Technology
I feel as though this year I have really come to be familiar with the settings and tools in Adobe Indesign. When we had initially started using Indesign it was super unfamiliar and I really had no idea how to even start my project. It was tough to navigate through all the options after being so use to what I was able to do in Illustrator. From asking others about the tools to looking up some tutorials I was able to finally figure out my way around which is a great thing because now I'll be able to use this and it will be so much easier with future projects that need to have a lot of type on them.
Communication
This year I also feel that I have reached out more instead of staying private and secluded. I was able to just jump out of my comfort shell to ask what they thought I might be able to do with my project. It was extremely nerve wracking at first because I felt that I really did not know that much about Graphic Design at the time and I might appear clueless. As the year went on I became comfortable with my ability and finally was able to branch out and ask for their critiques on my designs. This really impacted my designs because my designs would not look the same as they are today if it were not for the people I had asked.
Collaboration
I have also learned to collaborate through our critiques that we have held for each project and I am able to come out of them with a better vision of how I want my project to look like. This was always something that helped me out because if I was trying to manage how to make something on my project look better I was able to get feedback from other people and gain a new perspective. It was also helpful because sometimes after days and days of looking at it on the computer I was able to see little details that I may have not noticed previously.
Project Management
I had to learn the hard way that project management is supremely important. If you spend more time on one thing and then push off something else to the side it is dangerous because you do not know how you will be able to handle it. It's always best to try something out and not completely ignore anything. For me I know I constantly would really try to find the perfect way to do something and I was not able to let myself ask for help so I pushed it off and was not satisfied with my project by the end. If you are not able to manage your time necessarily you will not be able to have the best outcome you could for your project and you are most likely to not be happy with the final presentation of it.
Leadership
Leadership. Now if I am being completely honest this is not my strongpoint, like at all. I find it really hard for me to take charge. I have found myself being able to speak out more in critiques but definitely less than I would like to. As I've grown more comfortable and familiar with people around me, it has allowed me to be more able to assert my opinion.
Something this year that I feel I have handled rather well is being able to try to express myself, although I may not have been the most forthcoming at the very beginning I have grown since then. Something that I wish I would've worked on more was Project Management and I know I tried to really change this for awhile but I let myself fall back. I find myself frequently letting myself get distracted by other people or not admitting that I need help on something, leading me to make no progress on the task at hand.
Project Management would definitely be something I would have wanted to change this year and not only that but learning to be able to just try something and figure it out. To look at tutorials and become more invested in what I am capable of doing. I would change this because if I had done this throughout this past year I would be more happy with the position I am in.
There are numerous things that I have gained from my experience since first entering
E-communications. I have learned an incredible amount from these last two years, especially this year and I hope to continue learning how I can grow even more. The relationships I have been made this year are ones that have been able to help me improve. It may have been hard to push my designs further and to keep working on them to make them feel more complete but I have definitely made progress since my first year in E-communications.
