- I like leeds, my brother attended Leeds University and graduated three years ago. I used to visit him when I used to visit him when I could so I got to know the city a little bit. It's similar to Manchester but smaller and more focused so which is perfect for me.
- I liked what I saw and heard on the open day. The tutor to student ratio was appealing because I came from a foundation course that had 210 students and only 8 tutors and it wasn't quite enough.
- I didn't want to do an airy fairy course where you don't get taught and you only go in for a few hours a week. I wanted to be on a course that would motivate me and be more strict because its so easy to fall into the habit of being lazy and unproductive. The course, from what I gathered would make me be more passionate, proactive and competitive so I knew I would be getting my money's worth.
- Graphic design is one of my biggest passions in life. Being creative has always been fun and engaging for me since I was young and designing computer games. I went from wanted to be a games designer to an animated film maker to a fine artist and then finally I found my true joy lay with graphic design. It however was not my first choice of career paths, I was making progress towards becoming a professional rugby union player until I sustained an injury. Since then I have focussed on my creative work and hope to return to playing amateur rugby later in life.
Identify and explain 5 things that you want to learn during your time on the programme.
- I have some knowledge and skills on design software such as Illustrator, Photoshop and Indesign however there are big gaps, I really would like to become quick and efficient on all the software so I can create lots of different types of design in the future and respond to briefs in a variety of ways.
- How to promote and publicise myself if i were to go freelance and also for when I apply for a job.
- I would like to learn more about typography as most of my work is based on image.
- I would like to extend my imaging skills in the areas of illustration, photography and vector graphics.
- I would like to learn how to print in alternative ways to given my work some unique qualities.
Identify and explain 5 skills that you think are your strengths.
- I'm persistant, I will come in early and stay late and spend as much time as I can doing my work in order to get it done.
- Working in groups.
- Punctuality.
- Managing a work load and knowing when I'm struggling and when I need to ask for advice.
- Reproducing lots of variations in compositions for my work.
Identify and explain 5 things that you want to improve.
- My creative thinking in relation to technology, scale and delivery of my response.
- I would like to increase my work pace and efficiency when working to get things done quicker so I can have more time to design and also to enjoy more parts of life outside of college and my work.
- I would like to improve how ambitious I am with my final pieces in terms of print processes and professionalism, last year I would slack off with the final deliverable and I would much rather put in more effort and have something that I am proud of instead.
- I would like to improve my primary research skills and go out more to collect information, samples and photographs.
- Improve my pool game.
Identify and explain 5 ways that you will evaluate your progress.
- I will monitor how long it takes me to complete tasks.
- I will post my work to other blogs to get feedback from other designers and critics to get more opinions and ideas than the limitations of the people on the course.
- get a range of students to crit my work from the 3rd, 2nd and 1st year.
- I plan to make lists of things to do each day or for every 2 days and I will go over the list of tasks at intervals during the day to make sure i'm on top of everything and if i'm not I will make changes to get back to where I need to be with my work.
- Interim crits with members of the course.
Identify 5 questions that you want to find the answer to.
- What type of designer do I want to be? I have never been focussed enough to know what I like the most within the design industry, I love print based design and innovative packaging but I spend most of my time illustrating and doodling. Furthermore, since starting the course I have become increasingly interested in publication and book making.
- Where do I want to go? I would like to stay in leeds for a bit longer after my degree however I would really like to see some parts of the world whilst I'm young before settling somewhere and having a permanent job.
- Who do I want to work for/with? I want to focus down what my ethics and motivations for doing graphic design are so I can become part of an agency or community of designers that will share the same views. I would hate to be working for someone or somewhere that doesn't share the same views.
- How can I get more involved with art and design events and begin to make money and a name for myself through my work?
- How much does the average graphic designer make?
