Xmas cards

Here are some fab xmas cards and ecards I have had sent to me. Keep em coming.

More to follow. Please comment if you like them or email me if you have some you would like me to feature.dean@creativerecruitment.co.uk

Job advert

I saw this job advert for a designer with 'mad skills' and thought it was quite interesting - well, better than the normal careers page on most sites. Leave a comment if you have seen others that catch your eye.

Who said the old school job advert was dead?

More can be seen via this link: http://jobmob.co.il/blog/funniest-creative-job-recruitment-ads/

Busy old week

This week has been a busy one for me. I have been darting round the Shoreditch area like mad in a mix of client meetings, shopping trips, lunches and the odd pint here and there. I took some snaps on along the way.

Early in the week I saw this and had to snap it. It's not really a master piece but I thought it was quite funny. The old Vinnie Jones / Gazza pic was a blast back in the day.

The other day I took a wonder in a random shop while I was coming back from a client meeting. Give this VM person a rise!

I did a bit of shopping about for some new clothes. I bagged myself some dirty denims by Jeff Banks and some vintage chinos.

On Friday I nipped into Atlantis to pick up some material I needed for a small branding project I am working on. They didn't have what I needed even though it was advertised on their website. I wasn't happy grrr.

Blanka

Love this image of Blanka.

Blanka is one of the original eight characters featured in the first version of Street Fighter II. He has green skin and long orange hair, resembling a monster more than a human.

Engage

Being so deeply involved in the vigorous world of digital advertising, means I am lucky enough to engage and interact with some inspiring personalities. Only the other day, I was sent a tweet by @heatherDUNHILL. 

Heather is a US based, self-proclaimed, style blogger and fashion spectator, whose work is regularly featured in www.sarasotamagazine.com. The tweet was a simple request to check out her ‘Fashion IQ’ blog, which I duly did. And I was glad of it, because this was no conventional blog, filled with the mundane ramblings of a bored or verbose blogger. The blog was exciting, engaging and full of verve. I would even go so far as to say, it was the best fashion blog I’ve come across.

You can check out more of Heather Dunhill’s work at http://heatherdunhill.com. Let me know what you think of it.

en•gage:

To occupy the attention or efforts of (a person or persons): He engaged her in conversation.

Dad shoes

If you are like me and just hit the 30 year old mark then you might not be still buying Nike Air Max 5s as regularly as before and moving on to a more conventional work / pick up the kids from school shoe?

I picked up these ‘dad shoes’ (the first of my collection) from www.leecooper.com They are going for £25.00 and are reduced from £59.99. They come in tan and brown and are comfortable enough to make the journey to and from the tube station. They also go quite well with jeans so do actually have a contemporary look if you get the right denim. Bag them at: www.sportsdirect.com

Worth checking out but there is no substitute for these bad boys!

The joys of working offsite.

Many freelancers are starting to invest substantial amounts of money in setting up remote offices at home. This involves buying and installing the necessary equipment and allocating the space, in order to facilitate comfortable, yet productive working conditions. This is proving to be a popular working environment, as freelancers are saving time on the commute, costs on travel—but more importantly—the alleviated grind in hustle and bustle of the unforgiving underground, being ever attractive.

The down side to this is always going to be lack of face-2-face contact, the experience of a new environment and culture, and in-situ learning (some of which cannot be recreated in an isolated environment from ones home).

Many people work remotely for years without any issues or problems, but I have noticed working offsite can lead to a back log of multiple jobs and client requests, occasionally leading to one job being compromised over another (never a good thing). If you have too much on your plate, you should get into the good habit of saying ‘no’ to more jobs.

Here are my key findings to working offsite:

• Set your station up on a table or desk, rather than be slumped on the sofa with your laptop in hand.
• Turn the TV off. The drone of humdrum daytime TV in the background can be distracting (or if you’re like me, it will drive you mad).
• Remember to allocate time away from your desk as you would in an office i.e. an hour for lunch for and two 15 min breaks (this can be especially valuable when looking after children at home).
• Get some clothes on – the dressing gown just won’t get you in the right frame of mind.
• Make sure you are in a location where you can make and receive calls or Skype.
• If working on more than one job, be fair and allocate 100% of your time to each job – it’s never going to be right for you to give anything less than 100% to your any of your clients / projects.
• Don’t risk the internet café. It’s a fast connection, but you don’t want to be making conference calls with a group of teenagers playing Quake team death match next to you. Also, if any of your work is of a sensitive nature, don’t run the risk of hackers catching sight of it.

Ultimately it is up to you – good luck!

New sneakers

Picked up these sick trainers from www.sportsdirect.com. They are going for £15.00 for low tops and £20.00 for the high tops but best of all they are reduced from £65 / £70 quid. They come in 4 or 5 other colors including black, blue and Green.

I had to bag 4 pairs of them - well worth picking up before they sell out!

Amazing clients

Sometimes I pick up a new client and it’s a dream come true. Over the last 3 years I have been lucky enough to partner with media owners, record labels, fashion brands, broadcasters, ad agencies, and football clubs. For me, this is right up my street¬–I love all forms of media, fashion and home entertainment! So, recruiting creative teams and managing studio support for my clients, is always a pleasure.

No matter what your industry is, or client base, always try to find out as much as you can about the key people and sectors your business serves. It helps if you are passionate and have a genuine interest in the brands you support and work with. Make life easier on yourself by keeping up to date with current market trends, pitch wins and ad spend.

In today’s competitive world, every company tries to attract clients by providing a low cost service and high quality delivery.

Here are my top ten tips to retain your fab client base:
1. Always under promise and over deliver
2. Inform, don’t harass
3. Be personal, yet professional
4. Be interactive and engaging
5. Deliver a quick service
6. Deliver with added value
7. Always follow up, not chase up
8. Be honest
9. Work with your clients, not for them
10. Find out as much as you can about their business

Finally, keep updating your services. Add new features to keep your clients interested and the hopefully they will never think of any other services again!

Digital Designer vs Front End Developer

Des vs Dev.

I notice more and more that demand for designers with sh*t hot dev skills is increasing. This is because of two main reasons: continuity and cost.

The problem with this is that web designers will always highlight their knowledge (however basic) of web based tech such as basic action script and HTML. To the untrained eye this can become confusing and lead to many digital designers being talked to or put forward for roles that are not quite right for them.

What’s the solution? Make a clear split between your design and dev capabilities. Don’t blur the two in your opening profile. Make sure that you indicate the level i.e: advanced, intermediate or basic. Also, don’t be afraid to take out non relevant skills - there is no demand for designers to know Swift 3D, so why add it to your profile?

Rule of thumb, keep it simple and relevant.

This weeks hot jobs

We have been super busy in the Creative Recruitment freelance department. This week we have been predominantly working on client side roles. The companies and very desirable are easily some of my favourite brands. Here are a few hot ones so far this week:

• Football Club – Production Editor
• Leading fashion retailer – Head of E-Commerce
• Global leading Modelling Agency – Designer
• Global leading entertainment company – IA

If any are of interest to you or a friend please feel free to contact me.

Creative Services

Hello fellow bloggers / readers.

This is my first post and should have been done ages ago.

Firstly I must introduce myself to you all.....

I currently work as a consultant for a UK leading integrated creative services recruitment agency. I have a strong working background (6 years) within Digital Media, Creative Services, Fashion, and Retail. Initially starting my career at a Digital Design Studio then moving in-house to market leading brands such as Selfridges and Arcadia. I have since built up a portfolio of global clients including the likes of Saatchi & Saatchi, BBH, Net-A-Porter, and EMI Records to name a few.

I have subsequently joined Creative Recruitment focusing my experience on building and pipelining freelance talent pools for Luxury Fashion, Digital Design and Advertising Agencies. I am a passionate, hardworking individual and love working with all the amazing companies I assist when finding the very best creative a technical talent in the UK for their business.

Lately I have been inspired by and currently loving the following:

Monorex – Secret Wars (as seen on TV).

The Bank - William Hill (ATL 2011 ad).

Boba Fett Rocket - Firing Promo (2010 re-release).

Diesel Black and Gold S/S 2011.

Taking photos of real London graff kings work and uploading them to my Flickr page.

And I shall be adding to it over the coming months!

In my spare time I love chilling out to smooth grooves with an ice cold shandy and the latest copy of Web Designer Magazine updating and re building my e-shops and online community websites.

My blog will be a combination of the latest media and creative services job updates that I am working on, the latest news in the fashion, retail, digital and social media world and a few pearls of fashion wisdom and quotes along the way.

Always happy to engage and participate in discussion with like minded industry professionals and fellow bloggers.

Twitter: @deancousin

LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/deancousin