Personal Professional Practice

Why I chose to study on this programme:
1. I'd heard good reputation from various sources, even my college tutor spoke highly about the course.
2. I was very impressed by the studio space when I came on an opening day, compared to some uni's where you have to book in advance to get studio space. Leeds offered space and potential.
3. Tutor time - Looking at some uni's and you rarely get any delivered sessions with your tutors, you get given a brief and don't see them again for 6 weeks. This didn't appeal to me as I believe I still need to learn a lot about graphic design, getting a brief on something I'm not an expert on yet was simply terrifying.
4. Close to home - As I live in Middlesbrough, I kind of didn't want to move too far away from home.
5. Leeds city - It was either Leeds or Loughborough, the city is what made my mind up because Loughborough was just a small town whilst Leeds is a city with history and endless opportunities. Cities are alive and ongoing, I thought it's not to big but it will give me a taste of what the world is like.

What I want to learn:
1. The history and origins of type and graphic design. Although I know some things about the history of type, especially with the famous invention of the Letterpress, I am eager to learn other aspects of history that have an impact on the world we live in today.
2. To screen print - As my college was quite small and our class was fairly large we were never taught how to screen print, I am eager to learn how to do it though because I've seen the results of screen printing and I think they are just simply fantastic.
3. To develop my skills in Photoshop and Illustrator and how to use Indesign. Again in college we were made to use Quark Express which is a poor excuse for a editorial programme and made you want to rip your hair out, unfortunately our tutors didn't know how to use Indesign so we were never taught it.
4. To confidently public speak, I sometimes find it extremely hard to speak in front of large groups of people, especially if I don't know them. This is something i'm determined to conquer.
5. To correctly format and make a book, to this day I've never been able to create a book as something always goes wrong.

My strengths:
1. Vector/Illustration based design, as I love drawing I think my work benefits more when I'm able to illustrate or draw vectors for it.
2. Keen learner, I love learning knew things and becoming a master of them. Even sometimes it takes a lot of mistakes to get good at something but this makes me more determined.
3. Punctual, although my attendance is not too great, it is extremely rare I am late to something, if anything I'm always early! This is just to help me get organised and prepare for whats coming.
4. Group work, I love working in a group with other people. Hearing their ideas and how they interporate briefs is just so interesting.
5. Quick learner, not only am I a keen learner but once I am taught something I can pick up on it very quickly. I can then get practice at whatever I'm doing and become a master of it.

What I want to improve:
1. My Photoshop and Illustrator skills, as college never really taught us how to use these programmes we were just left to develop our skills ourselves. I'm hoping uni will teach me more about them so I can create the outcomes I want.
2. Confidently speaking to someone new, I'm sure we all get it at one point but I sometimes get nervous talking to new people.
3. Knowledge on the principles of graphic design. I already know the anatomy of type and legibility but I am eager to learn more into the fundamental principles of graphic design and how they have an effect on us.
4. Knowledge and awareness of online blogs and books, I think this will improve my work.
5. My confidence in myself, I want to be proud of my work and not doubt or criticise it. I think from developing and experimenting with different ideas I am come to a conclusion and be happy with it not doubt myself. This will also help me as a person accept mistakes are okay and to learn from them.

How I will evaluate my progress:
1. Keep my blog updated so I can easily look back on lectures, seminars and workshops to help remember what I have learnt.
2. Look on my blog and evaluate how I have responded to the set briefs.
3. Take on board the feedback I get from crits, this feedback is essential to progress and develop your ideas.
4. Work harder each brief, my evaluation show slowly improve throughout the year to show I'm growing and developing as a designer.

5 Questions I want to find the answers too:
1. What is the difference between CMYK and RGB?
2. How does type effect the tone of voice?
3. Just how far does graphic design go into, what are the other professions it dips into?
4. What are the fundamental principles of graphic design?
5. Why is layout the key aspect of good design?

Things that inspire me:
1. Day to day life, I could in a cafe or walking down the street and if there something that catches my eye it inspire me with ideas and design.
2. Books/Magazines have a huge impact on my way of thinking, the layouts, colour schemes and imagery are different in various magazines depending on who their target audience is, this to me is quite fascinating as it also makes you change the way you see the publication.
3. My peers, in college I found that my peers was really inspiring to me. Watching them grow and develop is quite motivating and inspiring, this helps develop my work also.
4. Attending lectures, learning different aspects from the different courses in the uni has already helped and gave me knowledge on art & design in the world.
5. Traveling, I like to travel a lot especially to different cities. Seeing the way art & design is everywhere in a city just shows how alive and current it is.

Examples of design that illustrate my creative interest:

Alex Fowkes: