Hopes, Fears and Opportunites

 

Hopes, fears opportunities

At the start of this semester I wrote down my hopes, fears, opportunities and aims.

Hopes. I hoped that by the end of this semester I would feel more independent, through thinking and problem solving. I felt independent in some aspects but yet I felt I still needed reassurance from tutors that I was doing ok and that my work was liked, I feel I have a lack in confidence for my work.  I do feel I have made progress on this, at the start on the semester I felt confident, new year, new start, so I got stuck in and my first project, zine, was a great success. I didn’t feel that I had to keep the tutors updated with my progress as I had a clear view of what I wanted to produce, I aimed to produce and bind my own book, find materials and guidance from appropriate sources and I felt better showing the tutors my final piece, rather than stages so they saw it as and they seemed more surprised and I felt they had put in less help so I felt prouder.

I also wrote that I hope I would progress ideas faster, I felt I needed to plan my steps for generating ideas for future reference, I would get stuck on having the right idea with lots of meaning then I would run out of time, I think I need to accept that I can work backwards, just playing around in either the print-room or with elements that I have already sourced can create an idea, I don’t need to have a rough sketch to follow like some. I think this hope I am still working on, I have produced quicker turn arounds this semester but I think that’s mainly due to the fact my projects have been craft related, I craft quicker than I illustrate. I feel less pressure to crafting, even when my illustrations are destined for crafts I find I can make them illustrations quicker, maybe because I understand the context and purpose.

Fears. I feared that I wouldn’t gain enough confidence to keep up with this years demands, such as portfolio visits and creating contacts with the industry. I don’t understand why I have this doubt in myself, I feel immature that I need constant reassurance but I do feel that this has improved, this fear hasn’t totally gone but I think its ok to want to try harder. It keeps me checking on the current industry and stops me from being too comfortable with my style and too confident, I think maybe its just my personality and its mainly personality that will make or brake a job and I believe that having a couscous personality helps people relate and make me more likeable.

I also feared for my time management skills, as I wrote in my ‘hopes’ I can spend too long on a stage to create an idea and not have enough time to perfect or produce. This semester I have bought an academic diary, with lots of writing space, and I record deadlines and important notes in every calendar I own, be it on my phone or wall, so, I am fully aware of how much time I have so I have no excuse. I have also set plans for each stage, research, ideas and production. But what buts me off is when we are working on multiple projects are tend to get wrapped up in one and ignore the other, this is something I have to mentally organize to prepare myself for the industry after studies, because hopefully I will be in high demand that I have to juggle a few things.

Opportunities

I wrote in this section ‘opportunities-take them all’, as I see this year I will have the best opportunities for my future then maybe I could set up on my own.

I also wrote that I wanted to make the most of the facilities, especially the print-making room as I don’t know if I will have access to tools for of that standard anytime soon and they are important to my work, also the photocopier, that sounds simple but I like the effects a photocopier can produce to a standard scanner and it helps me create a range of textures, so I will make sure I file and have multiples of my photocopier textures.

For my final opportunity I wrote that I wanted to learn and experience the vinyl cutter, I achieved this in my first project, zine, I used the vinyl cutter for my title and as I had a few difficulties with the material I achieved this opportunity multiple times. I also wanted to learn more about the InDesign programme, have a better understanding for its use and features, I can also say that I achieved this, firstly for my zine project, I just InDesign for my book layout and how to print double sided, I also used InDesign to produce a PDF portfolio file for future contacts.

Aims

I wrote a list of aims to be achieved by the end of this semester:

Strong portfolio- I currently have a finished and up to date portfolio and it has received positive feedback from my portfolio visits.

Website- I have now the proud owner of www.emma-thorpe.co.uk. It is currently under construction but I have a clear plan for its look and can advertise it on all my promotional products

Future plan from illustration- I have a better understanding of my future from illustration, I don’t think I could have a set plan as I would need to already have a set job and that’s isn’t what I am aiming for. I have a better understanding of the surface design industry and feel that is my future.

Studio space- I cant say I have a studio space, I have space in my house that I like to call my studio, it has all my required things and my name on the door but it isn’t the professional studio space I require, I am currently still looking but I am in planning to collaborate with a friend.

I am going to continue with this and write further hopes, fears, opportunities for semester two and beyond into the industry.