Where I am going.

I have many ambitions for where I would like to be in the near future. Some are more important to me than others but my aim would be to achieve them all in the near future.

The main goal I am aiming to achieve at the moment is to pass the FdA Web Design course. Although I would be happy to just pass, ideally I would like a merit or distinction and have been working very hard to try and achieve this. Completing the course should give me the basic skills required,  making me more employable within the web design industry.

After completing the course I would like to top up my FdA to a full degree at Wakefield University Centre. If the course is not available there, then I will look into other local universities to see who provides the best course to meet my requirements.

By doing the top up to a degree level I am hoping it will provide me with more  in depth skills and that will improve my chances of gaining employment into the web design industry.

Once I have completed the top up to a degree level I would like to gain employment into the web design industry preferably for a company working with a large portfolio of well known clients.

Job & client satisfaction is something that is extremely important to me. I would like to think that I give 100% in all my work. If a client is happy with the end product they are more likely to use you again in the future. By producing excellent designs for them they will recommend you to other clients. For this reason I would like to work for a company who has the same values as I think job satisfaction plays a very important role as if you don’t enjoy what your doing you wont produce your best work.

Whilst I am in employment my aim is to learn new skills such as Java and Flash to widen my employability.

After gaining good recommendations from clients and acquiring all the skills I need I would like to setup my own company within the web design industry, building the company up and eventually employing a skilled workforce.

I have a lot of targets for the next few years, so here is a list of what I aim to achieve:

• Complete the FdA web design course.
• Gain a degree to improve employability.
• Seek employment within the web design industry.
• Learn new skills and develop existing ones.

Word Count: 421

Where am I now.

I started web design in September 09.

Since starting the course I feel that my confidence has grown. Were as in the past I was afraid to voice my ideas in case they where wrong. I am now more proactive in group discussions. This is largely due to the number of group presentations which involved me presenting to the group on a specific topic. When I found out that I would be expected to do a presentation in front of the group I was very nervous. Now I find that the more presentations I do the more confident I get. I still wouldn’t say I enjoy standing up in front of people and presenting but at least now its less terrifying.

I recently completed the Honey & Mumford learning questionnaire where I found my learning style was an Activist. From reading the description of what an Activist is I thought that it described me well, but didn’t agree with everything it stated. As the questionnaire states, I learn best when:
I’m involved with other people (sharing Ideas).
There is excitement/drama/crisis.
I’m dropped in the deep end with a difficult/challenging task.

All of these I do agree with and feel it describes me well.
However a few of the points saying I find it difficult to learn when:
You have a lot of limelight.
You have precise instructions to follow with little room to maneuver.

I strongly disagree with. I prefer to receive precise instructions so I know exactly what is expected of me.

Academically since starting the course I feel that I have learned many new skills that are important and will help me progress to a career in the web design industry and these skills are also recognised by practicing web designers such as Andy Rutledge.

I have just received the result for my first assignment which I am ecstatic to say that I passed. I had been extremely nervous throughout the day as I knew we would be receiving the results from our assignment. Report writing isn’t my strong point so was worried I would fail. I was second to last in the group to receive my results, this didn’t help.  People were coming back elated with their results. I became increasingly anxious that I would be one of the only ones or the only one to fail. However putting all the extra time and effort paid off.

So far I have learned how to use InDesign which has enabled me to use a much wider range of tools such as grids to create a better quality of document than I was able to do before in other software’s. This means the documents I am creating are a lot better looking and more professional.

We recently learned the PARC principles (Proximity, Alignment, Repetition, Contrast) which I can clearly see how using these principles will help me to create effective designs in the future.

Currently I am learning Typography which I have to say I was surprised at how big a topic Typography is. Originally I thought it was just about what basic typeface to use where. But I have learned there is so much more to it than that, each typeface has a history, its own defining characteristics, each typeface comes in different weights, Kerning and Leading just to name a few. Currently I am trying to learn 54 typefaces by sight for an exam so that if a word is written in this typeface I can identify which typeface it is. As well as trying to learn the typefaces by name I am also trying to learn all the features and terms related to it in typography. I have to say I am struggling with this I can recognize the typefaces but just can’t remember the names of them.

The biggest surprise I found when doing the course was how important good English skills are and the importance of spelling and grammar. From reading an article by a company who rejected a number of applicants due to poor English and grammar really highlighted to me exactly how important it is.
Because of this I have spent a lot more time trying to ensure my spelling and grammar is correct.

Overall I think my skills as a web designer have improved but I would say that I am at beginners level due to me knowing a few aspects of web design but not being skilled enough to go into industry.

Word Count 742

Where I have come from.

From a very young age I was very curious about computers and what they did. So much so I managed to stick my uncle’s keyboard up with my hands caked in jam after eating a jam sandwich. I was only at crawling stage at the time so didn’t know any better. Throughout my childhood I could always be found at a computer.

I left school at 16 with little to show for it as my grades were poor even though I passed my GCSE exams it wasn’t with flying colours. The one thing that I did enjoy and appeared to have a talent for is computers. This prompted me to sign on to further education at RCAT (Rotherham College of Arts and Technology) where I studied three different courses to do with computers. The highest being a HND in business IT.

After leaving RCAT I had various jobs but none that tested my computer skills, this was until I started working for First Data International. For the first two years I was happy there until my life started to fall apart. My girlfriend and I split up. A new job I was due to start fell through the day before I was due to start it. Needless to say I was gutted, I had to go to my employer and ask them for my job back. They couldn’t accommodate in my old department and said I would have to work in sales. I was suffering from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), but on top of that I started to get severely depressed, I was being sick, crying and constant trembling. I was at breaking point and was considering ending my life as I couldn’t take anymore.

My mum made me go to the doctors, who were very worried and sent me straight to the hospital and if it wasn’t for my mum saying I could go home with her they would have admitted me. I received visits at home from the councillors who along with my mum and doctor were very supportive.

First Data International offered voluntary redundancy to staff so I took it.

I started working as a lift engineer with my dad but hated it. Due to the recession the work dried up and I was forced to sign on the dole.

I had talked about going back to college and my girlfriend and family encouraged this. I’d done web design as part of my IT course and thoroughly enjoyed it. So I looked into different courses which would develop my skills in Web Design. I applied to Wakefield College to study FdA Web Design. I was excited but nervous on discovering I had an interview. When I was accepted I was over the moon. This leaves me to where I am today. I just hope I’ve made the right choice.

Word Count 471