Wow!
I have been away from blogging recently, but am back to recently relay about how much of a pleasure it was to be invited back to my old university to give a talk to students about my creative journey at their Creative Careers Fair.
I haven't yet managed to get a picture of me talking, so here's a pic of the Creative Careers Fair brochure.
As a proud University of Westminster Alumni, having graduated with my BA (Hons) in Architecture, I never imagined that I would be the other side of the microphone giving a lecture/talk to students. However, there I was a week ago talking to aspiring Creatives about my journey from my early years; to school/university study; and onto transitioning into the working world...
I opened by explaining who I was, what I currently do, and why I was there. I then progressed to talking in depth about my creative journey starting from my younger years when I had a huge fascination with Lego, Meccano, and Play Dough – using it to create structures. This led to my secondary school years (11-18) where I had a strong affiliation with subjects including Design Technology and Art. My enjoyment of these subjects subsequently led to a degree in Architecture and the Built Environment where the course content reignited my love for graphic design and incepted my love for photography!
Furthermore, I explained to the students in attendance how graduating, searching hard for a job, and then initially having a few stints of work experience led to me deciding to create my own experience by becoming a Freelance Graphic Designer & Photographer – of which we are on the website which forms the basis of my trade. I showed my website to the students who were intrigued as to how I went about creating this and what was my inspiration for certain works I have done? My answer to this was “fate” as I myself never envisaged a decade back that I would be freelancing! I have also started my own fashion brand Labels Are Limitations® which is a constant process of evolving over time – including loads of trial and error, ensuring that the correct designs are produced and that the market (my targeted audience) responds to such designs in the right manner!
My main focus was to give students – who wonder where to go next following university – some inspiration! This is whether they will seek employment or whether they will want to [like me] start their own business. I wanted to let them know that I am still on the “creative-ladder” constantly trying to improve and that like me, they the students must not give in! It’s never easy...it can be real stressful sometimes...but perseverance is the best way to approach anything!
Keep going!
R