Following some of the recent sessions we have attended, a lot of thought of mine has gone towards what I actually want to do with my life as a graphic designer after I leave college. Its a big world out there for us... so many options and so many different areas, print, web, motion to name just a few.
Since coming to the conclusion that I wanted to do graphic design at university after having a completely fine art background all the way through school, I've always wanted to work in the music industry as a designer, but never really explored it as an actual career, I saw it more as a hobby I guess.
But since looking more into it, it turns out I was completely wrong. Now my task is to look into different designers and companies which do focus on the music industry.
Do not get me wrong, I am not in any way saying that I want to pigeon-hole myself into just designing for music, but it is definitely something that would be my dream to actually make a career out of.
The scope is wide, from flyers, posters, album covers... to merchandise, advertising campaigns, promotions. Everything about all of this fascinates me and always has as I have been around musicians and their surroundings for a long time and, in my own way, want to play my part.
This module has been all about print and different print processes which I think I overlooked slightly in my design process. However, this is the module where I feel I have learned the most. We have been filled with facts about printing, in all different areas, which will be incredibly useful when we proceed on into the industry.
Lorenzo’s seminars about actual print processes were fascinating and I learned things that I’ve never even considered before. It has opened so many new doors into the graphic design world and opportunities to use this knowledge for print-based work. The seminars really got me thinking, and has got me trying to figure out how things were printed, from birthday cards, to posters and flyers in every day life. Which I feel doing a course you love is all about.
The mac suite inductions were really useful when it came to resolving my ideas and actually designing. I feel I now have a solid knowledge of colour palettes and learning how to use swatches has been incredibly beneficial, especially with my posters and using different colours for each one (including the logo). Again, I feel that I have really learned something this module when it comes to software.
The type lessons were also interesting, learning little bits about things which, in the end, seem to be common sense. I’ve never really seen type as something I am particularly interested in, but now I see the possibilities which type open. I used what I learned in my poster designs, playing around with different positioning of letters, weight and orientation to add emphasis to certain words.
All in all, I do feel that this has been my favourite module to date and the most useful. I really feel that I have a much wider knowledge than when I went into it, knowledge that I can actually use and I have put everything that I have learned in the past few months into my “what is good” resolution… and the working up to them.
Looking back over the module, I am disappointed in the small amount of work that I have produced. However, I do feel that it could be some of my best work to date. For once, I actually like what I am producing, and the self-written brief really opened doors for me.
I really wish that personal issues hadn’t affected me in any way when it came to college work, how ever, these things happen and cannot be helped. I am happy that I have made contact with the course team and that they understand what has gone on. If I had more time with this module I would have furthered my product range, branching out from posters to packaging, and maybe a range of t-shirts.
I do feel that I have worked a lot harder than I did last year and truly feel I have matured in my attitude towards college. I have kept up with my blogs a lot more successfully than I have done in the past and have explored a wide range of ideas in response to my brief. I do feel this might have had an impact on the amount of work I produced as a resolution how ever as the mine-field that is my head seemed to go in all directions with this project, with about 5 different ‘final’ ideas emerging on my blog. But that is graphic design.
What do you want to achieve by the end of this year?
-I want to have a better idea of what area I want to work in within the industry.
-I want to develop and identify my own personal style.
-I want to set up research visits and work placements/internships for the summer.
-I want to network and set up an address book of contacts who may help me throughout my time at LCA and in my career.
-I want to gain the confidence to ask for help from these contacts.
-I want to have a much better idea of the industry I will work in.
-I want to explore different companies and the way they function... the work ethic, the employees and the difference between working for a large company and being a freelance designer.
-I want to manage my time better, no all nighters the night before deadlines.
-I want my work ethic to drastically improve.
-I want to make the most of my time in Leeds, the city and all that is available.
What do you want to achieve by the end of the course?
-I want to know exactly who I am as a designer.
-I want to have an extensive knowledge of the graphic design industry.
- I want to have a number of different placements and internships under my belt so I have a proper idea of what I want to do and where I want to do it.
-I want to know about all the jobs available in the industry.
-I want an impressive portfolio.
-I want to have a job lined up.
What do you want to achieve in your career?
- I want to be recognised and remembered for my work.
-At some point I would like to work abroad... particularly in New York.
-I want an exciting job, where no two days are the same.
1. WHAT PRACTICAL SKILLS HAVE YOU DEVELOPED DURING THIS MODULE AND HOW EFFECTIVELY HAVE YOU APPLIED THEM?
This module has really helped me find my own place in the studio and the design process. The collaborative brief taught me a lot about picking the right team of people and how important it is. You need to collaborate with people who have strengths in different areas to you, rather than similar as it gives a much more rounded result. For example for our collaboration, i mainly focused on the computerized aspects of the designing, Liz on the illustration and Steph on the type, and the result was particularly effective.
I've worked a lot on the computer for these recent briefs and really enjoyed fortifying my skills in the Adobe programmes.
I also tried out print and letterpress, which I would love to use again in the future, it was so interesting to learn new skills that I hadn't known about before and gives such a nice hand-rendered feel.
2. WHAT APPROACHES TO/METHODS OF PROBLEM SOLVING HAVE YOU DEVELOPED AND HOW HAS THIS AFFECTED YOUR DESIGN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS?
I have furthered my research skills which we were taught in the previous module, and as I did more, I found it more and more useful. Knowing the subject which you are working on is definitely a must if you are going to produce a good result.
I also learnt illustration skills from the other students in the class, those who's passion is drawing, I'm liking the hand-rendered effect a lot at the moment and would love to do more of it, print-making aswell.
For the Speaking From Experience brief, I found the crits really useful, and being made to follow up more than one idea to get the perfect one is really useful as, if I had gone with my initial idea, it would have failed and probably have looked terrible.
3. WHAT STRENGTHS CAN YOU IDENTIFY IN YOUR WORK AND HOW HAVE/WILL YOU CAPITALIZE ON THESE?
I think my main strengths this module reside in my research and work produced on the macs. I was really interested in the InDesign programme and learning about layout.
I also think that my skills on Illustrator have advanced a lot which I'm really happy about as it was my main "what I want to learn this year" at the begginning of the course. I would love to learn a lot more about these programmes.
4. WHAT WEAKNESSES CAN YOU IDENTIFY IN YOUR WORK AND HOW WILL YOU ADRESS THESE IN THE FUTURE?
Due to illness and other various issues I wasn't putting my all into this module, and paying for it now as I am not happy with a lot of the work produced. My motivation was down and my time management was terrible. I need to learn to start a brief at the begginning rather than leaving it to the crunch time.
5. IDENTIFY 5 THINGS THAT YOU WILL DO DIFFERENTLY AND WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO GAIN FROM THESE?
Work better as a team, put more into the group.
Work on my time management, get more done, more quickly.
More experimentation and recording of ideas, better results are acquired when you try out a lot of different things.
Focus more in inductions, I find it hard to remember a lot of the things I have learnt.
Stay healthy. My health has been terrible.
6. ARE THERE ANY THINGS WE COULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY THAT WOULD HAVE BENIFITTED YOUR PROGRESS?
No, I think this module was really well thought out and organized.
