Pre March 2020, I was an enthusiastic visual artist ready to claw my way in to any area of the creative industry that would take me, whether I was suited for it or not. In my DPS proposal I put forward an ambitious timeline for the year in which I would experience the worlds of freelance Illustration, studio animation, and Multi-disciplinary Branding, with a smattering of world travel thrown in for good measure. While I cannot truly say that I am no longer this person and no longer have these ambitions, watching the events of the last 6 months through my bedroom window has impacted my wide eyed optimism somewhat, it has to be said. However, to be a creative is to crawl through the deluge of life experience and make meaning in any way you can. And so, at the end of June I sent out a wave of applications to all manner of placements that might just be looking for someone like me. I was lucky enough to receive a response from a company whose values align with my own, a community interest group currently known as ‘The South London Club’. Offering discounts across London on a wide variety of independent businesses such as Art Galleries, Restaurants, Café’s and Bars through their card scheme, and responsible for the excellent ‘Covid-19 Local Small Business Directory’ The South London Club also sells Art prints of Monuments and Landmarks throughout South London. In the coming months, this service is to be launched across greater London (I probably shouldn’t put the name here on the internet for, you know, retaining my employment reasons). My position within the company is currently in re-designing the Architectural Print series, and creating Branding materials such as Website headers and Card designs. Fig. 1 shows an example of this work, with Fig. 2 a Work in Progress of an Illustrated map of London I am currently producing for the company. My Placement with The South London Club is set to last at least 6 months, with the opportunity to continue for a full year should this be something I, and the company, feel would be successful. However, while this is acting as a my 9-5 activity, there are a number of independent projects I am currently undertaking which are set to continue throughout the DPS year. The primary project is my comic ‘Tea and Biscuits’, following two young women, Shauna and Annie, as they navigate life and relationships as young adults with the backdrop of modern day London – a very original idea not at all derived from me also being a young woman in modern day London. (fig. 3) I aim to have a chapter of this published every other month, however ideally this upload schedule will be more regular as I am currently working on multiple chapters. In addition to this, I am currently aiming to enter or respond to at least 6 open calls and competitions throughout the DPS year, as I have often found I make my best work when challenged by an exterior brief to produce work out of my comfort zone within a deadline. I began this by entering the Tate Collective Open Call with my digital response to Sir John Everett Millais’ Ophelia (fig. 4) Currently, it is a little difficult to make grand plans for the future. However, as we embark on what I am sure will be one of the most exciting and terrifying years in our education, there’s something to be said for the great uncertainty and possibility of the next 12 months, and the opportunity of everything that awaits.
Thanks for reading, Elizabeth Stephenson www.leechstephenson.com
0 Comments
Starting the DPS courses I learned about the design industry outside university by listening to talks from professionals. As I'm not sure about what I want to do in my future, I learned that I'm not the only one and that even people who are already working, still explore the world of design seeking out for opportunities constantly. Additionally, it showed me how privileged I am as I can use UAL's facilities to learn new skill. A key reason that persuaded me to attend a year in industry is, that it offers the opportunity for students to get out in the working world, gathering new skills, learning from and networking with professionals before graduation. Before the outbreak of COVID-19 I imagined a year full of different practices in places around the world. I wanted to explore a variety of subjects within design and was planning on getting to know the marketing and management side of a business. During my degree I realised the huge amount of techniques which I'm not familiar with yet and would like to explore. Because of that, I tried to gather as many skills as possible when working on course projects, learning new software, when I needed it to implement concepts. However, I felt like I wanted to expand my horizon, getting out in the working world, experiencing design from a different perspective. I was intrigued to apply for a variety of placements, also to understand what I would like the most or even dislike. Additionally, I hoped that would help me in my final year and after my degree. Then the outbreak of coronavirus happened. Suddenly nobody knew what the future would bring for us. The classes were moved online and I wasn't sure if I would be able to find any placements, as the job market change drastically. For a short time I didn't know if I should proceed with the DPS year or if I should rather finish my bachelor degree first. Nevertheless, I still attended classes, looked for potential internships and hoped for the best. The fact that I had to prepare my portfolio, learned how to sell my work and myself, built a website and an instagram taught me a lot already. First, I was insecure about my work until I started to present it professionally, feeling proud and confident in what I've produced so far. That persuaded me to start applying for internships. I am still looking for placements across the world but I'm more open to spontaneous opportunities.
Fortunately, I received an email about the Mercato Metropolitano "DreaMM pitch" competition which a peer and I attended presenting our "coMMunity app" concept. We made the top 10 and got an internship offered until the end of this year. This competition taught me how to sell my concept professionally and showed me how dedicated and focused we can work together, considering that we had to communicate exclusively online. Because of the internship offer, we started dealing with formalities such as negotiations and setting up contracts. I feel relieve that we have help from LCC's alumni and lucky that I take part in a DPS year as I would have to deal with all those formalities after university alone. This internship assured me that I'm attending DPS. |
Archives
December 2021
Categories |