Shannaine Franklin
Professor Trofimova
Topics in Graphic Design
February 22, 2018
Assignment III: Class Three Reflection
The most important things I took from Class three where credibility, job searching and paychecks. To me, when Professor Trofimova asked the class “what we thought credibility meant?” The first thought I had was being know, being popular, being well-known. Because to me having credibility would have mean, building up a healthy clientele and having a thick portfolio of your skills. The answer that was given, was one word; visibility. Meaning the able to be seen. That could mean having an online presence on social media and having your work shared through the online community or having an online portfolio, physical portfolio or even pdf print out to showcase to clients, agencies and anyone that could lead to being a possible client; here in the present and also in the future as your skills develop.
In class credibility including a skill set list that would help a person gain success. Out of the list we went over I would say my strongest skill would be desire to succeed. I say this because of my living situation with my family. My family aren’t the best people to live with. There’s to much people living in one place, the space is small and everyone is angry with life and produce negative energy. I want to work harder and develop stronger skills so I can get enough money to leave this place and start healing for physical and mental well-being.
My weakest skill on that list would be self management. I don’t time mange properly. I’m always putting myself under a lot of pressure when it comes to school and getting money to provide for myself. My family does not feed, clothe or care for me. My Mom’s health insurance takes care of the medication I need for my Lupus, but that’s about it. I work the minimum amount of hours at Starbucks, to have enough money to eat and buy a metrocard to get around. I have not  bought clothes in a little over year now, it’s luxury I can’t afford. Right now I’m taking six classes and working three days a week. When that adds up, my only real day off; like I do not have to get up at four am to get ready for work or school, is Saturday. My schedule is always jam-packed, so I truthfully say I’m trying but I not putting out my best work.
The next topic we went to was job searching. I did not know much about getting a entry-level design job until last semester. I took a class with Professor Davis and he spoke about advertising agencies. Since it was Communication Design two class, we created advertisements across different channels in groups of two and three. I’m not sure if advertising is where I’m supposed to go, but the generalist and specialist conversation from last class got me thinking harder about what I want to do and where I’m going. Professor Trofimova introduced temp agencies, where designer gets work on and off from advertising agents that could lead from temporary jobs to permanent positions. I think that was incredible important for me to know and will be looking into the two temp agencies, 24/7 and Creativity Circle during the next school break. I want to get a feel of the real world, before I graduate in the next year.
The last topic that was important for me, was talking about the pay per hour, pay annually and the paycheck overall. Professor Trofimova broke down how payments should work freelancing and how pay works through companies. Freelancing, you should think about how many hours this project might take, multiply it by the base amount per hour you feel like you deserve and add an extra percent of that total, just to give you a little extra. While working for an agency or company, would should think about what your needs are, your lifestyle is and your skill set. But the most important thing to me, is having health insurance. I will have Lupus for the rest of my life and need money to keep up with my medications and physician appointments. I’m not saying I’m going to work for dirt, I’m just saying where my priorities lay. Â
