Who are you now?

The Session;
Things to think about;
Who are you now?
What were your highlights this past year?
What made it memorable?
What do you feel you gained from that experience?
The smallest things we experience are important in many ways.
Make note of things you find interesting, then share them.

We build up a data base, because we are visually based animals, we create an onboard database of information and experiences that gives us a methodology of research. Work you have seen, studios you appretiate and have either contacted or are now considering contacting, all are part of your PPP journey.

Networking, meeting people and staying in though with them. Now is the time we start to plan what we can do to get ourselves known out there in the industry. Next session we will start getting out 'ducks in a row'.

PPP Fundamentals;
1. The exploration of assumptions concerning personal learning, investigative strategies
and the management of self learning through tasks and research.

2. Using effective strategies to facilitate personal and professional development though
critical enquiry and problem solving.

3. The demonstration of evaluation of professional development, through presentation
and documentary evidence.

4. The evaluation of personal developmental needs based on and through the critical
reflection of personal growth through reflection of personal work.

Task 1;
1. Reflecting on your Summer what is your most memorable event and why?! 
This summer I did quite a lot, form going on holiday, experiencing life, doing designs for myself e.t.c, although whats sticks in my mind the most over summer is working in my cafe. I worked most days of the summer as I needed to earn money, although its not the most amazing thing I have done this summer or ever, its what sticks in my mind the most, as I always found myself working.

2. Have you made any contacts over the Summer that you feel could be helpful over the coming year or so and what outcomes did you feel you achieved?! 
Through this summer I have found a connection through a friend about a packaging company I really like, although I haven't been in contact with them, I know that if I need to I can ring my friend. A lot of what I have done over the summer was just for myself rather than networking, it is something I will work on.

3. How did you meet/contact these contacts (methods used or how it happened)! 
No I didn't contact the company as I didn't have any free time to do a placement if they wanted me to, therefore I didn't ring them at the time. Thinking about it now I should have rung them, even if it was just to tell them who I was and what I was interested in.

4. If you didn’t make any contacts, why? too busy working? holiday? commitments?!
I didn't make any contacts because I found myself working for money in the summer, as I didn't have any, I did also go on holiday, but everyone needs a break.

5. What methods of contacting creatives can you think of and what would you ask?
I have learnt that I shouldn't just email someone as they can easily just delete it, I thought about maybe sending a letter, or a piece of design with a letter on the back, something I made obviously, this may attract their attention more.

10 Things

10 Things;
At the start of last year I thought of these 10 things for what I wanted to learn and achieve on this course during the first year.

  •        How to manage my time more efficiently with multiple briefs
  •        How to use Photoshop
  •        How to produce more detailed screen prints
  •        How to successfully establish myself
  •        Learn more about typography
  •        Evaluating my work and improving my writing ability
  •        Skills on illustrator
  •        Organizing my ideas
  •        Working better in groups
  •        My understanding of the current Graphic Design industry

How to manage my time more efficiently with multiple briefs;
Being on this course has made me realise how important it is to know how to manage my time efficiently so that I don't get behind on myself, also so that I can meet deadlines and not rush work, so that I can get the most out of my time. I think the first year was a learning curve for me, although I did panic a lot and rush before deadlines and leave things till last minute, I will learn from that. Already this year I have improved on my time management skills, and I am improving my work this way.

How to use Photoshop;
I would say that I have a better understanding of Photoshop, but never find myself using it, I have different programs I would rather use, like Illustrator and InDesign. We did have to do a brief in the first year using Photoshop, I didn't enjoy it, but that is because I'm not that confident with it, although I do know the basic tools in Photoshop.

How to produce more detailed screen prints;

Screen printing is something I have always been interested in, therefore in the first year I wanted to do it as a process. This pug print is a screen print I did at the end of first year, I really enjoyed doing it, and think I want to do more in my second year.

How to successfully establish myself;
I have started to establish myself, but I think I need to go further with this, I need to start putting more of my work on behance and network a bit more.

Learn more about typography;

In the first year we did a module based around typography, I learnt so much from this module. I learnt about what works and what doesn't work, I learnt about the characteristics of type and how changing the font can change the meaning of the message or change the audience.

Evaluating my work and improving my writing ability;
I think that I have got better at evaluating my work, as I blog about everything, therefore I am looking back on what I have done and evaluating it. Although I don't think that I have improved my writing skills, this is because I didn't do very well in my essay, it is something I want to improve upon this year.

Skills on illustrator;

I think that I have improved my skills on illustrator, as I am getting a lot quicker at doing simple tasks, also during my workshops with illustrator I learnt so much, especially the keyboard shortcuts, which were very helpful throughout the year, it made the designing easier.

Organising my ideas;
Organising my ideas is something I have always struggled without, although to the end of my first year I found that I was generated lots more ideas they going form there with my design, rather than just thinking of something and going with my first idea.

Working better in groups;
We did a lot of group projects in the first year, some worked better than others. I found that the last group project was probably the worst, but only because of a particular person in my group, but this gave me patience, and if anything, that's what I got from that brief.

My understanding of the current Graphic Design industry;
Doing lots of different briefs and doing lots of research for each brief meant that I was having to look at design blogs and websites a lot more, and learning more about the graphic design industry and how it changes. Also the module PPP gave me a lot of information about the industry, and this year I will learn more.

My 10 things to make me successful this year;

1. Learn more about Photoshop.
2. Learn about professional book binding, not just make shift.
3. Experiment with more print mediums.
4. Blog as I go.
5. Although I have improved, I still need to plan my time more.
6. Improve my writing skills.
7. Procrastinate less.
8. Learn more about Dreamweaver.
9. Generate more ideas before going with an idea.
10.  Apply the skills I learnt in my first year, into my work this year.