CCI Diploma 2021/2022: Unit 1: Lecture 13: TBC.
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Hi!

I'm going to start every lecture with a promise and an artist to reference.

I promise that by the end of this lecture you'll have some resources to help you think about what you are doing to do this summer and post graduation.

The artist of the day is Alicja Kwade

I was first drawn to her work by a group exhibition at London's Hayward gallery in 2018 - Space Shifters. Her piece was entitled WeltenLinie. Quoting from her website, the piece took over "almost the entirety of one of Hayward’s lower galleries – nothing is quite what it seems. Using double-sided mirrors and carefully placed, paired objects, the artist achieves the illusion of sudden and surprising material transformations. As we move around and through Kwade’s steel-framed structure, the way we read and understand the objects within it shifts dramatically, depending on our perspective."

I think alot of Alicja's work is about time, change and consequences, which is why she's perfect for today's lecture - which is on exactly those things!

The main thing I want you keep in mind today is the key to being a freelancer or running a studio is sustainability - anyone can set something up for a few months that burns out, but the real trick is making something that lasts. Most companies in the world have gone out of business, so survival is a huge success.

By the end of this lecture, you'll know more about:

• How to connect p5.js to other libraries - with a demonstration of including the Matter.js physics library
• How to scrape data from the web using p5.js
• Some WebGL shader resources for p5.js and an introduction to the three.js library
• How to plan and carry out projects
• How to be a freelancer, what to include in your portfolio, how to invoice, tax in the UK
• How to set up a studio
• Recommended hardware brands/tips for sourcing kit
• My favourite studios/practioners

How to connect p5.js to other libraries - with a demonstration of including the Matter.js physics library.

Great tutorial on "Using External Libraries" by Allison Parrish. Let's take a look at my recent project for the Design Against Crime centre which is based at Central Saint Martins. Notice how I'm building a skateboard before a car in the way that I'm posting experiments slowly building in complexity. More information about matter.js. Of course, The Coding Train has some great videos on p5.js and matter.js integration.

How to scrape data from the web using p5.js.

The first place I'd look is at p5.js reference for the loadJSON() command. The next place I'd look is at The Coding Train playlist on "Working with Data and APIs". If you want to learn more about JSON itself, I'd recommend this Awesome Json Github. If you are looking for interesting JSON datasets to experiment with, I'd recommend this Awesome Public Datasets Github.

Some WebGL shader resources for p5.js and an introduction to the three.js library.

If you want to learn more about 3D on the web, the best place to start is doing that with p5.js, as you are already familiar with it. First, take a look at the 3D examples on the p5.js website. Then, take a look at this course from ITP in how to write shaders, which the course describes as "a small program that runs entirely on your graphics card, the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), rather than the CPU (Central Processing Unit) of your computer. This makes it incredible fast (sic)". Adam Ferriss has provided "a collection of heavily commented 2d shaders in p5.js", which inspired the ITP course. The Book of Shaders is a great general tutorial on shaders. It is also available as a handy deck of cards! If you are curious how shaders are used in games, Alan Zucconi has gathered a whole series of Unity resourses on his website. Finally, if you want to use a JavasScript library designed from the ground up, I recommend this course on Three.js fundamentals. Three.js is the library to use for this. Finally, see this Github course for an introduction on how to generate images completely within shaders.

How to plan and carry out projects.

Don't forget to make skateboards first! I quite like this book on how to run a 5 day design sprint. I also like the Kanban method for setting up a board of all the tasks in a project. I'd also emphasise this quote from Caitlin Morris:"Remind students that technical exercises can be the root of a bigger idea. I’ve had students submit small sketches along with their introductory exercises under the prompt of “if I worked on this for another month/year, what could it become?”. Some really beautiful ideas emerge and I’ve found that it makes students more concept-attentive in their weekly projects, as well as providing some groundwork for larger final projects". The main one is to pick projects that please YOU and give YOU joy. I've found it's more about the journey than the destination. With that in mind, I'd recommend this video on "Techniques for dealing with lack of motivation, malaise, depression" from Jonathan Blow. Finally, procastination is a big problem for me, for help with that, watch this video from Tim Pychyl.

How to be a freelancer, what to include in your portfolio, how to invoice, tax in the UK

When I got back from a year in Italy at Fabrica, I went straight to the UnitedVisualArtists studio and demanded a job! I had been freelancing all through my masters, so I had a good idea of that world. It's not easy, but it can be really rewarding in terms of work/life balance. Some tips:

1. Only include things in your portfolio that you'd like to do more of
2. If there aren't things in your portfolio that'd you like to do more of, follow Caitlin Morris's advice and start posting small sketches or explanations of what you are trying to do
3. Work out your day rate by working out your monthly costs of living in the way that you want to - multiply this number by 12 to get your annual rate and then divide by 10 as you will have 2 months of holidays and being ill. Then divide that number by 20 to work out your daily rate.
4. When invoicing, make sure that your invoice is addressed to a person at a real address. Make sure you have their contact details. Make sure to put your payment terms on your invoice (I do 30 calendar days from date of invoice). Make sure to number your invoice - I use my initials with a number - e.g. JGL0001. Make sure to send your invoice as a PDF. Make sure to name your PDF well - something like 2021_01_16_December2020JGLWorkForUniversalEverything_JGL001.pdf - it's SO annoying to get invoices like "invoice.pdf". Put the bank details of the account that you'd like to be paid into on the invoice.
5. Don't forget to save money when it comes in! Try to build up a buffer of three months living costs (including rent!) before starting on a full freelance career - remember you can do things bit by bit. In the UK, the first £12,500 of your annual earnings are tax free, after that, you'll have to pay tax, at different rates. I'd really recommend recording all your income and outgoings, all your invoices and the like. Back up this information! I'd also recommend getting an accountant. They will be able to give you advice on things that you can claim back - I claim back part of my mortgage, travel and all my books and studio gear.

How to set up a studio.

I'd recommend a bit of freelance or studio work before setting up your own - make mistakes and learn on other people's money rather than your own! When I started Hellicar&Lewis with Pete, it was just a day a week that we agreed to spend together working on ideas and experiments. The rest of our time was spent freelancing for ourselves - so we still had money coming in to keep us alive. A great book on how to talk about yourself and how to work in a sustainable way is: Win without Pitching. Message me on Slack if you are interested in learning more. The biggest tip I can give you around running a studio is try to keep your costs down - UniversalEverything has done that by being a remote studio from 2004 - which means we can say no to projects if we don't like them, rather than getting trapped in a loop of doing work for projects we don't like, which is never as good as working on things you love. If you want a recent survey of how lots of design studios are operating around the world, I can't recommend Studio Culture Now from Unit Editions enough - it's a great survey of some of the most interesting studios in the world, and how they do things. Finally, be nice! Your reputation will travel further than you can.

Recommended hardware brands/tips for sourcing kit

I use Apple hardware for everything I do. I do this because I can always get the same hardware anywhere in the world if something goes wrong. Apple is expensive, if you want something more cost effective, I really like System76's hardware , they've even made their own operating system! I use The Wirecutter and Which? to find out what hardware and services are the best.

My favourite studios/practioners.

Some studios or practioners that I'd recommend you take a look at:

• Design Systems International - a great studio making systems that make design.
• rhizomatiks - the tekest of tek. The coolest of cool. Amazing research based interactive work and brilliant collaborations with others.
• Art+Com Studios - the og's of interaction in public space.
• Sougwen Chung - artist making visual art in collaboration with robots
• Superflux - the best kind of thinking about the future to change today.
• Mario Klingemann - a long and varied career, starting in Graphic Design and Flash, moving through 3D printing and plotters into full blown Machine Learning Fine Art.
• Nervous System - brilliant partnership between two genius's to make physical things inspired by nature and computation.
• Teenage Engineering are the most interesting product design studio in the world.

Thanks!
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