Why am I here, What do I want to learn? //
Now that we're a few weeks into the course, we've been asked, as part of our Personal & Professional Practice module, to give an overview of a few aspects of the course and ourselves.
Below are the 6 aspects we have been asked to question...
1) Identify and explain 5 reasons why you chose to study on this course
- The first few reasons for choosing to study Graphic Design at Leeds College of art are due to it's location.
> Being in a small city I knew that, living in London my whole life, I needed to live in a similar environment but at the same time living somewhere different. Leeds, in my opinion, is the best of both worlds. The city itself has everything I need to feel at home with large shopping centres and high streets. Despite this, it's small enough to walk across in a mater of minutes making for a nice change from the vast size of London.
> The other reason the location of the college is so desirable is that being in such a cultural and alive city, I knew that I would be amerced in inspiration and influences from all over the globe. Leeds houses a huge number of events concerning all aspects of life, but most importantly, artistic events and gallery exhibitions.
- I made the decision to come to Leeds over Manchester after I googled both courses credibility and employment rate. Leeds college of Art came out on top by a long way. I also have family friends in the industry who have heard good things about the college and have even interviewed post grads.
- What cemented my decision was my visit to the college to attend my interview. I was attracted to the building straight away with it's open, modern design that looked perfect for me and the way I work.
- The amount of studio time was the most attractive aspect of the course for me. I work well when surrounded by others and also work well in a team. The studio environment helps me produce a lot more work as well as improving the quality of it too.
2) Identify and explain 5 things that you want to learn during your time on the course
- I want to have a strong understanding of all the relevant Adobe Applications. This is because they are extremely useful for the course I am doing and with a better understanding, I can achieve more and at a better quality.
- I would like learn how to use influences in amore effective way. By this I mean that I would like to enhance my use of artist and designer influences etc in my own work and have more of an understanding as to how and why I use other people and sources for inspiration and influence.
- To learn how to print my work in a professional manor, knowing what paper and ink to use etc. This will help finalise my work that I produce digitally.
- Learn how to produce work balancing both my existing drafting skills with my newly acquired adobe photoshop and illustrator skills. This can result in my own style and way of working that I can carry through all of my projects.
- As I am still unsure of exactly what I want to be and do for a career, I'd love to have more of an idea of this through my work and exploration on this course.
3) Identify and explain 5 things that you think are your strengths
- hand rendered methods and medias - my drafting has always been my strongest skill and I wish to learn how to implement this into my digital work making for my own unique style.
- working within a group - I often bounce off of others and so working within a group benefits me hugely by involving myself more in the work and bouncing off of other peoples ideas and approaches.
- being a team leader - I often enjoy being sort of a team leader by having the bigger voice and more of a say. However this does not mean I don't listen to others, I just like to make decisions when others can't or are struggling
- people's person - I have always been easy to approach and talk to (when I choose to be). This has helped me in many situations and I feel as though it is a useful skill in college too, especially during studio time and in group tasks.
- Written work has never been a real issue for me so modules such as CoP, involving essays, I won't find too difficult.
4) Identify and explain 5 things you would like to improve
- Adobe Skills - My skills concerning Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator aren't very strong at the moment as I haven't before needed to use them. However I am slowly but surely learning my way around the apps and will soon be confident in using them.
- Blogging - Blogging is something I have only recently been introduced to and if I'm honest I haven't enjoyed it at all thus far. However, I am confident that when I get better at it, I will find ways of making it more enjoyable. E.g. blogging about things I am genuinely interested in.
- Exploration of ideas and influences. e.g. blogs. I would like to have a more extensive knowledge of sources of inspiration such as online blogs, websites like Pinterest and Instagram and designer's books.
- Leaving my comfort zone is something I have always struggled with but have always tried to tackle. My comfort zone is mainly drafting and working very simplistically. I'd like to explore other ways of working to see the differentiating end results.
- Visit exterior sources of inspiration, some may not even be obviously relevant to course. We are always recommended to go and do and see things in our own free time that may not always be obviously relevant to college work but that with a bit of though could be intertwined with uni work.
5) Identify and explain 5 things that inspire you
- Architecture - I very nearly decided to study architecture at uni due to my family background. I've been surrounded in property all of my life and thus took great interest in helping my mum with her work etc. It was only until my foundation course that I decided Graphic Design was more suited to my style of work. However, I would like to incorporate this interest of mine into my graphic design work as much as possible.
- Music is one of my biggest interest in life and I often try to use it to influence everything I do, whether that's choosing a specific genre of music to work to or using lyrics from a song for quotes.
- My Mum has always been the most inspirational figure in my life. As a single mother of 2, she also manages to run the family property company day in day out with great success. She has no off button when it comes to work and then as soon as she's home she'll take on the duties of a mother like its obligatory.
- Other peers in the design studio are great inspiration to me as I learn a lot from working in the studio environment, whether its asking someone how to do a task on photoshop or asking them about my work and what they think I should do next
- Professional football players are another huge inspiration to me. What I can do on the field does not compare to what they have to do in order to be recognised as good players. It is very easy to judge them and think you could do a better job but playing in the environment they play in and against the opposition they do, it's a whole new ball game.
Identify examples of design that demonstrate your fields of creative interest
Ikea Rebranding
I came across this project recently online and feel in love with the proposed rebranding.
This represents my creative interest as I admire the simplicity and clear cut design of the proposal. To me, the rebrand is perfect and extremely pleasing to the eye. This is a huge factor in my opinion for design and I wish to communicate this in my own work.
Aluminium truck container to house a mini Muji hut - Konstantin Grcic
Projects such as this really catch my eye due to my interest into architecture and structural design. This project in particular is right up my street as it's slick and clean and all about aesthetics.
Depero Quadrigea - typography portfolio
I stumbled across the work of typographer and designer, Depero Quadrigea. What I admire most about their work is the hand drafted quality to a lot of their work. I often try to implement this style into my projects and aim to do so a lot more in future projects.
