OUGD502 PPP Evaluation

PPP this year has been far more useful and engaging than last year, this was most likely because I have enjoyed doing the work for PPP, as well as found it personally beneficial towards my own creative practice.
Studio Brief 1, the Creative Report, I found particularly enjoyable, even though it had its ups and downs. At first I struggled with contacting industry professionals because, as I later found out, I had the wrong attitude and approach to it. At first I tried to contact them in a very professional and formal manner, this proved to be the wrong way to do it as the emails/messages did not contain my personality and were boring. Looking back, if I received a similar email, I also would not feel engaged or excited about doing the interview/answering the questions. After a change in approach, and sending emails/messages that were fun, playful and full of energy, I began to receive responses. I found this very exciting and fulfilling, as well as beneficial due to the insight and advice that the designers gave me. My favourite creative report was Greta Madline. This was because I found it very easy to communicate with her, and she gave very interesting and relevant answers that will help me to reflect upon my own practice and improve.
Studio Brief 2, the Life's a pitch presentations, I also found enjoyable. Working in collaboration was very successful as we were able to take our ideas to the next level and provide feedback and critique to each other. I believe we came up with a very strong concept which we were all excited about, which hopefully showed in the presentation. Actually presenting our ideas I did not find difficult, this was due to the fact that I felt confident in our concept and our work, therefore I felt confident showing it. Also, three of us from out group presented, this made it less stressful as we were able to back each other up in case we got lost, and work together to communicate all that we wanted to say. This brief was very open and free creatively, which I believe is what made it so interesting and fun to execute, as well as the concept and presentation be so successful.
Studio Brief 3, the PPP Presentation, I found to be a little bit stressful but also refreshing. It was an almost cathartic conclusion to the year, and gave me the opportunity to really look in depth at myself as person, my practice and what I want to do and achieve. Doing the presentation left me with a clearer idea of who I am as a creative, and about my short term and long term goals. Actually presenting I found quite nerve racking, however, I feel as if it went quite well because I channelled all my nerves into a positive and exciting energy.

Overall, PPP this year has been like a drop of fresh water amongst all the other modules, because it really allowed our creativity to run wild, and gave us more freedom in creating designs and concepts that we loved and enjoyed. I am excited to continue PPP next year as I believe I will continue to work on myself and develop as a creative, which will hopefully lead me into finding a strong creative identity that I can be confident to leave with when I graduate.

Studio Brief 3 - PPP Presentation

Hello, I'm Migle. Most people know me as Monika, which is my christening name. My birth name is Migle, and for a long time I avoided it because it was such a hassle to get people to pronounce it right and to remember it. However, now I am beginning not to care, and realising that if people cared enough they will take the time to learn it. That's why when I graduate, I will graduate not as Monika, but as Migle.

21 years old. Lithuanian. I grew up both in Lithuania and in London, which gives me the knowledge of the views, opinions, morals and culture of both countries. My family is the most important part of my life, everything I do is to make them proud.

Most of us were probably the crafty and arty kids when we were children, I certainly was, and that has stayed with me even up to now. I love making my own crafty projects, for myself and for my family. Painting Easter eggs, decorating cupcakes, making Christmas tree decorations, origami and photography are just some examples of the creative things I do in my life. These things are what makes up me as a creative, more so than any of the university brief outcomes I had created over the last 2 years.

I learnt that I am becoming a lot more passionate about my nationality, and how my culture can influence my design work. The 'Lit Paint' spray can design which was influenced by Lithuanian graffiti and the Lithuanian countries visual language, is my favourite and most enjoyable project I had done throughout the last 2 years. I have also learnt that I am enjoying creating illustrations, I have used some form of illustration in most of my projects that I had done this year, so this is something I want to look into further and see if illustration can become another one of my strong points. After Effects was also something I tried for the first time this year, and although I found it very difficult and stressful to learn, I'm glad I did, so now next time I go to use of the programme I will be more comfortable with it. 

Level 4: This is my work from level 4, definitely last year we were more constricted about the type of design we can do. All these designs to me feel quite dull and unexciting. The work is more corporate and commercial, which I knew I didn't enjoy doing. Although the outcomes I don't think are unsuccessful or bad, in fact, they are quite good, it's just the matter that I did not enjoy making them and I didn't put my heart into it. As a designer I want to be able to love what I do. 

Level 5: Compared to level 4, this year has been more open and free. We were able to take our own direction with the projects given, and were given more freedom for the types of outcomes we create. I think the feel and atmosphere of this slide compared to the previous one says a lot. This slide has more personality and energy, and contains work that I definitely enjoyed doing more so than last years. I've had more fun with the process of designing, and have slowly vegan creating work that I enjoy, more so than the work that I know will get me better grades. My grades I suspect may not be as good as last years, or may just stay the same. However, although my grades are not getting better like one would assume they should, I personally feel like I am developing and improving, which I believe is more important. Because at the end of the degree, it's not about what garde I get, but about what kind of designer I am and what I can do.

Creative Report - Contacted Greta, Gabija and Gintare. Greta is super inspiring and fun, her advise was to always be yourself and to embrace your creativity. Gabija is a Graphic Designer and Illustrator, she at the time of the presentation had not replied to me yet, however, I find her work very interesting and fascinating how she combines illustration and graphic design. Gabija works at a design studio in Lithuania, her advise was to work hard, and she spoke about how working in a studio and a team allows your creativity and ideas to grow and become even better. 

My current online presence includes a website, Behance, Instagram and LinkedIn. However, my online presence does not reflect at all who I am as a designer or my personality. I need to start posting more actively and show off my personality and design style. My website at the moment is very simple and minimal, it needs to be more exciting and energetic, they way I am as a person. My LinkedIn profile is also quite plain, I do not have much of a biography or information about myself there. I also want to start posting articles on their that showcase my viewpoint on life and my ideas/opinions as a designer. My Behance is also fairly weak, I only have a few projects posted there and I am not too confident or happy with them, therefore I want to delete those and start posting only the work I love and am proud of. My Instagram I believe should be the one I at the moment pay most attention to, because I believe it is one of the best platforms to get put yourself out there and get your work noticed. I want to start posting not only my outcomes, but also the process of my designs, so that my feed could be more interesting and engaging. 

My plans for summer, as well as improving my social media and online presence, include: getting my driving licence, experimenting with and hopefully finding my illustration style, doing design challenges such as the 30 day type/logo challenge to have work to fill my portfolio, doing more photography and some internships/work experience. Work experience I already have planned is working at  the Marketing department alongside their in house designer, at the fabric manufacturing company Hainsworth. Although a first thought would be what does a fabric manufatoring company have to do with Graphic Design, but in fact all companies and businesses need graphic designers to maintain their identity. They need brochurs, magazines, labels, logos, adverts etc. Therefore, when the opportunity came around I decided to agree, because any experience at this will be useful for me, even if in the future I do not want to work for a corporate/company. I am also looking at getting an internship with a design studio, so that I can get experience within that side of the industry also, and then be able to compare them to see where I feel I fit in the most.

Studio Brief 3 - PPP Presentation Planning

Points to include. Not in a specific order.
1. Who are you? What makes you want to be a 'Creative'?
2. Creative Report. Who are you talking to and WHY? What problems and why you may have had trouble and what you have done to combat this. Are you keeping in touch with the people you contacted?
3. Pitching/Presenting. How do you feel pitching is NOW and is it getting easier?
4. YOU as an IDENTITY. What presences do you have online Web, Social and professional networks?
5. WHO has inspired your practice this past year through contacts, Exhibitions/talks podcasts etc?
6. WHAT MAIN THING can you identify that you feel has informed your current view on Graphic Design/Creativity this year and might inform Level 6 plans?
7. Placements over summer? Are you talking to people and what would stop you?

Things to Include in Presentation:

Who Am I?
- Migle Saveikyte
- Lithuanian
- 21 Years Old
- London/Leeds

Who Am I as a 'Creative'?
- Graphic Design & Illustration.
- Crafty personal projects.
- I've always loved Art and Craft since I was little, like most of us designers. Graphic Design gives a purpose to the work I create, it has a message and meaning, which makes the work at the end of the day feel more fulfilling.

What have I learnt this year?
- I'm way more passionate about my nationality.
- I love NOT living in student housing.
- I've enjoyed illustration. (It's in almost every project I've done).
- Time management is still an issue.
- I attempted After Effects for the first time, although I found it very stressful, I was very proud of myself by the end of it.

Creative Report?
- I've been trying to contact Lithuanian designers, unsuccessfully.
- It may be my limited knowledge of Lithuanian, I'm unable to fully express myself through email/message, but I'm too scared to call.
- Searching for people to contact I've found that the Lithuanian design industry is much larger than I initially thought. Lots of talented people.
- Have found it really enjoyable, but no one has replied yet.
- May just contact Leeds designers instead, which as they are more local, could later lead to internships/ job opportunities.

Pitching?
- I'm a confident person face to face, in casual conversation.
- However, when I'm presenting, I'm shaking. May not be able to tell, but I'm always very nervous.
- Nonetheless, I'm fairly good at presenting. Especially when I have practiced what I will say.

How has my views changed?
- Last year I thought I will be more of a commercial designer, however, I have discovered that the typical advertisement, editorial and promotion design I am not good at.
- I enjoy way more doing more unconventional and creative projects. More illustration & analogue crafty projects.
- My crafty projects could be applied to my practice, become a unique selling point of me as a designer.

Plans over summer?
- Internships.
- Part time work.
- Self-initiated illustration projects - utilise my new Wacom.
- Graphic Design challenges. eg. 30 day type challenge, 30 day logo challenge etc.
- Fill my portfolio with work I loved doing.
- Improve my website & social media presence.
- Do more photography.
- Maybe start a personal blog? Where I document my crafty projects and talk about my practice.

Level 6?
- Work more with After Effects/Motion Graphics.
- Focus more on what I enjoy. eg. analogue and illustration projects.
- Do work I would be proud to put in my portfolio.
- Focus on my views, and shape the briefs to fit those.

Networking/Connections?
- I'm asking people I know to connect me with potential opportunities.
Eg. Hainsworth leads to Hobs Repo.
- I will continue to email and message designers, even if they don't reply.
- Social Media presence: LinkedIn, Behance, Instagram (needs improving), Website (needs improving).

Studio Brief 1 - How I felt about it?

I found the 'Creative Report' very useful and engaging. Being Lithuanian, I choose to contact Lithuanian designers. This was because not only did I want to find out what the design industry is like in Lithuania, but also because I feel like their advice connects and benefits me more. I contacted several studios and individuals, but only 3 replied. BOY Studio, Gabija Platukyte and Greta Madline. I believe my lack in responses was due to my initial attitude towards the emails I sent. At first I tried to be very formal and professional so they would take me seriously, however, I found that this approach lacked personality. I felt as if I was writing the emails simply because I needed to, and not because I wanted to. After several attempts, I decided to take a different approach. Instead of being formal, I started writing to the people in a manner as if they were my friend, I kept it light hearted and fun. This approach instantly proved more successful, as I received responses faster. To everyone I contacted, I presented my questions in Lithuanian, I believe this made it more comfortable and easier for them to communicate with me.

Boy Studio's response was fairly disappointing, although I appreciate that they responded, the answers they gave were very minimal and not very exciting. 

Gabija Platukyte I contacted through Behance instead of email. This was because she is part of Etiquette studio, but I was interested more in her views than the studios as a whole. Her responses were far more engaging and useful. She gave some good advice and provided me with a basic insight into working within a studio, which I found interesting. 

Greta Madline was my favourite and most exciting person I contacted. As we had spoken to her through Skype earlier in the year, I already had a sense of her personality, which made it a lot easier to send her an email. My email to her, unlike previous emails to others, was very personal, energetic and whole-hearted. I wasn't afraid to tell her how I admire her, how I am writing her as part of my PPP module, and how I feel connected to her due to her not only being Lithuanian, but also an alumni of this university. Our emails to each other were very casual, contained emoticons and several jokes. Apart from the questions which I asked her in English, the rest we discussed in Lithuanian, which I believe gave us an easier understanding and connection between each other. I sent her the most questions, which contained both professional and more personal questions. I hope this made it more interesting for Greta to answer them, and as she was the person who replied with the biggest paragraphs to each question, I sense this was true. Her answers I find most beneficial, as she went into depth about each topic, and in the end really provided me with her thoughts and opinions which I really value and can reflect on for my own practice. At the end of her email, Greta prompted me to contact her if I am ever in Barcelona, Amsterdam or Lithuania so that we could meet for coffee. This really warmed my heart and made me excited. She is an individual that is full of enthusiasm and is someone I really look up to and get inspired by, so meeting her for coffee would be very pleasant and I hope this will happen. At the end of this experience, I feel very comfortable talking to Greta, and am planning on keeping in contact with her by possibly sending her some of my work to get feedback on, asking her more advice, and hopefully definitely meeting her for coffee. 

Overall, this studio brief was very interesting and I definitely benefited from it. It allowed me to discover how I should approach contacting and networking others in the future, and has made me more comfortable and confident in doing so. Over the summer holidays and into Level 6, I will continue to contact industry professionals that I find inspiring, and hope that in doing so I can not only improve my confidence and gain advice for my practice, but also open doors and opportunities for myself for when I graduate next year.