Look at the 10 things you wanted to do last year - review it and write whether you did each thing, then write a new 10 things for this year.
10 Things I wanted to achieve last year:
- How to present my work in front of others in a confident and professional manner
- How to develop my skills and strengthen my weaknesses
- How to find out if I have any form of specialist design skills
- How to manage my time
- How to remain enthusiastic and positive throughout the course
- How to become organised
- How to understand the basic principles of type eg kerning, leading etc
- How to produce good developmental work (for example visuals, scamps, analysis etc)
- How to improve on my Adobe software skills
- How to improve on my essay writing skills
- I think that I have definitely improved upon this from last year - when I started university I was terrified of presenting in front of new people, as I was used to being in such a small class and knowing everyone really well in the class so it wasn't very scary. We also never really presented formally, and usually had group crits every now and then. The past year has definitely helped me improve upon these skills and I'm a lot more confident with my presentation skills. This area still needs a lot of work, but I'm much happier with presenting at the start of this year in comparison to the start of first year.
- I have a feeling that a lot of my skills have developed over the year - I've developed my drawing ability when it comes to typography, I've found out loads of new things about the adobe software and I can now use the pen tool like a pro. I think my weaknesses across Graphic Design and the course have also improved, for example my attendance is so much better than at college and I can also come up with interesting concepts.
- I don't think I have my own form of specialist design skill just yet, but I plan to find this out over the next 2 years.
- My time management has improved significantly - I did slack at times last year, but coming into second year and having a new start that counts towards the final grade has really pushed me to work hard and keep on top of my work. Hopefully, I'll keep up the regime!
- At times last year I was really negative about the course, when things weren't going as planned, I was falling behind on work, experiencing family problems or being ill. Luckily I've met a few really great people from the course who keep me motivated and encourage me to do my best and keep at it. I think I wouldn't have gotten through the year as well as I did if it wasn't for people around me. I think I'm going to enjoy this year a lot more now that I fully understand the programme and how to go about everything.
- My organisation skills are still something to improve upon. I've discovered that I can be organised if I set my mind to it, but I can also lack organisation quite easily. One thing I've found that helps is keeping my room tidy, like the saying - a tidy house, a tidy mind. And it really does work!
- My knowledge on the basic principles of typography has improved considerably, thanks to all the design principles sessions with Fred as well as the course over the year in general. I am much more confident when it comes to using and analysing typography.
- My developmental visuals and sketches are coming along. I can definitely produce quality visuals that I can work from, I just tend to find that I don't dedicate my time to it so will often produce less drawings and developments than I want to, so this is something I will work on this year.
- My Adobe software skills have definitely improved. I know so much about Illustrator and InDesign now. There are still loads of things I'd like to touch upon over the next 2 years so that I can create things to the highest of quality - I'd also like to learn more about Photoshop as I don't really use this software as often.
- I think my essay writing skills are where I want them to be. After writing my first essay of the course, I've realised how useful it was to go to such an academic secondary school and all those fees definitely paid off! Hopefully I can improve upon my writing skills this year so that my dissertation is written to my highest potential.
- I would like to discover my 'design style' and apply it to a variety of briefs.
- I want to make sure that I stay motivated this year and keep on top of my work like I'm currently doing. I don't want to fall behind like last year.
- I would like to learn how to use new software, for example Fontographer or Dreamweaver.
- I would like to be able to improve upon my presentation skills further so that I am confident enough to speak about my work in front of new people as well as those I know.
- I'd like to gain some work experience within the areas of design that I'm interested in, and maybe even find some work abroad for over the summer.
- I want to produce enough design sheets this year so that I feel happy with the amount of work I have produced when it comes to submission. This will also help with my concepts.
- I would like to learn more about coding and how I can develop my own working website.
- I want to develop my knowledge for fashion and editorial design, as this is an area that I am interested to pursue for a future career.
- I want to buy lots of design books and read them to help improve upon my knowledge for design principles outside of the classroom.
- I would like to get involved with workshops and learn different methods of printing and production, eg screen printing, etching or spot varnishing.
In the studio we were asked to write down 10 things that you found were successful at the end of the 1st year at university. We were asked to do this in groups.
10 successful things:
1. Effective time management
2. Using applications more effectively and efficiently
3. Understanding the basic principles of Graphic Design
4. Learning how to compromise when working in groups
5. Learning how to properly perform "crits" and how useful they can be
6. Gaining more confidence when presenting work
7. Letterpress, screen-printing, lino, illustrator, photoshop, etc workshops
8. Having an incentive to come in on time
9. Quality of research and how it improves the outcome of your work
10. Meeting deadlines
We were then asked to think about 10 things you want to make successful by the end of this year.
My 10 things:
1. Explore different facilities around the college so that I can use them within my work - for example make the most of the print rooms
2. Gain more confidence when presenting - make sure you don't rush through and think about what you're going to talk about before hand to make it easier to present
3. Make sure that you meet every single deadline on time to your highest potential
4. Learn how to use new software - for example Fontographer
5. Keep focused when it comes to research and development to make the most of my time
6. Make sure that, when given feedback, you fully respond to it to develop your project, rather than casting it aside and not changing anything
7. Attend uni every day - keep the attendance at a high!
8. Get in contact with art directors and editors - see if you can get some editorial work experience
9. Develop my own distinctive design style
10. Look into design agencies around the world - possibly get some work experience abroad over next summer