Personal Professional Practice: STUDY TASK ONE//WHY AM I HERE- WHAT DO I WANT TO LEARN?//OUGD502

LEVEL FIVE: WHY AM I HERE- WHAT DO I WANT TO LEARN?

· Identify and explain 5 reasons why you chose to study on this programme.

-I think the way the course is structured plays a part in how successful graduates do after the degree. The course is broken down into modules, with each module covering an important aspect of graphic design, where you then become very knowledgeable about that certain area within the subject. I think something that I find really good about the course is it gives you the knowledge and understanding of the contextual aspect of graphic design, giving you a further depth of knowledge about the history, the designers, graphic design movements etc. which gives you an upper hand compared to other degree courses.

-With this course it gives you great opportunities and encouragement to go out and take as many placements as possible. I think this is something thats quite important when trying to gain a job after graduation. Design companies and studios will be looking for graduates with work experience and placements. It also leaves you with possible connections after university.

-This course really highlights the importance of the industry, and rather than just getting students to create good work it teaches you about the industry and the importance of selling yourself and presenting yourself in a way that gains employers interest. Various briefs enable you to take on the project as though its a graphic design brief rather than a university brief and really highlights the importance of communicating a message with a purpose and target audience.

-The course constantly puts you out of your comfort zone, it forces you to try new ways of designing and take full advantage of the facilities offered for producing designs. Having to have regular crits and present your work to a group of people to get feedback and gain more confidence in your work gives you good professional experience when leaving university.

-It is a university course that has a full time table expecting you to be in five days a week, this creates a good work ethic and allows you to get into a routine, you are also working in a professional working environment with a creative atmosphere.

Identify and explain 5 things that you want to learn during your time on the programme.

-I want to gain more confidence when presenting my work, I found this quite hard to do through first year but the more we did it the easier it got, I'd like to be able to feel a bit more comfortable when presenting my work to a large group of people, as this is the kind of thing you will have to do when leaving the course

-I want to learn how to put together a professional portfolio that will show a broad range of skills within the subject.

-I need to learn more about web design, this is something that I've never really looked at properly and something that would be good to have some basic knowledge and techniques on, even if its not something I want to specialise in.

-How to go about work placements. I don't know much about the process of applying and sorting out somewhere to gain experience.

-What are the more specific career paths for the area of graphic design I almost interested in. What opportunities are there once I've finished my degree.

Identify and explain 5 skills that you think are your strengths.

-Thorough research that helps me to create the best possible outcome for my designed product. I think when it comes to research I like to blog from a few different sources so I feel like by the end of a project Im quite well informed about the topic.

-Evaluating my work and recognising my strengths and weaknesses- I think I'm good at recognising what needs to be improved within a piece of work, I think I go into detail with my evaluations and am honest on what I think I could improve on

-Layout- In terms of image and type I think link them together well

-Looking for means of graphic design inspiration- I think I can be inspired by loads of things around me, as well as graphic design blogs and visuals on the internet I feel like loads of different things from day to day life inspire me and the work and ideas I have.

-Blogging regularly - I think my blog is usually up to date- I struggle more with getting designing done on time

Identify and explain 5 things that you want to improve.

-Software (PHOTOSHOP) most of the design work I see that I want to try myself is done on photosphop, I really want to learn how to use it to create the work I want

-Presentation skills- I've never been confident in presenting things in front of people, especially my own work, I understand that that needs to improve to get where you want to be

-time management (meeting deadlines) I end up rushing the final product because I've spent too much time on the research, development and idea generation and then the final outcome is not as successful as it could of been

-Using other means of research rather than just the internet (take advantage of library facilities) this way I will have a lot more primary research

-Leave enough time to be able to execute my final outcome without rushing it

-How to use colour appropriately

-How to screen print

Identify and explain 5 ways that you will evaluate your progress.

-Blogging and regularly documenting my progress on Blogger so I can see the improvements and what still needs to be worked on.

-Feedback/crits - this will be one of the most helpful ways of getting feedback about my work,i'll be able to see if it communicates the message properly, if it is visually appealing and what I can improve on

-Evaluations (regularly and end of module) - this is a good way to record individual progress, this way I can register what needs to be done next time and record the level that I'm at.

-Tutorials - this is important as I need feedback from tutors to make sure Im on the right path and to get some feedback on what I can do to get a better grade or improve a design

-PPP study task reviews

-Set myself targets within briefs to keep up to date and achieve the best I can in that particular brief, so that when the list is complete you can record how successful the time management plan was.

Identify 5 questions that you want to find the answer to

-What will I be doing a year after graduating?

-How can I establish myself in the industry/make myself stand out?

--How to balance academic, social and domestic lifestyle?

--How do I become better informed of whats going on in the industry?

-How can I get the most out of second year?

Identify and explain 5 things that inspire you

-Travelling/ different cultures- I think experiencing different cultures draws lots of inspiration because your looking at something you don't know that much about but can draw so much from it, in terms of language, religion, politics, media, art and design etc.

-The city/ London- Living in a city helps to get loads of inspiration from people, places, advertisements, events etc. I think London has a great atmosphere for taking inspiration from in terms of designing, just because it has so much to offer.

-Photography- Good photography inspires me, I want to learn to use it more in my work this year as I think a lot of the things I like and want to create incorporate photography in the design

-History/ past movements/ styles/ events- I like looking back into different decades in terms of music, style, movements, politics, issues that surrounded the generation at the time etc.

-Language- I really like using text in my work, before I started at Leeds College of Art i would always use lyrics, literature and words in my work