Recent graphic design graduate of the Winchester School of Art, Kieron Lewis is now a Graphic Designer, Europe Editor for Advertising Week, and Designer at Profile. He tells us about Profile.

The Profile Book – right, where do I start? From the start would be best!

The publication was born from the initial platform that David Sinnet (Founder) had created. The pair of us were determined to create a platform that would help creatives share and promote their work with confidence and ease.

Within a short period of time we had a number of submissions, which was great however we still had a long way to go.

As my final year at Southampton University was coming to an end, this meant one thing – Final Major Project.

For me a number of emotions went through my head. The obvious one being that I had one last chance to really do something that I would enjoy, before the end of my uni-career.

As I have passion and a general interest in meeting new creatives, I thought it would be a great idea to combine my freelance work on Profile with my FMP.

Before the publication came along, I actually worked on a range of concepts for Profile’s existing site at the time. Whilst creating the concepts, the idea of creating a publication that would work in coherent with the online platform was something that I was keen to embrace. Within my line of work I am a firm believer that print and digital should compliment each other when possible.

So with a few weeks to go until the deadline, I decided to embark on this venture of creating a publication. In the past I worked on a publication titled, Plog Magazine with a small team of creatives, so using what I learned, I was able to put that into practice and create Profile’s first-ever publication.

The publication consists of 27 completely different artists and designers internationally, to whom I had the privilege of speaking to via email and Skype. I was also keen to get a special feature within the print. Whoever I chose I knew that I wanted the reader to be inspired by, and I had the perfect guys in mind!

Happy Accident Collective, are a lovely, yet cheeky, screen-printing duo based in Scotland. I conducted an interview with them, which gave the reader an insight into their work ethic. I wanted to keep the interview very lighthearted, and not too serious. The way I see it, we’re in the creative sector of the world so nothing should be taken too seriously.

In terms of inspiration for the publication, I have a massive collection of magazines and book, which I spent hours reading through. Also Pinterest is another great tool for inspiration, and especially in terms of Editorial Design.

I did face a number of difficulties within the process of the publication. One obvious factor being, funding! The one word that designers dread to hear.

Despite having a number of exciting thoughts and ideas, I had to be very conscious of how much everything would be. Right from the paper stock down to producing mock ups of the publication.

Luckily I came across a lovely set of printers based in Eastleigh called ImageWise. I lost count of how many times I drove down there for a talk with Patrick to discuss financial issues with print. What a top bloke!

Without a doubt ImageWise are a great company to work with. They even gave me two extra publications, which was lovely of them, and despite the cost not being cheap (which was to be expected), they did a smashing job.

Once the publication was done and dusted it was exhibited at my degree show in Winchester. A few who were featured came down, and I was able to grab a few snaps – It was a great day!

So what’s next?

Well David and I are also working alongside the brilliant minds of Nicola Manuel (Editor) and Sarah Benson (Online Editor) who work on Profile’s online presence, and what a great job they have been doing.

The website is growing nicely with nearly 300 submissions on the platform, Profile is moving in the right direction.

The team and I are focusing on two major things – creating a stronger platform for creatives, and perfecting the publication. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep up-to-date with any recent posts or news.

You can read The Profile Book online here.

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