thoughts at the open for business launch event. We have looked at what competitors are out there and what we want the business to offer and have developed that idea into a strong concept.

Do you think your skills were utilised sufficiently throughout the project?

I feel there was sufficient tasks for my skills on the project as I brought the idea from the design process into a web page, I also found I enjoyed the design process a lot more than I had previously on other projects.

Would you recommend Shift approach of collaborative working to others?

I think overall the collaborative work has been beneficial to our entire group and shift should definitely look to offer this kind of work to other groups of people in the future so they can benefit from the experience we have received.

Snowball fights with Studio Precept

Well, as promised, the snow has arrived. We think we’re coping well with the cold in Shift HQ; huddled around Studio Precept‘s halogen heater and trying not to get too distracted from our briefs by frostbite.. Since Friday’s are (almost) always a fun day here, we headed out this afternoon to The Tyne Bar for burgers with the guys from Studio Precept, and ended up stopping by the Toffee Factory for a snowball fight on the way back up to the studio.

It’s fair to say there were some pretty rubbish aims all round. Although there was a brilliant shot by Mark, who managed to hit Hannah square in the head… serves her right for being too busy instagramming the whole thing to pay attention.

Hope you all have a great weekend, and are enjoying the weather! 🙂

Launch Party Winner – Team Life member 3of5, Thom Sansom

Here is the third in a series of insights from one of the winners from our Shift Launch Party. As part of a winning pitch, he and his fellow Team Life members got to spend some time working in our Shift studio to develop their concept brand and business to a point where it is ready for market.

What is your name and where are you studying and/or what is your discipline?

Thom Sansom studying animation at Newcastle college.

Have you enjoyed your time at SHIFT?

It has been an excellent experience that has given me confidence in how working in a Creative studio will be like.

You were given a collaborative programme during your time at SHIFT do you think it helped you?

Yes, it’s shown me how to work in a team to achieve a common goal.

Do you feel you better understand the roles of your collaborative team?

From never working in a team it has shown me the benefits of working in one.

Has collaborating with other disciplines changed your attitude to how you will work in the creative industry?

The experience has given me better understanding of how different disciplines can come together instead of only working with people in the same area.

Do you feel you better understand the working of a Creative studio?

Yes, it’s helped my understanding of how a Creative studio works and how people’s specialties can be used.

Do you appreciate the need for research on a Creative project?

I now have a better understanding of how the research can help improve an idea and even compete with a similar one.

Do you appreciate the value of a brand statement?

It has shown me the usefulness of using one and how it helps explain to people what the project is.

Are you happy with the business concept and how it could be given to market?

I am happy with how the concept has evolved from one idea and into one that has better potential for the market.

Do you think your skills were utilised sufficiently throughout the project?

My skills were hard to utilize but I was still able to use them in the project.

Would you recommend Shift approach of collaborative working to others?

I would recommend Shifts approach to others as it helps give experience in working in a team in the creative industry.

Launch Party Winner – Team Life member 2of5, Simon Smith

Here is the second in a series of insights from one of the winners from our Shift Launch Party. As part of a winning pitch, he and his fellow Team Life members got to spend some time working in our Shift studio to develop their concept brand and business to a point where it is ready for market.

What is your name and where are you studying and/or what is your discipline?
Simon Smith – 3D and 2D design

Have you enjoyed your time at SHIFT?
Yes

You were given a collaborative programme during your time at SHIFT do you think it helped you?
Yes it helped very much

Do you feel you better understand the roles of your collaborative team?
Yes

Has collaborating with other disciplines changed your attitude to how you will work in the creative industry?
It has indeed not just in a creative role but in other aspects of my working life also .

Do you feel you better understand the working of a Creative studio?
Yes it’s a new experience for me

Do you appreciate the need for research on a Creative project?
Yes as I need to better understand several areas of a project before creating it

Do you appreciate the value of a brand statement?
Yes I now know its not just a sentence it has substance and a purpose to why its there .

Are you happy with the business concept and how it could be given to market?
Yes, it has been a very interesting insight into how and why a idea can change through several stages .

Do you think your skills were utilised sufficiently throughout the project?
Yes some skills are relatively new to me but I had the chance to use what I know .

Would you recommend Shift approach of collaborative working to others?
Yes I think it’s a great chance to experience the real working environment outside of education .

Launch Party Winner – Team Life member 1of5, Ruth Leach

Here is the first in a series of insights from one of the winners from our Shift Launch Party. As part of a winning pitch, she and her fellow Team Life members got to spend some time working in our Shift studio to develop their concept brand and business to a point where it is ready for market.

What is your name and where are you studying and/or what is your discipline?

My name is Ruth Leach. I’m studying for my degree – Design for Industry.

Have you enjoyed your time at SHIFT?

 Yes indeedy. I’ve met a new bunch people and learnt more about brand identity.

You were given a collaborative programme during your time at SHIFT do you think it helped you?

Yes, collaborative work is very beneficial, you learn a lot from others and you learn that people from different backgrounds have varying perspectives on the same topic area.

Do you feel you better understand the roles of your collaborative team? 

I think it’s been tricky to define particular roles. Especially as we have not always been able to all meet together all the time to progress the project. We all have skills that over lap but at the same time we each have different skills that others try to understand.

Has collaborating with other disciplines changed your attitude to how you will work in the creative industry?

I enjoy working with other disciplines, I always feel like I learn a lot more in a shorter space of time. I think it’s important to encourage multi – disciplinary collaborations.  It’s also signified what role I may play in future projects.

Do you feel you better understand the working of a Creative studio?

Yes, this is a new experience for me working in a creative studio outside of university.

Do you appreciate the need for research on a Creative project?

Research is a crucial aspect of the project, as research runs our ideas have developed in conjunction.

Do you appreciate the value of a brand statement?

Yes, I realize it’s important that the brand statement must capture the ethos of the brand.

Are you happy with the business concept and how it could be given to market?

Our idea has developed on greatly from our initial presentation, the business concept now has more clarity and the market is easier to define.

Do you think your skills were utilised sufficiently throughout the project?

I think this project has taken me out of my comfort zone, it is a project focused more on building a brand and creating a brand identity and communication, which I haven’t had a lot of experience with. I think at the beginning of the project my skills were utilized more with the ideation process rather than later on during to project. I felt the ending of project had more graphical and digital web significance. Also due to intense university commitments I’ve been unable to give Shift 100% of my commitment. I wish this opportunity had come around earlier during summer time or later on after I’d graduated.  

Would you recommend Shift approach of collaborative working to others? 

Yes I would, however the Shift approach could consider more; the importance of peoples time availability and commitment and then you’d see even better project outcomes.  If I wasn’t in my final year at university and worked full time as a part of a studio I feel like my contribution would be far greater.

WeAreGingerbreading: team building exercises with Studio Precept

What better way to get into the festive spirit than with a gingerbread team building competition? After going head to head with Studio Precept, Team Shift won hands down with a gingerbread model of the studio! Amazing effort.

Merry Shiftmas from all of us 🙂