For the first and last time during my time on this course, I feel content with the professional standard of the work I have submitted. Visually and conceptually I feel that my designs are bang on the money, although there is always room for improvement in the world of graphic design.
I have managed to significantly improve my time management skills by keeping a daily diary containing lists of tasks to do within any given day or week. I don’t necessarily plan a schedule a few weeks in advance because designs and ideas change. Having said that I feel that in order to make the transition into a professional designer, I will need to have a rough structure in place that would allow me to work much more efficiently eg. Planning a few weeks in advance for printing etc…
Picking up a number of live briefs over the last few months has given me more experience and strangely more creative freedom than any personally driven brief would. Working along side Matt Jagger from the Leeds College of Music to create a set of LP covers gave me the skills to delicate in a professional manner with a client. It made me learn when and how to say certain things about a particular design which should stand me in good stead.
The one thing I regret is not taking my blog seriously enough, something that was fairly naïve. My only focus during the latter part of this year was to be the best designer I possibly could be and produce work that was both visually and conceptually sound. I felt that the justification of every design choice I had, and made in the form of a blog was pulling me back from achieving my main goal.
Personally I’d much rather sit down the pub with a pint and chat for hours about my practice and about design in general, but unfortunately I can’t see external examines taking my view.
