Congratulations, you have spent the past two years of your life working your way through your A-levels to gain that small set of silver keys that open the gates to the garden of higher education. During this time you have had to come to grips with the adulthood that you have been continually being dipped into – rather like a brand new paint brush and a fresh pot of paint with the hue of age – and have tried to develop yourself into the stylish and smooth character who is now going to go and leave their mark on the world.
So with eager hands and wide, enthusiastic eyes, you have unlocked that gate (or perhaps even scaled the barbed wire fence that sits next to it), bounded in, and have landed softly in the garden of a design related course. Bad news though my fresher friend. Your landing spot is no bed of roses; you are sat in a thorn bush. It is time to take all of those preconceptions you had and shred them along with your financial status for the next decade.
What have you let yourself in for? Are you about to be confronted with scented flowers or a vicious guard dog? Here are a few of the realities about the environment you have launched into and some things to remember if you want to really succeed.
Your coursemates are better than you.
Even the most modest individuals tend to enter a course thinking that they are reasonably good. Not necessarily the best designer in the world, but not half bad. You made it onto the course didn’t you? Well one of the hardest truths to swallow is that you aren’t as great as you thought. Your coursemates are stiff competition. There will be someone who’s renderings are hot. You will see them and a little part inside you will hate them. There will be someone who can make gorgeous models, someone who takes amazing photographs and someone who is unbelievably good on CAD.
There are two ways you can deal with this. You can either sulk along and focus on the strengths that you have, or you work your socks off and hone your toolbox of skills. Yes those people are good, but if you can take the fall, you can get running and try keep up with them. Competition is a plus, not a minus.
Sleep is for the weak of mind.
Remember those days where you used to go to bed at eleven and get up at half seven for school, and used to think that you were having it rough? You will long for those times again. Exceptionally late nights will become a thing of habit. Whether deadlines or the rare designer’s social scene, you will be up to the crack of dawn. Then there will be the days where you have to be up at that time to do some extra work.
What you will quickly learn is that naps are invaluable. Twenty minutes here and there will get you through this course. As a final piece of advice on this point, sleep before a presentation. If you haven’t then be warned; you won’t be competent and may slip up, forget something or just be generally rubbish at answering queries. This happens all too often, so please, please, please get some rest before a presentation.
You will hate your flatmates for not doing design.
By far the most difficult thing to deal with whilst doing a design course is yourself. Moral is almost as important as your skills, and a positive attitude will do you wonders. There is one thing that chips away at this though; the social scene. There is nothing quite so depressing as coming back to your student accommodation at the end of an exceptionally long day of lectures to find that your flatmate has only just gotten up, and that they are now going out whilst you have to stay in and work on that rendering. It sucks.
Once again how you deal with this is up to you, but it never hurts to go and let your hair down once in a while. Your brain needs to recoup sometimes too. It will aid the creative process. Maybe.
You are in charge.
University is a whole other world from school. Whether you turn up to tutorial sessions is up to you, whether you do the work or put in the effort is a personal choice.
Remember though that you are paying to be there. Every session, every lecture, every hour in the workshops is coming out of your pocket, so get your money’s worth. By the time you add up tuition fees, top up fees, living costs, accommodation and every other expense you incur, each lecture costs you roughly £60. Don’t throw that money away because you cannot be bothered to get up that morning.
In addition, you are paying for your tutors. That means that, although some may disagree with this, you are in charge. If you don’t think you are getting good value from them then tell them. Make them work for you, and learn everything you can from them in the process.
Deadlines are like buses.
There is one piece of advice that is given every year to students. It is the one that will help you the most, and is the one that everyone ignores. Start work early. With the sheer amount of work you will have to do, you will most likely pull some all nighters to reach deadlines. Sometimes even the best planning can’t avoid this. There will be a time though when you have a bit of downtime; some ongoing bits and pieces but no imminent hand-ins, so you will take your foot off the accelerator pedal. What will happen though is that three deadlines will suddenly rear their head and you will struggle to cope. If you start the work early then you will end up with a piece of work that shows your effort, and more importantly a piece of work that you are happy with, whilst others are rushing around trying to get theirs done.
There is no such thing as new design.
Every student wants to be the next innovator. The next James Dyson. This can very quickly overwhelm you with work. It is common for a new student to set out to prove themselves and take on a project that is far too big. This can end up with an uncompleted mess rather than a polished project, and is often accompanied by a whole load of stress.
Don’t be afraid to take an existing design and change it. Think of chairs. Few people try to innovate a new way of sitting. Lots design a new style of chair. 95% of design has been done before – use it. Give it your own touch, improve it, make it sexy and call it your own.
Get to know people.
No doubt you have heard the phrase ‘it’s all about who you know’. Well this is more relevant in the design world than anywhere else. Although ‘networking’ sounds like a dirty word, it is something I implore you to work on. Chat to your coursemates, your tutors, the workshop technicians, anyone who is involved in design. Go to design events, to exhibitions and talks. Get yourself known. In the end this may be the thing that helps you the most. The chances are that these people are also a depth of knowledge; the more you can learn from them, the better a designer you will become.
As for your coursemates, these people are going to be your sounding board for the next few years. Make friends and keep an eye on them. Learn their strengths and weaknesses. In group work this will allow you to capitalise on your talents so that you all come out on top.
Don’t underestimate yourself.
When all is said and done, no amount of advice can prepare you for life within the garden of design. A lot will change, both personally and professionally. When people say that these are the best years of your life they really mean it. Do not doubt that you can do it. It is not just about becoming a good designer – it is about understanding yourself and what you are capable of.
It is going to be hard, it is going to be tough. You are going to end up pricking yourself on many thorns and probably burning down a few hedgerows. In the end though, if you are keen enough, you will develop into a sculptor of form, an engineer of function and a master of your own creativity. If you are lucky, you may even have a bloody good time doing it…
Tags: course, design, freshers, tips, university
