Who am I now and what do I feel I have achieved as a Graphic Designer so far?

Questions...

1. Reflecting on your Summer what is your most memorable event and why?
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?
3. How did you meet/contact these contacts (methods used or how it happened)
4. If you didn’t make any contacts, why? too busy working? holiday? commitments?
5. What methods of contacting creatives can you think of and what would you ask?

Answers...

1. I went on holiday to Turkey, and on this holiday I went on a Jeep Safari to Cleopatra Island. The whole event sticks in my mind, it was something I had never done before. I loved the adventure of the jeeps. The scenery and views where amazing, and very back to nature. On the boat trip to the island we stopped in the sea and where allowed to jump off the boat. This is what really sticks in my mind, I have never done anything like this before and I am actually very afraid of heights, I felt that it was so brave of me to do and I feel like I need to do more things like this. Also it was really fun, and the surroundings where so beautiful, and captivating. It was like there was no worries in the world. 
2. Made and met new friends, but non where industry related or professional, but I feel that meeting new people all the time is important as it is good to know people you can always find out something new, as well as this they might know someone that could help me later on , whether that be for something they know/ learn from them , something I might need e.g. production / material, or actually in the industry.
3. By being at work, or being out for drinks ! 
4. I didn't make contacts with industry , to designers or studios, as I am nervous about contacting them, I don't really know how to correctly approach them and I don't want to come across as unprofessional, or inexperienced. As well as this I was quite busy working in my part time job, and I felt like I needed a rest. And then after resting for a while I felt a bit out of the loop, and so I wanted to get back to university to get back on track. I also went on holiday. I also spent a bit of time right at the start of the holiday branding my dads new business. 
5. I think you could email the studio, you could send them a pdf of your work, or you could send them the work physically. You could telephone them and ask for a visit. You could also just turn up and hope for a visit- but this could look a bit unprofessional. You could make contact through friends. I am not really sure who I would ask at this moment time, I have some vague ideas of what I like/ who I like. I would like to explore this and hopefully have an answer for this through exploring it in this module and others. 

Review of Last Year (Ten Things)

Review of Ten Things 

At the start of the first year (2012) I wrote down ten things I wanted to learn or improve and now I am going to look over these and see if I have achieved this...

1. What do I like ? What don't I like ?
2. What are my strongest disciplines and how can I use them ?
3. How will I fit in with the current industry ?
4. Where/How do I want to work after this course ?
5. Where to go for studio visits and exhibitions appropriate to me ?
6. Generating Ideas
7. Knowledge of the current industry
8. Screen Printing
9. Adobe Skills
10. My own individual intentions as a Graphic Designer

What do I like ? What don't I like ?

I think that throughout last year I have really started to refine what I like about graphic design and what I don't I think I have started to narrow down this subject and I feel that this is evident on my blog. I can now say what my particular areas of interests are quite comfortably, and know what I mean by this.

What are my strongest disciplines and how can I use them ?

Firstly I am not sure what I meant by this question ! I think that it is similar too the one above really and so I would say that I have started to look deeply into this and have found out quite a lot about where my interest lie, and especially where they don't. 

How will I fit in with the current industry ?

I think that this question is on the long term side of things and so I can't really answer this. But as well as this I feel that its not a case of fitting in but more standing out and creating new innovative design.

Where/How do I want to work after this course ?

I would say I am still unsure of this, and I should start looking into more studios and find out what exactly it is I want to do, but this goes alongside knowing where my interests lie and what I am swayed toward i.e. editorial, branding e.c.t

Where to go for studio visits and exhibitions appropriate to me ?

Again this is the same, I would say I haven't achieved this and I should now start to get more involved now that I have a basic idea of what I like. Again more studio research is needed and the same for events and exhibitions.

Generating Ideas

I think that I have improved on my idea generation, and I feel that I have begun to really grasp the idea of a concept, I think I have done this through studio workshops and various tasks, also experience with a lot more fast paced briefs.

Knowledge of the current industry

I would say that this is still not great but I have improved a little, I am aware of a few more studios, and a lot more designers, but I have mostly picked up on sites and recently I have begun researching further into things I have seen that I like e.g. finding out who the designer is, the studio, other work they produce, where they are situated e.c.t.

Screen Printing

I have definitely improved my screen printing skills. I would say I am now more aware of all the things that can be done by screen print, and I am beginning to see what work has been screen printed. I am now more than comfortable to use the facility and I have done quite a bit of work using one or two colours, to improve further I should try move onto full colour imagery, or more complex designs.

Adobe Skills

I would also say that my adobe skills have very much improved. I am especially comfortable and able on illustrator and indesign and I think that this is due to my own style and interests. I have found workshops, again, very helpful and they have taught me more about the software. However I think I have so much more to learn on all of the programmes and there is one I am particularly looking forward to learning ( Adobe Dreamweaver)  , I think that learning to more of the shortcuts on the keyboard would enable be to create designs more quickly and efficiently. I also feel that I need to try more with photoshop and this out of the three is the one I am most uncomfortable with.

My own individual intentions as a Graphic Designer

Again I think this coincides with my own interest within graphic design. And again I feel that I am starting to determine this.

Ten Successful Things

We had to list ten things we thought we had been successful at last year:

Our 10 Successful things: ( We came up with in a group of 8 )

1. Learned the Screen Printing process
2. Learned to work as and within a group
3. Recognised own styles, strengths and aims
4. The quality of work , especially in 'A Brief History Of'
5. Confidence in presenting
6. Confidence, and better feedback in critiques
7. Improved work ethic and consistency
8. Started applying theory (e.g. colour and grids)
9. Learned software programmes
10. Ability to generate ideas and resolutions faster

Our list as a year group:

1. Presentation Skills
2. Feedback
3. Using Workshops, applying them in a brief
4. Independence
5. Research and Development
6. Understanding Time Management
7. Working In/ With Groups and Specialisations
8. Self Confidence/ Motivation
9. Theory/ Context
10. Understanding Own Style