Tal Rosner
Grant Gilbert
Practitioners Report
I am going to compare and contrast the processes and practices of two design practitioners who came into Stockport College and describe how they are defined by the external rigours of the industry they operate in. I have decided to talk about Grant Gilbert and Tal Rosner who were both guest lecturers earlier on in the academic year.
I have decided to talk about Grant Gilbert and Tal Rosner because I felt their design work related to my Multimedia degree course more than the other guest lecturers as the work that they have created are similar to briefs that we have had whilst on this course.
There are many similarities between Grant and Tal beginning with how they both studied a graphic design degree at University but found themselves developing into the motion graphics and moving image side of design. Another similarity is how they both thought they had found their dream jobs after graduating but the lack of creative freedom led them to becoming freelance designers.
Grant studied a graphic design course at Birmingham University before landing a job working with Planet 24, where he designed and created title sequences and TV identities. His work with Planet 24 led to what he thought was his dream job at a design agency in New York City called Attick. However Grant felt that his creative freedom was restricted and moved back to London to become a freelance designer.
Tal explained a similar story to Grant’s and explained that he studied a graphic design course at university before completing an MA degree course at Central Saint Martins and graduating in 2005. The success from his course landed Tal what he thought would be his dream job working in the heart of London with a post-production company. However, Tal explained he disliked the whole experience of having people tell him what he can and cannot do and wanted his own creative freedom. Tal decided to leave the company and also become a freelance designer.
I can see the problem that both of these designers had with the design companies and understand how they both wanted to have their own creative freedom. I think if I were put in a similar position in the next couple of years, I wouldn’t take such a big gamble on becoming a freelance designer, with the recent credit crunch it would be extremely hard to find work. I would probably stick with my existing employers but continue to look for work elsewhere and expand on my portfolio in my spare time to show other design agencies.
After becoming freelance designers, the success of both Grant and Tal has been immense to say the least with both the designers having worked for some impressive clients. However, their success stories have been formed in a completely different way with Tal working completely independently, whilst Grant works with a range of different design companies.
Tal explained that his final major project for university was an abstract film that he created in after effects called ‘Doppelganger’. The idea behind the film was to create an abstract film using strong synchronized audio and visuals, which is similar to what we created for our ‘Rhythm in the City’ brief last year. ‘Doppelganger’ was filmed out the front of train and edited in a kaleidoscope effect using repeated and over lapping footage. I thought the piece was stunning and each frame was thought about in much detail explained Tal.
After his time working with the post-production company and becoming a freelance designer, Tal was approached by two French pianists, who wanted him to create visuals for their music in a similar style to ‘Doppelganger’. He jumped at the chance to create a piece that he had complete control over but explained it was much harder to create than ‘Doppelganger’ because the music was completely different. Following the success from this, Tal was then asked to create a title sequence for an E4 drama called Skins. They wanted something similar to his previous work but with the characters from the drama included in the title sequence. Each episode had to have its own sequence because they were about a specific character each week and had to reflect the characters from the drama. I loved Tal’s response, which were various 30-second sequences that used live footage of the characters with overlapping abstract shapes and colours to what I think ties in with the spontaneous and the rebellious characters of the drama. On the whole, Tal worked independently throughout his projects, which is quite the opposite for Grant Gilbert.
After becoming a freelance designer, Grant decided to work under the name of Double G Studios as he felt that companies would prefer to work with a company name than a freelance designer. Whilst Tal Rosner has always gone by his name and never talked about working under a company name. I personally think that the portfolio and show reel should do the talking for you regardless whether you go by your name or a company name.
Grant worked on a few projects on his own including the branding for More 4 before being contacted by Red Bee Media to pitch for the BBC One rebrand. Pitching being another difference between Tal and Grant, as Tal explained his work has always come through past projects being seen, whilst Grant said he had to pitch for many of his jobs.
Working with Red Bee Media, Grant managed to win the BBC One rebrand but described the initial idea was abandoned but still managed to win the pitch if they came up with a new idea. Working closely with a team, Grant explained they came up with the idea of coming together using various objects within a circle. Grant described the job as being very difficult as there was not as much as freedom to the ident as More4 because the BBC is payed for by the taxpayers. After several months and working with lots of different teams of people, the final idents were shown and have been a huge success and are still being shown on TV now.
In conclusion I feel that I have compared and contrasted Tal Rosner and Grant Gilbert and described how they have both been defined by the external rigours of the industry they operate in, whilst also discussing how they could be applied to my own practise. I enjoyed both the lecturers a lot and since Grant Gilbert’s lecture, I have wanted to create my own channel ident and is the reason I am creating one for my final major project.
I am going to compare and contrast the processes and practices of two design practitioners who came into Stockport College and describe how they are defined by the external rigours of the industry they operate in. I have decided to talk about Grant Gilbert and Tal Rosner who were both guest lecturers earlier on in the academic year.
I have decided to talk about Grant Gilbert and Tal Rosner because I felt their design work related to my Multimedia degree course more than the other guest lecturers as the work that they have created are similar to briefs that we have had whilst on this course.
There are many similarities between Grant and Tal beginning with how they both studied a graphic design degree at University but found themselves developing into the motion graphics and moving image side of design. Another similarity is how they both thought they had found their dream jobs after graduating but the lack of creative freedom led them to becoming freelance designers.
Grant studied a graphic design course at Birmingham University before landing a job working with Planet 24, where he designed and created title sequences and TV identities. His work with Planet 24 led to what he thought was his dream job at a design agency in New York City called Attick. However Grant felt that his creative freedom was restricted and moved back to London to become a freelance designer.
Tal explained a similar story to Grant’s and explained that he studied a graphic design course at university before completing an MA degree course at Central Saint Martins and graduating in 2005. The success from his course landed Tal what he thought would be his dream job working in the heart of London with a post-production company. However, Tal explained he disliked the whole experience of having people tell him what he can and cannot do and wanted his own creative freedom. Tal decided to leave the company and also become a freelance designer.
I can see the problem that both of these designers had with the design companies and understand how they both wanted to have their own creative freedom. I think if I were put in a similar position in the next couple of years, I wouldn’t take such a big gamble on becoming a freelance designer, with the recent credit crunch it would be extremely hard to find work. I would probably stick with my existing employers but continue to look for work elsewhere and expand on my portfolio in my spare time to show other design agencies.
After becoming freelance designers, the success of both Grant and Tal has been immense to say the least with both the designers having worked for some impressive clients. However, their success stories have been formed in a completely different way with Tal working completely independently, whilst Grant works with a range of different design companies.
Tal explained that his final major project for university was an abstract film that he created in after effects called ‘Doppelganger’. The idea behind the film was to create an abstract film using strong synchronized audio and visuals, which is similar to what we created for our ‘Rhythm in the City’ brief last year. ‘Doppelganger’ was filmed out the front of train and edited in a kaleidoscope effect using repeated and over lapping footage. I thought the piece was stunning and each frame was thought about in much detail explained Tal.
After his time working with the post-production company and becoming a freelance designer, Tal was approached by two French pianists, who wanted him to create visuals for their music in a similar style to ‘Doppelganger’. He jumped at the chance to create a piece that he had complete control over but explained it was much harder to create than ‘Doppelganger’ because the music was completely different. Following the success from this, Tal was then asked to create a title sequence for an E4 drama called Skins. They wanted something similar to his previous work but with the characters from the drama included in the title sequence. Each episode had to have its own sequence because they were about a specific character each week and had to reflect the characters from the drama. I loved Tal’s response, which were various 30-second sequences that used live footage of the characters with overlapping abstract shapes and colours to what I think ties in with the spontaneous and the rebellious characters of the drama. On the whole, Tal worked independently throughout his projects, which is quite the opposite for Grant Gilbert.
After becoming a freelance designer, Grant decided to work under the name of Double G Studios as he felt that companies would prefer to work with a company name than a freelance designer. Whilst Tal Rosner has always gone by his name and never talked about working under a company name. I personally think that the portfolio and show reel should do the talking for you regardless whether you go by your name or a company name.
Grant worked on a few projects on his own including the branding for More 4 before being contacted by Red Bee Media to pitch for the BBC One rebrand. Pitching being another difference between Tal and Grant, as Tal explained his work has always come through past projects being seen, whilst Grant said he had to pitch for many of his jobs.
Working with Red Bee Media, Grant managed to win the BBC One rebrand but described the initial idea was abandoned but still managed to win the pitch if they came up with a new idea. Working closely with a team, Grant explained they came up with the idea of coming together using various objects within a circle. Grant described the job as being very difficult as there was not as much as freedom to the ident as More4 because the BBC is payed for by the taxpayers. After several months and working with lots of different teams of people, the final idents were shown and have been a huge success and are still being shown on TV now.
In conclusion I feel that I have compared and contrasted Tal Rosner and Grant Gilbert and described how they have both been defined by the external rigours of the industry they operate in, whilst also discussing how they could be applied to my own practise. I enjoyed both the lecturers a lot and since Grant Gilbert’s lecture, I have wanted to create my own channel ident and is the reason I am creating one for my final major project.
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