Steven PriceAddress (from Oct 20th 2009):Fredrick Meltzers gate 11BBergen 5007Norway

Nationality: BritishDate of Birth: 10/07/1976

www.plan-bstudio.com/KHiB - my entire applicationwww.plan-bstudio.com - design workwww.designweak.com - blogwww.thisisdemocrazy.com - non-commercial work

Address (until Oct 19th 2009):Winter Cottage4 Medina GroveLondon N7 7JZUnited Kingdom

Resume

Being a designer is a journey that can constantly challenge what you know and what you think you know.

I have been a practising designer for eleven years, there is the point: practicing. You are only as good as your last project, and you are quickly looking for, or starting your next. There are no given solutions, no formula’s that you can apply to each and every client or brief. This is what I love about being a designer.

Of those eleven years I have worked for myself for eight years. It has provided me with a flexible life, exciting collaborations, travel around the globe and opportunities that would perhaps never have transpired if my ninth grade Art teacher hadn’t pulled me aside and told me I was good at art.

From that moment, aged 14, I have dedicated my entire adult life to being creative. I have created work I am proud of, some work I’ll never admit too, made money, lost money, made mistakes, friends and decisions that have unquestionably helped where I am today. I have worked (and continue to work) with a variety of clients from different sectors of commerce and industry.

I specialise in art direction and design across all forms off communication media because I believe that a designers core abilities and process apply to

any medium, regardless. I have actively pursued new challenges presented to me by technology and software platforms, but my design methodology has never altered from; does it communicate? Can it be made simpler?

Design is a service industry that bridges the gap between ‘it’ and ‘them’; the product and the user; the ‘medium’ and the ‘message’. It is an amazing skill to have. It is a skill that is shared by many but only really crafted by the few.

Design has been a passion of mine, and remains so. I enjoy exploring other avenues including non-commercial work (www.thisisdemocrazy.com). Recently I have taken up screen-printing again and was invited to exhibit my own solo show as well as having work shown in three other exhibitions. My print work has so far been accepted in to three published books due out in 2010.

Film has always been an interest of mine. I am currently working on a music video treatment for a band called Notes, as well as other aspirations I have for film including a screenplay for a short-film called ‘Everything is Calmer’.

I love writing and recently decided to start blogging again. So I write a blog (www.designweak.com) and offline I am co-writing a novel called ‘Tw0 Sides’. The process of writing this book is the

interesting part. My writing partner and I adhere to strict rules: 1. we are not allowed to discuss what direction the story is going, 2. we write our section and pass it on with no other information, 3. the recipient then writes and sends it back, 4. we can discuss what has been written, but cannot amend it in any way (apart from grammatical edits. It is a great process that I created to help constantly keep the story fresh, and evolving.

I have also always loved teaching. I am loathed to call it teaching because to me that is reminiscent of school where teaching took a formal approach. Teaching in this context, at higher education level is not so much about preaching, but guiding, advising, sharing and creating discussion.

I would love to be Professor of Interactive Design and I believe I am the right applicant because I’ve never taught a course before; usually a reason not to consider someone I imagine? But I have a fresh pair of eyes that is willing to learn. I also have lots of experience of working with and employing graduates along with my vast (and continued) experience with my professional practice. I am passionate about design and design education and am inspired about the chance to help shape the paths of new, motivated designers.

Introduction

Setting objectives for a six year period is something that can only truly be attempted once one has the job. However I have some ideas about how we could approach this course:

1. Practical learning; through seminars and workshops with myself and industry guests it is crucial to understand how the industry works internally and externally with agencies. Focusing on skills regarding communication, agency hierarchies, team building, processes and presentations techniques.

2. Mentorship scheme; with my contacts in the industry I would like to introduce a scheme whereby each student is assigned an industry mentor that will be scheduled at key points throughout the year to lend advice and support, and work placement.

3. Value Added Design Conference; ‘One of the hardest things to do in this industry is sell the idea’ said Nic Roope, co-founder of Poke, recently at Singapore ‘Click’ conference. It is so true. I am interested in how we can constantly improve the perceived value of good design to clients. I would like the students to work on presenting this subject

to local businesses, perhaps at an annual or bi-annual design conference to be held in Bergen; working in association with Business Region Bergen (www.brb.no). We could bring other speakers in from other parts of Norway, and International regions. We could also create a real studio whereby local businesses can come to seek advice, or design services by our students in return for reduced fees. This would give the students invaluable practical learning and working experience.

4. Applied Conceptual Thinking; it is a basic requirement for designers across all disciplines to be able to develop concepts and communicate them; that is a given. Taking ideas from their brains, to the pencil, to the paper and beyond to communicate them can, in my experience, be the downfall for some graduates. The industry works at a rapid pace and this is something that needs to be applied to some, not all, but some projects.

5. National & International; It is critical to make associations and affiliations with other schools around both regionally and internationally. I already have a good connection with the Project Director Graphic Design at the newly established University of Tromsø. I have good contacts with

Central Saint Martins. I even joked with friends who run Hyper Island what we should have a ‘tug-of-war’ competition with them across the border of Norway and Sweden; just for fun. I am good friends with the people who organise Creative Reviews ‘Click’ conferences (Singapore, London, NY), Global Brand Forum (Malaysia) and Designyatra (Mumbai). These are excellent conferences, some of which I have talked at (due to talk in Mumbai next year, pending their budget). I would encourage the school to make sure that the students are given the opportunity to attend these talks.

6. Team building; I dislike the term, it sounds too American, but I would recommend team building exercises, particularly in the first week of their course. Students are always far too eager to ‘jump on the mac’ so I would take the students away, for example, to our wharf building in Nyksund (North Norway) for a long weekend; set them practical and problem solving tasks everything from building their own camp site, to preparing food and fishing. This helps create unity and it allows everyone to get to know one another and learn one anothers practical skills and stories. It’s also a good opportunity to set the team challenges beyond interactive design.

Objectives

Central Saint Martins Oct 1999 - Dec 2000

Sept 1996 - June 1998Nottingham Trent University

Sept 1995 - June 1996Kent Institute of Art & Design

Sept 1989 - June 1995Axton Chase School, Kent

MA Communication DesignPass with Merit

BA Hons Graphic Design

BTEC National Diploma Foundation in Art & Design

3 x A Level’s10 x GCSE’s

Pass with Merit

First class honours

pass with distinction

A/B/CB/C/A/A/C/C/D/B/B/B

Education

July 2001 - to-dateArt director & designerPlan-B Studio

Plan-B Studio is a design consultancy specialising in design and art direction and is run by me, Steve Price. I founded the company during the dot com crash in 2001; there seemed no better time to do so.

I have constantly challenged myself to work across all forms of media including corporate identity, branding, stationary, brochures, books, websites, motion graphics, illustration, point of sale, CD and DVD packaging and production, to marketing, design strategy and planning.

When necessary I work in collaboration with people who are equally brilliant at what they do, whether they are programmers, animators, designers, sound designers or copywriters.

As the nature of the design industry has changed so to has my ability to bring not just design and creative direction to a project but consultation, marketing and strategic planning. More recently I have worked internationally on global launches for Vodafone, the entire campaigns for Diesel’s global music awards two years running, with HSBC Investments and a complete on and offline campaign/brand overhaul for Red Dot Clothing. As well as branding development for the likes of Billboard and book publishers in New York and Boston I have expanded to incorporate projects with new clients in Norway, Tokyo, and Malaysia.

Work

Feb 2001 - June 2001Senior DesignerState Design

June 2000 - Jan 2001Senior DesignerOven Digital

Oct 1999 - June 2000Freelance

Mar 1999 - Oct 1999State Design

Dec 1998 - Mar 1999Green Ink

Aug 1998 - Dec 1998Twelve:Ten

State Design invited me to rejoin their studio again as a full-time member. Whilst there we worked together on many projects ranging from complex flash encoded web sites, to screensavers for dazed&confused and motion title sequences for Sony playstation2.

Oven Digital initially employed me to art direct the redesign of the Sky Sports web site. I was invited to join the company full-time as Senior Designer alongside Lead Designer Toke Nygard (Cuban Council/k10k). Responsible for designing their own international branding, logo and stationary within all eleven offices across the world. Overseeing projects from concept through to final testing stage, acting as creative mediator between the client and the project management team to the design team atOven.

Whilst working towards obtaining my MA I worked on various design briefs for clients such as a promotional CDROM for Egg the Internet bank, Mercury Records, the FT Business Magazine and many more.

State originally employed me as a freelance design to work on some incredibly exciting and creatively lead briefs that include; the launch web site for Dreamcast-Europe (creating a flash integrated interface which included all the illustrations and animations both flash, DHTML and gif based). I was also responsible for promotional material for Laurence King Publishing, and various other forms of corporate work.

Green Ink mainly dealt with the record industry and the (then) expanding DVD market. I was employed on a short-term contract to relieve the extensive over flow of work. During this time I worked on several promo’s and records alongside the marketing/project managers at EMI and Warner Music, before working on three DVD titles for Abbey Road Studios.

Designer, employed after exhibiting at New Designers in Islington. Working with this small outfit as my first post-university job was a great experience with a lot of responsibility; dealing with print quotes, art working books for print, designing club flyers and sleeves for DIY records as well as CDROM’s, web sites, screensavers, short promotional videos and t-shirt designs for Karen Millen, Paul Smith and Warehouse.

Work

1976Steve Price born in Good Hope Hospital in Birmingham, UK. But only just; he had his stomach pumped twice to remove the ‘sack’ he’d swallowed/eaten on his way out. Nice.

1981Steve records his first memory of admiring typography (I realised this later at 25, not aged 6). Using the flattened (soft) side of the HB pencil he remembers writing the word ‘off’ and sitting back admiring how it looked. He then got squashed at a party by a fat kid who fractured his fibia; his parents sent him to bed that night with a broken leg believing that he was exaggerating.

1981Steve stole a double decker at school, ate it in the toilet only to be caught trying to flush it away.

1983Steve teaches his classroom bully a lesson by stabbing a bobbing needle in his arm.

1988Senior school didn’t daunt Steve, he had a ‘kissing girlfriend’ in the year above for lunchtime breaks. She has since found him on facebook and was the second person she added to her friends list. Not that surprising? Read the next entry...

1989Price family relocate to Kent. Steve returned a few times to visit friends, but had to spend most of his time loosing what little ‘brummy’ accent he did have in to a cockneyguezzafootballlovinallwhiteallwhite, so save getting beaten up.

1991Mrs Everest, Steve’s [then] art teacher pulls him in to her cupboard and gives him what for. No, not like that. She told him that if he tried he would actually be really good at this art thing. What a saviour - Steve has much to thank her for.

1995Kent Institute of Art and Design accept a Pearl Jam resiting, Nirvana inspired, Radiohead ‘I’m a creep’, Alive ‘I alone’ loving’ art student through their doors for a foundation course in art & design. First day, and his summer project to build a chair collapses, literally, in front of everyone.

1998Graduating from Nottingham Trent University with a First in Graphic Design (BA), Steve sets off in to the sunset/London. Well not quite. He stayed in Nottingham for six months; crashing on an attic room floor with no bed, no heating, during winter.

2001Having graduated with an MA from Saint Martins Steve was made redundant twice in three months. So he decided that it would be safer for him to go it alone and July 31st 2001 marks the official birth of Plan-B Studio (Limited).

2008Frustrated with the greed of the banking system, the politicians, the lies, the deceit, Steve decided (whilst running a workshop with students at the Arts Academy in Bergen) to design a range of t-shirts. Democrazy was born.

2009March 19th Steve takes part in his first ever, non-commercial Exhibition with thirty other artists and designers in response to Affluenza (the book by Oliver James). Soon followed by his first solo show at NO:ID Gallery, Editions Exhibition and currently, The Hub. Steve also moved to Bergen, Norway where he successfully applied for the role as Interactive Design Professor at the really brilliant Arts Academy. He did/didn’t* get the job.

* Highlight where applicable.

Here are some personal facts that a resume doesn’t usually include: