This is Harrison & Co

This project is old. This was the first job I ever did. In July 1991, and straight out of art college, I landed myself a job as a junior designer at Saatchi & Saatchi. Right place, right time. The design departments Creative Director had just left, everyone was moving up a notch, leaving room for a new junior at the bottom (me). At that time Saatchi & Saatchi were celebrating their 21st Anniversary (and weirdly I was 21 too). Saatchi & Saatchi never did things by halves. To celebrate we decided to design a commemorative bottle of champagne. The job of designing the label came my way. On the actual day of the anniversary everyone came in to find a bottle of champagne on their desk… everyone! At the time that was over 800 people in Charlotte St alone. I’ve still got mine, as you can see. Maurice and Charles Saatchi were famously reclusive, especially Charles. Very few photos existed of them together, apart from this one which was actually taken in the 70s. I decided to do a little pop art, Andy Warhol pastiche, which was also a nod to Charles growing art collection. Cheers, Chris.

We’ve had the pleasure of welcoming Natalie into the studio this week. Natalie has just finished her A Levels and she chose Harrison & Co to try her hand at a bit of graphic design. Scott wrote her a tasty little brief to design a brand for a vintage clothes company. We’re all really impressed by the way she has approached the project and she has rolled out some seriously creative ideas. She definitely has a real gift for design. Watch out design grads, Natalie has some serious skills. Well done Natalie!
Harrison & Co facebook page

This months intern has been the lovely Megan Young who is studying graphic design in Manchester. Megan has been working on several projects with us, a few artworking jobs as well as taking a project from the initial brief to first stage ideas. She’s good! We like interns who aren’t afraid to jump straight in, it’s a great way to learn. Megan was born and brought up a Brightonian, she’s even considering looking for a job in Brighton. We meet so many students who don’t feel the lure of the big city lights in London any more. Maybe agencies in Brighton are seen as more creative, maybe it’s the quality of life Brighton can offer, or maybe London is no longer the centre of the design universe it once was? We know Brighton is a great place to work, and Harrison & Co have clients down the road, in London and as far afield as Portugal. So, two out of three isn’t bad? ; )

Our first intern of 2012, this is Qian. She is from France and Qian studied Graphic Design at Lycée Le Corbusier in Strasbourg, graduating in 2011. It’s great when we have a foreign intern with us, they have a different way of looking at things which is always refreshing. Qian has been working on some mood boards for an up-coming project with one of our arts clients. The mood boards are looking great, so good in fact they could almost be presented as initial ideas.

The Harrison & Co interns of 2011.

Top row, left to right: Harry, Esteban, Jenni, Scott

Bottom row, left to right: Josie, Tom, Jack, Paul.

Couple of success stories, Josie has gone on to get a full-time job at Neo in Brighton. And Scott will be joining Harrison & Co as a full-time designer next week. All the interns have been great, look forward to meeting next years batch! If you are interested in interning for Harrison & Co, email info[at]harrisonandco[dot]com

It’s the final week of Josie interning with us, she’s been great. In her two weeks with us, she’s used glitter, chalk, nails, cotton, paint, stencils and balloons (of course). Just a few of the tools we favour over the Mac.

Saying goodbye to Tom today, a great intern who has been with us for two weeks. Tom is at Falmouth doing a design degree, just about to go into his final year. We’re wishing him luck, but he probably won’t need it as he already has a strong portfolio, he’s a nice guy and get’s stuck in and helps out with a smile on his face – and that’s about all you need to get your first job. He looks a bit worried here, but he was hamming it up for the camera. Good man!

This is Scott, our current intern. He got a First for his graphic design degree (from Southampton), and boy, his final major project is a stunner – one of the best projects we’ve seen from a student. It took him a year to make it, it’s hand bound, beautifully designed and very quirky. If you ask him nicely he’ll show it to you one day.

Meet our new intern… Paul. Before doing an intensive graphic design course at Shillington college Manchester, Paul did a philosophy degree at Sheffield. We’re looking forward the mini lectures he’s promised us on Socrates, Plato and that eternal question. “what does it all mean?”, when we find out, we’ll let you know.