Stefan was first up although he seemed very nervous he soon got comfortable and began sharing his experience so far as a front end developer. Much rather than following the usual trend of going to university and then into the industry he jumped straight into an apprenticeship at Sky. He spoke a lot about going against the grain and how that can be challenging especially for someone at the time of starting was only 18. Joining the industry at such a young age can be difficult, staying up till 2 or 3 in the morning simply just to get up to scratch with learning the programming languages only for them to change a couple months later. With being a front end developer the languages always change and so having to adapt constantly even whilst you're still learning appeared to be the main issue he spoke of. I think the most valuable thing he spoke about was how learning new things and not always succeeding can knock your confidence and I think this applies to anyone of any job. So it's good to keep in mind that you just have to push through it and hearing this from someone of the same age who has experienced more of the industry than me, is something I will definitely take on board especially considering university can have it's challenges all the same as a job.
The second person to talk was Emily, her presentation was a lot about our habits as designers and developers be that good or bad ones and overcoming the anxieties that come with it. Habits are something that we all have and I think that the one that we all have in common is thinking that we're not good enough or that we're bad at what we do. Anxieties I think are very common amongst design students because it's hard to stay consistent with our workflow and quality of work, hitting creative walls can especially knock our confidence on some days forcing into a spiral of thinking we aren't good enough. Emily spoke also about a good habit to get into is thinking like a child, like a beginner because that way you always approach everything with a pair of fresh eyes and open mind. I think this is especially helpful for designers often we can become narrow minded after working on a piece of work for so long and so speaking with others and in a way resetting yourself can be helpful in approaching your work in a new way. She also mentions that we should always be seeking to burst out of your comfort zone and aiming to stay inspired all year round!
The third and final design talk was by Chris who's main theme for his talk was about designing your own career. He talked step by step on how we should aim to create our own futures, so that we can become the the designer we want to be. His presentation was a series of bits of advice, a couple of those being:
Design is iterative
Have a vision
Think critically
Think laterally
Design is a process
Baring these in mind when designing I think is important because often as Emily previously mentioned, we can get into bad habits, ones that can often trump our creative process. But as Chris emphasised during the talk, design is a process, as is your career. Going from junior designer to senior is more than just a matter of time, it's everything you learn and experience on the way that forms the designer that you will become.
These talks I feel gave me a boost of confidence in life, but also especially when it comes to designing. With Stefan talking about going against the grain is challenging but rewarding. Emily discussing we need to push through our anxieties and get into good habits and finally Chris discussing how our careers are a big process and that we should be constantly striving to improve ourselves any which way we can and to form a career that we want.
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