For the first few weeks of my dissertation module , Design enterprise, we were instructed to find and investigate a business, company or individual relevant to our discipline. Wanting to stay local and digging deep we came across Fleet collective.
“A working vehicle for individual designers”
The first port of call was to get a first had experience of Fleet, get an interview and gain an insight with those who were there since the beginning, or at least, who knows Fleet inside and out.
Almost immediately the idea we had of Fleet, a hot desk open space for businesses to come and go , was thrown out one of the beautifully arched windows. We found that their values lie deeply in collaboration, different disciplines working together, advising each other and achieving briefs which they couldn’t undertake alone together. Another key value they hold is having a great quality of life within the space;
“be creative and not feel constrained”
They believe if people have the passion, thats good enough. As that passion feeds into the people around them weather its done consciously or not. And that passion helps the company grow and adapt in a natural and organic manner.
Fleet highlight and champion the importance of networking and presenting yourself, we found that Fleet don’t put much effort into marketing themselves. Which shows that maybe social media isn’t the be all and end all of engaging with clients and potential employers.
Since investigating Fleet, I would undoubtably say that I have gain an invaluable insight into how such an uncommon business operates and sustains so many businesses in this ever creative city. As well as this I have been able to see Fleets name everywhere, on social media, newspaper articles and interviews with other designers and artists. It seems that Fleets presence in Dundee was far more than I originally thought, knowing this, asking them more prominent questions about their impact would have been worth asking. However for this assignment, what we found out defiantly changed at least my perspective on Fleet, not only as a company but as an entity and brand.
Victoria Watson 