February 11th 2012

So, tomorrow I have my very first (real) interview! It's in Lichfield and is for a design placement to be completed in Padova, Italy for three months. I am hoping that I will be successful, I'd love the opportunity to see some more of the world.

There will be a lot of candidates there, it's a massive opportunity and I am already feeling competitive, which I think is a good thing.

I've never had any problems with talking to strangers before and during interviews I have always done well, I'm fairly confident in that department. The only thing I am concerned about is that my portfolio is ridiculously heavy.

So to make the day easier, I have purchased a sack barrow, yep, that's right! Just so I can cart it around, I cannot physically carry it, I hope it doesn't make me appear unprofessional.

I have to be there for 10.15am but my interview won't be until 4pm to possibly 7pm...bit of a bummer, but let's hope it will be worth it!

I think I'm going to wear this with some heels...

But if the weather is still bad, I'm going to go smart/casual and wear leggings, shirt, blazer and my Docs. I see no point in wearing a suit, it's just not me.

I'm looking forward to it, it's going to be an interesting day and even if I am unsuccessful, I will have gained experience which is priceless. Also, I'll be able to attend Download Festival and may even take part in a Swimathon, so either way, it's a win. I'll be updating again soon.

London Visit (November 2011)

A friend of mine wanted to go to London for the weekend as part of her birthday celebrations so myself, her and another friend of ours all organised between ourselves what we wanted to do there. We decided on going to a burlesque show and visiting both the aquarium and Madame Tussaud's.

I had been to a burlesque show before in Doncaster which was amazing and I was really looking forward to seeing one in London - because it's London! It was good :)

I've been wanting to do a design project based on sea life for a while now but there are hardly any primary resources in my area so it has been difficult. So when we went to the aquarium I took FULL advantage of the visit and took stacks of photos. So many that I ended up flagging behind my buddies. I was having problems with my camera and my photos kept blurring, even though it has super fast shutter speed so I was often having to stick around in the same place, it was worth it in the end as I ended up with a a decent selection of photos to work with.

I'm not quite sure what these things are, my memory is failing me but I'd like to draw them regardless!

 

He must have known he was on camera!

                                                             

I thought these were gorgeous, the colours and the overall composition of the image. It's a shame my camera acted up but I'm sure it's something I can sort out. There was a lot of children at the aquarium and it was nice to see happy faces shrieking, "Finding Nemo!" - one of my favourite films.

The waxworks was fun but nowhere near as entertaining! I'm not a huge fan of celebrities, never mind wax ones as I soon discovered! However, I couldn't help but notice and appreciate how much detail and effort went into each and every wax work. They truly are amazing and a lot of them looked real, I thought these were amongst the best...

    

Nicole Kidman & Kate Winslet

All in all, it was a great trip. There was even time for cake!

I can't wait to head over again, it's been a long time since I was last in the V&A Museum and I'd like to visit again soon.

I've started a concept journal with some research I found in magazines, journals, etc to be a starting point for my aqua project.

         

Lots and lots of material to work with here!

I'm not dead.

Time certainly flies, even more so when you're busy and I realised the other day that it's about time I updated my blog, so here I am :)

I graduated from Cleveland College of Art & Design in November 2011 and it was a great day, was brilliant seeing everyone looking so smart and proud, we've all worked so hard for our degrees.

It was really windy, but we didn't lose our caps :)

I studied a foundation degree in textiles for two years and I then topped up to the BA in surface design. I joined the final year students so only studied for a year. I didn't enjoy the foundation degree so much, I did well in my second (aka final) year of the course but I didn't enjoy making things...which was the focus point of the course! I enjoy making things as a hobby though so doesn't make sense. I topped up because I was still unsure about my future/skills and I can honestly say that it was the best decision I have made. Ever. I adored the course and it gave me the chance I so desperately needed to develop my design skills to what they are today. I am aways growing and would recommend University to anyone.

The problem I faced with topping up was that although the courses were both textiles based, they were two different areas of the industry. I found the beginning of my final year of Uni (top up year) to be extremely tough and my grades dropped by a whopping 13%. I was devastated but didn't give up trying. My print skills were poor, I don't blame the foundation degree programme but I do wish we had been taught full silk screen printing techniques, but this is something I can look into myself at some point.

I was expecting a 2.2 final degree classification due to the drop in my grades, I found this hard to accept as I had dreamed of a 2.1 and honestly believed I would get that. The time came where fellow students were checking their grades and I didn't bother checking mine, I knew what I had so what was the point?

But I had to check anyway, for graduation ceremony details...and I DID IT! I read it over, and over and over just to be sure I wasn't seeing things but there it was. Imogen got a 2.1 :) I started crying and ran upstairs to tell the family, my Mum thought I was upset - It was intense.

I went to a graduate exhibition shortly after graduation day, I found some pretty cool opportunities. I have an interview in Lichfield next week for a design placement to be completed in Padova, Italy. I'm excited to say the least, my nerves won't strike until 5 minutes before my interview though! It's always the case with me, or at least has been in the past.

The company looks amazing. They provide transport, accommodation, living expenses and two weeks language tuition - if I am successful that's the most exciting thing for me, I adore language so all good!

Design wise, I am currently doing some drawing for my boss. I work in a cafe/canteen and she wants some cool/quirky drawings to put on her new menus. I am trying to get it sorted but I work about 45 hours a week so it is difficult at the moment. I hope to be out of there soon though!

Just some ideas so far.

Having Henry around is very helpful!

I've realised that since I left Uni, I seem to have forgotten A LOT about architecture, which is not good.

So I thought this little guy would help me out, he even fits in my bag.

Anyway, I will leave it there for now. I will be posting again shortly, by that I mean tonight!