Our tour of the Mingei Museum was dedicated to explore the realm of art as well as the design efforts that go behind creating an exhibit and a museum. Our tour guide and in-house graphic designer was Alexis O'Banion who has held the position for a number of years. Bennett Peji, fellow designer, is also a board member at the Mingei and was there to give us his insight and other handy tips. When it comes to designing for the Mingei specifically there is a group of people who decide what the exhibits will be and which pieces will go in there. Alexis' role then is to create a visual representation of the pieces to attract customers and to display information in the exhibits.
The outside of the museum is a glass window-type of display that holds boards with information. For whatever reason they are not lit up so the information needs to be simple and mostly white, to allow ease of readability. Personally this seems like an issue because there is little representation of what is inside the museum. In order to streamline the process for design requests she has a form with detailed questions such as "What is the budget? Do you need photography or illustrations? Who is the audience? What type of distribution is needed? Do you have a deadline?" -She says a lot of "headache" projects quickly end there because someone does not know the answers to these questions or realizes it is more work than it is worth. A program/project management tool called Trello is used to show everyones jobs and the deadlines due. This helps the entire team with requests view the overlap or load of work.
Alexis' advice:
Turn in a printed portfolio if company is accepting them.
If having a phone interview, turn the questions into a conversation.
Be self motivated and a self learner.
Many people will be happy to answer informational interviews and talk to people who want advice.
Don't be insecure about yourself, not everyone can do everything.
Be confident.
Bennett's advice:
Whatever you do, do not bring a portfolio.
Bring instead in mind what you are going to discuss.
With some clients he brings a plan as to how he will get them to their goal.
Once you have shown someone your work they are put in a position that is equal to you or where you are below them since it shows they have the same values or judgement as you (but more than likely they do not since they are hiring a designer).
People go out of business because they run out of money.
Choose your first branch carefully and continue on the path you to go on.
Realize that someone made a sacrifice for you to be where you are and do not forget it.
