PPP WORKSHOP 26.10.18
The workshop began with a quick fire task asking us to "empty our brains" of any anxieties or worries which we may have about the world of graphic design, particularly about this year of study and what happens after graduation, allowing us to get these anxieties out there on paper, not thinking about them too much.
Based on this we then chose one of these anxieties we wanted to elaborate on and wrote about this anxiety in a bit more detail on a large sheet of paper. This then set us up for a "creative speed dating" task whereby we would swap spaces every two minutes, adding to the next person's anxiety, stating whether or not we have the same anxiety, what other problems may surround this, any other questions we may have regarding this, as well as offering potential solutions to the problem through the form of written words and small pictorial illustrations.
As a group, these anxieties were then discussed as a whole and the group ranked them from one to three, from the most important to the third most important to us. In our particular group all the anxieties seemed to have a similar direction, focusing on the potential problems associated with getting a job after graduation, for instance, worrying we do not have all the relevant skills needed for a design job or worrying that these skills are not at a high enough level of ability to be suitable for a job, the idea of having limited experience in the design field as a student who has only just graduated.
Some advice gained from this was that you should not take part in too many competition briefs, or at least not put too many of these in your portfolio, since this doesn't show people and employers who you are as a creative more personally. The only thing which sets us apart as students or professionals is if you tell someone you are a student. If you have more confidence in yourself and your portfolio is at a high standard then there is no reason why you shouldn't get a job after graduating, even with the limited experience of a student.
Upon discussing this, we then had to produce a potential solution to this anxiety in the form of something people could do or see, rather than just a piece of written advice. Ideas were brainstormed, however our final idea focused on the production of a creative podcast, called "push yourself" based on the idea that if you do not push yourself, you won't learn anything. The podcast would be aimed mostly at students, although anyone could take part, setting a weekly short, creative challenge to allow listeners to push themselves in terms of design and perhaps sometimes work out of their comfort zone. The podcast would be linked with a social media account, whereby listeners could send in their pieces from that week which would then be uploaded to the social media account. This was thought would help engage listeners more if they are getting something more out of it, and allows creatives' work to be put out there, with the potential for a good opportunity to come from it (e.g. a person gets recognised by their work and receives a job opportunity).
This idea then had to be condensed down into a 280 character tweet, accompanied by an emoji sentence which quickly explains our solution, using an analogy of a chick being pushed out of its nest in a tree and having to learn to fly. In a similar sense, our idea was that if you do not push yourself then you won't learn anything, like the chick will never learn to fly if it does not eventually leave its nest.
Personally, I found this workshop as quite a motivating way to be introduced to PPP for our final year, as well as reassuring, knowing that many other people in the class had the same anxieties as me about what happens after graduation, particularly in terms of finding a job. The tasks set in this workshop then allowed us to think through these anxieties in a more positive way, offering advice to others and coming up with potential solutions for such problems. As a result, this left me leaving the sessions with a slightly more positive outlook on what happens after graduation, even though it is still a scary thought.
