Adaptation & Authorship

DDP Ch. 2:
In chapter 2 Baron discusses the certain evaluation you must make of yourself and your portfolio before you end up going on an interview; before you include all the wrong projects with the wrong attitude and basically screw it all up. I’m just being really harsh; hopefully that won’t happen… Especially if you’ve done Baron’s self assessment check-list. I found this check-list to be very helpful in realizing my strengths and goals. It’s extremely important to have a goal when working with your portfolio. I think it allows you to build up your confidence and work on your weaknesses to get to that point where you’re truly happy with your portfolio. I hope I can be truly happy with my portfolio once May comes around. Happiness is also the result of your values and the jobs you are willing to take even if it’s not your perfect one. I already know I won’t find my dream job until I’ve gone through at least ten different positions. I like the section where Baron lists what a portfolio is not. It’s funny that she has included “check-list,” considering we need to go through a check-list to make decisions about a portfolio and ourselves. But I’m glad she cleared that up, because I was especially worried that you needed to have a certain portfolio with a little of everything. And of course Baron sums it all up by stating, “No one reviewing a portfolio is keeping score to see if you have four textbook covers, three package designs, two annual reports, and a poster in a pear tree”. Another quote I’ll end with that I thoroughly enjoyed was that of Stan Richards. He states, “There is nothing that we do with out typography. It is the single element that is omnipresent. It must be understood before a person can operate at a professional level.” I’ve always liked typography and thought that it is a vital element in graphic design. The magazine Step Inside Design is a great source of typography and other design examples. Some day I am going to subscribe to this magazine.

HBG Ch. 3&4:
This weeks reading I found to be a little boring just because I really have no interest in the business aspect of graphic design or with freelance work. I guess I should inform you that I feel a little sour about freelance work because I tried it over the summer and it basically fell through. But ehh… I’ll get over it. Shaughnessy explains the types of people that are suitable for freelance and the accommodations you have to make to work and live as a designer, most likely from your home. I do find working at home unappealing because I know I wouldn’t be getting any work done, especially since I’m also not a disciplined person. I can just picture myself in my bedroom, still in bed, with either HGTV or the Food Network on tv in the background. Yeah, I don’t think it’ll work for me. Setting up a studio would be a nice thing to do when I’m more experienced in this field though. Shaughnessy explains that “designers are often good at business..” (with the exclusion of me) and that “many design businesses are paradigms of efficiency and progressive practice.” I just don’t think I’d be able to take responsibility for those things and would definitely need help. Design and Business: can’t work with out one another.