1. I feel that moving away from home has effected me both professionally and personally. I have become more independent and living in a city has been a good way for me to mix my work and play. I have made some great friends here. Leeds is a great place for design and i love the social element as well as working in a studio here.
2. I have become better at managing my time and money professionally and personally. I have somehow managed to find time to cook, eat, clean, do the washing, shower and socialise on top of the massive workload of the course with the reputation.
3. I am pretty good at blogging and this is something i have been used to for a few years now. I have kept a blog on Tumblr that i used to post my own work and work that inspired me on so when we started with using blogger for the course, it was really easier for me to get used to than i thought it might have been. I try to blog as much as i can, and have made it a part of my life, inside and outside of the course. It's a good way to share your work, keep a diary and socialise as well as being part of the course.
4. I need to learn to stop stressing and worrying. As the infamous Stefan Sagmeister said... 'Worrying solves nothing'. Sometimes i worry about work and stress myself out over deadlines and things even if i have managed my time and have done all i can, i still worry. I am also quite a nervous person, especially when standing up and presenting work to people, even if its just to the class. This is something i need to work on, and sometimes be less hard on myself.
5. I am really happy to have learnt many different things on the course already such as the 'History of Type' and 'Colour Theory'. I think that this has made me realise how much i need to learn about Design before i go into the real world but also made me realise how much passion and desire i have for doing what i do.
6. I think i might be addicted to caffeine. I had heard before the course that coffee was 'Designer's Fuel' but i didn't really think it would be such a big part of my days in the studio. It's a little bit scary that i rely on it so much to wake me up in the mornings and get me through the long days but it's all good, i hope. Seeing as Amber is addicted to energy drinks and Fred to coffee, i think i'll turn out alright, hopefully.
7. I have found that the idea is just as important as the final design. If the idea is rubbish then it's just not going to work even if the design is executed well. I feel that i can bring in elements of my life outside of the course and put that into my work, it may be a little more interesting. I want to start to work with other things i am passionate about into the course and also figure out what ideologies ethics.
8. I am an organised person. This goes for my work and personal life. I hate having a messy bedroom and think i have OCD. I keep a diary which i keep on top of. I try to keep on top of my uni work and blog pretty much all day every day.
9. I love collecting things. I collect flyers that are decent enough design-wise. I collect vintage things. bits of tat, vice magazine, various zines, don't panic. Things like that. I think this is a good way for me to look for inspiration. I'm a very visual person and like collecting things to build a library of source materials that will help me when i need it. I think that i might become a hoarder of random things when i'm an old man which is a little bit scary, but its something i'm going to have to accept.
10. I'm a very visual learner. I like to draw things as appose to writing them down. That's why you'll find lots of drawings in my lectures notes and any other notes that relate to whatever i'm jotting down. I make lots of mood boards and design boards before actually making my work, i like to see things visually before i do anything else. I also like to collect my research visually and create an archive of imagery rather than text. Text is boring unless it's beautiful typography!
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10 things that you have learned about yourself as a designer. These should reflect your growing awareness of your own interests within graphic design as a subject, discipline and profession...
1. One of the main things that come to mind when reviewing my work was that i prefer to work on smaller deadlined briefs. Although the last 8 week long brief was successful for me, i found myself not being able to plan my time as well funnily enough than the shorter 1 or 2 week briefs. I'm not sure why this is, i just like pushing myself as much as i can in a short amount of time to get the most successful finished result.
2. I feel that keeping a diary and constantly taking notes works well for me professionally. I keep my diary and notebook on me at all times in college and out and this is a good way to track where i am with my work, what i need to do and also if i get inspiration or ideas from anywhere, i can quickly sketch or jot it in my notebook.
3. I'm a perfectionist. I have OCD with my work. I like everything to be symmetrical and perfect to look at with no distractions. I am constantly changing my work until i feel it's perfect. This sometimes can be a good thing, but also a bad thing for me. I need to find a balance in my work to make sure that i am not overworking or oversimplifying things, depending on the purpose. (pictured : work from the last module)
4. I have become generally more interested in all aspects of design. It has become a bigger part of my life every day. On such an intense course, i feel myself constantly surrounding myself with design which is obviously a good thing. It's become more of a lifestyle than just something that i would like to do as a job.
5. I have began to simplify a lot of my work style. I know that this shouldn't be the case for everything, but i have started to look at design differently, look at the purpose of what i'm designing and strip away anything that is unnesceray. This seems to be working better for me, and i feel i'm looking at design in a much more educated way. (pictured : work from the last module)
6. I try to experiment with different styles and have started to create more personal work outside of the course. I want to experiment as much in my first couple of years to try and find my 'style', as cliche as it sounds. I also want to try and figure what messages i want to say through design, the kind of people who i would and wouldn't want to work with and create more design that reflects my ideologies and ethics (image below : some recent personal work)
7. I have become pretty big on swiss minimalist styles of design and would hopefully like to experiment more in this field of design over the next year or so.
8. I have learnt much more software skills and have been trying to use other programs in the Adobe Suite other than 'Photoshop'. I have moved more into Illustrator and InDesign driven designs and look forward to pushing myself, leaning as many new skills as i can and work with other programs
9. I have had chance to experiment with the laser cutter which has opened my eyes a little bit to what i could achieve with design. It's not all about printing posters at A2 size. There are many different formats, packaging design and a whole range of different media that i can experiment with, and hope to do so in the near future. I havn't had chance to experiment with screen-printing and letterpress yet on this course but i also want to find the time to be able to do this. (pictured : recent laser cut experiments)
10. I have began to network more or 'plug myself' in the first semester. I never did this previously because i didn't think it would be necessary but it really has helped me already get some work outside the course. Through networking I have already designed a CD for for a band 'Arkham Karvers' which is currently stocked in HMV around the country which i feel is a really good way to promote myself. I have also been in contact with various people including film maker Tom Ralph, in which i am currently designed credits for a new short film of his 'Three Steps to Heaven'. This will be premiered in Lodon at some point in the near future. I currently network through Cargo Collective, Behance Network, Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter.
I have also found it useful for me to enter more competitions. I have entered three or four in the first semester and and actually won the 'Secret 7 Inch" competition in which my design was chosen to be on the special edition Vinyl for the band CSS - Song - City Girl.
I feel if i carry on networking and entering competitions, only good things can come from that. (pictured : some recent work)
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