Container Plus is a British design company who came to talk to us about their company a few months ago. Before the lecture I had no idea what the company did or who ran it but had just decided to work with my friend on a Ted Baker competition brief that involved creating a window display for them. I was shocked to find out that the visiting lecturer came from a company that was originally created by two illustrator friends and one of the first projects they worked on was a design for Selfridges window display. I knew at this point that this lecture would be very useful and relevant to me despite the fact that they were from a different pathway background to me.
Louise Vormittag and her friend set up their company in 2002 after attending Camberwell school of arts together. They realised that they both shared a similar level of commitment to their work and that they worked well together as a team Louise stressed how important these factors were when working with someone. I found this part of the lecture really interesting and it made me consider my own future and whether I could work well in a team. I think that completing this next project, as part of a team, will really help me to determine what I’d like to do in the future.
The first job that they created as mentioned was the Selfridges window display. Rather than simply creating a display and installing it over night ready for the next day however they made it in to a piece of performance art and sat in the window of the store for 3 days drawing on the walls and window. After completing the window display, they were then asked to decorate the lab café in the store.
The pair soon found that, although they originally had very different styles of work, there styles complemented each other and they played to each other’s different strengths.
In 2005 they were invited to decorate 4 rooms at a car launch at a hotel in Copenhagen. 20 designers from all around the world were invited to decorate rooms and container plus were one of them. Louise said that they enjoyed creating immersive environments and a 360-degree experience.
After decorating 4 rooms, they were then asked to decorate a car installation space, which they only had around a week to complete. One thing Louise did say that they had learnt from this experience is to be nice to people because you never know who you might need to help you out in the future. Whilst they were there they made friend with a group of builders for the show who they later had to ask to make their stand bigger for them.
As well as installation work, they have worked on magazine work also. They did numerous double page spreads for Charles Worthington where they worked with a photographer.
They then produced an animation for MTV Denmark where they worked with a specialist animator. Louise mentioned on numerous occasions how much they enjoyed collaborating with others from different professions. They now feel like they could say yes to almost any job as they have built up a large list of people in different professions they could contact for help. This part of the lecture really helped me to understand the industry more. The fact that people from the industry have contacts in different fields they can call for help on projects and work together, made me feel a lot more confident about my future.
They next few projects they worked on were a series of haunted houses where they used numerous methods of creating eerie effect from shadows and projections to hiding little cut outs within the sets. Again they worked with numerous people from different industries. In fact it was on these projects that they met a photographer and two set designers who they eventually decided to collaborate with on future projects.
Since the Lecture I have finished my Ted Baker project, thought it still needs work for the competition hand in. I found that I really enjoyed working with someone and think the work benefit from it. Finding someone with a similar work ethic to me, as Louise suggested, also helped as I felt the work load was evenly distributed and the finished was a product of both of our works.
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