University Choices

Going to university open days was always intimidating; not knowing what was going on or what path I wanted to take, truly frightened me. It was not until an open day in 2018 that I realised the course I wanted to take, Graphic Design. Looking around the university I was inspired by the students work, the range of creativity and style and the ability to go off and be free with my work is what drew me to this course. Leaving the open day, I was completely consumed with new ideas for my creative courses and experimented with more colour and working digitally and manually later in the year. I went on to create logos, GIFs, and a magazine front cover.  This allowed me to incorporate many creative elements such as photography, font making, and creating my own backgrounds. 

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From a young age I was always encouraged to be creative and was often found drawing or painting and visiting art galleries. Growing up, I went on to take a GCSE in Art, an A level in Photography, and a BTEC in Digital Design and am currently taking a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design. In this course I have taken a number of workshops which has let me experiment with different media and learn how to use different equipment. The print workshop helped me work with different mediums and encouraged me to think a lot more about colour matching and positioning. Within the course so far, I have been able to create my own installation, as well as do typography work, making a head piece out of paper, and took part in a 3D, print, and drawing workshop. The skills I have attained so far in this course have improved my editing skills when creating work and have developed my idea making skills allowing me to be more creative and adventurous within my projects. Looking at graphic designers such as Kate Moross, Jessica Walsh, and Milton Glaser helped me look more into colour, presentation, and patterns. These artists work quite digitally and all experiment with different colour combinations. In recent years I have specialised in photography and digital design which gives me a greater understanding of presentation and means I am particularly confident in using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. When taking this degree, I hope to gain a greater depth of expertise and continue to experiment in different medias.

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In summer of 2019, I helped at the Rapport Festival, a Brixton based annual arts festival which showcases the work of the African diaspora. While there I was fortunate enough to be able to work with, and help photographer Eddie Otchere with a darkroom photography workshop. We helped people use SLR cameras and develop their film and images in the darkroom. As well as allowing me to be immersed in a creative environment it also helped develop my confidence and ability to speak in front of a group of people. I also gained cooperative and organisational skills. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 I was unable to help last year as Rapport became an online film festival for that year.  I’m hoping to help out again this year and am currently involved in the design of Rapport’s promotional material for 2021.

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In the past year I have visited multiple online exhibitions at the Design Museum, where I looked at a Women at Work Exhibition which looked at typefaces and road signs. I also looked at Tate Modern, looking at light and installations with Bruce Nauman and at more photography-based work with Dóra Maurer and Robert Mapplethorpe. These artists have helped inspire my own work as I am currently looking into light and dark and am experimenting more with image manipulations. 

I enjoy composing music and playing the piano.  I have been playing the piano for several years and have e completed my grade 6 piano exam.  

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I believe that I would be a great Graphic Design student as I am motivated, dedicated and extremely enthusiastic about the creative arts and hope to continue doing what I do best and enjoy most.  My ambition is to work in the creative industry.