April 10, 2012, by Kay

What if I had studied Graphic Design?

Hi everyone. How are you all?

I hope everyone is enjoying their Easter holidays. The past few days in Nottingham has seen quite abysmal weather. Today, at least there was some sunshine.

80% done with the dissertation [HAPPY TIMES!]  and caught up some friends who have stuck around for the sake of studying as well. I have a friend who lives in Opal (student accommodation on the ‘upper’ end of self-catered living) and a friend who lives in town. We met up for some casual drinks in Ropewalk (relaxed pub halfway between Lenton and the city centre) and Chinese karaoke.

I suck. But it was fun. =^_^=

They then came over the next day and I cooked them dinner. ‘Le Kamay Li Special’~ Timmy dubbed this as the name of the dish. A chicken breast stuffed with boursin cheese and covered in sage onion stuffing, with roasted carrots and mash. Yummers. I think I put this together one day in first year because it was literally all I had left to eat towards the end of term.

"Le Kamay Special"

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Do you ever wish you had studied a different course? Right now I’m gunning for a suitably high 2:1 in Economics with Chinese Studies but now and then I wonder what would have happened if I had gone for the other options back when I was still deciding at age 17.

Back then my choices were:

  • Business
  • Economics
  • Law
  • Graphic Design

I really enjoy my course don’t get me wrong. But you know the news recently that Facebook bought Instagram for $1bn? I was reading about the great fortunes of the designs that worked for Instagram, many of them were just freelance designers.

I took me back to the outlook of graphic design a few years ago and reading articles about the prospects for this industry. None of them foresaw the massive demand for app designers, web designers, designers of advertising etc.

It was my favourite subject in college. My exam portfolio was on comic book illustration, I used to be a massive fan of manga comics.

Sailor Moon

But I dropped Graphic Design as an A-level in my second year in favour of Economics because I was worried that I wouldn’t get a job out of it. Although slightly different, my sister is an Interior Designer for an architecture company and I know she struggled at times trying to find work in design when she got her qualifications.

Right now I’m really into Infographics. I love the way they look. I love the creative and innovative ways designers have found to display information- a far cry from the usual Microsoft Word- Insert Graph function.

An awesome example of an infographic

I’m really excited about life after university and all the different opportunities my degree has granted me but now and again I wonder what it would have been like. If I was a solicitor, or a freelance designer. Hmm.

8tracks.com has been a saviour by the way for long hours studying. Give this a go.

I recommend this playlist : http://8tracks.com/pie_in_the_sky/writer-s-block-remedy .

Good music and tea is the key

Love, Kay

Posted in 2011-Kay