Junior Producer/ Account Manager

Junior Producer/Account Manager

Post Date: December 2022

The Like Minded is a highly creative content agency working with large international clients. We champion authentic and captivating work, bringing brands to life with vibrant animation, film and design content.

We are looking for a Junior Producer/Account Manager to join our exciting studio in Marlow. We will support you to develop your experience and skills. You will provide the liaison between our studio and our clients, ensuring all projects run smoothly.

Role & Responsibilities

We are looking for a Junior Producer/Account Manager to join our exciting studio, we will support you to develop your experience and skills. Your key responsibilities will include:

Schedule briefing meetings, arrange and manage creative internal reviews and be the first point of contact on all client issues.
Monitor that all resources and time against jobs are being used efficiently.
Collaborate closely with the Directors; regularly advising of potential risks, dependencies, opportunities and challenges before and during project implementation.
Produce and manage project documentation.
Attend training to develop relevant knowledge, techniques and skills.

Personal Attributes

We are looking for the following in a potential candidate:

Teamwork – Someone who understands and thrives in a team environment
Communication – It’s core to what we do. Keeps it simple, open & efficient
Attitude – It’s nearly always mindset that carries us over the line
Self Start – Find a way forward and we’ll help you find a solution
Detailed oriented – These always matter
Time Management – Working efficiently to deadlines
Emotional Intelligence – Managing our emotions and those of others

Rewards

A salary range from £21k-24k (gross per annum) depending on skills and experience
Location: High Street in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Job Type: Full-time
Studio based 4 days a week with 1 day optionally remote
Hybrid working would be considered
Company pension
Annual training budget
Attendance at events

Software Skills

We are looking for someone competent using with the following software:

Microsoft Office

Why The Like Minded?

As a fast growing business, we know that we can only reach our goals by hiring brilliant people & nurturing them. We provide the type of hands-on experience that takes years to acquire in a larger agency. We also believe in having fun and developing curious minds along the way. Ready to make a move & be part of something purposeful?

To apply for the role please email your CV and cover letter to

sean@thelikeminded.co.uk

Producer/ Account Manager

Producer/Account Manager

Post Date: December 2022

The Like Minded is a highly creative content agency working with large international clients. We champion authentic and captivating work, bringing brands to life with vibrant animation, film and design content.

We are looking for a Producer/Account Manager to join our exciting studio in Marlow. The Producer/Account Manager is a key role in the business, as you will provide the liaison between our studio and clients, ensuring all projects run smoothly.

Role & Responsibilities

We are looking for a skilled Producer/Account Manager to join our exciting studio. Your key responsibilities will include:

Schedule briefing meetings, arrange and manage creative internal reviews and be the first point of contact on all client issues.
Monitor that all resources and time against jobs are being used efficiently.
Collaborate closely with the Directors; regularly advising of potential risks, dependencies, opportunities and challenges before and during project implementation.
Produce and manage project documentation.
Attend training to develop relevant knowledge, techniques and skills.

Personal Attributes

We are looking for the following in a potential candidate:

Teamwork – Someone who understands and thrives in a team environment
Communication – It’s core to what we do. Keeps it simple, open & efficient
Attitude – It’s nearly always mindset that carries us over the line
Self Start – Find a way forward and we’ll help you find a solution
Detailed oriented – These always matter
Time Management – Working efficiently to deadlines
Emotional Intelligence – Managing our emotions and those of others

Rewards

A salary range from £26k-30k (gross per annum) depending on skills and experience
Location: High Street in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Job Type: Full-time
Studio based 4 days a week with 1 day optionally remote
Hybrid working would be considered
Company pension
Annual training budget
Attendance at events

Software Skills

We are looking for someone competent using with the following software:

Microsoft Office

Why The Like Minded?

As a fast growing business, we know that we can only reach our goals by hiring brilliant people & nurturing them. We provide the type of hands-on experience that takes years to acquire in a larger agency. We also believe in having fun and developing curious minds along the way. Ready to make a move & be part of something purposeful?

To apply for the role please email your CV and cover letter to

sean@thelikeminded.co.uk

Landscape Decisions

Landscape Decisions Programme

Evidence-based landscape decision making across the UK

Challenge

Landscapes are multi-functional, so it is vital to ensure that environmental policies benefit all functions, that unintended consequences are monitored, and that farmers make the right land use decisions.

A team at The University of Leicester leads the Landscape Decisions programme. They work with government departments, charities, conservation organisations and researchers across the UK to run a network of 59 interrelated research projects influencing landscape decisions. The team uses mathematical methods, ecosystem modelling and insights into how people interact with landscapes so that land users and decision-makers can rely on this robust evidence to make informed landscape decisions.

Solution

The Landscape Decisions team came to us to produce an animation explaining the role of the programme in influencing landscape decision making, environmental policies and land use across the UK.

Each landscape was painted with expressive lines and textured brushes to create a vibrant setting in which to tell the narrative. The characters were designed with simplicity in mind to compliment the dynamic landscape backgrounds.

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SGN: H100 Fife

SGN

H100 Fife National Research Project

Challenge

SGN came to us to produce a film for their H100 Fife national research project. The project is developing the first hydrogen network on the east coast of Scotland in Fife, giving residents in up to 300 homes the opportunity to use zero-carbon fuel for heating and cooking in 2024. This project is the first of its kind, so we wanted to produce an engaging film

Solution

The animation provides a variety of information about the project, so we have used a mixture of film, curated stock footage, animation and motion graphics to keep audiences engaged.

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Start the new year with the best tools for giving effective creative feedback

Start the new year with the best tools for giving creative feedback

Dec 2022

7 min read

Effective feedback is essential to ensure that your creative projects achieve their goals. Read on to explore several things to think about when giving creative feedback and tips for each stage of production.

Ask questions

The article ‘8 ways to give better feedback to creatives‘ explains that in a creative scenario, asking questions leads to enhanced collaboration and often a better end product. As they say, there is no such thing as a stupid question!

Here are some example questions from our creative team:

1. Can you explain why you think this style will work best for our video?

2. What are the time and budget implications of making this change?

3. What are the implications of re-designing the assets for Instagram?

Put yourself in your audience’s shoes

Take personal bias out of the equation and put yourself in your audience’s shoes to ensure the end product successfully hits its objectives every time!

Here are some questions you should ask yourself:

1. What will the audience feel during this scene?

2. Will the audience understand this scene?

3. Is my feedback based on my aesthetic preferences?

Think why?

Explaining why you would like a change to be made can help to understand the problem better so that the creative team can hit the nail on the head the first time!

Instead of ‘I don’t like the font’. Think about why you don’t like it, or even better, why it may not suit the audience; this can help the creative team to find a suitable solution. Instead, you could say, ‘The Serif Sans font is too formal for our audience; can we try another font?’ This provides crucial details for the creative team; they know A) you would like to change the font and B) you would like to avoid a formal style.

Give examples

It is challenging to articulate exactly what you would like to see; as creatives, we are always thinking of visual solutions to problems. Giving examples of other work, a visual style, narrative or even a soundtrack will help to demonstrate what you like and dislike.

Creating a mood board is an excellent way to align your thoughts with your colleagues and gather inspiration and ideas. Take a look at this article by Vectornator to find out ‘What is a Mood Board & How Do You Create One?‘. The creative team can take these examples and make precise amends to shape the piece into something you are really happy with.

Pinterest mood board

Post pitch

Re-clarify your brief

Once you have chosen a creative team to collaborate with, it is a good idea to re-clarify your brief, adding extra details and filling in the gaps. You may have received interesting ideas throughout the pitch process that have altered your thinking, let the creative team know this.

Check out our blog ‘How to: the brief‘ to find seven questions you should ask yourself before shaping the perfect brief.

Outline the objectives, goals and target audience

Ensure you have set out the three vital pillars before your campaign’s production begins:

1. The objectives

2. The goals

3. Target audience

These will shape the campaign and are helpful to refer to when giving feedback later on.

Script

Feedback on your script can be made using the comment tool in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat PDF reader; this means that you, your team and the creative team can easily collaborate to ensure you are happy with the script before production begins.

Script sign-off

Agreeing on internal feedback and script sign-off early means the creative team can design a concept and storyboard. If significant script changes are made during production, this could impact the overall concept, and the creatives may have chosen a different approach if these changes were presented in the beginning. Of course, small text changes can be made at any point throughout production.

For more tips on how to write a script, check out our blog post ‘How to: script writing‘.

Storyboard

Similar to providing feedback on the script, you can use the comment tool in Adobe Acrobat PDF reader to collaborate with colleagues and make notes on a storyboard. You can find more insights on storyboarding in our ‘How to: storyboarding‘ blog.

Storyboard feedback: Fauna & Flora International ‘What is biodiversity?’

Consolidate and align internal feedback

The storyboard often passes through a large team to make sure everyone is happy with the concept before illustration and animation begin. Colleagues can share their expertise from different areas within the business. However, this is sometimes presented to the creative team as a mixture of opinions and contradicting ideas from many people.

The article ‘8 ways to give better feedback to creatives‘ outlines that consolidating feedback is a valuable tool. It is helpful if one person from the client team consolidates and aligns internal feedback, presenting this in one concise document.

The individual responsible for collecting feedback from colleagues should give clear guidance on the type of feedback sought, e.g., ‘We are looking for feedback on the visual metaphors used and whether they are accurate to our approach’. This avoids confusion and means the creative team can execute the amends successfully.

Draft render

Reviewing a draft render is an exciting stage in production, as you can see your project come to life. This is an opportunity for your team to collaborate and give feedback on the draft render, which can be done by reviewing the video on Vimeo and adding time-stamped comments. As discussed in the storyboarding stage, it is essential to align internal feedback and present the creative team with consolidated notes, which can be actioned effectively.

Draft render feedback: ‘Sabika’s Story‘

Analysis not opinion

Good feedback means giving analysis, not opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own tastes and in the article ‘How to give feedback‘ by Seth Godin, it explains why analysis is harder to give but is more effective as feedback.

Instead of commenting on aspects that you don’t like, focus on analysis, where you are thinking about the audience, objectives and aims of the project. For example, ‘Our audience is diverse and this scene doesn’t represent this, can we change this?’

Final supply

Understanding the type of feedback

In the final stages of production, it is essential to understand the type of feedback you are giving to ensure budgets and deadlines are met. Blocking feedback can be provided, including changes that must be made before the work is released. For example, if the work doesn’t meet the brand’s guidelines. On the other hand, advisory feedback can be given depending on budgets and deadlines. This feedback would be nice to implement but isn’t pivotal to the work’s overall success.

Wash-up call

Once a project is wrapped up, it is helpful to have a wash-up call with the creative team to discuss what went well and how things could have gone better. This is valuable feedback that will enhance future collaborations.

Here are some things to reflect upon:

1. Has the campaign hit its initial aims and objectives?

2. Does the work resonate with the target audience?

3. What could your team or the creative team have done better?

Final thoughts

Giving creative feedback can be tricky, but we hope this blog has given you the tools to give productive feedback so that a creative team ace your brief and produce exactly what you are looking for!

Check out our other blogs for tips, advice, and how to guides.

Subscribe to our Mood Board newsletter

ICCA

The Inns of Court College of Advocacy

Film Content Partner

We work closely with The Inns of Court College of Advocacy (ICCA), producing film content to promote the ICCA Bar Course, presenting information to prospective students, and sharing testimonies and advice from current and alumni students. We have undertaken various filming for ICCA, including on-site events, head-to-camera interview-style and remote web camera filming. Scroll down for some example films.

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Character Design

Concept 1

Developing a character style

DLA Piper case study

We work closely with DLA Piper to produce animation content highlighting their innovative work, meeting legal needs across the globe.

We recently proposed a re-design of DLA Piper’s original character illustrations, developing a new style so future work can more easily illustrate the impactful human-centric work that DLA Piper do.

Concept 1 was chosen by DLA Piper to move forward with. The overall style is modern, giving the characters a relatable and realistic feel. We have used gradients for fill colours to give the characters a soft feel, while using skin tones to ensure diversity is prevalent across all animations.

Concept 2

Concept 3

We also presented concepts 2 and 3 to DLA Piper, offering a varied approach to the character development.

Concept 2, is an illustrative stylised approach using a mixture of broken lines and offset colour washes. This creates a bold aesthetic, bringing energy and dynamism to animations.

Concept 3, is a bold graphic style that is a refinement of the original character style. The original character illustrations featured blue skin tones, which we have kept as they work well with the graphic style. Although this style is slightly more realistic than the original illustrations and would be paired with a characterful yet natural animation style.

Examples of the previous character style created using the original illustration guidelines.

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House of Lords: Paralympic & Olympic Graphics

House of Lords

Paralympic and Olympic Campaign

The House of Lords came to us to help them celebrate HOL past Paralympians and Olympians during the 2020 Olympics held in Tokyo. They wanted to highlight several Lords who have made a difference and challenged government on key sporting issues, including Paralympians, Baroness Grey-Thompson, Lord Holmes of Richmond, Baroness Masham of Ilton, and Olympians Lord Campbell of Pittenweem, Lord Coe, and Lord Moynihan.

The House of Lords advocate for sport and recreational related issues including, gender inequalities in sport, elite sport funding, sport and recreational facilities and the impact of sport on mental and physical wellbeing.

Design

We created a set of poster graphics to support the campaign. The posters were created with a limited colour pallet, allowing us to create a vibrant display and play homage to vintage Olympic posters. We combined the bold colour pallet with unique character angles to create a juxtaposed composition – displaying the energy and movement of each sport.

Each poster was designed to be re-worked for use on different social channels, for example to be posted on the House of Lords Twitter and Instagram feed, as well as Instagram stories. The graphics were also used on the HOL website and other areas to promote the campaign.

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Illumina: RNA Sequencing Workflow

Illumina

Workflow for RNA Sequencing

Challenge

Illumina is a leading life science developer, manufacturer, and marketer of tools and integrated systems for genetic variation and function analysis. Illumina came to us to produce an animation explaining the complex workflow behind RNA Sequencing.

Solution

We produced an animation with a modern style to mirror Illumina’s innovative brand. The information outlined in this animation is scientific, so we created a visual language to display and explain this complex process clearly. The script is also detailed and clear to explain the workflow, avoiding jargon terms.

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SWGfL: Harmful Sexual Behaviour Support Service

South West Grid for Learning

Harmful Sexual Behaviour Support Service

South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL) is a charity campaigning for online safety for everyone. They are pushing online safety into the spotlight by providing training, influencing policies, and offering services and support. They are giving people the tools to ensure they are safe while using technology and the internet.

SWGfL found that child-on-child sexual harassment in schools was becoming a common issue, and many teachers and parents were failing to report incidents as they were seen as normal. This shocking issue prompted SWGfL to launch a service called the Harmful Sexual Behaviours Support Service, which provides training for professionals and support for young people who have been affected by harmful sexual behaviour (HSB).

SWGfL came to us to produce 2 videos explaining what HSB is and to promote their new service. The first video is a 2d animation that is featured on SWGfL’s landing page and YouTube Channel. The animation is clear and informative, using minimal backgrounds and several diverse characters to demonstrate what HSB is and how the service can help.

The second video is produced for use on social media. This 2d animation is more dynamic and brief, to ensure the information is easily digestible for quick scrolling social media users. Each scene is created so that it can be used separately across different social media channels. Please see the second animation below.