STUDY TASK THREE//WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL EXPERIENCE?//OUGD502

STUDY TASK THREE: WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL EXPERIENCE?

• What is Industrial experience?

-Working in a professional environment, in the creative industry, going on a placement to gain the experience you need for when you work in the professional industry.  Internships/ studio visits etc.

-Networking and online networking: this can give you an online presence through sites such as tumblr, pinterest, cargo collective etc.  This allows you to get your work seen by people and create an online presence.  Industrial experience allows you to network professionally in person and make contacts for the future.

-Presence in the professional industry: creating a business card for yourself, something that a possible client can remember you by, something that makes you stand out from other designers.  A professional portfolio/ samples of work that you can show, this will reflect your skills and show that you can work at a professional level, preparing you for the industry.

-Freelance - taking part in live briefs, doing independent work, getting your designs out there

-Visiting events such as lectures, print festivals, talks, exhibitions to broaden your knowledge on the subject

• What can you learn from industrial experience?

-Confidence and professionalism, within your work and your professional self.  Learning how to handle things in a professional environment, getting the experience you need to progress further within the industry.

-Learn new skills and a better understanding of what its like to work in the industry, the quality of the work produced will help to develop your professional skills.

-Contacts - people you can get in contact with after industrial experience, the more people you know the more opportunities you get.

-A sense of direction and understanding of the possible area to go into within graphic design, you can determine what aspects of it you like by seeing how it is done in a professional environment.  You can also gain inspiration and direction in where you want to end up.

-Employment and the buzz of working for a company you like, a possible job at the end of it?

• What form/format could industrial experience take?

-LIVE BRIEFS

This allows you to get involved in competitions with graphic designers all over the country, if you win or produce a good piece of design you will be recognised or rewarded for it.  This is giving you industrial experience because its giving you a taster of what its like to work to a live brief and get involved with other designers.

-DESIGN STUDIOS - INTERNSHIPS AND PLACEMENTS 

This is something that I think is key to gaining industrial experience, you get a chance to work in the real world and get a taste for the industry in a way that can't be given to you working in the studio on a degree course.

-ATTENDING TALKS, STUDIOS, LECTURES, PRINT FESTIVALS EXHIBITIONS ETC.

This engages you in the subject and allows you to gain the experience that you would get in the industry.

-ONLINE NETWORKING

This allows you to create an online presence, and get your work recognised

-FREELANCE WORK:

This allows you to do some independent work and get your personal designs out in the industry

• What areas of industry are you interested in?

-EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING

This is something Ive always been interested in, especially design zines and newspapers, I really like the use of text and image/photography and the various layouts within editorial and publishing.

-WEB DESIGN

This is something that I thought I wouldn't be interested in, and even though I haven't learnt the technical aspect of designing for web I really like the look of some websites and want to have a go at creating similar things myself.

-PRINT

This is something I want to explore more in the future, I still haven't created a piece of work using screen print.

 

-BRANDING AND IDENTITY 

This is something that I have become more interested in since starting the course

-PACKAGING

I like the idea of creating packaging for brands I am interested in, I think once the final design comes together it looks impressive.

• What are your concerns about industrial experience?

-Finding the right placement, I want to go somewhere that can benefit my practice and help me develop new skills, somewhere that I enjoy, this is why researching the right studio is crucial.

-Not being skilled enough when being asked to do a job, feeling out of my depth.

-Not having the software skills to be able to complete projects

-How can I support myself financially through an unpaid work placement, especially if abroad.

-How would I go about doing freelance work?

Summarise your research in a set of 10 short but qualified statements that communicate your understanding, aims and ambitions relating to Industrial experience. These should be posted to your PPP blog:

• I have learnt the importance of industrial experience, my understanding is much clearer about how vital it is to get some experience within the industry.  The degree helps you learn the skills and build the portfolio amongst many other things but the only way you will get a true feel for what the industry is actually going to be like is by actually going out there and finding places that will offer you some experience.
• I need to work on my presentation skills, I feel this is something that I've addressed in most evaluations, however, after learning more about the industry it is important that I can speak confidently about work and ideas and if I need to, present something to a group of people within the industry.
• Personal branding is something that I have only just begun to seriously think about and this has come from learning more about the industry, I need to make a business card that reflects certain attributes and allows people to remember me after we meet.  This is something that can help get my name out and allow companies to have some kind of contact with me.
• I would like to broaden my knowledge and inspiration by attending more exhibitions, galleries and things to do relating with graphic design.  This is a good way to get involved and broaden knowledge on the subject, a good way to know whats happening within the industry and the graphic world, also to get more inspiration for my own work.
• I would really like to involve myself in some collaborative projects as this is something I haven't tried before and I think bringing skills from different departments could turn out as really successful.  In the industry you constantly have to collaborate with people and I think this would be a good way of gaining experience on a smaller scale, ready for the industry.
• I need to start and build an online presence, I need to create my own personal website or create a personal blog/behance etc.  This will help when showing online portfolios and people will be more aware of my work through the internet, this is creating more opportunities.  
• I need to make more time and work on my organising skills in order to be able to take part in live briefs and competitions, this is something that helps expand my presence and allows my work to be seen by others.
• Industrial experience allows students to get an insight into what restrictions there are when working in the industry - such as budget.
• Industrial experience allows you to create contacts and network with people that could potentially help you after graduating.
• I havent been to any design studios yet, so this is something I need to do over the next two years.
• My knowledge/skills on software still isn't as developed as I would like it to be, my concern is that I am asked to do simple things on placement and don't know how to do them.