Brian Burns

On the 12th March I was lucky enough to be invited along to a University of Ulster Masterclass planned and written by a fantastic web–design studio located here in Belfast – Design by Front. The Masterclass was geared towards the current masters students on the MA Multidisciplinary Design course, however some IMD students were invited along so to get a feel for what the MA has to offer.

We were treated to a full day of Keynote presentations/lectures and workshops from Paul McKeever (@paulmckeever), Patsy Lagan (@patsylagan), Paul May (@paulmmay) and Jamie Neely (@jamneely).

Paul McKeever (Managing Director) began by talking about how changing patterns in media consumption (along with the way in which the market has developed into a conversation) has forced companies to reassess their practices. Patsy (Project Manager) then spoke about day–to–day project management at Front in her Keynote “Managing Creative Projects”.

Following lunch Paul May (Business Development Manager) had me intrigued with “Scoping and Starting a Project” and Jamie (Creative Director) rounded up the day by talking about user-centered design in “Designing without Photoshop”. We worked on a real live brief throughout the day’s workshop sessions, allowing us to experience first hand the thorough process that Front follow and the background research they conduct before they even begin to think about aesthetics.

That evening most of the people who were present at the Masterclass gathered at the John Hewitt bar for a well deserved pint.

I can’t thank Chris Murphy (@fehler), Nick Persson (@takete) (and the guys at Front) enough for giving me the opportunity to come along to the Masterclass. I’ve taken away a phenomenal amount of knowledge (and a few file-blocks full of notes). It was without doubt one of my best (and definitely one of my most beneficial) birthday presents yet.

Both Front and Nick have uploaded photographs from the Masterclass!