Kyasia Brown
COMD 3503
January 31, 2017
This week’s class centered around how students should present themselves as graphic designers and as such, the professor pushed forward an open dialogue about any and all questions we had in regard to her work experience (one that spans over 20 years in the arts). We had a brief break after being told typical syllabus things before she introduced the class more fleshed out.
Firstly, she gave valuable advice for portfolio layout, she explicitly said not to overload our portfolio with fluff and to instead put our very best piece first and our second best last to leave a good impression on viewers. She also told us to prepare and present our portfolio, cover letters and resume well because it’s all about presentation even when going on interviews.
Although a variety of subject matter was touched upon, she left the questions to delve deeper in to during the coming weeks such as resume, internship opportunities and networking to confidently meet more people in the field. In the future, for our midterm we will have to participate in a networking event for a grade. It’s one I feel will be difficult but very useful for the future.
We also watched an award winning short film that showed a small chick get over it’s fear of water and get it’s feet wet literally which the professor and students correlated to getting out of your comfort zone because it isn’t as scary as it might seem at first. In the end the chick ended up enjoying the water and being able to coexist with the adults because of it.
To be honest my impression of the class was that it was going to be a mash up of everything we’ve learned in the earlier COMD classes. A friend told me it would be ‘easy’ and would be a rehash of corporate identity and branding. On the contrary, I feel like most of these classes vary by professor and of course I was right. The class feels like it’s more of a preparatory class for the real world which is what I appreciate more than an ‘easy’ class that’s identical to another class. Because after this semester I will be taking senior classes, it’s important that I’m prepared for the real deal before next fall.
