Sunday, May 1, 2011

Design Aerobics


In the middle of an economic crisis I find myself feeling the pressure of life after graduation. Not only am I unsure of my own finances, but I am unsure of where I want to live, if the job I am striving for will be a good fit, and if I will be able to land a job in time to start paying off student loans (EK!). I know I am not alone in this. One other aspect that I am struggling with is the fact that I will no longer have a classroom full of other aspiring designers to help inspire and critique my work. Design in a classroom forces us to continue to challenge ourselves in ways we wouldn’t normally do. Thus I have two points in this rant of mine. The first is something I’ve wanted to do for a while. That is to create a Facebook page for anyone in our graduating class who would like to participate, specifically for us to use one another as a resource in the future. It would be only open to those at DePaul in our department (students and faculty alike), and it would be a place where we could upload images of projects we are working on in the “real-world” in order to get crucial feedback from our peers that we would otherwise miss. If you are interested in being a part of this, please let me know. Also if you have any suggestions as to a better way to execute it (off Facebook or something) also let me know. I will create the group soon.

The other point is to make you aware of a site called Design-Aerobics/ It is a site that allows you to sign up for short, university-like courses where design teachers give you projects to complete, and give you feedback on them. It’s a great way to add to your portfolio post-graduation!

Here’s their link: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/12133/design-aerobics-2011.html/

20 comments:

  1. That's interesting! I feel like your Facebook page idea could even be expanded as a place where we could essentially create this same environment without the cost. (Or maybe we could use Youtopia!)

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  2. I would definitely participate in a facebook page post graduation. I would love to keep in touch with all the people who have helped me in my work, and I hope to help them as well!

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  3. cool idea. There is a definite benefit to being around other artists.

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  4. I think the page would be a great idea. Keeping in touch with others could also help with networking. I am feeling the same anxiety with everything else that you stated as well.

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  5. I'd love to be able to keep in touch with y'all via a more-or-less centralized hub, as opposed to the somewhat slapdash approach of just personally friending people. Something like a Facebook group would also help in keeping the interaction focused on design, something that can fall by the wayside if you're just personally friending each and every person.

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  6. I would join the Facebook group, you should do it. It's always nice to know that there are other designers in your corner and not trying to take your job.

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  7. I am going to start by "friending" all of you, and then I will create the group. So await my request, or holler if you didn't get one!

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  8. First of all, I'm very interested in this group. I've talked to a couple of our classmates about the prospect of doing monthly lunches, too, where we can get together and talk design casually. We should make this a reality, because once we leave DePaul, we're going to miss having people to describe typefaces in pop culture terminology together.

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  9. Oh yeah, second of all, thanks for the design exercises! I'm planning on taking anything that'll pay the bills and give me time to practice independently, so this is definitely a useful resource!

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  10. Shanna, this is great! I have thought of this too, I think it is important to stay connected with our classmates after graduation because it is a way to network and keep in touch about what people are doing with design and where they are working. If we could help each other get jobs that would be great! I would LOVE to be a part of this!

    I also think that making a group on LinkedIn would also benefit for us all!

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  11. That group sounds awesome, I'm in. I feel like there is a capstone project that has the same idea as the facebook group. I hope that the site actually goes up now so we can utilize it.

    I feel the same way about the whole everything about graduating. Luckily I'm not leaving yet but they are definitely concerns that are valid.

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  12. I am worrying about the same things although I already have a job, I still want to transition into the design field and at this point I am pretty much expecting to start at the bottom of the chain and work my way up, what can I say beggars can't be choosers right? lol

    I am not a member on facebook but I would be more than glad to stay in contact with whomever : )

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  13. Wow this is great. I think that this would be an awesome way to get stuff done post-graduation! Thanks for the post.

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  14. Great idea, Shanna! Thanks for leading on this one!

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  15. Great idea Shanna! I took would love to stay connected with everyone from our classes and it would be an awesome way to see our work progress as Graphic Designers.

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  16. Thanks for the resource Shanna!

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  17. I am also tryin not to freakout after graduation. I do think that having our class system pushes me alot more than if I were to work on it all alone. I mean, what am I going to do without you guys great feedback!!
    Shanna the site is a great idea!I'm in!

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  18. Resources are super essential. Thanks for sharing!

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  19. i agree with katie. James has cracked this one open already. use his site.

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  20. believe me shanna, i'm right there with you! as a consolation for spending a generous amount of money on college, we have had the privilege to network in our department. i think these relationships that we have established are crucial as we tip-toe into the real world.

    i'm sorry i'm only replying to this post now. i think the facebook group would serve as a great resource, post-graduation. if you don't mind, i would love to feature this somehow with the youtopia site. i really would like for our community to grow, even after college.

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