Well it looks like we’re going to have to invest in some high waistline pants, wear shirts opened down to our belly buttons and maybe even have a couple of sessions of Botox! As both Jeremy and myself became judges this week. I was delighted to be asked to review the portfolios of visual communication leaving students at CIT and judge ‘student of the year’ and Jeremy was a judge for the Social Media Awards.
While maybe it seems like a silly thing to be proud of, I really am. It might have been a few years ago now but I still remember my exhibition, the mix of excitement at finishing the course and the fear of whats next and will I even have a design career. I still find returning to an end of year exhibition strange, it’s kind of like stepping back in time but knowing the path you’re going to take.
What was great, was the quality of work on display from the emerging talent, the big range of styles and skills on show. We had already decided to offer a internship to ‘Student of the Year’ and was pleasantly surprised to see there was lots of quality throughout the portfolios. The exhibition was very well set up, the new gallery looked great and the pizza, wine, music, candy floss… all helping to create a nice buzz, professional atmosphere and a fitting way to celebrate what I imagine (if it was anything like my experience) was a lot of graveyard shifts by the students to get their portfolios finished.
If I had any negatives, i just wished the students sold themselves a little more. No one approached me just to say hi, ask for advice, hand out their business cards or even stand by their work and encourage people to look through their portfolio. While having their work on show is great, but for me personally it’s very much about the person as well. At this stage of their career, as the students don’t have much ‘industry experience’, personality counts a lot. I want to know that the person really wants to learn, fit in and that they have the desire and passion to come in and give it socks!
On the whole, it was a great experience and really enjoyed the opportunity to review the portfolios and give my feedback. It’s such a great feeling to have started where they are and now be in the position to return to give my professional opinion. More importantly it feels nice be able to help the leaving students take their first steps in the design world. Another first for Doodle, is that the winner is a female, so I’m guessing we’ll will have to invest in fluffy pillows and pot pouri 🙂
On a serious note, we wish her and all the students the best of luck.
… And this judging malarky, guess I’ll just wait for the call from Mr Cowell! Does that make Jeremy my Louis Walsh? 🙂