At the end of second year I set a few personal aims, several of which I have accomplished this year. I have learnt so much more about the graphic design industry by contacting studios and doing my placement at Holy Cow. This has really developed my confidence in my work and in my ability to talk to and communicate with professionals, which has resulted in me finally feeling ready to enter the working world.
Another aim was to develop my personal branding, which unlike the other two years, I left plenty of time for in order to design something I really love. I have achieved that this year in the design for my logo and printed brand materials. As well as this, I did not believe a year ago that I would have enough work that I liked to fill a portfolio, but this is the first year I have produced a body of work that I am proud to show people.
Another aim was to develop my personal branding, which unlike the other two years, I left plenty of time for in order to design something I really love. I have achieved that this year in the design for my logo and printed brand materials. As well as this, I did not believe a year ago that I would have enough work that I liked to fill a portfolio, but this is the first year I have produced a body of work that I am proud to show people.
I feel that I have also reached the stage where I understand my approach to presenting to a large group of people. While I was never that nervous with giving presentations, I now know exactly how I need to prepare myself for them. I am now more than happy to present my ideas, my aims and my manifesto, because I now feel that I understand them a lot more.
Thanks to all the modules this year, I have now realised who I am as a designer, and how to apply myself to achieve all my wants from graphic design. I have never been someone who had much of a future plan, but for the first time, I know exactly what I want to be doing in a few years time, and I now also know how to get there. This module specifically has taught me to just bite the bullet and do something, particularly with contacting professionals, as I was always previously nervous about that.
I now know that I specialise in branding and identity primarily, secondarily typography and promotional design. I have learnt through all of my mistakes in first and second year (which were frequent) how to apply my practice to various contexts and backgrounds. Doing brief work in the industry has informed me of the environment I work best in, and would be more than happy to ultimately work in a small boutique studio with just a few other designers.
I have had varied experiences collaborating, but have found that I excel the most when working with illustrators or advertisers, so this has partially informed my decision to go on to do an MA in Advertising and Design. I feel confident doing this because I now understand where my skills in collaborative work lie and how to apply them. While I love working on my own and do a lot more of it than group work, this is something that I would like to do in an advertising environment as I have learnt how much I enjoy the process of visualising someone else's ideas.
Overall, this module has hugely informed the direction I want to take after the completion of this course, where I want to be and how I am going to get there. I have developed a knowledge of networking that I would never have expected to have last year, and a real sense of professionalism, which has diminished any feeling of nervousness I have previously had. In essence, this module has really ensured that I now have a path, a knowledge of how to get there, and the confidence that I will get there.
