First day in my Topics and design class was much more interesting then I thought it would be. We started reviewing our past art history so we can really understand the core of different design trends. We reviewed the Bauhaus, Art Deco, dada, and other periods. I honestly forgot a bit of my art history due to taking the art history courses a while back. Even so, her review brought a couple of information back and I am looking forward to the professor going over a few more reviews. Remembering our history is crucial in the design field in order to understand why certain designs have to be done a certain way. This applies to me as an Advertisement designer because knowing history can support and strengthen a design concept and express it better. I have to research what is an effective way to reach my target audience and create strong concepts and campaigns through graphic design. I feel as if I am an advertisement and graphic designer because I have skills in both, they truly go hand in hand.

         We went also went over two videos, one pertaining to a Ted Talk about doodling and the other on a Pixar short film. The video on doodling was very interesting because the speaker talks about how doodling actually makes thinking and understanding information better. In college and in work, doodling is looked as disrespect and is frowned upon. It’s the reason I never do it and just focus on what I have to do whether that may be listening or getting something done. Now that I understand that doodling actually strengthens your train of thought I will try to do it more often. When being creative is very easy to lose inspiration and to get lost in between details, so I’m sure doodling will help me now in those situations.

The award-winning Pixar short film was such a simple video with so many meaningful messages. It was about a baby Siegel learning to be independent amongst other things. Such as being open to new experiences, making mistakes and learning from them, adjusting to different situations and making it work for you, learning to be adventurous, careful and fearless. I understand why the professor showed us this video. In those brief minutes, I learned that as a student I face a lot of obstacles just getting to graduation and I will face much more afterward. I’m going to be put in many situations where I will feel like I want to give up but I will have to be positive and make those obstacles work for me. I also learned that if that Siegel wouldn’t go the extra mile and stay under the water, he wouldn’t see how beautiful the sea really is and how rewarding it can be. It relates to me because I will have to push myself above and beyond in order to reap the benefits in this creative field.

In order to succeed, I also have to be prepared prior to graduation and that is by being informed of what’s to come. That’s why my favorite part of this class was when the professor made time for all our questions regarding on how to be prepared to get into the real world. Questions ranged from how to prepare a portfolio, freelance vs. agency to actually working with clients in the field. The professor answered some and others she said she would elaborate more in detail, next class. From the answers she gave I did learn two important things. One is that I should not freelance after college but try to get into an agency or company because it’s a stable position and I can build clientele. Second is that freelancing is much more than doing a design and getting paid for it. There are a lot of responsibilities involved such as creating a contract, and a detailed proposal of the job. That takes someone with experience to really know how to handle everything that comes along with freelancing.

I have never had a professor who has done this before and I’m grateful to know that after this class I will have many of my questions answered in order to be fully prepared to step into starting my creative career as a designer and ultimate goal to become an art director perhaps 10 years from now.