An identity lost…

Love it or hate it Facebook still remains the ‘Granddaddy’ of social networking sites out there today. I was first introduced to Facebook by a friend who over-eagerly tried to convince me it was the best thing since ‘sliced bread’ and suggested that I should open an account immediately. I was very sceptical of the whole idea, as I believed me and my uneventful life didn’t need to be advertised to the world, until, I began to realise how immensely popular and widespread it was becoming, it seemed its name was everywhere throughout the media and was always the topic of conversation wherever I went.

To avoid being cast out as a social leper between my friends, I bowed into my own curiosity and opened up an account. Thankfully the interface was not a complicated one, which made it less daunting to navigate and immediately set it apart from the disgusting personalised wallpaper schemes common in MySpace. It didn’t take me to long to realise the advantages that could be had by using this networking site, but fast forward to today I realised that they are outweighed by the disadvantages.

I believe Facebook has somewhat lost its identity and credibility, no longer is it viewed as a social networking site, it’s more of virtual playground to be anti-social. There are endless tales of how it has reeked havoc into the lives of some folks, Relationships torn apart, Stalkers, running feuds, intimidation/bullying, not to mention the way it can be used in a ‘big brother’ way for employers or authorities to keep their watchful eye on you.

In addition to this, Facebook could be a better experience all-round if the following was made:-

• Have a better internal chat system that is less prone to crashing.

• Do more to stop the annoying ‘piggy back’ applications that steal profile information.

• Stop potential child exploitation by exercising a stringent age verification system to stop underage minors from gaining access and sharing info.

• Adopt a database system that totally eradicates all traces of your information when your account is deactivated.

• Make less ‘tweaks’ that often bewilder its users when made.

• Better tighten its security against hackers who easily infiltrate user’s accounts.

I assert that the way Facebook is now perceived, it won’t be long until another social networking giant comes and knocks it down from its lofty perch.

Word Count: 400

A new awakening

My first day of the second semester was one that had me feeling somewhat peculiar. I woke early in the morning to find I was very nervous and apprehensive about the day ahead of me, which was strange, as I had been looking forward to getting back to the grindstone during the festivities. For some subconscious reason I felt that it was the most important day of my life.

Our new seminar groups for the semester would see me appointed as the group leader, I usually shy away from any such responsibility as I consider myself to lack leadership qualities, but when our tutor asked that he was looking for someone to volunteer, and suggested that certain someone to possibly be a pillar for others in the group to lean on when needed, I thought that was something that comes naturally to me, so I accepted to take the role.

In accepting this responsibility, I knew that I had to look deep into myself, and change a lot about my character. I had so far lacked self-belief and confidence in myself as a HE student, this was being made more profound because I felt that I was heading ‘upstream without a paddle’ for most of the first semester, and I was struggling to find anything in my learning so far that I was particularly good at, or felt comfortable with. I was convinced that if this was to continue, I may never possibly reach my goal of being an employable designer.

This self evaluation made me cast my mind to the fact that as a student I should be looking to attain as many diverse skills as possible and that leadership is a good attribute that any web professional should aim to have.

This opportunity to challenge myself has already changed my attitude and perspective for the better. I am more positively motivated and disciplined to do well, and I am keen to see if I can transfer that mentality to my team members, so they too can perform to their highest potential.

So as I recall the nervousness and apprehension I felt that morning, I think I can rationalise by saying it was more down to wanting to make a good impressionable start to the semester, and the desire to make amends for what I considered to be a first semester stuck in the slow lane.

Word count: 400

Over the first hurdle

As a new year and semester begins its time I look back and evaluate my first semester.

Our first assignment of Work Related Learning 1 proved to be a baptisms of fire, it was somewhat surprising to me to be given an academic written assignment, rather than a practical one

The process of compiling the information to be discussed in the appraisal was complex at times, constructing relevant questions for interviewees then transcription of recorded interviews was all new ground and had me at times feeling more like a journalist than a student, with that aside I felt that it was positively preparing me with insight into the web industry as whole ,I was familiarising myself with jargon used in the industry and it was eye-opening to hear the views of the many professionals on a wide range of topics related to their expertise.

I felt the dynamic of working within our seminar groups was invaluable at times, discussing our findings together helped tremendously towards my awareness of the subject matter and how to tackle the deliverables asked. Although I was a little disappointed with my overall assignment mark, I quickly realised that it was down to my own lack of ability to organise myself appropriately and if I were to make improvement for the future this was something I needed to rectify immediately.

The Typography and Interface Design modules I also found rather challenging yet stimulating, I wanted to make amends and apply myself better than previous, and I was made more eager as it involved our own level of creativity to be brought to the table for the first time.

On being briefed of the Typography module I realised that there was going to be no let up in how much I would have to apply myself to what seemed a heavy loaded and arduous task, but not an impossible one. I was captured by the many lectures given even though it was tiresome some days having to absorb so much.

Half way through the duration of the modules I began to realise the enormity of the task ahead, I was struggling to get to grips with juggling the workload I had with the simultaneous assignments and often I was scratching my head with understanding the deliverables and outcomes, I was also getting in a flutter as I felt my profiency with the InDesign software was not up to a level which I required it to be, given that I was having to use it frequently to produce assessable work , frustratingly I found it was somewhat prohibiting my progress.

I failed to fully understand other factors such as the need to write detailed annotation to designs our ideas generation and the iterative process required for the interface design assignment, until it was too late. I felt that all these things contributed to putting me under a dark cloud of negativity that I felt I could not shake off, which was clearly having an effect on my productivity of my work. By the end of the semester I was quite mentally fatigued and welcomed the forthcoming Xmas break as it would give me a chance to recharge my much drained batteries.

Despite me sounding rather negative, there were many positives to be taken from the experience. I was now beginning to conduct myself as a new designer, I had acquired relevant theory and I have began to look at design in a different way, I often scan my eyes over anything from a carrier bag to a vehicle logo to see whether I can identify the font used or how the P.A.R.C principles were applied to the design, It was also good preparation to undergo a 3-minute pitch as it gave good practice to a skill that will be used regularly in my chosen profession.

If there is a lesson to be learnt from the first semester, it is to better prioritize and organise my work, I should not refrain from asking too many questions when I do not understand something, which is something I do, for fear of sounding inadequate. I shall not allow negativity to swamp me and show more perseverance when it does arise.

word count 696

 

Where I am going

It’s closely nearing the end of my first semester, I feel this is a valuable opportunity to evaluate and compile an action plan for the future. It’s clearly evident that greater application and commitment is required to make the steps forward to what I want to eventually achieve at the end of the course.

I am conscious that I am learning something new and making small steps of progress, each time I step into the classroom. I look to my future more with an air of excitement of good things to come, rather than trepidation. Though the rest of the course is sure to gather with both pace and demand, it would be advantageous to create small attainable targets, which would put me on course to my larger goal of being a successful designer in the years to come.

My Self-study and organisation is a part that requires vast improvement for the future. I often find myself deviating away from my proposed study plan, which could prove catastrophic if I continue in this vain, so I aim to attack my assignments more head on, getting a clear understanding of the deliverables and outcomes from the start. I will then strategise to break the more “heavy” work down it into smaller more digestible chunks, by doing this I could vastly improve my general understanding and it would set me on my target to achieve overall assignment grades of 55 and above consistently.

I would also like to increase my proficiency further with related design software that we have been introduced to. I am going to follow some web-based tutorials to brush up in this area; the knowledge gained will inspire me to be more imaginative and ambitious with my designs than as previous.

My typographical and grammar skills are another area needing close inspection. I often struggle with correct punctuation, sentence structure and paragraph chunking. I believe this will develop with time, but it would be useful for me to closely examine other professional works and relative resources. I am also hoping to do a small refresher course in English at night school.

I see myself in 5 years time, being a successful freelance web/graphic designer. I know in order to achieve this; it requires a deep level of self-discipline and mastery of communication and self-management. In time I am hoping I will develop to be a more coherent listener and show confidence and assertiveness in my presentation of work. I have already been considering the prospect of applying for employment [paid or voluntary] for the end of Year 1, to gain some valuable experience and insight, which could serve me well for the future.

To summarise, I would like to:

• Be better disciplined in my self-study and organisation.

• Improve my overall assignment grade to 55>.

• Improve my Typographical and Grammar skills.

• Increased proficiency with design software.

• Be a more coherent listener and show confidence.

and assertiveness in my presentation of work.

Word count: 496

 

Where I am now

It only seems like yesterday, that I was walking nervously into the classroom for my first day as a student on the FdA Web-Design course. It’s hard to believe how rapidly these couple of months have passed and even more amazingly how much knowledge I have had to digest in such a short space of time.

My acclimatisation to being in a study environment again, has been one of mixed emotions. I have struggled at times to keep up with the pace of what we have learnt so far and I have found myself often bewildered on how much I have had to absorb. It has been equally tough having to organise and utilise my self-study time effectively, despite this I have enjoyed what I have learnt and experienced so far and I see it as part of my learning curve.

I have been given two new assignments simultaneously: Typography; and Interface Design, I know from experience of the previous assignment that my organisational skills will be further tested to ensure I balance the two together harmoniously. Steve Smith has asked for us to strategise a learning plan for ourselves as this will provide an invaluable tool in organising our study time, as well as tracking and measuring our progress with each assignment. I am confident by adopting this structured approach it will give me more focus and self-discipline to my learning, that will help me throughout the remainder of my time on the course.

Like many of my fellow students in the class, I have been looking forward to these two assignments, as I will have the opportunity to express myself creatively for the first time. I consider myself to be quite infantile with my design skills and knowledge so the module lectures [especially Typography] I have found both stimulating and intriguing.

I have been surprised to learn what constitutes good design from bad is based on the ability to understand, adhere and apply some relevantly simple principles, putting this into practice might not prove so easy at first due to my inexperience, as will familiarising myself with the industry standard software, that so far has taken more time to find fluency than I would like. I am eager to get this to a sufficient level soon, as I see it as an integral part of my output as a new designer.

I undertook the Learning Styles questionnaire devised by Honey and Mumford, I had already made a accurate assumption to what kind of learning style I had, based on some prior reading in the manual, so I was not surprised to find after scoring and comparing my answers that I was a Reflector-Theorist. I feel it can be somewhat burdening having this learning style, mainly because I have a preference to want time to observe, prepare, and think over activities, without the pressure of tight deadlines.

I understand this luxury will not be awarded to me at times as the course progresses and I will taken out of my comfort zone more than I would prefer, so I welcome the useful suggestions the manual provides to help strengthen my under-utilised styles and make me a more effective learner.

We were asked to read an article published by well respected design professional Andy Rutledge entitled The Employable Web Designer. From reading previous articles from his website, I knew he can be quite frank, yet superbly insightful with his views, so once again I was engrossed in reading what he considered to be the prerequisite skills required by new web design professionals to make them employable into today’s world.

I agreed fully with what he suggested were the necessary skills, a lot of which is usually reiterated to us by Steve Smith in class, especially those regarding Personal interaction skills, having effective communication; being able to communicate your design ideas competently is of paramount importance as a web professional. I have also learned this from my experiences of my first assignment when I had to interview a number of different web design professionals who expressed similar views.

There were also some skills mentioned in Rutledge’s expansive list, that were not so apparent to me, or that I had overlooked because I considered they never had a place in Web design. If the truth be known it has opened my eyes and has raised my awareness further, to what I need to achieve on my journey through higher education.

Word count: 738

Where I have come from

I embarked precariously into the working world from a young age. I had left my secondary education with below average exam grades and found myself regrettably without any positive options and direction for my future. I had a string of jobs many of them lacked real prospects and were unfulfilling due to the long hours and poor wage, I desired change, but I was unaware of what vocation in life I wanted to take.

Years rolled by, and as they did, there came new commitments. I was now a father and a homeowner, so working to provide stability for my family was of high priority. It wasn’t easy, I endured two spells of redundancy, which was both disheartening and stressful finding myself that vulnerable and having to start afresh each time. It was at this time that I assessed my life, I needed a new career, one that would be rewarding and give me better job security and satisfaction.

By now, like so many I was becoming an avid web-surfer, I had an appreciation of the skill and creativity that went into designing websites. This gave me the motivation to look at the different ways of achieving the qualifications and experience required to pursue a career in this sector as I felt that it would be an ideal opportunity for myself. I decided that the most suitable method and arguably the quickest route into my chosen industry would be to distance-learn, therefore I enrolled on a web design course provided by a home-learning IT school.

I eagerly took to my new studies and I was making good progress. I achieved a short diploma in IT fundamentals and was preparing for my foundation exam which would provide me with the first part of my vendor certification. Unfortunately a series of unforeseen personal events impacted on my time, so much so that I had to reluctantly withdraw from my studies. Although I was left hugely deflated by the experience, I vowed to never lose sight of my ambition.

In 2008, my relationship of thirteen years broke down and I was forced to leave the family home we shared. Once again my job future was looking bleak due to the economic downturn and eventually the axe swung early this year. I needed a fresh start, so I took the brave decision to move from the West Midlands to South Yorkshire, and began to carve a new life.

I decided there was no better time to chase my ambition that had eluded me before. Determinedly I resumed my studies once again; I attended evening classes at a local college and successfully completed a course in Web Authoring. It was only a small step, but it filled me with the confidence to pursue my studies further.

This motivated me to apply onto the FdA Web Design course at Wakefield, after being convinced that it would provide me with the necessary skills and experience I require for future employability as a web designer.

Word count: 497