Didier LAHELY » Job

Photos of my Work in 2000-2002

Didier LAHELY — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 01:56:56 +0000

Last time I found some brochures of my work 10 years before! Amazing. I know a lot of designers and also HR people will “recommend” to show always the latest works… Well they don’t know What is design…

Design is alive. And when it’s on the web, it’s double alive! It has his own “life”, and will grow without you, everywhere, anywhere; people will copy it, transform it, keep it for reference, use it. Design is alive and it’s good. Good to keep a trace of what you have done too. Because there is always a before and an after, it’s (at least for me) always interesting to see evolution of trends. It’s culture, design culture. 10 years before in France color trends was this kind of Orange, almost fluorescent one. People was also using a lot Pantone metallic ink. That’s very funny. And funnier is to see how all this design is a kind of outdated. So what is the recipe of eternal design then? What made the success of Gutenberg in 1455…? What about the Bauhaus?
Well, I don’t have all the answers… But one idea is that simplicity is one of the key… Minimalistic design. It’s like cars in a movie, you can guess easily which time a movie has been shoot in looking for the cars in it; more difficult if you DON’T have any car right? Same for design… If you want your design to be kind of “famousForEver”, use a minimum of elements. “Intemporel“. No flashy colors, no fancy fonts! Use Helvetica Neue, (love it) or Swiss 721 Thin font, forget Comic Sans.

I will try to follow this advice… ; )

Playmobil Interview…! Second degré.

Didier LAHELY — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 05:47:13 +0000

Ok. Now you will have an idea what French call the “Second degré“…

Made this crazy video, made the music and “lyrics”, part with my iPhone and also the Mac (of course).

What is the idea?
Errr… Well, let’s say the non-communication between creative candidates and the world of HR. I think, sometimes, they are on different planets each of them. Like Aliens.

Who are you? Graphic designer? Creative director? Artistic director? What does this mean? What is your job exactly? What do You Want??

Assessing creative freelancers, by Terra Dehnert of Aquent

Didier LAHELY — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 10:38:20 +0000

Coroflot – Creative Seeds: Guest Post: Assessing creative freelancers, by Terra Dehnert of Aquent Guest Post: Assessing creative freelancers, by Terra Dehnert of Aquent.

AUGUST 28, 2009 | POSTED BY: CARL ALVIANI

In addition to the afternoon panel discussion and networking session, the San Francisco installment of the Creative Confab will offer something new: a pair of morning workshopsaimed specifically at skill-development for both creative jobseekers and employers new to the creative talent search. While I will be conducting the first, we’ve secured the services of some of the Bay Area’s most qualified creative staffing pros to cover the second.

Terra Dehnert and Corey O’Brien are Account Managers at Aquent, Inc., where they interview and assess hundreds of creative professionals a year, for placement in an extraordinary range of positions in web and interactive design, copywriting, graphic design, design management and more. As a preview of their workshop “The Subtle Art of the Creative Talent Search,” Terra has put together a set of pointers on interviewing and portfolio review based on her experiences.

When my clients approach me looking for creative freelancers, they tend to come at the last minute for unique and highly skilled individuals — of which 5 exist in the universe. Today one of my top retail clients praised the work of a designer I sent out for a 4-hour project. Another needs a proofreader and a production artist to put the final touches on their annual report, one of the most highly visible projects they produce each year. Obviously, I can’t send creative talent to these clients that would make even an inkling of a mistake. Luckily for me the company I work for has developed hands-on assessments that make sure our talent head out the door, armed with skills to impressâ€¦ and usually a pretty stylish outfit to boot.

As more and more of our business focuses on temporary creative positions, more and more of our energy is spent assessing the candidates hoping to fill them. Over the years we’ve worked out a formalized process for doing this, which has the freelancer completing a timed project with the software or programming language they will be using on the job, whether they’re a Powerpoint Designer or a Flash Developer. The assessments are structured so that even Aquent employees who are not fluent in these programs can easily grade the results, giving a score and detailed feedback to both client and candidate.

Now, in reality you can’t “test” every skill. I’ve had great success placing Copywriters, Creative Directors, Art Directors and Project Managers — all specialties where we don’t have a set assessment. So if you’ve never built out a creative team and don’t have the resources to develop software assessments, don’t fret; there are plenty of other areas that can be covered during the interview process to ensure you’re making a strong hire.

Conducting a solid portfolio review:

Every designer, copywriter, creative director, even some project managers, should arrive at an interview with their “book,” be it paper, website, slideshow or other. Here’s what to look for:

1. First and foremost, what type of work has this person done? Is their book only filled with catalog samples? Only one page collateral pieces? Very simple websites with no animation? Basic sites with tons of animation and no content? Marketing emails? Only online banner ads? Think about what you want to accomplish with your creative team and make sure the people you interview are showing this type of work. In terms of copywriting, the types of industries they have written for is crucial. For project management, the number of projects they can handle at one time (I’d say anything under 12-15 would scare me away based on the clients I work with).

2. Delve into the projects shown in more depth. Two questions I like to ask while discussing a specific piece or project with a talent are:

a) Who was on your team for this project?
b) What piece of this were you responsible for? Did you hand it off to someone else for production (print) or coding (web)? Did you write all of the content? Certain pages? Certain topics?

In the instance of interviewing a copywriter, sometimes they have come up with the concept for a website, but not necessarily been responsible for the heavy long content. Many times the title Art Director or Creative Director can vary: some are solely conceptual or just work on photo shoots, not necessarily responsible for the ultimate layout of a piece within Adobe Creative Suite. Others have worked with smaller clients where they utilized all these skills. Designers’ duties can range from production (laying out a piece under a campaign someone has already thought up and getting it ready for print) to taking an entire seasonal campaign from initial concept to final product. It’s up to you to find out what that title means.

Asking in-depth interview questions:

Unless I have a question about dates or a specific company, I barely glance at the resume during an interview other than to jot down notes. One area I do cover every time is to ask what was the most challenging project an interviewee worked on. Many times there’s more than one, but I ask them to pick out one in their mind and talk me through it, from the beginning all the way through to the deliverable or deadline.

On another obvious note, you can ask about their favorite or least favorite project (and yes, least favorite is different from most challenging). Not only do both these questions get them talking about the work they’ve done and what they love (and hate), it gets them talking about their interactions with peers, managers, and vendors, as well as outside and internal clients. You can gauge a lot about someone’s personality based on whether they take responsibility for a missed deadline or haughtily put it off on an incompetent co-worker or boss. Once people start talking about situations they don’t like, it becomes obvious how they’ll act when asked to do something out of their position’s usual scope, or when they receive negative feedback. On the same token, if someone can’t get totally jazzed over their favorite project there is definitely something wrong.

You can also use the same approach when talking about companies. Which was their favorite and why? Did they like working independently or within a team? Culture and personality are huge when it comes to creative positions, as people tend to take the work much more personally than other types of positions — it’s their art, and their passion.
Asking the right reference questions — with the right people.

There’s no doubt that any person interviewing for a job is going to give names of references that will speak highly of them. But there are questions you can ask to at least get a little more background information, and what to expect if you bring them onto your team. Picking the right person to question is crucial. I ask all of my talent for two direct supervisors and one peer. Supervisors can speak more objectively about where a candidate may be lacking or need some assistance without feeling guilty about it. Peers, on the other hand, see the important day-to-day interactions and work that supervisors are often not aware of.

Here are four great questions to ask references:

1. What makes this candidate unique in comparison to other [insert position here] you’ve worked with?
2. What do you feel are the candidate’s biggest strength is in terms of their [design, copywriting, web development, etc.] abilities? (Yes, we always start with the positive)

3. If we were to offer the candidate training (which Aquent often does for free) what area of training do you think would help him or her most in career growth? (Stop. Pause for commentary.) This is my ultimate favorite reference question — like I mentioned before, no one ever wants to say anything negative in a reference call. But this isn’t negative! It’s so great that we’re talking already about giving this person training that the reference always tends to open up. This will at least give you an idea of the areas in which this candidate is still on the learning curve, or may need/want to grow down the road.

4. Was there ever a time you witnessed this person receive negative feedback on work from anyone? Peer? Manager? Internal or external client? What was his or her reaction?

Developing a strong creative team is one of the most important things you can do for your company and your brand. Almost all of the articles I have read on companies that have lasted through past economic downturns speak about having a strong brand and cutting-edge advertising, thanks to their creative teams. These are the companies that weren’t afraid of rebranding or launching a new campaign during an economic downturn. When you have a strong, efficient creative team that’s inspired to come up with new ideas, they will build a strong brand and great campaigns.

Even when hiring freelancers, it is extremely important to make sure they are the right fit for you, your audience and the growth of your brand. Although assessments are great, in-depth interviews are just as effective at building a creative foundation for your company. Down the road, think about developing specific assessments with your creative team to make sure you see work developed to the highest standard possible.

My CV on a Map

Didier LAHELY — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:07:26 +0000

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2009 HUDSON reports

Didier LAHELY — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:20:27 +0000

These are the latest reports from HUDSON about Hiring, HR trends in Asia; salary in advertising and communications fields.

I’ve made a special ISSUU about it. But To view directly The Hudson Report results and analysis, please click here.

______________________________________

The Hudson Report Quarter Four, 2009

“Hiring expectations continue to rise at an accelerating rate. Overall, expectations are higher than they were a year ago and it now seems that the ‘green shoots’ are here to stay.”

Mark Carriban, Managing Director – Asia

Highlights include:

Hiring expectations are rising sharply and this survey of nearly 500 executives across key business sectors shows that 35% forecast headcount growth in Quarter Four (Q4) 2009, up from 22% in Q3;
Hiring expectations are rising faster in Hong Kong than in the other markets surveyed in Asia;
Across all the sectors surveyed, respondents say that talent development and improving staff retention are their key HR priorities for 2010;
One-third of respondents say they would employ someone who has been out of work for more than a year;
Where employers are prepared to hire the long-term unemployed, previous experience and track record are given as the principal reasons;
Respondents in the Consumer, IT&T and Manufacturing & Industrial sectors are more confident about finding local talent for senior positions than those in Banking & Financial Services, Legal and Media/PR/Advertising.

Mark Carriban
Managing Director, Asia
Hudson

Jobs in Hong Kong – FriendFeed

Didier LAHELY — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:37:16 +0000

Jobs in Hong Kong – FriendFeed.

Strategy and branding process

Didier LAHELY — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:32:11 +0000

DidierLAHELY_creaCtive

AIGA – "What is graphic design?"

Didier LAHELY — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:27:51 +0000

AIGA, the professional association for design, stimulates thinking about design, demonstrates the value of design and empowers the success of designers at each stage of their careers. AIGA’s mission is to advance designing as a professional craft, strategic tool and vital cultural force. Founded in 1914, AIGA remains the oldest and largest professional membership organization for design, and is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational institution.

What is graphic design?

Article from AIGA Career Guide

Suppose you want to announce or sell something, amuse or persuade someone, explain a complicated system or demonstrate a process. In other words, you have a message you want to communicate. How do you “send” it? You could tell people one by one or broadcast by radio or loudspeaker. That’s verbal communication. But if you use any visual medium at all—if you make a poster; type a letter; create a business logo, a magazine ad, or an album cover; even make a computer printout—you are using a form of visual communication called graphic design.

Graphic designers work with drawn, painted, photographed, or computer-generated images (pictures), but they also design the letterforms that make up various typefaces found in movie credits and TV ads; in books, magazines, and menus; and even on computer screens. Designers create, choose, and organize these elements—typography, images, and the so-called “white space” around them—to communicate a message. Graphic design is a part of your daily life. From humble things like gum wrappers to huge things like billboards to the T-shirt you’re wearing, graphic design informs, persuades, organizes, stimulates, locates, identifies, attracts attention and provides pleasure.

Graphic design is a creative process that combines art and technology to communicate ideas. The designer works with a variety of communication tools in order to convey a message from a client to a particular audience. The main tools are image and typography.

Image-based design
Designers develop images to represent the ideas their clients want to communicate. Images can be incredibly powerful and compelling tools of communication, conveying not only information but also moods and emotions. People respond to images instinctively based on their personalities, associations, and previous experience. For example, you know that a chili pepper is hot, and this knowledge in combination with the image creates a visual pun.

In the case of image-based design, the images must carry the entire message; there are few if any words to help. These images may be photographic, painted, drawn, or graphically rendered in many different ways. Image-based design is employed when the designer determines that, in a particular case, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

Type-based design
In some cases, designers rely on words to convey a message, but they use words differently from the ways writers do. To designers, what the words look like is as important as their meaning. The visual forms, whether typography (communication designed by means of the printed word) or handmade lettering, perform many communication functions. They can arrest your attention on a poster, identify the product name on a package or a truck, and present running text as the typography in a book does. Designers are experts at presenting information in a visual form in print or on film, packaging, or signs.

When you look at an “ordinary” printed page of running text, what is involved in designing such a seemingly simple page? Think about what you would do if you were asked to redesign the page. Would you change the typeface or type size? Would you divide the text into two narrower columns? What about the margins and the spacing between the paragraphs and lines? Would you indent the paragraphs or begin them with decorative lettering? What other kinds of treatment might you give the page number? Would you change the boldface terms, perhaps using italic or underlining? What other changes might you consider, and how would they affect the way the reader reacts to the content? Designers evaluate the message and the audience for type-based design in order to make these kinds of decisions.

Image and type
Designers often combine images and typography to communicate a client’s message to an audience. They explore the creative possibilities presented by words (typography) and images (photography, illustration, and fine art). It is up to the designer not only to find or create appropriate letterforms and images but also to establish the best balance between them.

Designers are the link between the client and the audience. On the one hand, a client is often too close to the message to understand various ways in which it can be presented. The audience, on the other hand, is often too broad to have any direct impact on how a communication is presented. What’s more, it is usually difficult to make the audience a part of the creative process. Unlike client and audience, graphic designers learn how to construct a message and how to present it successfully. They work with the client to understand the content and the purpose of the message. They often collaborate with market researchers and other specialists to understand the nature of the audience. Once a design concept is chosen, the designers work with illustrators and photographers as well as with typesetters and printers or other production specialists to create the final design product.

Symbols, logos and logotypes
Symbols and logos are special, highly condensed information forms or identifiers. Symbols are abstract representation of a particular idea or identity. The CBS “eye” and the active “television” are symbolic forms, which we learn to recognize as representing a particular concept or company. Logotypes are corporate identifications based on a special typographical word treatment. Some identifiers are hybrid, or combinations of symbol and logotype. In order to create these identifiers, the designer must have a clear vision of the corporation or idea to be represented and of the audience to which the message is directed.

Graphic Design: A Career Guide and Education Directory
Edited by Sharon Helmer Poggenpohl
Copyright 1993
The American Institute of Graphic Arts

Graphics AND Strategy…

Didier LAHELY — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:54:40 +0000

Hong Kong is looking for creative people; from London

Didier LAHELY — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:35:21 +0000

From: Latest News – Xinhua

Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Rita Lau called in London Sunday for more collaboration between Hong Kong and London in the development of creative industry, a government press release said Sunday.

Noting that London is renowned as the global center for creativity, Lau said she gained first hand knowledge of UK’s latest creative industry landscape and had very fruitful exchange with leaders of the UK creative industries in these few days, according to a press release from the Information Services Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government.

At a roundtable meeting chaired by the UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment Lord Davies, Lau met with top designers and key representatives of British creative sectors.
She introduced to them Hong Kong’s solid foundation and aspiration in the development of creative industries, and the participants were interested to learn that Hong Kong had drawn reference of the UK model in setting up a dedicated agency, CreateHK, to support Hong Kong’s creative industries, the press release said.

Lau visited the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design at the University of the Arts London, which is Europe’s largest center for education in its field offering a wide range of undergraduate, postgraduate and research opportunities in arts, design and performance.
Noting that nurturing of talent was high on the HKSAR government’s agenda of promoting creative industries development, Lau encouraged UK creative industries institutions to establish bases in Hong Kong.

Upon completion of her three-day visit to London, Lau also took the opportunity to visit a number of major establishments in the cultural, art and creative field.