Pentagram Studio Visit
With Samar Maakaroun
Pentagram is not a typical agency – it’s a group of partners who are so different. But this is what keeps them, relevant – having a multitude of voices. They also IPC – where they meet up each year to discuss everything with their cohort of partners.
Process:
- They start with building a strategy
- Looking at competitive businesses in the same sector as their client
- Collaborate with strategists
- Slice through the clients info and find the relevant info
- Workshops and exercises – They agree and start sketching
- Always present two or three different ideas to the client – with all the logomarks being black and white
Remaining Relevant?
Samar Maakaroun talks about the time taken to become an expert in anything is by putting in 10,000 hours which is 3 years of working hours. While people can work upto 5 years and still remain an ameueur, we can give in these hours on our own and become better. The best learning comes from taking risks. Even then, you have to be curious and engaged to remain relevant.
Accidents generate ideas sometimes! – Things not going as planned can sometimes result in better outputs.
The formula to success?
- Some people give you what you asked for and more – outperform yourself – it’s the formula for success
- Even if the job is not very interesting, be engaged because there is always a learning.
The Book of Lessons! – It’s a good idea to maintain a Book of lessons – write whenever you fail so that you can always learn from them.
Standing out in a sea of applications?
- When appraoching people on linkedin/mail, always think about their perspective. They are busy peole and the reality is that they will see yur work for only 60s.
- Do your research and apply to a speciifc partner whose work you relate to, if you do apply to Pentagram.
Side projects are important!
- Recruiters wish to see you in your work. and imagine you in their workspace and how well you would fit into it.
- The little experiments show what are you interested in and that is what makes you unique. Fascination comes from field I don’t operate in – language and art
Maintain an inspiration bank – It’s something that you can draw from anytime you wish to.
Choosing projects to work on?
- Fun, fame and fortunes – that’s how you choose your project
- Fame – you want to work for big firms
- But working on big projects can sometimes mean that you are just moving a pixel a bit