Since the end of Second Year, I have been working on the content and structure of my portfolio, ready to present it to different studios across Europe. I have produced, edited and attended portfolio reviews to ensure it is at the highest possible standard, and that I myself am happy with it.

I have conducted some minor research into possible studios where I could work, focusing primarily on ones situated in London due to COVID19. One of these studios is Jones Knowles Ritchie in Camden. I worked at the company previously whilst in Secondary School and therefore have contacts who could possibly secure me an internship. I am however hoping to apply to studios situated in Europe as well, allowing me a completely new and different experience. I aim by the end of August to contact at least one in Berlin alongside the London-based studios I have already researched.

The uncertainty of the current situation with COVID has held me back from applying to studios abroad which has gone against my plans, and caused me to consider applying to more studios in London than I had originally thought. I will also undertake some online courses to improve my skills from the safety and security of my own home. I will for the first few months of the DPS year, conduct a self-initiated project until I feel comfortable, and safe enough to live and work abroad.

This year as I am still in university, I want to secure experience across Europe, as without ERASMUS funding I would never be able to afford it. The chance to live away from home for the very first time will allow me to develop independence as well as basic life skills. It would push me out of my comfort zone and allow me to experience a whole new environment and way of living. The opportunity to work with designers across the world, will teach me to see and design in new ways, developing skills I would never have learnt in the familiarity of London. The whole new perspective will inspire my work and completely change the manner in which I approach the practice of design. I would love to work amongst as many different cultures as possible. Some of the cities where I want to secure internships include Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Amsterdam.

The past month has not been as productive as I had originally hoped due to the ever-changing situation. It has been distracting and has affected me making firm decisions about the immediate future. I have learnt that I really need to immerse myself into research and become excited about where the next year could take me, to ensure I don’t miss any opportunities it presents. However with the future so uncertain this has been very difficult. I need to ensure I am keeping up to date with COVID and know when I can apply to certain studios. I have learnt from my portfolio review that I need to be more positive about my work and submit it confidently instead of continuously working on it. I need to take risks to ensure I get the internships I want, and have an amazing DPS year. ​

By Breanna Herring

By Shazia Ismael 

I thought this would be a good opportunity to shamelessly plug my design Instagram @petiteshazia!

How would I define my plans for the next year of my life? A year of uncertainty. A year to be optimistic. A trial run for my future. Planning for this year has drastically changed over the last couple of months, but I guess that is exactly what life is about. It went from having a solid proposal outlining what I thought would be my plans for this year to starting from scratch, with new guidelines presented by the state of the current world.

My work placement at Disney three years ago lay the foundations for what career I would pursue. I went from someone who was set on doing a degree in English Literature to one studying Graphic and Media Design. In the past two years, I have learnt that my strengths are Editorial Design, Designing for screen and concept development. These are skills I want to explore further this year. As we are advised to overcome rigid ideals and grow into different practices. My skillset has grown as I've become more confident using various programs. I want to explore ways of working (pun was definitely intended) in the design industry and hopefully figure out plans after university. 

COVID19 is proof that life is ever-changing. I’m sure that a lot of the other entries look at its effects. What we once may have seen as abnormal behaviour has become the ‘new normal’. From sitting in studios and lecture halls to sitting wherever the wifi is the strongest be it the living room, bedroom or even the kitchen. Even people like James Corden are moving from a large TV studio to a garage to make sure that the public gets the Late Late Show. It shows how fast we, as a human race, adapt to keep our world moving. I wish to use this year as a learning curb on adaptation as this is a skill needed when working with clients. It becomes a skill application when virtually talking to companies in the hopes that they take us under their wings, even if it is just for a little while.

Another major thing that I have learnt about myself through my projects this year is I want to use my practice to please people but also create work that represents my values, my style and my culture. To inspire people to embrace their backgrounds, use what they know to make a difference. This will be worked upon this year through Self Initiated Projects.

To put it simply I want to try everything I possibly can this year be it an internship, competition or self-initiated project!

​People have told me I live in a fairytale if that's the case this year is just another chapter. I will use this year as a free trial on Netflix except this will be a free trial before the real world. So here’s to my 24-week free trial!

My own visual response to my first blog post.

Author: Chiara Adele Ruozzo 
Instagram: @c.ruozzoarchive
DPS blog: @roitzroitz

​Since embarking on DPS in February and preparing myself for the year ahead I have done a lot of reflecting; in my work, myself, and where I’d like to see myself in the upcoming year.
In terms of where I am currently, I am in the process of refreshing my portfolio and making it more applicable and focused for what I’d like to work in; using the year ahead to explore illustration, animation and motion graphics opportunities, as well as others.
I also want to use the year to collaborate with other students to create work that isn’t restricted by clients briefs, and use this as a means to investigate more playful options in our work. 
 
Since planning my first proposal I feel that a lot of things have changed with how I originally wanted to spend my DPS year, and due to the devastating circumstances of the world currently with COVID-19, I had to change some things around, such as using Erasmus to travel and work abroad, as this is not currently possible. This being said, I am open to the possibility of traveling abroad sometime within the DPS year if at the time I feel that it is safe to travel.
 
When searching for some internships around me, I was able to find a few that I would like to apply for such as Blue zoo studios who are an animation production company that have worked with Disney, BBC, and others to create advertisements, tv shows, or short films. As well as DW studios, who are a CGI Visualisation company who have worked with Network Rail and Dyson, and currently have an opening for a junior motion designer.
I also want to use the opportunities to build up my skill in software that is quickly becoming industry standard for my field of practice, such as After Effects, blender, Maya, and others.
 
Later in the DPS Year depending on the global situation, I would like to look into Erasmus, internships abroad and residencies, as I feel that this would help to take me out of my comfort zone, and allow me to meet new people and network globally.
One place I have been eying up is the Swedish BluBlu Studios, a multi-award winning animation production company, who have worked alongside clients such as The New York Times, Nickelodeon and others; from doing research, they don’t currently have any internships available but I will do more research, and will send my portfolio to them when its ready.
 
Overall from the beginning of DPS to where I am currently, not a lot has changed. Though the state of the world has changed drastically, my goals for the upcoming year to build my skill set and professional experience haven’t changed, and I feel that this is still obtainable. Even though things may have changed and will continue to change, I want to make the most of this year and feel that the best way is to dive in, headfirst.

Pictures from portfolio and recent projects.

The reason I applied to study at LCC was to do this DPS year and gain knowledge / crucial experience in areas of design (such as branding + visual identity) but with more of an open-minded approach. By starting to research different studios such as Pentagram, North and Praline (to name a few in the UK) who focus on creating innovative branding and graphic communication is an inspiration for my own creative practise. This idea of the year for me has changed slightly with COVID-19, with plans of going abroad potentially delayed till the later half of the year but I am still keen to get experience within London from studios and through my own SIPPs. 

Within my own work and studying at LCC, I have seen a shift in my discipline; looking at greater fields of design and wanting to be a multi-disciplinary designer, capable of tackling a variety of briefs and adapting my skills accordingly. I have spent the past couple of weeks working on my own identity: and how I can visually express this adaptability I possess as an individual. My logo is based of the Slash punctuation mark because like the symbol, I feel as a designer I am adaptable and able to offer more just how this mark can express more information in a sentence. This leads into my previous experience and interests in areas of design such as branding / visual identity / UX / typography / exhibition design / photography / editorial design / art direction. 

Below shows examples of my projects and my website, which I have designed to express my interest in strong visual communication and use of typography. In terms of branding, I feel I am naturally drawn towards less corporate design but working for studios that have done projects for the Arts and Culture sector, potentially looking into branding for exhibitions, shows and various other social causes within this sector. This is something that I would like to research more into throughout this year, or generating my own projects relating to this. Not only focusing on this, but other work relating to music as well as creating my own publication interests me as well. 

I have managed to secure my first internship with Mercato Metropolitano, where Anne Nestler and I applied for a dream pitch which resulted in us working with them to help create a App. I am very excited for this opportunity, especially gaining experience working with the MM team and helping to build my own expectations of working closely with such an interesting company. This starts in September. 

I am excited to see what comes from this year, and how my style and interests might develop working with different studios / projects which could potentially feed into my final year of GMD when I return. 

Website:  jakerichardson.uk 
Instagram: jake.richardson__

​This screenshot is from my website, showing my new logo and different examples of work. 

Lilla Cseh - GMD student

   I could phrase this in many different ways, but the journey can explain various levels I'm going through. At the start of 2020, everyone imagined their year as challenging and out of the comfort experience already, but everything turned out to be even more challenging. At the beginning of the pandemic, the DPS team helped me to get on with work and try my best even online. After I finished my second year's assignments, I put more work into my portfolio and website to highlight my projects for the application process. 
https://lillacseh.com/

While I was working on showcasing my work, I dived into research to find fitting studios and other placements. I haven't received any places yet, but I still feel like the DPS was the right choice for me to recognise my worries that set me back from making contact with professional studios. I was expecting to experience different design cultures through European studios, the expectation changed slightly with understanding the need to stay safe during the pandemic, but my ambitions stayed strong to achieve the best year to learn new things. I learned new skills while creating my website and also found help through various websites like skillshare to understand programs and new exciting solutions in 3D design, poster design and digital design as a collective.

​
During the second year, we created a small group to enter D&AD New Blood Awards with a BBC brief, this project is probably the longest project I've ever done we worked on it for many months until summer and in the end, we managed to create something we're proud of even though our entry didn't win I recognise this project as a win for us to work with brilliant designers that we met during the PPU unit. Our project focused on the connection with our surroundings and how we can connect Tv shows with our reality through Augmented Reality showcased in a pitch video. With this project, we created something new we never have done before so the excitement was there to build from each other's knowledge and the reason I'm detailing this project is that my expectations for my placements are for the challenge of meeting fresh minded people to work with on exciting projects and to meet accomplished designers on these placements like at Pentagram, BBC Creative, Spin, Landor.
​https://lillacseh.com/BBC-X

​In the future, my aim is to get my projects out for people to see because I tend to procrastinate on how long I work on it, just like with my portfolio. During summer I determined myself to concentrate on myself as an individual to understand my next year and work the best I can. I stuck in my country (Hungary) for a long time now because of the pandemic and I decided to be alright with not doing much one day but then put my best into the work the next day. 
How did my ambitions change? My main focus was mainly on gaining new knowledge that I didn't have the previous day so I'm working towards the goal of becoming more aware of the design field and the options I create for myself to succeed later on.

Thank you for reading,
Lilla Cseh
https://lillacseh.com/

DPS is my wisest decision. During February, I had already decided that I would return to my country looking for some internship and freelance work. After the outbreak of COVID-19, I return to my country in March. It seems that my 2020 will be spent at here.
I always want to be freelance illustrator, so in May I started participating in various competitions initiated by brands, such as Huawei’s wallpaper design. Although I didn’t win the award among thousands of participants, I started to accumulate my cases through this method, and I can come up with a template when the client needs me. My current customers are mostly local brands. I have made food packaging for two food companies and a social platform icon for a bank. But these are short-term freelance jobs, I finished them very quickly, and the remaining time to prepare my skills.
I also started to participate in an online sketching activity in an online sketching studio. I draw eight sketches everyday. I gradually tried to use different media to draw sketches. After getting used to traditional materials, I turned to Computer drawing is much slower than my hand drawing. The continuous accumulation in the sketching studio gave me lucky enough to get a job as a sketching assistant, but I think the internship year has not officially started. I may go to another studio in October, so I did not fill in the work placement agreement.
There is so many things need to prepare to be my ideal illustrator and time is not enough.
In addition of traditional illustrations, I also want to do gif, animation, character design, concept art, children's book, etc. I took three online classes of brand illustration, animation, graphic novels and comic, it's all the knowledge I want to learn. I also found the MICA's illustration course arrangement, referring to their student works and the subject content of the course, and arranged for myself a certain stage of illustration project. I started to list the famous international illustration competitions and figured out which ones to participate in during the DPS.​
Daily online classes and illustration self-project take up most of my time. At the same time, I also sent my cv to company or studio. A health care company wants me to be their advertising graphic designer. However, I am wary of this seemingly easy job. Most of my colleagues are not in the art industry, which means that my design should not be easy to be challenged. It is simple, but the knowledge I can learned from this job is limited.
I really want to go for an art intern in an advertising company. In that company, a friend of mine is willing to recommend me, but after sharing my portfolio with her, she thinks that I still lack some high-level skills. I need to draw illustrations in AI or PS, using all the Adobe software to do the Graphic design and illustration, make them to be gif.
"In the company, you need know all software skills, draw a lot of different style of illustration." I feel a lot of pressure. Although I can go to that health care company as a graphic designer in October, I think The advertising  company's internship experience and the medical company's experience are two completely different levels. How to connect with the brand in the advertising company and draw the illustrations that the brand needs. Such experience must be precious to freelance illustrators.
I plan to spend more time to learn some AI illustration and gif courses after I finish my online class in August. I need to practice more every day to master it. And I also have a 24-page illustration book for an illustration competition, which ends at the 20th of September. I am excited about the heavy tasks to come, and hope that the works in the next two months will allow me to successfully go to my Dream company.

By
Zixuan Zhou

​I began my second year (and DPS) with the goal of better figuring out what I’d like to focus on, be it Motion, Branding, 3D or a combination of all 3, and really get in there and put in the time to make things I can be kinda proud of, or at least not suck so hard at them.  
With each DPS session I realised I may had developed a tunnel vision in that regard, and while that is still my goal....maybe I should be open to things that I’m not as used to, like designing for the greater good (whatever that means), as opposed to developing slick designs for corporate brands, travel the world to volunteer and try new stuff, as opposed to just finding the next gig, and really try to make work that's intentional, as opposed to create aimlessly for the sake of just ‘making something’. It’s a lot to take in and still wrapping my head around it all - I’m a slow learner. ​

Now, addressing the elephant in the room (or blog, if you will), COVID-19 really screwed us students, teachers, staff and basically everyone on earth over, in a way no one so coming. Some real dystopian BS right there. ​

​I strongly believed this extra year could’ve given me the chance to live a bit more ‘adventurously’, grow as a creative and understand how the industry works, whilst slowly integrating within it and start maturing professionally, not for the sake of filling up my LinkedIn profile, but get a better grip at this whole Design thing and prove to myself I can get paid to do stuff with shapes, colours and text – that's the dream 👌🏾. ​

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​Until the next one, stay safe and wear your mask 👋🏾 ​