1. I only turned 18 in the summer before I came to Leeds so I knew I was going to be a younger and less experienced individual. Despite this I was ready for university but there was little things that I was worried about and had not experienced before. In hindsight I feel that I have grown up a lot in the short period of being at LCA and I have managed just fine. I have become independent and I have met lots of different people.
2. WORK. FOOD. SLEEP. WORK. FOOD. SLEEP. The course has proven to be very demanding but overall my time management has not been too bad. In the first semester I have learnt the basics of cooking and I have become very wise to the process of batch cooking meals because it saves, money, time and effort. I am not the most tidiest person in the world but I keep up with the washing up and the laundry. This does not sound hard but when you have a big work load you need all the time you can get! Furthermore I have always known that you have to manage your money wisely but since moving to Leeds I have learnt a lot more about the values of things, especially food!
3. I now crave a good documentary! During the OUGD405 period of work I missed TV a lot! I felt that I needed some relaxation time so I ended up watching a large number of documentaries! I don't know why this has happened but 4od needs to hurry up and make some more!
4. I have made some good friends and we have signed for a really cool seven bedroom house. If I was told I would be signing for a house 6 months ago I think I would have freaked out! I think making friends, money and signing paper work were on my worries list when I first moved out but I have over come them now and I am a stronger individual.
5. I will now talk about how I have been as a learner during this first semester and overall I think I have done quite well. I achieved a 2.1 in my first module grading which was higher than I expected! I do feel that I need to catch up on various PPP and Design Principles tasks due to struggling with trying to complete them whilst designing my 10 products on the OUGD405 module. This is achievable with good time management and up to date blogging.
6. During my stay at LCA I want to learn as much as possible and experiment with various different materials and image making processes. So far I have mainly stuck to digital print and ventured out to screen printing and laser cutting a couple of times. I dont want to feel restricted so my aim is to make time to try new things and attend workshops. Before christmas my baking group took part in the Typogateaux competition and placed 3rd. I really enjoyed using cake as a medium and it helped bond friendships together in the class.
7. Research. Research. Research. I have learnt a lot about research during the OUGD405 module and I feel that it has really helped push my project forward. I think at first I was unsure how to categorise my work because I had never used that sort of method before when planning my research. I think overall it has really improved my understanding and I plan to use similar if not the same methods in future projects.
8. When I was doing my essay I found that I was out of practice of writing essays (that made sense.) I need to stop putting things off and take a trip down to the dyslexia office.
9. I need to learn not to be too hard on myself.
10. This first semester I have learnt a lot about crits. I did an ND course before this degree and I already knew their purpose but I did not realise that they could come in many different shapes and forms.
10 Things that you have learned about yourself as a designer.
1. I think as a designer you should always be aware of trends however this does not mean you have to always follow them. I think looking at what work is out there is good but I dont feel that I should copy everything that I see because not all trends are good. I want to put my own stamp on things and if that means using various bits of inspiration from different sources then I will so that but I dont want to lift a design and claim it as my own.
2. Recurring themes! Recently I have had time to reflect on the work I have produced and I have noticed that there is a subtle theme running through it. I have noticed that I have taken an interest in the ways people communicate with each one another through the forms of social networking sites and more traditional ways such as the exchanging of business cards. I think this is quite interesting recurrence but I feel I need to move on and concentrate on other areas that are unknown to me.
3. Info graphic are cool! The module OUGD405 has opened my eyes to information graphics and I now have a strong love and understanding of what is good and what is bad in the area of field. I understand that it is not an easy area to work with but I think thats what is great about it because it makes you work harder to achieve the best results.
4. I missed a lesson on colour theory however I still learnt a lot from what I did learn. I loved the lesson where we had to collect various coloured objects, it made me think how colour theory worked in everyday design.
5. I had never done screen printing before up to very recently, and this made me feel quite sad because I did not realise how fun it was. I had a great time and it made me really appreciate the work I produced afterwards due to the amount of time you spend in the print workshop. I plan to do more in the near future.
6. Before christmas I had a laser cut induction and this opened my eyes on what I could do with my extra time. I wanted to make some extra special presents for my family for christmas so I tested my skills at jewellery making. I want to do more ideas but based around letter press and letterforms but I still need to follow this idea through and start to make some prototypes.
7. I have been very interested in layout and editorial design for a while now because I made a magazine for my final major on my ND course. In the OUGD405 module I applied my knowledge of indesign and designed a map and a timeline successful layouts that were highlighted in my final crit.
8. I have noticed that when ever a project is coming to an end, I seem to panic and rush certain aspects of the finishing touches. I think in the future I need to take the time to look into paper stock and if I am folding a piece of work, learn how to fold it properly!
9. Since September I have been using other online sites to blog and promote my design work, such as Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter and Cargo. I want to start getting my work out there now so I can start to build up a name for myself. I think networking this early on could bring in work placement opportunities as well as collaborations with other creatives.
10. Overall I think I have developed as a designer since September but I still have a long way to go to get to the standard I want to achieve. I am still unsure what I want to do or be so I am open to learn and develop my skills in the long run.
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