Inspirational CD choices

Choice 1: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace – Frank Zappa - Guitar

This is one of the very few pieces of Frank Zappa’s music which I have been able to find which I could stand to listen to. Frank Zappa was a very experimental musician, who usually blended orchestral scores with stand up comedy – a very odd mix by anyone’s standards.

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace however is much more simple. It is a 12 bar blues song with Zappa sensitively playing his guitar in his typical quick fingered manor. I find this inspirational because you can hear from the recording (which is at a live gig) that the volume is incredibly loud, yet Zappa manages to play so delicately and with so much feel.

Choice 2: Ravel: String Quartet in F – Assez vif. Tres rhytme - Debussy / Ravel string Quartets

Maurice Ravel was part of the impressionist movement in classical music at the turn of the last centaury. This basically means the music was about setting an atmosphere, and this piece of music contains a lot of this.

Although I’ve not heard a large amount of classical music, I do like the smaller groups of instruments, such as a string quartet. What I like about this type of music is the images it paints in my head, as you think of all sorts of settings and colours. I often find that this can help the creative process when I am thinking of ideas.

This piece of music has many different tempos, and constantly changes its depth as different instruments come into and go out of the composition. There is a strong feeling of movement as the stringed instruments swoop in and out, constantly giving quite an intimidating edge to the music.

Choice 3: How Long Will You Stick Around? - Mouse - Tales

Mouse were a duet consisting of Martha Tilston and Nick Marshall who had an acclaimed reputation on the folk scene a few years back. Martha Tilston would go on to become a solo artist, with an even stronger reputation than she did when performing in Mouse.

After being turned down by several record labels, she decided to set up her own label. She raised the funds by auctioning paintings which would be used on her first album cover, which I think is highly commendable and very industrious.

This song is very delicate, with Marshall’s guitar and Tilston’s voice being the only two elements in the song – but nothing else is needed. This song always reminds me of summer, and the rich, natural colours associated with it.

The first half-semester review

The past seven weeks seem to have flown by, and we’re now half way through the first semester. There was a definite change in the feel of the group compared to last year, probably because there were less people around than before.

I found that the first week was probably the hardest so far on the course, as there was a lot to take in with the new assignments. The pitch for one of the team project clients was a struggle to put together, as our team didn’t really know how to approach pitching for such generic briefs. We persevered, however, and managed to get the in college project to design a website for the athlete development program.

The team project seems to have been like swimming through treacle right from the start, as we have top juggle the needs of our client with what can be done with the college system. I guess this is what a lot of projects in the industry are like, as some clients have specific requirements which need to be carried out in specific ways.

The perseverance and endurance needed to do a project is one of the things I’ve learnt most while doing it, and keeping momentum in the project can only be done by doing hard work. As designer/PA I’ve also had to look after the documents which the team produce, which I have enjoyed quite a lot.

Doing the minutes has been something which I have got use to doing, and some weeks there can be as many as 3 or 4 meetings to do minutes for. This is quite a monotonous task, and the only way to do it is to get on with it straight away. Again, taking the rough with the smooth is all part of working in the industry, and I think I have learnt this during the team project.

The CSS beauty project was an interesting project, and has filled a lot of the gaps in my knowledge of CSS. I now understand how things like selectors work, where as before I was just using them without knowing what they did.

I did find that the ideas generation was quite a hard part for this project, as I didn’t find any of the themes particularly exciting. To combat this, I used spider diagrams to outline what ideas I had for each, and then selected the one which I had the most ideas for. I will use this process again if I am stuck for ideas, as it helped me to find an appropriate theme to generate my site with.

In some ways I still feel that I am bumbling my way through with the CSS. I can create a site, fix a lot of the problems in it, and test it in a lot of browsers. The thing is, I don’t always understand why the changes I have made have worked. The question is, do I really need to? Or should I just be content with the fact that it is working? I’m not really sure just yet.

The PDP part of the iMe assignment has been a nice change to do on Wednesday afternoons. I’ve found the prospect of thinking about applying for jobs and going for interviews quite horrifying, as I don’t feel anywhere near ready to do that just yet. I don’t think my answers to the interview questions have been wonderful either, especially after ‘the passive debacle’ in my previous post.

I’m not even sure what the ‘describe yourself in 3 words’ question is all about, what does it matter what I think of myself? Surely it should be what they think of me and my abilities, as they are the ones who are going to be handing over the cash.

I think my answers have been far too wooden. I think that talking to a person would generate a different set of answers as you can get some kind of reaction or feedback to what answers you are giving. I don’t even think a faux interview would change that, as it would still feel forced, and nothing would be riding on giving the right answers. I think I’ll just have to sort in my own mind answers to potential interview questions.

Over the next half semester I will be looking forward to completing the team project, as well as doing the Culture Vulture assignment. For this assignment, I will be looking to do a large range of experiments with a variety of media, including collages, photography, drawing and other methods. I think this approach should give me plenty of options for the production of whatever product is revealed in the assignment.

Interview questions: Part 2

Describe yourself in 3 words.

Calculated, observant, passive.

How would you describe the effectiveness of your interactive media products?

To test the effectiveness of my products I would conduct a survey with a sample of the target audience, as well as record statistics for a website if this was applicable. The questions would be based around the goals of the project, which would be stipulated in the initial processes. This would include a selection of measurable and subjective goals, which would be evaluated after the survey had been completed. Amendments would then be planned, if needed, to suit the target audience better if any issues arose from the survey.

How do you handle criticism?

Initially, I accept that this criticism is only offered to help me find the right solution for the project. I will defend the decision which I have made when I am challenged on it, as this can show the reasoning behind the decision that I have made. If I know in myself that I have made an error of judgement, I will accept it and then focus on finding and applying a solution. Being caught up in the disappointment of having to alter something serves no purpose, and is only a waste of time. Getting on with the task in hand and finding a new solution must be the priority rather than ‘crying over spilt milk’.

Describe a difficult problem and how you solved it.

When creating my second website for the course I had to learn how to use CSS and XHTML. As I had only produced one site using tables and cells, I found that this was a very daunting prospect. I outlined a plan which involved looking through online tutorials and books to find the resources I needed to make the site. I also planned a set of mini goals so that I could focus on different areas of the site, such as the navigation and preparation of images.

As I started to put the site together I kept a record of how the code had changed for future reference. By the end of the project, I had learnt a solid base of CSS knowledge, much of which I had learn myself. My strategy of planning and my persistence to get the site working were just a couple of essential soft skills which I learnt. I gained a very good grade for the assignment, and produced a classy site which cemented my basic CSS knowledge.

Describe how you fit into a team.

In a team situation, I take my responsibilities very seriously. I believe that being reliable is the most essential part of working in a team, as a project can fail if there are any team members who do not pull their weight. In a team I like to be involved with the heart of the project, as I believe that I can constantly analyse the changing situation. I know that getting on with colleagues is crucial as it removes any awkwardness when it comes to criticising each others work. Colleagues who cannot accept criticism frustrates me greatly, but I have an ability to remain passive and unflustered whatever the situation.

Do you have any questions?

What support do you offer in terms of additional training for staff members?

What is your policy on overtime?

How would you describe the working environment in the company?

Where do you see the company in 5 years time?

What team bonding activities do you have at this company?

Job prospects review

For the first question, I thought that talking about issues such as accessibility would be a good direction to go in, and that I had some business awareness. I think that my answer was a bit vague, and I should have directed it firmly at the company I was applying to. Having only a few minutes to find a vacancy, this was not a possibility in this situation, but when applying for real I think that looking at the work the company has done and doing research into them is needed before going to the interview. This would help me construct more direct and relevant answers.

I said that my greatest strength was applying an appropriate strategy to suit each client. I think this answer was correct, but I believe I should have looked at it from a more creative point of view. I should have focused on my ideas generation techniques from the start of the answer, and not at the end. An ‘appropriate strategy’ sounds too formal, and would not suit the target audience of a creative director at a company.

For my greatest weakness, I talked about my limited technical knowledge. However, I put a positive spin on things by saying that I constantly look to build on my abilities and am willing to try new techniques. I believe this was the correct way to approach this, as it shows that I want to improve and that I can identify that this is an area which needs some work.

The ‘5 years from now’ was by far the hardest question to answer. Again, I identified that my skills would change considerably over the next 5 years, and that I would like to be managing other people to complete project. However I did not mention this company in particular, and this lack of loyalty would probably be a big negative for the employer. Next time I think that I should again focus this more on the company that I am applying for rather than generalising. I should have said that strong working relationships both with clients and colleagues at work was essential for being productive, and that jumping from one company to another would not be in the interests of my own personal development.

For the current innovation part, I said that video was something which excited my about the future. I believe this answer showed that I had a good knowledge of the future of the internet, where video will become more and more commonplace as bandwidth increases. I also mentioned that accessibility was also an important part of the future, and that the two combined created many challenges. I think for this answer I should have talked more about what clients needs would be for this, as working at this company would mean creating products for clients on a daily basis.

For the hero question I chose to a mature answer to this by naming Richard Thompson as my idol. I think that choosing someone from the industry such as Jakob Neilsen would have sounded very predictable and could have raised a few eyebrows as to if I was just saying what wanted to be heard, rather than what I actually thought. I tried to link the career of my idol with what I wanted my own to be, in general terms. I think this answer was ‘right’ because it shows that I have interests other than design, and having an interesting personality can help when working with colleagues.

Job Prospects

http://www.graduatesyorkshire.co.uk/job/32285/vacancy/?_ts=25186

Employer: Magnitude Ltd

Job Details (from source) - “Junior to mid-level web designer with good understanding of HTML, CSS and web accessibility, and basic Flash skills - to work on exciting accounts including global, consumer brands.”

Degree: Digital / creative qualification.

Location: Harrogate, North Yorkshire

Salary: £15,000 p.a.

Why do you want this job?

I would like to take up this position because I have an enthusiastic interest in creating high quality, accessible websites. I understand that all users have the right to be able to access the web, irrespective of if they have an old computer system, a slow connection or a disability. I also have a good understanding of marketing and business strategy, and have helped clients to create interactive media projects which can promote their products.

My own working practices revolve around planning and preparation. I believe that this greatly boosts confidence with both clients and colleagues. I feel that with this job position I could accommodate several different projects at once, which the modern interactive media environment demands.

What is your greatest strength?

My greatest strength is my ability to find an appropriate strategy to create a product which shows the clients products or services at their best. This comes from analysing what the target audience for the product demands. When this is combined with my more artistic abilities, strong and suitable designs are easy for me to create. The strategies which I use to find suitable designs use a range of skills, including sketches, photography and collecting other pieces of design. This has proven to be effective, as I can compare my work to that of an industry professional and constantly evaluate, adapt and improve the quality of my own work.

What is your greatest weakness?

I feel that my greatest weakness is that I limit my designs to the technical skills which I know and am comfortable with. I think that over time this will improve as my technical knowledge becomes greater, which will only come from trying out new techniques either in the workplace, or outside of work in my own time. I do find it frustrating that I do not yet have this technical knowledge, and this gives me more drive to overcome this. To do this, I employ a strategy of doing small tasks to try out new techniques to improve the palette of skills and build on my technical abilities.

Where will you be 5 years from now?

In 5 years I hope to be in a position where I am doing both print and web design, as I enjoy both of these areas. I would also like to be in a position where I am managing others to complete projects, as my ability to plan and prepare will be of great use to an interactive media team. With my evaluative abilities, I think that I would be good judge of other peoples working strategies and design ideas.

By this time, I will have learnt a lot of new technical skills which will have vastly improved the quality of my work. This will be achieved by on the job experience and by undertaking exercises as mentioned previously. As the industry will change greatly over this time, I know that my skills will have to change considerably, and over the next 5 years I will be looking to invest my own skills from tackling the challenges of the future.

What current innovation excites you most?

I am currently very excited about the use of video on the internet. I believe that as internet connections get faster more and more people will want to have video media on their website. This is a totally different type of media in comparison to a static or flash page, and provides challenges in regards to accessibility. Implementing this technology into websites will change vastly over the next 5 years, and the design of video is a challenge which I have already started to experiment with in my own time with a lot of success.

Who is your hero and why?

My hero is the guitarist Richard Thompson. He has constantly been an innovator throughout his career, and has both amazing technical skill as well as a vast imagination. I would hope that in my own career I could be as innovative and have the such an endless well of creativity.