September 10th 2003, Fabrica, Brighton - Portfolio Clinic

The Portfolio Clinic kicked off dSCAPE/03, a three-day showcase of Sussex-based design and new media talent organised by Wired Sussex.

The evening was aimed at established and would-be designers, including students, recent graduates, freelancers and those in the industry looking to develop their careers. It presented a unique opportunity to get advice on the industry from some of the region’s most successful players.

A panel of experts from the cream of Sussex’s new media industry was on hand to talk about how their companies have succeeded and what they look for in designers, and to answer questions and give advice.

The panel consisted of:

Jim Byford	Managing Director	Get Frank
Mat Fidell	Head of Creative	Victoria Real
Robin Deitch	Executive Producer	Wide Games
Hamish Makill	Partner	Red Design
Mark Ralphs	Projects Director	Worth Media

Each panel member gave a brief talk about themselves and their company, followed by a Q&A session and the clinic. Each panelist was provided with a laptop, where budding designers could show their work and get feedback from the experts.

Mat Fidell of Victoria Real felt that there was a valuable lesson to be learned from the event: "We speak a lot of the importance of usability and accessibility in web design - it's a principle people should take on board when selling themselves, too." Mat's view is that CVs and portfolio work should be equally 'accessible' in order to catch the attention of potential employers.

Amanda Knight of web-kitten.com found the evening very useful: "It’s great to be able to get some advice from those who’ve made a success of their design careers, something we’re all aiming to do. Mat from Victoria Real gave me some invaluable tips on my site designs, something to take on board for future work."

Jim Byford, managing director of Getfrank, was glad to be part of the event: "It was great for us panelists to be able to give some benefit of our experience to those starting out in the industry, and also to meet the design talent in the area and see some of the ideas out there. It's good to see events like this giving something back to local new media talent and the industry as a whole."

The event was sponsored by the Sussex Learning and Skills Council and Business Link Sussex, with support from Lighthouse, the University of Brighton, University of Sussex and City College Brighton and Hove.

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