Awareness of practice and career trajectories
I have chosen this topic and question to it align this learning experience with my teaching practice, whilst connecting with my professional practice including employability, connecting with the design industry, self-generated collaborative work and working with clients. Considering how to structure my outward facing academic work to connect more clearly with available UAL tools and resources whilst exploiting my practice skills and interests appeals. I currently divide my time between Design education and Design practice with a focus on Graphic Design and Art Direction, these areas intersect which inform the modes of delivery in my teaching practice.
During this workshop the aim is to create awareness and to offer the students more extensive possibilities to structure their own autonomous network with a clear focus on their own skills and interests. Rather than responding to my prompts for where to locate design practices, jobs and employment opportunities, my industry knowledge, and my industry network. Furthermore, this would be beneficial to how I can respond to time-sensitive pressures and manage my time across multiple courses, an ever-expanding student cohort whilst operating within my fractional post.
The ownership of a student’s research and practice learning journey can be further enhanced by a greater focused understanding of practice trajectory and the vocational application to a practice or practices within the creative industry. With many entry points into employment after graduation, this can feel overpowering and bewildering for students. Preparing the students for future opportunities ahead of their final year of studies in readiness to apply for internships and work opportunities, building online profiles and connecting with like-minded creatives and networks will equip students with confidence for the challenges ahead. These soft transferrable skills such as communication, time management, teamwork, problem solving, leadership and critical thinking will be required and deployed throughout a career in design.
Asking the student to consider specific practical questions such as what do you value? What are your interests, your values, defining your community and what matters to you? And very importantly in these financially challenging times, do you want to, and can you afford to stay in London after graduation? And how much do you need to earn every month to pay your bills? Whist setting tasks for students to read the about sections on agency websites and research the gender balance and diversity with an agency. With the aim for students to look beyond the work and investigate how the work is made, who is making it and the studio culture and environment where the work is made.
Let’s Be Brief: Value Canvas © Let’s Be Brief (2020)
‘Another insightful and inspiring session today, I am feeling really engaged with these talks I wish we had you for longer this year, this is the most engaged I have felt during this course. I guess I’m just wanting to say that I’ve been really enjoying the units you’ve been leading I think they’ve been the best we’ve done so far, I’m currently doing some posters based off of the pictures I showed you last week, the film ones I took of the architecture in Liverpool, your Instagram and twitter page really inspired me to do this. I hope I will be able to talk to you soon about internships because I am new to this whole creative industry stuff, and I feel like you would be able to point me in the best direction suited to me. Thanks again really been enjoying these talks on a Monday.’
(BA Graphic Design Communication Student, 22.01.24)
My industry expertise allied with an awareness of the available UAL tools will bring greater student awareness of future possibilities, and how to think and be agile when making those all-important first steps into the creative industries.
The design economy is a major employer. In 2019 the design economy contributed £97.4bn in Gross Value to the UK economy. In 2020 there were 1.97 million people working in the design economy — or 1 in 20 workers in the UK. Of these, 1.62 million were designers.
Since completing his studies, Laurie has spent the best part of a year trying to figure out who he is as an illustrator, how he wants to approach commissions and promote himself, and what he wants his portfolio to represent. He’s made books, worked on collaborative projects and learned the basics of networking and self-promotion. He admits, though, that his initial feelings when graduating flitted between excitement and nervousness: ‘I was excited to work freely on what I wanted, whenever I wanted – but also nervous. My vision of being an illustrator was very idealised. It’s so much harder than you think it’s going to be when you’re in college.’
Laurie’s quote is a useful insight into the challenges and realisation of what ‘work’ means that face students upon graduation. Introductions to outward facing skills and employability before a student reaches their final year of studies, is a way to mitigate the anxieties that many students deal with when thinking about and finding suitable work to match up with their skills and interests. An awareness of what employment within the creative industries looks and feels like is something I have been embedding within my teaching. Commencing in Term 1, Year 2, gives the students more time to consider and explore what a career and employability mean before navigating through their final year of studies on an undergraduate degree course.