For me, PPP is the module of level 06 that has been the most challenging, perhaps of levels 04 and 05 also considering my time on the course as a whole. I always find that this module requires me to step outside of my comfort zone and face my fears more than any other, which while always beneficial and retrospectively self-progressive, does not make the tasks it presents and less daunting at the time.
My lack of self-confidence means my social skills leave much to be desired, and therefore making contact with professionals, attending events and networking — all of which are part and parcel of this module — are endeavours I have faced with great trepidation. That said, this year I really tried my best to overcome these fears. I attended a range of industry events, talks and workshops where advice and guidance is always aplenty. From Glug, to freelancing seminars with Matt Essam and LAU’s very own Career Track Tuesday programme, the events I have attended this year have allowed me to feel better prepared for life as a post-graduate and supplied me with the knowledge I need to continue developing as an individual and designer.
Luckily for myself, I have had a very clear sense of who I want to be as a designer for some time now. This has enabled me to spend the last three years tailoring my work to build a portfolio that represents my intentions as a print-based designer with aspirations of a practice concerned with luxury and highly crafted motivations. This has also informed my visual identity and professional representation of self, which is communicated through ‘Not Just For Show,’ the name of my practise. Having set goals, objectives and ambitions for my life means I have had something to work towards throughout my time at university.
The live briefs I have worked on this year have been a mixture of experiences, both good and bad. A brief undertaken in collaboration with Shelley Huang for the Starpack Student Awards, for which we designed a set of three tea tins, was a pleasure to work on. Living together, we were able generate ideas and discuss the project in-depth, bring our skills/specialisms together and produce an outcome we are both proud of. We have also been shortlisted in the awards for this entry. A more personal project carried out for my Mum, The Dan-Air Diaries, has also been enjoyable — though not without some difficulty (it can be hard to stress the importance of having content supplied on time to a client who is also your Mum). The most challenging live brief I have worked on this year is an identity and look-book for a fashion designer at Kingston University who I met whilst on foundation. I find being reliant on other people to provide content and material very frustrating, especially when the urgency of time is simply not being considered by the client. Nevertheless, the experiences of working on these live projects has ultimately been good practice for life post-graduation, during which I am sure struggles with clients won’t be an irregularity and will be just an accepted part of the job.
Undoubtedly the most challenging element of the module this year has been securing a placement. While I was under no illusion that this would be an easy endeavour, I was not fully prepared for the hardship I felt. It is so disheartening to put your all of your energy into contacting professionals, be it through mailers, emails or LinkedIn, only to be ignored — especially when it is a task accompanied by anxiety in the first place. That is not to say, in any capacity, that I believe I am entitled to a response from any busy industry practitioner, though the sheer volume of studios/agencies who simply provided no acknowledgment to attempted contact was unexpected to say the least (especially of more thoughtful outputs such as mailers). There has, at least, been some benefit to the experience, however. Some of my attempts to secure a placement lead to instagram features, likes, and follows — as well as an invite to run through my portfolio next time I find myself in London. My efforts finally paid off in March when I secured a short placement a Hull-based paper merchant G . F Smith. The relationships I have developed with employees of G . F Smith (Ben Watkinson, Jane Crowther, Steve Taylor) through industry engagement from this module assisted my securing of the placement, and I hope will lead to further professional relationships being established and perhaps additional contacts outside of G . F Smith. Taking place between 21st and 25th May, I will be shadowing and observing a range of workers across the factory. As a designer with a focus on print-based and tactile design, paper is of great importance to my practice. It is something I have a passion for, in terms of its possibilities, and therefore I feel will be a great experience to see and understand more of what the company provide and do.
While the placement may be after the PPP submission deadline, I truly believe I tried my hardest to secure something before hand. I took all advice given in tutorials on board, explored a range of methodologies and strategies. It was important to me as a designer, and purely as an individual, to attend somewhere that was relevant to my practice, and not just a box ticking exercise. I believe G . F Smith fit this criteria, and I am most looking forward to the experience.
I believe PPP this year, mainly thanks to Alec’s approach to teaching, has meant I have achieved many things I would have continued to put off — e.g. contacting professionals, making a website, etc. Sessions and workshops have provided me with information and knowledge on a whole range of strategies for ‘making it’ in the industry, and I am looking forward to putting them into practice in the near future. In conjunction with the advice and guidance given by visiting professionals, I feel as prepared and ready as I’ll ever be to graduate and enter industry as a result of this module.
