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Phebe Welby-Jenkins 2nd Yr Journal

The Photographer’s Gallery A gallery in Soho, London I visited was a huge highlight of the year for me, one of those hidden gems and a quick decision moments that left me utterly inspired and desperately urging for my to pick up my camera again… my initial love and creative career prospect. The building itself and the logo of the gallery were really potent and inspiring for my own practice.

The logo has cleverly incorporated the visual idea of a camera, playing with the shapes of the letter ‘R’ and ‘L’, this simplistic strong visual communication was an instant advertisement success as I was instantly intrigued by the gallery and had to go in. The exhibitions shown were very unconventional for what you would expect to see in a ‘photographer’s gallery’ a lot of the imagery I’m assuming purposefully looked quite badly photographed to support the concept, along side some absolutely beautiful shots, but the challenge within the visit was working out what half of the exhibitions were. Some had plaques, others didn’t, this was actually really fascinating as you were left to question your own opinions and make you own assumption of the communication portrayed. There was a fascinating exhibit of photographs of women stood in the middle of nowhere at the side of the road, in what looked like a very hot country, this was so bizarre as I couldn’t find what it was about, who took the photographs and the fact that a lot of their faces were blurred for identity disguise, it was a complete mystery so I was left with my own interpretation of the piece.

I loved this notion of uncertainty and unknowing, having to make our own judgments and meaning for the photographs. This reminded me of the value in importance and symbolism when allowing an audience to decide and decipher the meaning of a piece of work can have. The visual communication left unknown and open to interpretation and how it can have such a strong resonance with the viewer, this inspired the idea of pushing this in my own practice. In third year we will be working towards developing ourselves as designers and our personalities we want to be perceived through design, I like this notion of the unknown and the intrigued. Was truly inspiring to see Claire Aho’s work, a photographer from my grandmother and mother’s decade and see the juxtaposition of how colour works then and now in todays editorial photography.

Interesting as a designer to see how trends and design ‘do’s and don’ts’ change over the decades and how some stay very much the same and some things would be completely forbidden. The technological develop-

ment of photography makes it easy for anybody to take a good photo so I really appreciated Aho’s work for her accuracy and with such an interesting contrast of colouring, which to me seemed largely dated and almost garish to look at but in the age the work stood in she was almost a pioneer of this style and stood above the rest being female in a heavily male dominated industry. She depicts domestic pictures across a Finish culture in the era of 1950-1970 which also reminded me of the nostalgic memories my family will have of a world without technology, its interesting how unknown sources which could perhaps feel irrelevant to your practice actually inspire a big idea. Your likes and dislikes can shape your production as a practitioner, and although I appreciated Claire Ahos work for its time period, I wasn’t actually fond of the images she produced, mainly as my mind is exposed and tailored to like heavily edited luxuries photography in the media today. The main inspiration I took from this piece, was past and present and interpreted a lot of my on the spot thinking from the exhibition into the dragons den brain storming project- a portrait of contemporary youth.

It was utterly fascinating to see how an image can change or age to the viewer just on social and cultural circumstances. The colouring she used would be seen as garish and harsh today and perhaps not used unless mimicking a similar style of timeframe, but had such great success and beauty at the time. She was a pioneer in the techniques she used, this inspired the thought that good design lives on, and if you create a bold enough idea and concept that will live on too, even the idea that her images denote a certain time period in history and will have a certain feel and narrative because of their position in art history.

Anthony Burill Lecture This lecture was really interesting first of all as I wasn’t aware that the artist who had done the posters ‘ Work Hard And Be Nice To People’ was in fact Anthony Burrill, I had only ever seen it on blogging platforms online such as tumblr etc. with no credit and had always admired the simplistic approach and method of screenprinting. Such a bold statement executed in a very successful manner, it’s punchy and straight to the point, and a manifesto to live by to the art direction of simple bold type really pushes the influence of the message. It looks awesome in a frame in any household and office. I really liked his career journey and his portfolio of work, as he didn’t go into too much detail of how he created all these photocopied posters and flyers we had to discuss as peers afterwards how we though he had done it, this sparked a really interesting conversation. The power of collaborating minds and the joy in an motivating conversation with fellow minded people was such a highlight, as we felt strongly connected for the first time all sharing and contrasting opinions but not of them conflicting as I found they did in group work. He spoke about cutting out and photocopying an arrange of imagery to make some promotional work, although it looked similar to an illustrator format file. His bold statements and ‘ways of life’ almost inspire me in a deeper level beyond graphic design, but the notions of manifestos and rules for life demonstrated through a visual aesthetic could be a really valuable vehicle for me to take on board, as I struggle with creativity and motivation, some key posters in my work space, Anthony Burrill inspired could be a constant reminder of what I want to and can achieve when i set my mind to it. .

Branding project This for me was a highlight; being put in a situation where we had a taster of client/ creative director relationship with peers was really beneficial in terms of my own practice and how I need to develop as a designer. The struggle of motivation and self-discipline was thrown out the window and the peer pressure put me in a position of absolute focus. I think I felt more pressure to make it perfect as I cared about the opinions of the client from a personal point of view as I admire her work and wanted to prove to myself and her that I could deliver and tailor the communication into the branding she wanted. This was a huge eye opener for me in terms of the career path and office I would like to work in, I would definitely like to build up some experience with clientele work but I feel this has taught me that I would much rather be in an established environment working place, with other creatives on one particular internal projectone big collaboration. As I’ve had experience working within my mum’s place of work, doing web design and going to photography studio to get the shots they need, there is a huge creative family who all want to achieve the best in the same path, and they are not having to adhere to an arrange of clients of a daily basis. I’m not sure the rejection and uncertainty of clients will suit my day-to-day work basis. I have realized I want to work to be happy not to work for money. So this in itself was a huge learning curve and highlight for me, I’ve spent my whole life wanting to achieve well so I can bring in money for the ‘ideal life’ but now I feel the need to obviously be comfortable but happiness within the work I create and whom I work for is fundamental to my career path. This is what I strive for the most, and doing work for somebody else, as satisfying as it is- it has its boundaries I would like to break in my own practice. This is a push for me to keep looking for placements in fashion/graphic collaborative offices. (Such as magazines, skate and streetwear websites and blogging platforms) I feel my way of

working as a designer may be suited better to freelance and commission based work, or work in a large team. I feel I have learnt I have ability to dream big and think of ideas but the execution is still got a lot of progression. Although this brief was a great test of interpreting communication but also a test of incorporating psychology, as although the client has explained the idea their picture of the final product will be entirely different to the one we see ourselves, I feel I successfully took on board the look and feel my client wanted for her afternoon tea café name ‘Aft Tea’, and felt I was put with a lucky match as I have such a love for tea, it was utterly satisfying part of the brief.

Although I struggled with the name in terms of design construction and composition, I worked out a way to make it work as a stand alone logo which enhanced my ability to work within the intention of brief’s learning outcomes. I always seem to stray away from the brief so this one really got me focused and motivated to do the best I could, I work well under pressure, and the pressure of making work for someone else made it very real and tangible for me, as I have had many problems with my own time management and this was a real motivational brief that had me left with a satisfaction that the client was happy, with more time I would have like to push the brief further and develop my menu designs I created in much further detail to really encapsulate the idea of breakfast, lunch and evening tea menus and how they would differ in visual communication.

Topman Brief This was a huge highlight with the potential of an employment placement with the company, it is a brilliant aspect to have incorporated into the course and has the power to motivate and put students in the perspective of real working life. I loved the fact that’s fashion and graphics can come together and we were lucky enough to be a part of that. I really enjoyed Jill coming to speak to us and explaining about her path and how she got into her job, it made it feel so tangible and achievable if you just work hard- you put in the work, and create the work you want to create that speaks volumes and personality. A lot of networking occasions this year has put me in a brilliant place of having an arrange of different people from different career backgrounds offering ideas of collaboration or just a taster into their field. Whether its music or fashion, these alternative career paths can be a fabulous insight into other industries and other paths I could go down with design, and the projects I could get involved with, it gave me a confidence boost that when it comes to meeting people and trying to sell myself, I should hopefully shouldn’t have much of a problem. All these motivating factors have been majorly appreciated, as I’ve really needed that support and constant inspiration to push me through a difficult year. With someone from a sector of industry I’d love to get into come and actually talk to us from her perspective about her career withheld so much motivation to myself to be the best and get to her position where you are happy with work, she loves paper and gets to interact with it everyday! It just showed me I really need to focus on working super hard and making the right choices in who and what I want work I would like to do. The brief itself was fantastic, a great juxtaposition of science and fashion, the research and image making was thoroughly enjoyed as I haven’t had a mess around in Photoshop for a while, and whilst my adobe knowledge is growing, I do feel most comfortable with Photoshop so the stress was minimized and I just got on with creating work, this project has definitely taught me about my way of working- I like a lot of digital stuff, I prefer typing, I prefer blogging, I prefer doing little sketches and it not being compiled into one neatly organized sketchbook, I just work that way so it has motivated me to make sure I work in the best way for myself so I can push myself to the limits and really get stuck into a project. The ideas process within this project was really rewarding and I managed to find inspiration from gallery visits and recent visual

communication, if I hadn’t started the project late I feel I could have developed and tweaked it all to a much higher level. Unit X taught me a lot about myself as a designer, what works and what doesn’t, how I work, and what is the best way for me to create as much as possible, so this was a really valuable aspect of the year in terms of ‘finding myself’ not necessarily in the style but understanding how my own mind needs to process the information. I spent a lot of second year questioning myself and the work I was doing, and you are under the impression you will find answers and it didn’t happen for ages, then out of nowhere a flood of realization was quite refreshing and inspiring and a feel push into 3rd years state of mind and level of working, I’m really excited to start developing my own style and arrange of work that says what I am about.

Book Covers Brief This brief was a highlight for me because I explored my own outside interests and incorporated it into the brief. Looking at cities for what they behold was too dull and expected mundane results and would be hard to break stereotypes and find a new language and communication to ‘city guides’. I really enjoyed the choice of Hip-hop as its history and culture fascinates me, the progression of different styles and the separation of east side/west side was a massive focus. As its something that is a big part of my life, I was fully involved in my illustrations for the book covers (the only part that I wanted to reflect graffiti hip-hop street culture) A lot of people don’t appreciate the poetry within hip-hop and think its all about ‘gangster rap’, because of this common misconception It brought me to the idea that I wanted to try change these opinions, invite people to go explore the city for a different meaning, find out about musical culture, whether a fan or not- and in terms of design completely strip back the visual and the essence of the preconceptions. No graffiti, no metal chain fences etc. etc. Exploring how the culture and style of hip-hop changes in different cities, the research part of this project was really interesting as I learned valuable information about a subject I am interested in and it inspired me to create design, which broke the norm for the stereotype of the subject. I also got involved with picking up my camera again and taking my own photographs for an alternate covers, this was so rewarding as I actually forgot how much I love photography and I really want to push my skill and art direction in 3rd year. Overall the book cover brief was really enjoyable in terms of research, and personal practice, I really enjoyed the art direction and thought process behind my photography and it really helped boost my confidence levels in terms of my capability with a camera. I believe I gained a broad spectrum of knowledge in a short array of time through my research. As a designer it taught me to develop ideas from inspiration elsewhere other than design, inspiration can come from anywhere, and to read, read read!

David Shrigley Exhibition This exhibition was a highlight for me as I am already fan of David Shrigley’s work, his humour within his work always puts a smile on my face and it was quite playful and fun exhibitions with interactive features.

Allowing you to interact with the artist’s work and concepts, it was an interacting day out which sparked a new level of thought. His playful, ‘childlike doodles’ and humour within his pieces in such repetitive large quantity shone a light on that you can be the artist you want to be, and create the work you want to create. The execution of the way that he regurgitates his work all over the walls in complete spontaneity, in a confined space for people to absorb has a strong power and personality to it. As the viewer enters the room he is addressed with so much visual information they have to pick and choose and dissect themselves, an interesting notion in itself, as it invited peoples to make choices and opinions quickly but also to really look closer, and appreciate the work in finer detail. The layout of one of this particular exhibit was his definitive style bizarre comedy illustrations pasted all over the walls, literally covering every part so there was a lot to digest and look at, you were naturally drawn to the ones you liked out of humour, or because of the picture. It was like it was tailored for everyone to have his or her own little moment of appreciation. What is most inspiring is how he has practically made a living out of doodling, and most likely what makes him happy, it really motivates me to follow a path of something I have some skill in and develop it in much more depth, or live life on a creative path of trail and error. It was attention-grabbing to be involved physically and have a chance to be involved and draw a large sculpture in the exhibit and really get a feel for his style and way of working and feel like you have been a part of it. I felt I learnt a lot about how to exhibit your work and an idea in the bigger world, and how execution is everything to make the idea stand solidly.

National Portrait gallery- Susan Aldworth The Portrait Anatomised Always intrigued by the portrait gallery, I made a visit to get some inspiration for dragons den ‘ a portrait of contemporary youth’ by looking at existing portraits and how they are portrayed and if it could spark another idea, instead I stumbled across a very interesting exhibition. What was most eye opening about this artists work was the journey that gave her the idea; she was inspired by her own life experience of an aneurysm in her brain and the beauty in the patterns of brain scans. Susan Aldworth displayed a very contemporary concept of a portrait, demonstrating a portrait through the imagery from people’s brains, a physical map of a person, a portrait of oneself in such an unconventional way had such potency, as from first glances it was unknown to be anything to do with personality. This became heavily incorporated into the Topman brief and I have acquired huge inspiration I didn’t know would be used in complete solidity. I learnt a lot from this experience it has taught me to spend a lot more time visiting exhibitions and really deciphering the meaning, as it can be a platform for so many more great things to come. I want to start documenting and reading a lot more into other art practices and contemporary art as having a broader range of knowledge across the spectrum of art and design will help me trail more things and develop and define my own personal practice

Restriction Task 3 Restriction briefs were‌ of course restricted but as again I explored my own interests and beliefs and incorporated it into the brief, I thoroughly enjoyed the research and development side of the project. The declaration of human rights instantly took my mind to Gandhi and his teachings, and although moving away it did tie in very well, and gave me the opportunity to base the branding around some very simple semiotics- glasses and a mustache. This part of the project could have been developed more but I feel I chose the right elements associated with Gandhi to execute the idea and communication well. (Plus I got to use a lot of orangeâ˜ş) This brief was a challenge but in a very motivational way, I set myself a task I had never tried before.

Demonstrating how an app works through a flat plan proved to be a challenge, but one I liked very much as it will teach me how to create a more legible visual next time, I had the mindset I was creating the final app the whole time (even though I actually knew I wasn’t) and this really got me motivated to keep trying the ideas of apps as a platform for a concept or idea, as in this current society its such a strong interactive communication, it can be a really powerful vehicle to get people involved and viewing an idea, and being able to make apps would be a lovely aspiration. It taught me a lot about my own abilities of how to use typography, this is definitely something I want to develop and crack properly so I have much more confidence in layout and type work.

Poundshop lecture was so inspiring as her story unfolded, it was really stimulating and refreshing when you get to hear somebody talk about pushing a little idea and it becoming a successful big idea. I think it was really important for my future prospects as a designer to see how people develop these ideas, what they need to do, how they do it and the costs behind it all. Collaborating with other artists and designers is a ground I want to be working within a lot as it opens door to so many more options and ideas, things happen quicker and there is more passion and drive. I loved that she had so much passion for other people’s work to be involved and for it be commission based and she came straight from UNI into something quickly successful, she was really professional and easy to listen to which reminds us our of our own capabilities and influences the push to work my hardest.

Dragons den brainstorming Although group work seems to have been majorly stressful and jarring this year, dragons den was a really lovely thinking project, throwing ideas on the table, bouncing them off liked minded people and linking them all together. It taught me as a designer that maybe verbalizing ideas, collaborating and conferencing about ideas can be much more useful than putting your head in a book and it all being about writing and sketching ideas out. I found a new way of working was recording our conversations and dissecting them later to discover what was mostly favoured, what were we most passionate about, which were the strong points and weak points of our ideas and how a group worked together. I think it is a major necessity to be able to work as a team and appreciate everyone else’s view, and although there were a lot of clashes, I think you have to celebrate that as a factor of the learning progress, without making mistakes you don’t make the right choices.

Other Highlights: Creative review shop Creative review have cleverly pasted their logo on the front of a newsagents in Soho, Wardour Street, London. A really innovative way to promote and advertise a well established magazine first and for most, the visual potency of the size of the typography instantly grabbed my eye, I thought the technique of this marketing/advertising campaign will prove very successful, although I’m sure it has been done before, they have cleverly picked location and the right kind of newsagents to be displaying and selling their logo. This taught me how important typography and logo design can be to advertise and sell an idea. Once it is recognizable it just like any other symbol we say in day-to-day life. As I have been working a long side two independent t-shirt companies it really inspired my train of thought for the designs we should be putting out there and how we work to make the brand better and be a stamp in youth culture, simplicity is the key! Instantly intrigued to see if this shop was actually a creative review shop, I entered to find one of the most exciting newsagents I have ever been in to. In terms of magazines and journals there was such a wide variety of beautiful typography, layout and art direction at first view. Instant inspiration from all angles and a real lesson to look at print based research more than the comfort ability of looking online, it is much more satisfying physically handling something and appreciating the type, layout, stock and printing finishes in much finer detail then I ever have before. Many interesting magazines I had never heard of and am now aware of their importance to my practice, and how different elements of design can inspire bigger and better concepts. It was a major highly as it had every last magazine I would ever want to buy, beautifully displayed. It was a dream factory of inspiration but I stayed in there far too long without buying anything…

Dutty Breed Clothing- Design Consultant This has been an ongoing highlight of my year as I’ve been able to be involved in something I love very much- clothes. But also the target audience and the style these companies are pushing fit within my own likes and fashion taste. It was a pleasure to be asked to be involved in a ‘streetwear’ label as I have a huge passion for this style of clothing and the art direction behind a lot of the photography associated with such style. Duttybreed is an independent clothing label started out by some friends who wanted good quality clothes and wanted to get involved in screenprinting and encapsulate their Sheffield memories and UNI culture, bass music and nights out into something more premium. It has been a pleasure working as a design consultant for the brand and getting on board once it was up and running, they have the concept and the idea behind ‘duttybreed’, I just guide the visuals and check they are producing the kind of stuff people want to be purchasing as their can be a lot of confusion with the language they are portraying within their range, and different social circumstances not understanding the slang, we want them all to stand as standalone designs whether on a tshirt or print based. Making sure they are sourcing good quality tshirts to print on and networking with the right people has been a real eye-opener to the notion of “its not what you know, its who you know” and has given me the inspiration to use my loud bubbly character to speak to the right people and just make things happen. The guys down at Duttybreed have had a feature in front magazine and the opportunity to use Nike’s office for the day for BreaksMag, another project some of them are involved inwhich gives them a huge platform of contacts and networking occasions to really promote and push the brand. Its really rewarding feeling part of a team no matter how small, and lending a helping hand creatively in something collaborative really pays off for self satisfaction and improvement of the brand. It has been a huge highlight of my year that I can actually be involved in something I am really passionate for. Its been really motivating to do something I love outside of UNI and soon to be part of the design and art direction process within the brand, it is taking me down a path I have always wanted to go down, suddenly out of nowhere. It has taught me I should always

keep myself busy with other projects and keep pushing my own personal ideas and not just leaving it in a sketchbook. Another clothing company I have been helping is a few friends in Leeds who run another small independent brand, although I have no submitted any designs yet I have been helping with promotional ideas and ways to make the next step up, competitions and submissions of other peoples work to go onto the tshirt so bring everyone together in unity using the platform of tshirts to display art, it is heavily branded around ‘crooked’ at the moment so I am helping with the decisions of where they take the brand and the sort of tshirts they want to be making and ones that perhaps have already been done etc. I think my main learning aspects of these opportunities is to seek out the work I want to work for, get it done, be involved, seek opportunities, network, reflect, evaluate. Although I plan to gather an array of different work practices and work places, I feel I work best when I fit in to the atmosphere of collaborative work and a sector I am influenced and interested in.

“Abnormally pimped, impossibly nang, exceptionally ill, painfully raw, disgustingly sick, jaw-droppingly dope, excessively trill garms for G’s and Dons.”

G F Smith When G.F Smith came to visit, this was just a fantastic day I felt like I really appreciated the importance of stock and how it can influence an idea or make the execution of an idea stand strong. The lady from the company was so helpful and really gave us all a good idea of how we would go about contacting bigger companies for larger scale jobs and the products they offer were explained in such brilliant detail we grasped how and when they could be used and what requirements were necessary for each finish or aesthetic. I wasn’t overly fussed about paper before I started the course so this was a huge learning curve in terms on insight into the creative industry and the materials I will be sourcing and playing with but also how your ideals and likes and dislikes can change over the course of a year, I suddenly love paper now I have seen a broad range of different colours, textures and finishes and can recognize how they could be utilized in my own practice. And to be honest who doesn’t like shiny sparkly things, I certainly do. SHINY PAPER. I GET TO TOUCH IT? I CAN BUY IT? AWESOME.

4 challenges

The Year My biggest challenge this year, has been the year in general. I think I have crumbled under the pressure of balancing a job with uni work and with personal life problems and being too ashamed to try get help from someone other that the tutors. It is hard to commit to two things at once without one of them becoming unbalanced and an issue, in this case the balance keeps swopping and it’s really hard to support myself and living costs on such a small student loan and work wage. I think the stress this has created for me is a knock on effect, makes me more stressed which makes me ill which makes me fall behind even more and it becomes a cycle that falls downhill.

I have learned the most important thing to do is to take more control over the work balance, and make sure I have a planned schedule, which makes sure I still have time to do everything on time and not at the last minute. Tell myself I can do it, and then I will do it, and start having self belief so I can push myself to the best of my abilities. I have had serious lack of motivation, self belief and confidence this year, which has stopped my creative path and has made me fall behind then creates the next problem of time management. I am I charge of my own self discipline and I feel it has majorly lacked this year and needs to be improved, I feel I have definitely become a stronger person this year and have an ability to deal with unfortunate situations in a more manageable way so next time something bad happen that may affect me I can deal with it in a better manner and not fall of the twig. I have disappointed myself of how little I have achieved when I know I am capable of so much more. The struggle of trying to find yourself as a designer and start making decisions on which path to go down has just freaked me out and set me still in stone In sheer panic that I was nowhere near answering these questions yet. I do realize it’s okay to not get it right straight away and one day you will get there and its all a learning curve the progression you

make, but I feel very underrated when I am surrounded by such heavily talented competition. It wasn’t until around the end of the year when it all started to make sense and I started to overcome the fear of it and just do it, just create what I want to create and start focusing more on a personal style and portfolio along side the briefs I have to do at uni and stop focusing on how other people work, and worrying why I don’t the same, I should embrace my own field of work and the way that I do and tailor it so its more organized for third year. I feel I have overcome the troubles over the year by trying to give it my all at the last minute which is not a solution but how I work is really well under pressure, so I would like to break this mold, start 3rd year with a fresh mindset and the knowledge that I have the power to be whoever I want to be as a designer, organize my time and work schedule properly so they work in harmony, not conflicting each other.

Software Big challenge I faced last year was not really being a wiz with computers and having an onward struggle of using the Adobe software, this year it is still a big challenge for me. I feel an ever mounting pressure to be in full knowledge of how these programs work inside out so I have the right set of skills when entering industry. Throughout the year I have noticed a clear improvement and knowledge growth, which has allowed me to explore a broader spectrum of outputs and vehicles to execute and idea but they still just absolutely blow my mind. I find it very hard to maintain the information for next time and find myself wasting precious time trying to figure out one tiny little thing on illustrator or InDesign. I have overcome these problems by making sure I’m watching as many tutorials as possible, keeping on practicing, trail and error and also trying to find another method and process which is not computer based.

My main focus for summer is to get up to date on these programs to a point where I feel comfortable and confident to say I have strong skillsets within a range of design programs and software and will put me in a good place for the start of 3rd year.

Time Management This has been by far my worst aspect of my year and the representation of me as a designer, student and generally organized person. My brain has felt completely scatter brain all year and I have found job/ uni balance very hard to keep in harmony. I know I have left a lot of things till the last minute, which sometimes has surprisingly worked in my favour because I simply cannot create until the pressure is on, but mainly has had a huge negative impact of my work, uni life and all round personal insecurities. It’s a knock on effect of negativity when I let things get on top of me, and it kept repeating itself this year, I really plan to reflect a lot of this in summer and make sure I can do every little thing to change this round so I can be the best of what I can achieve.

The way I have overcome this challenge in the main is by starting sketchbooks early but I have managed to still face the challenge there of getting them done on time, or just leaving them to one side and working on scrap paper instead. I have definitely learnt that working In a sketchbook confines my work and frustrates my natural rhythm of jotting things down, as soon as its in a sketchbook it has a urge to be perfect and look a certain way, and when it breaks that it makes me frustrated that isn’t beautifully laid out. I have realized that I am quite a messy scattered designer who brings it all together at the end, I was to focus of changing this so I am much more organized and efficient and don’t find sketchbooks in themselves such a challenge. I’m so conscious of creating good design; in tern I make bad design as I think too much into it that is become obsolete. The best way to manage this next year is have a clear uni/ job timetable, set mini tasks and make sure everything its timetabled and organized and doesn’t break the mold.

Vigilance and determination!

Group Project As I have a knack to always focus on the final idea and execution to early on in a project I feel it was probably frustrating for other people to work with me, but it has been a valuable lesson knowing I am quick thinking of big ideas straight away, whether they are tangible or not I have tried my hardest to contribute the best I can. Working in groups is something I usually love as I have spent a lot of previous years working in teams and being very involved. This year I have thoroughly not enjoyed almost every group project, it hasn’t been a group working in harmony but instead against each other and conflicting until the last minute when we have to pull it together and nobody really grasping the idea of how to work together as a group, there was definitely personality clashes and stuff I managed to deal with pretty well and is a huge learning curve in itself as these situations happen all the time in terms of life in industry, their will be many people, clients and teams I will work with that I will not like and they will frustrate me but you just have to get on with it and do the best thing you can do to unite the group together and work as a team, not a bunch of individuals.

I found this year very frustrating and stressful keeping repeating this group project scenario, I felt like I wasn’t learning anything and it was actually hindering my practice but now I reflect I can see how much it has taught me as an individual and my plan to overcome these challenges is to take more authority and leadership and just make sure everything is sorted in a way that keeps all the group happy and motivated to create beautiful conceptual design, remind people we are a team not individuals and hopefully make it clear wh. My biggest learning curve from this is that I am always a valuable member in terms of thinking up ideas but when it comes to the making and designing of the ideas I am not as talented so end up being left with small jobs that don’t really give me any room for improvement or chance to showcase the work I want to be portraying within a successful portfolio,

Phebe Welby-Jenkins 2ND YR Jounral Graphic Design