PPP this year my main focus has been WYS. It is a project that has allowed me to find my passion for graphic design, throughout the year all of my industry engagement has been pushed through WYS. Through pushing myself with WYS I have been able to recognise similar people within the industry that I use to draw inspiration from, these are people that I want to collaborate and work with as I feel that WYS gives me the power to get where I want to go with my ideas. It has helped to self-direct myself. Without WYS I would be a very different designer and therefore be in a very different position now, I am glad that it has shown me what I want to do in the future.
As well as WYS, PPP has helped me to identify how I should be networking with people properly. Being able to grab peoples attention in this industry is key and throughout the year I have picked up many tips and tricks to make this easier. Without engaging with PPP I don’t think I would have as much confidence in myself as a designer as I do now I think this is mainly down to being encouraged to do things I otherwise wouldn’t have done for example like building my own website. Through having my own site this gives me a place to display my work to any potential clients or collaborators.
From being encouraged to be as self-directed as possible this year I wouldn’t have got myself involved with things like business workshops at uni, if I had not gone to these workshops then I would not have found out about the Duke Studios opportunity that is open to graduates. Which I am now in the process of applying for with Rob and is helping us to make the transition from uni to the industry that little easier I hope.
Unfortunately, I have not done as much industry engagement as I would have liked, this may have been down to not being confident enough in the work that I had to at the start of the year but now I feel that I understand myself as a designer better enough to confidently engage with other creatives. I am now very keen to start meeting other new people in a completely new environment that isn’t education.
My work experience was very beneficial for me this year. I when I went to my placement at Time Freeze Productions I didn’t know what to expect and was unsure whether it would be for me. Luckily it showed me that are other opportunities out there for me besides the plans that I have already made. I am going to make sure that I keep my opinions open and always on the lookout for things.
This year one of the main things that have benefited my practice was also having guidance from Alec, he was always there to give advice or to help with something and I don’t think I would have confidence in my own practice without his support. I also learned how to be more professional in the workplace and online as well. I found that it was very important to be able to communicate well over email as well as by representing yourself even if it is only a simple website it helps a lot.
I now feel that I am ready to leave university with a confident mindset about being in the graphic design industry. I am now excited to put everything that I have learnt from the last three years into practice all by myself.
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