Darren Bowles - Moving Brands

Ex Kingston Graphic Design graduate Darren Bowles came in to do a talk that was packed full of wisdoms and anecdotes to inspire and instruct us prospective graduates.

First of all came a golden list of imparted advice for every student out there:

• "SPECIAL K" - Exploit Kingston's special ingredient
• Sea of Success - Wide the wave
• Your ...ness - Find that area that makes you tick
• Meat Market - You need that ...ness to stand out from the student meat market waiting outside
• The Exclusion Principle - Try everything and work out what's not for you
• Cheap Work Rich Learning - There is a lot to be said for unpaid experiences
• The God Delusion - Don't think you're the best, you'll need to prove yourself again
• Return to Puberty - You're not top of the school anymore, be prepared for that
• Ever the Apprentice - Never the finished article
• Say Yes - Don't be afraid of new opportunities
• Sponge - Absorb everything that comes your way
• Work with people better than you - You've nothing to learn from people that are worse than you
• There's nothing more difficult to open than a closed mind 
• Work hard and be nice to people

He then went on to use work and experiences made within Moving Brands and his own Design career to teach us a series of chapters:

• Thinking and Making: Thought process is just as vital as the execution, example being the live streamed ad in Outer Mongolia to test a piece of technology. So confident in the concept, that the outcome itself was bound to be flawless.
• Creativity is Storytelling: Behind everything you do is an influence and a story.                     (Story -> System -> Process)
• Conviction: Finding the fundamentals of the story behind each client, getting to the root, locate storyline. (HP)
• Co Create: Consultancy workshop with Swisscom. A drawing workshop, leap of faith and a departure from the original. Working alongside the client to find the true nature of the brand.
• Authentic: Humanise a brand's image to suit client's needs. Creating a taste of the client's identity. (Ness)
• Elegance: Invest into the story, explain the process of the product thy're selling. Selling point. (Edward Green & Co) What does the brand represent? identifying their clients, who are the target market? Translating this character into marketing potential. Building a brand upon truths. (ALL ABOUT TEA)
• Intrigue: Inspiration behind an idea and incorporating into an identity. (Dragonfly)
• Emotive: Transferring sound to structure (Maserati)
• Play