Andrew Pavitt- Big Orange Studios

Andrew Pavitt came in to give us a talk about what it’s like to work in a studio with other designers. He also talked about the opportunity for a couple of us to be interns at Big Orange Studios for a week. They have taken Stockport College students on as interns for a few years now. Some have gained more from the experience than others. It’s a great opportunity to build up contacts, to gain some insight into the industry and to get advice from established designers.
Big Orange was established around 16 years ago, Andrew Pavitt has worked there for 6-7 of them. At the moment there are 8 designers sharing the space but there have been as many as 18 working in the studio. They also share the space with The AOI, which has a few perks, like sharing costs, free membership and advice. Each designer sharing the space pays £200 per month, which Andy explained is quite expensive but the quality of the studio is reflected in the price. This figure includes all the overheads like phone lines and internet connection etc. However much cheaper studios can be found, a standard painting studio would probably cost around £100 per month. The location of the studio is important, but not everything. It doesn’t necessarily need to be in London, there have been a few successful studios established in Manchester and with so much communication going on over the internet it’s possible to work almost anywhere. Faster trains have lead to shorter journeys to London, so as we experienced a couple of months ago it’s now much easier to visit art directors without living in the city. Living outside of London keeps the cost of living down.
Andrew talked about the benefits of working in a studio with other designers. He said it’s always good to have people to bounce ideas off. It’s also nice to have people there encouraging you as most designers have doubts about there work, which can often be unfounded. So when these doubts occur its useful to be surrounded by people who can help you by letting you know how you can improve a design or by reassuring you that a design is good. They have the obvious benefit at a shared studio of sharing overheads and equipment. But they also have the benefits of sharing expertise and their contacts. Andy mentioned that one designer at the studio (I can’t remember the name) specialises in web design, and as most illustrators now have a website its great to know someone with the know how to help you set something like that up. When it comes to contacts Andrew said that they generally have no problem in sharing as it improves the dynamic of the studio. But if someone has spent a lot of time and effort setting up a contact then they can be quite dubious about letting other designers in, especially if it’s a big job. The Big Orange studio also has the benefit of being open 24 hours, not all studios are. Andrew mentioned that this is very important when taking commissions from overseas. He said that art directors generally don’t think of the time difference, and they view it as them doing you a favour when commissioning a design, so they might ring at perhaps 10pm and give a 12 hour deadline, which means you will have to work through the night.
For the disadvantages of working in a studio Andrew talked about personality clashes. Some people don’t fit into the dynamic of a communal studio very well. Also the commute eats into time which you could be spending working if you stayed at home. The cost is another issue for illustrators. I’ve never heard of a rich illustrator, in fact it seems to be more a case of surviving. So an extra expense of £100-£200 per month could be unfeasible. However to work from home means being a very motivated person. Especially so when starting out as a lot of self promotional work needs to be done before commissions start coming in.
I decided against the opportunity of an internship. I think others in the group will get a lot more out of the experience than me. I don’t think I will be well suited to a collective studio. I’m VERY easily distracted, if there’s anything going on around me I find it impossible to concentrate so even now at college I find I get much more work done at home. However, I do gain a lot from the input of tutors and other students so I think it would be important for me to keep in touch with other creative people.