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Postcards from Landor

1st February, 2007

by Evangaline Tha

Postcard #1

On the first day of my internship with Landor, I was advised by the other interns, of which there were three, that the first two weeks of my internship would be rather uneventful. As such, I was to take the opportunity to explore the huge, maze-like structure of Landor, and to familiarise myself with the whereabouts of everybody and everything...

Within half-an-hour of my arrival, however, I was advised that I was assigned to work on a FRITOLAY packaging project for the remaining of my first week - Fritolay being amongst one of Landor's biggest clients. Work carried out being confidential, I am not allowed to divulge any further sumptious tidbits of information. Suffice to say that I shall never, ever look at a packet of chips in the same way, again.

It was a highly interesting, stimulating project, and I learned a lot during that intense period. I also recollected finishing as late as 10:30pm on one of those nights (to top all other late nights). Strangely, I had no recollection of a punctual finishing time. Not that I mind. I am having too great a time to notice.

Of a different vein: on my first day at Landor, this poor, young lab technician was sent out to hunt for me, all over Landor. At last, he located me downstairs at the basement, working with a production designer on these Fritolay packages. Looking rather petrified, he asked: ''Would you mind very much if I change your computer for a newer and faster one?'' Now, I found being allocated a 21 inch monitor, attached to a flash, new power pc (which was installed just the week previously) a rare treat as it is. But, another newer computer to take the place of my current one? Oh, yeah! I did not hesitate to agree.

Postcard #2

Interns are not solicited to work or assist, by designers. Otherwise, we will be swamped! Therefore, all requests for assistance are filtered through a project manager, in this case, Wendy.

Mike Allen, the studio manager, schedules interns, freelancers, as well as designers on various design jobs that are new, or on-going.

As an intern, I receive a weekly schedule, of which I am informed or notified, by the Project Manager. During the course of the week, there is fluctuation in workload. However, the work that I am scheduled for is invariably of different disciplines, as I am rostered to work with designers from Brand Environment, Brand Identity, Corporate Identity, Production, etc.

This further enables me to decide which stream of design I should like to specialise in. I must say that, in this, I certainly did not envisage that we would be given a chance to voice our preference, but both Wendy and Mike were equally indulgent and co-operative.

However, this is not the only reason that I love interning at Landor so much! One of the other chief reasons is that the environment here is simultaneously intense, and yet casual. And here, interns are treated as important members of the design fraternity.

Postcard #3

Hi everyone,

It's been nearly four weeks since I started at Landor, and I am settling in very well. The workload is something I still have to get accustomed to, though. At present, my hours are extending past ten at night, and I am so used to finishing work late that I actually consider finishing on time as finishing early. They are even spilling onto the weekends. The only wonder of it is that there are so many other people working over the weekend that it seems just like any other workday!

Last Friday, we had a 'Photoshop 5.0 Lunch and Learn' to introduce the new features and functions of this version of Photoshop. On Monday, we had lunch while a paper vendor reveals a fantastic, new array of paper and describe their properties. Yesterday, Landor revealed its new presentation format accompanied by breakfast. We appear to do everything over meals, here - everything internal, that is. That way, we are able to maintain our maniacal pace without loosing time over meals. When one understands the number of clients that Landor has, it is indeed a most sensible solution!

Furthermore, in a company of some 250 to 300 employees, these lunch occasions are also great for encouraging interaction between designers, freelancers and interns. This way, we are also able to keep track on what work is being done at Landor in the various departments, such as Corporate Identity, Brand Identity, Branding Systems, Brand Environment and the list goes on...

There are also planned social activities to get us Landorians together. We just had our TGIF party today in the back studio of Landor (which is currently being renovated to make it a bit more earthquake safe). By the way, TGIF stands for 'THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!' And next Saturday, Landor is going to be having a Landorfest at the Golden Gate Park to welcome summer, to give out prizes, to have a picnic together... Basically, it is just another occasion to tear us workladen people from our work, and to infiltrate a bit of life into us. (Actually, I enjoy the work here, too much!).

Cheerio to everyone back home who made my dream come true. I will be writing again, soon.

Evangeline

Postcard #4

Time certainly does not take away even the edge of excitement that I feel, simply by being at Landor. I've been a part of the Landor family for a month-and-a-half, now, and each day, I learn something new and fascinating about Landor which impresses me no end. And each day, I find my respect for this company growing by leaps and bounds.

For one thing, I am slowly discovering the extent and diversity of the work that Landor do for hundreds of companies that operate regionally, nationally and internationally. In one basic year alone, Landor takes on works from virtually every continent in the world, across dozens of industries.

Identities which we are prone to take for granted because we know them so well - because they form a sort of backdrop to our daily existence... well, most of these are born at Landor.

There are the identities for EVIAN, LEVI'S, DORITOS, GATORADE, 7-UP, FEDEX, WWF, MERCEDES BENZ; the identites for NAGANO WINTER OLYMPICS, ATLANTA CENTENNIAL OLYMPIC GAMES, SHELL, SINGAPORE AIRLINES... Well, that's just to name a few.

And seeing as Landor has many offices across the globe, with full-service design offices in the Americas, Asia and Europe, offering clients a multifaceted, multicultural perspective, the means of communication that Landorians adopt have to be fairly sophisticated. For example, ideas, concepts and all communications are carried via the e-mail system. E-mail is great, mainly because of the time differences between countries across the world; moreover, it is also a lot easier to manage a long communication composed of intelligent instructions. Nonetheless, for more critical situations, of which there are many, phones and faxes are also utilised.

Work is also transported using a network of express couriers, planes, etc. to the various Landor offices that are working on the same project. And they use these services a lot. At present, the idea of using planes to transport work across the country or countries (at the kind of frequency in which they are used) is still making my jaw drop!

Cheerio you all,

Evangeline.

Postcard #5

Landor is getting remodelled! At present, the construction work is happening all around us. Nonetheless, the noise level is minimal, as most of construction work that takes place during the course of the week are all exterior, or facade work. Over the weekends are when all the interior work are being completed: the electrical wiring, moving of furniture, etc.

Next Monday should prove interesting, as the entire intern section will be moved. Therefore, all four interns will be having an interesting time figuring out where we will be sitting. The entire San Franciscan Landor office is going to get much cosier before long...

However, I must say this for Landor - it is nothing but organised. We have a team working on the remodelling project. We have a facilities manager who oversees the changes that are taking place at present. None of these work are interfering with the designers' work, at all... especially considering that there are some 250 to 300 designers, production people, project managers, administrative staff, etc, on site.

Anyway, things are still kind of hectic around here. I've just been briefed on another assignment, so it's goodbye to all of you again, until next time. Will write again soon.

Postcard #6

At present, it is drawing towards that dreaded time when goodbyes are said all round. I know that I will be receiving a review from my mentor on my last day here, which will be August 14th. But, I do realise that in the time I have been here, I have not really shared with all of you guys, back home, what an intern actually does around here.

Basically, an intern is scheduled or booked by a designer for a variety of tasks ranging from menial duties like mounting and binding to actual design tasks, like putting a design concept forward for an identity, or logo refinements. Even when involved at mounting and binding, it is still a remarkable experience because Landor has a set standard of presentation which is strictly adhered to.

In cases like these, there is just an importance set on attention to details, as say, when designing a corporate identity or comping out a mock chip bag for Fritolay, and such like.

These are also great opportunities to observe and learn from senior designers in the company. Furthermore, when involved in production work such as creating a mock version of a product for the Brand Identity and Packaging department, there is a need to render the product as realistically as possible, considering the fact that minor details could distract clients, and misrepresent how a final product will look. Attention to colours are similarly important in the mock-up stages. There are times when the in-house 'fiery' printers or the giant plotters are not able to reproduce the desired colours for a job. In such cases, the job is sent out to be screen-printed, or by whatever other means, to achieve the desired colours.

Interns are also solicited to do design refinements on a rough concept and to prepare a concept to final art stage. Occassionally, an intern may also be lucky enough to be given the responsibility to design to a brief, as I have had a few opportunities to do. It is definitely understandable that much design responsibility cannot be placed upon the interns, as basically, speaking, we have to work our way up the ladder and prove our competence. Moreover, much of the nature of the work around here require an extensive experience to be able to work from conceptual stages to the implementation stages. Nonetheless, just being here certainly have afforded us all a great opportunity to be guided through the processes, via observation.

I am truly thankful for the opportunity that I have had in being a part of the Landor family, and I want to thank all of you back home from AGDA and ISS who have made it possible for me to be here and to learn the things that I have learnt.

Goodbye for now,

Evangeline

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