Re: Portfolios and Plans

1. What kind of designer do you want to be, or what do you want to do with this degree? Print, web, user-experience, book, magazine, all of the above? Why? 

 

I don't know. I keep saying that, ultimately, I want to be a Creative Director somewhere, but I have to be able to do stuff in order to get there. So I guess I want to be able to do it all, at least just a little bit. 

Really, though, the honest truth is that I love stories and always have. Listening to them and telling them. I was a typical bookworm my whole life - I would devour books. My dream for as long as I can remember has been to write. In a misguided attempt after under-grad, I applied to two well-known creative writing programs where I had absolutely no connections and no idea of what I was doing, and, obviously, didn't get in.

I kept writing during my first year of professional failure (I taught upper school Spanish), but was so overwhelmed with anxiety from not being good at or prepared for my job, that I eventually just stopped writing altogether, and along with that, reading, too.

Then, I found this program and got in, thinking I could get back into the writing scene, in a more practical sense. Soon, I started to have a better idea of what I was good at - I "got" people and I was able to find the right way to tell their stories.

I never expected to enjoy or be successful in design to the extent that I have. I now work in design at a university, and I definitely am motivated to learn more about all aspects of the design field.

But, I still think there's a big part of me that views my time here as more training and practice for how to tell a good story. 

So that's what I want to do: I'd like to tell just one really good and really worthwhile story in my life. And I think this program is opening my eyes to a lot more ways to do that than I realized were out there.

 

2. What kind of workplace do you want, ideally? Freelance, small shop, big agency? Why? How will you search for jobs?

 

I want to work for a small company, maybe even own my own business? If I could find a kickass business partner, who would keep me organized and disciplined, I think I would really like to have my own business. I lack a lot of necessary skills to do that on my own, though. I'd probably want to stay focused in the non-profit sector, in the arts or education.

 

3. For those of who that have portfolios right now, did you build you own site or use a template like Behance? Or pinterest? Can anyone share links to great portfolios (yours or someone else's?)

 

My portfolio is on Squarespace. It's okay. There's a lot more I could do with it, and I plan to before the semester is over. It's a step up from my first portfolio, though.