Graduation

Yesterday, four months after finishing university, I eventually graduated along with my class mates at Chester cathedral. Before the ceremony I had been nervous about being on stage because I am really clumsy and not much into being on a stage, but thankfully being on stage lasted about 8 seconds and I didn't trip.

Halloween is quite an unusual date for a graduation as most others tend to be in the summer, however, it did give us all a chance to catch up with each other and discuss what we had been doing since June. It is quite nice to finally have some closure on my uni time, although I loved it, it's definitely time to move into a career in design.

I managed to drag my boyfriend and parents to the event without them complaining too much despite it being cold and the ceremony being quite long. It's no secret that I hate having my photo taken so here are a few awkward shots I took on my phone.

Also this is my 50th post which seems pretty appropriate :)

Nic looking forward to graduation

Lorna & I before we were seated

Me looking like a tool in Starbucks

Sam & I posing in a sports hall

Updates & The Tate

My blog has suffered a little lately for a range of reasons, one of said reasons is that I had been preparing for a busy week of interviews and meetings and have been working hard to make my portfolio look the best it possibly could.

This week I visited a company that wanted to discuss ways they could promote their 20th anniversary through branding, packaging and promotion and invited me to pitch for the job. This was really exciting as it was something I had little experience of at uni but would definitely be useful for a future in the design industry.

On Tuesday I made my way down to London for an interview about an internship in South Kensington with a small agency that worked with a number of large clients. The interview was more informal than I had been expecting but the interviewer gave me some great feedback which has helped me improve my interview technique.

On Wednesday I got the chance to meet one of the fantastic companies that I had sent my "Lemon Post" to when I was kindly invited to their studio to discuss my portfolio and learn more about the company. Having been to an interview the previous day in London I felt much more prepared and took several work examples, my iPad full with photos and my portfolio. This might seem quite excessive but I was happy to feel that I could answer any question and talk with confidence about my work and my ideas. I felt that the meeting went well and I left a few promotional items with them in the hope they would email me back with some feedback.

It really helped me to research the company in detail beforehand as I could compare my own work to theirs and find similarities and common interests. I think this also shows how much you want to work for the company that you take such an interest.

In general the past few days have been quite successful and I feel that I am getting somewhere with my job hunt and that perseverance and dedication will pay off in the end.

In the mean time these are some photos from The Tate Modern. I particularly enjoyed the new exhibitions in "The Tanks" which you can see here. I do enjoy art but some of the pieces I saw did throw me a bit, but see what you think for yourself and please excuse the iPhone snaps. 

St. Pauls

"The Tanks" new Tate exhibition

Jeff Keen's vibrant pop art instillation  

 

Picasso 

My mum enjoying the work on show

One of the pieces I found hard to understand...

Cheeky Krispy Kreme at the end of the day

Degree Show

If you follow me on twitter then you have probably seen me talking about the degree show over the past few weeks. The exhibition requires months of prior planning on top of our already busy schedules to ensure that the show is presented in the best way possible.

I have been quite heavily involved for a number of weeks collating an image and statement from each exhibiting student, editing and adjusting it and then making it into an individual postcard. Luckily I have had the help of a crack team of individuals; Nic and Lorna, to help turn the postcards around.

I really wanted to get involved with the show because I could ensure the outcomes were to a good standard and something we could be proud to present. However, dealing with such a large number of people you don't know and can't rely on can be challenging, but ultimately rewarding when you eventually organise the situation.

The process has been pretty stressful at times when trying to get required images from certain people and trying to explain what DPI is to fine artists. Hopefully within the week the postcards will be sent off to print ready for the degree show and we will end up with some great promotional items.

These are some images of the degree show in progress. This week I have been painting my wall space, getting covered in paint and building my plinth (I made it myself, from scratch and using tools like a pro)

Business Plan & Business Offer

One of the modules I am studying this year requires teams to make a business plan, I did do business at college but I was rubbish, despite this I was interested in finding out how to go about creating a professional plan and what would be involved. I was put into a group with Sophie and James and we quickly settled on a concept of live music events and a name; Phunk A Saurus Events.

The idea is that we would hold live music events in Chester, Warrington, Liverpool and Manchester once a week with a larger act and some local unsigned talent. We wanted to promote grass roots talent and give them the platform to perform with larger acts but also give the audience an intimate live experience. The concept was real but we didn't have to go as far as actually holding events, just enquire about prices and venue information.

Each week we had to create a presentation and have roles within the "business", for some reason I was in charge of finances, I am not a maths brain but the calculations were pretty much common sense and it all worked out right. The final assessment of the module was a presentation in front of a board of people in a Dragon's Den style plus create a physical business plan. My group wanted ours to be printed on newspaper in a "zine" style which was complex to work out initially as the GSM of newsprint is so low it can't be used by most printers. Despite the complications we did eventually manage to print our zine business plan and our presentation seemed to go really smoothly.

A few weeks later we were told by our lecturer that one of the board members had been impressed with our business plan and wanted to help us get the idea off the ground, giving us free business advice and helping us get a loan. It was so great that someone actually saw potential in Phunk A Saurus and we defiantly put the hours in so maybe it will be a reality one day.

Phunk A Saurus logo.