10 things I have learned about myself as an individual and as a learner:
1. I have most certainly learnt how to manage my money in a way that allows me to not only be able to afford the necessary equipment and supplies for university, but also allows me to enjoy myself during my spare time and socialise. I feel that this is extremely important whilst completing my degree as there is so much graphic design surrounding us, within shops and in public in general which helps to stimulate ideas. This is much healthier than being stuck inside all of the time and limiting myself to using the internet alone for inspiration.
2. I have improved my time management. I have always been obsessively organised and on time with work and other commitments in life but since starting this course I have developed an even tighter schedule to allow me to get my work done and take some time out to relax.
3. I have learnt that there are lots of different personalities at university, some of which can really clash. So it is important to be able to learn to get on with each other, whether it be living together or working together, and make the most out of a situation. This has allowed me to mature even more and realise that there will always be people like this throughout life which we will constantly have to deal with.
4. I have learnt to concentrate on each day as it comes rather than planning too far ahead where work is concerned. This is because things can change and ideas can change where work and learning is concerned. For example I may have an induction to a software workshop and learn something new which can be applied to my own work and can in turn alter the final product. It is therefore important to learn on the job rather than jumping too far ahead with the perhaps limited knowledge I already have.
5. Having always been interesting in graphic design and having taken a year out to work in industry and then complete an art foundation degree this reinforced just how much I want to work for a career in this sector. When I was accepted on the course I was unbelievably happy to have been chosen and I have since learnt and become more and more aware of just how content I am to be studying on this course. I am extremely excited to build my knowledge and achieve what I want in life. I have definitely learnt that this has been 100% the right decision for me.
6. I have learnt to adapt as I am used to having money after working for two years prior to university. Whereas now I am much more limited, but at the moment I would rather cut down on certain things and be able to fully concentrate on my degree and enjoy myself during the first year. Then next year I will look for work and work experience in the industry. My dream job has always been to work for Vogue, however since starting the course I have realised that there are many more opportunities out there which would suit me, which are also not related to editorial work, perhaps packaging or branding instead.
7. Moving to Leeds has given me so many opportunities. Even in the short space of time I have been living here I have learnt so many new things. I feel as though I have grown and matured as I have only myself to rely on for everything, meaning that I have a lot of responsibilities alongside completing my work. I feel that this has enabled me to become more self reliant and feel at an advantage to those who are still living at home, as it will be less of a shock when we graduate and move on to the next step of our lives.
8. I have learnt that it is important to take the time out to reward myself for working hard. I try and get everything done throughout the week and keep my weekends free to enjoy. Or alternatively I will work hard on a Wednesday and have the evening free to go to the cinema or for meals. This helps make the workload seem less stressful by having things to break it up.
9. Everything we do and everywhere we go there is graphic design surrounding us. As an individual, I have become more and more aware of my surroundings and I am constantly looking out for anything which I find inspirational. I have recently found myself watching adverts on television and looking at how colour has been used, since studying the colour theory. It is almost as if I am gradually growing as a graphic designer and I am becoming more aware of design wherever I go.
Thomas Sabo window display
10. I'm not sure whether this is a positive or negative but I find that often, I work better when I am at Liberty Park, as I can concentrate more without the distractions of people around me. I also have a set up which is really convenient, as I have my printer constantly ready to use as well as an extra monitor. I do enjoy working in the studio too however, as it is important to be able to ask peers about whether or not I am going in the right direction with my work.
10 things I have learned about myself as a designer:
1. I am interested in a lot of different areas within graphic design. Branding and identity is one of them. I find it particularly interesting how a business brands themselves and how their success is largely based on their identity and the public's ability to recognise a well established design. I feel as though there is a lot of potential in this area and would love to explore it more as I find it exciting.
2. I have realised I am quite passionate about packaging and construct throughout my time at university so far. I feel as though I managed to produce packaging which was quite successful and would love to pursue this as a career possibly in the future.
3. Editorial and publishing is something I tried out before starting this course and I loved it then. I hadn't used InDesign to produce the magazine I created however, whereas now I am being taught the correct programmes to use and would love to base one of my briefs on editorial and use InDesign to create it. I feel that this would give me a clearer idea about what route I would like to take and what I would like to specialise in.
4. I have learnt the importance of staying calm and not getting worried or stressed about work. It is more productive to take the time to enjoy producing a piece of work and more ideas flow with a clearer, calmer mind. As a result I have been able to appreciate the importance of developmental work and often it is the ideas behind a design which form the importance of the final product.
5. I have learnt just how important it is to know and understand the colour theory as thoroughly as possible. I feel as though at the moment I am starting to grasp it but most certainly need to take the time out to study further to ensure I have a strong understanding of it.
6. To be able to successfully work in a group is imperative with graphic design. We have completed a couple of briefs whereby we had to work on one week briefs and present our work on the Friday. I found that in some situations there were certain people who would sit back and not work as hard, this meant that the rest of the group were in charge of making sure everything was finished on time. For the first 'How To' brief, I felt that our group worked really well together and we managed to produce a variety of different designs to present. Overall I was very happy with the outcome and we were able to get to know people well in terms of the way they like to work.
7. I have developed an understanding for the importance of recognising interesting websites, designers and blogs which are inspirational to me. One designer in particular called Fabien Barral is someone I aspire to work like in the future when my skills have improved and I have developed a stronger understanding for the different elements within graphic design.
8. I have realised the importance of type. There are so many things to consider when applying type to a piece of work. The content of the design is of great importance as it can influence the typeface we choose to use. Composition of type on a page is also very important, as we have to consider the way the mind works and reads in a logical order, so by placing certain words in certain places can have an adverse effect on the message we are trying to portray. The anatomy of type is something I need to master as well, the starting point of this is learning the different parts of the letterforms and learning how to manipulate type to make our own typefaces.
9. I have really surprised myself throughout this course, as previously I was never confident in my drawing abilities, whereas now I seem to incorporate hand rendered drawings in to most of my briefs. I have recently bought an inkling and a wacom tablet too, as this is something I hope I can improve upon and feel more and more confident with. One of the things I feel most proud of is the alphabet I drew by hand with fine liners, this took 10 hours but I was so pleased with the outcome which made it truly worth it.
10. I feel as though I have been fully informed and educated about crits and how there are so many different types of crits to evaluate work. This has been an eye opener in to what the industry is like and I have witnessed honest judgements being made about my own work as well as others. This can sometimes be hard to take but I have learnt that it is important to not take things to heart but to just take everything in my stride and use compliments and criticisms as ways of improving and developing my work.
