Studio Visit//Numiko

After Numiko, a Leeds based studio came to visit and presented a talk to my year group, I decided to go have a look at the studio and get some questions answered. The people were really friendly and Matt kindly took time out of his say to show us round. Here some questions that I prepared and the answers I got back. The answers were answered by matt. 

http://numiko.com/

Interview

Do you ever use freelance designers?

We do sometimes hire freelancers but only if we are really busy. We like to stick to our in house design team simply because it is easier and quicker to communicate with the designer. It also keeps in more contained and we don't have to worry about contracts outside of the studio. However, we wouldn't turn down a freelance if we wanted work from them. 

How many people work in the studio?

We have roughly twenty five people working within the studio. It is a comfortable and manageable size for a design company. Their is so point having more or less people than we need. Building up our company has allowed us to have this many people in the studio everyday. 

Do you have to be good at HTML to work here?

No. If you are interested in web design that it great but if you aren't educated in coding then that isn't a problem. We have people start who have never done it before so the have to teach them and they tend to pick it up as they go along. If you are more interested in concepts and illustration then that is just as much help. Just because we are primarily a web design studio dosen;t mean we don't need all the other design jobs doing. 

How do you approach a brief?

We normally start with a group discussion regarding concepts and initial starting points. We then use these responses to create a design strategy. We like to encourage collaboration within the studio rather than isolating certain design areas. After a concept is decided we often have three researchers on each brief that will find out all we need to know to start designing. The people coding will run aside the people designing the art work. This is normally six people in total. 

Why are you based in Leeds?

Leeds is an influential place in terms of design and there is a lot going on. People think you need to be London, but the reality is, it is expensive, overrated and too many studios. As a result from this we can charge less for what we do, becoming bigger competition for the studios in London. Leeds is less than two hours on the train so clients don't mind making the trip. 

How do you present to a client?

The key to presenting to a new client is trying to impress them. Normally it is me and one other person pitching the response. We present a digital presentation highlighting the key elements. Presenting to an existing client is a bit different, it is often less nerve racking and more informal. However, it is still importnat to be professional. 

How do you ensure everyone is doing their bit?

We have have an organisation programme called 'base camp'. Basically, when a designer or researcher has finished a task they enter it into base camp so the other people in the studio know the time scale and where the current briefs are out. Because we work very much as a team, often someone cant get on with there work before someone else has completed their job.

If I were to apply to placement here, what would should I submit?

We would like to see presentation boards in PDF format showcasing your work. We would rather see more boards and less work on each one rather than fewer boards crammed with images. This is clearer for you to see the work and looks clean and professional. 

It was good to sit down and get a good discussion going, it was also interesting because it was aas though we were interviewing them about there company.