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Studio Brief 04 - Reflective Practice - Speaking from Experience: Information in Guide Book

Title of Book
Graphic Design Course Tips, Tips I wish I knew for 1st year...
Write now, Read later, Treasure forever.

Introduction

Hey there! My name is Katie, I am soon going into turn into a Second year student within Leeds College of Art! It's scary how time flies so fast... D: 
Anyways for you new University students, I wanted to share you some 10 Top Tips on how to survive on this course, as most of this journey had some bumps and challenges along the way. Hopefully with these 10 Top Tips you will be capable to do any brief which is given to you. So without further or do lets begin!

Start on Brief 

It is always incredibly important to double read briefs when first given them as well as starting them. Sometimes when doing these brief you may over think how much work you need to do for them, therefore making you slow down and limiting your amount of time to work on other briefs which are just important.

Planning

I used to be the type of person who would not create or follow a plan. But since starting this course a plan is always the best thing to follow when you don't know what to do or start a brief. Even if it's a simply check list or a timetable will make you very efficient and organised for you to balance out well your working/social hours.
Research

I know the noun 'Research' sounds like the most boring word. But it is definitely key to good marks for your briefs. If you execute your research throughly and explain clearly how your designs relate to it, it will most certainly put your marks up so don't slack on this part! 

KEEP Blogging

The dreaded blogging... When I first started this course I didn't see blogging as something which is significant. However, it does have an importance when meeting the deliverables for briefs. They demonstrate the stages of development and process which you have used during a specific brief. I did the mistake that blogs need to be so detailed with long explanations, but really it's just to show your records of your development by learning new things. The blog could just be a paragraph explaining an image or even just some images of your work. So no need to over do it!

Template for Design Boards

Creating this will be your life saver for every brief you do! Most briefs ask for a minimal of 6 design boards. These are also ways for recording your work from the starting stages to the final design. Always keep a template so you don't need to make one every time a brief comes along, again this is mostly in the deliverable section. 

Time Management for Deadlines

Time will be either your best friend or your worst enemy if you do your briefs last minute when its only a few days till the scary deadline! Time management is again another important task to get in a good routine with, as in this course you get more than one brief to work on. Your task is simply to juggle with these, to help you with this problem, It's best to write down or keep a reminder on your phone when such a module brief deadline will be. Then you can track down how many days you have left to complete it.

Book Facilities

Facilities are definitely my favourite part of the University! You can do so much like: screen-printing, mono-printing, book binding, letter press, the printing room and so on for whatever brief you want to produce work for (if it's related). But if you do want to do these sort of things you must book way in advance as a lot of other students in different course and years use these to!  

Ask Tutor/Peers for Help

If you are really unsure or struggling with work for briefs, you can either talk to your tutors or peers for advice. Some times you may over think or over do some work for certain briefs. Even comparing your work with your peer might help, you can see what they are doing which might be a lot less than what you need to do.

Keep Calm & Relax

To be very honest and truthful with you guys, first year is like a taster of actual University life. The briefs that are given to you just give the tutors some indicators what things you are good at and what you are not. You may enjoy yet not enjoy some briefs more than others and thats okay because in a real Graphic Designer job, you will get clients with some work that you not so fond of doing. First year is definitely something which you need to enjoy and relax. There's no need to be stressed or anxious because everyone has been on the same boat. Now breathe, relax and enjoy the ride :D

Back of the Book

Some important 10 top tips which I would of liked to known when starting first year. Just think of it as an University student survival guide for you!  This will be a good confident booster and some distressing advice which will completely help you to enjoy both University work life balancing with your new social life.  Sit back, relax and enjoy some healthy reading for what awaits you! :)

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