Last night, the mentorship program I've been a part of for the last 7 weeks officially drew to an end. The Good Creatives is a program that trained non-design graduates with branding strategies (and generally graphic design) that aims to bridge the gap between their current skill level and the industry-standard skill set needed for them (us) to thrive in the field. We were taught, so to speak, the science behind the designs. It was also last night that we had guest designers to give the mentees insights on our final branding presentation. These are designers who had been in the field for 10+ years! It was such a nerve-racking night, but definitely fulfilling and eye-opening to hear them.
One of the questions I asked of the mentors, after the presentations, was how exactly do people get to train their eye for design. Personally, I find this to still be a puzzle for me because even though I can validate a work's aesthetic value, I can't seem to create good designs just yet. What Mr. Bryan Yap, one of the guest designers, said to me was quite interesting. He asked me back, "Before I answer your question, I want to know. Why are you here? You're a teacher, so why do you want to learn design? Why do you want to enter this industry?"
I gave an answer, but being the reflective learner that I am, I kept thinking about what my in-depth answer to that question really is. Why are you here? Why do you want to enter the design industry?
And I realized that last night, my answer shared my long-term goal. “I want to create a hybrid game-based education curriculum, so I want to have a deeper understanding of the design process.”
Which is fine, because ultimately that’s really where I want to go, right? What I failed to articulate last night (and probably that’s because it was also only after our program’s huddle last night that I pieced together all my jumbled thoughts about this whole new world I’m in) is the fact that me entering the design field has a 3-fold reason behind it. I have an immediate short-term, and long-term goal—I see them all the clearer now.
Immediate goal
This is the story I’ve shared before. My most apparent reason for putting myself in a place beyond conventional teaching is because I want to explore a sustainable way of providing financial help to the people in my community, while at the same time doing something that I love as a breather from my everyday teaching load. (Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching. But it does get tiring, and designing—though I’m definitely not the best designer out there—gives me that space to breathe and recharge.
(If you haven't watched this origin story yet, you can find it by clicking this link.)
Short-term Goal
This goal is something that I felt to have always been in me, but it wasn’t until I started exploring freelance designing that I got to see it more clearly. I guess the cry for me has always been about bridging the gap between quality content and quality design, marrying the left and the right brain (if that theory is ever true). Textbooks have good content but boring visuals because it’s academic. Art portfolios are often so visually mind-blowing but lacking in verbal/written depth. It as always been an either/or. We have been boxed into these categories long enough. As a teacher who’s into aesthetics, I jumped into this design industry with this goal in mind: to make quality outputs, both design and content-wise, as the norm instead of the rare gem that it is right now across professional fields. I want to, one day, see a community with hospitals soulfully refreshing aesthetics; schools with astoundingly amazing visual aids, from the walls to the slides and the textbooks; and recreation and art-inspired establishments to finally getting that community recognition that it, too, can serve its audience depth of content.
Long-term Goal
I guess this is where I want to end up, and this is why I had the first two goals in the first place. At the end of the day, I will always be a teacher, and my efforts will always be towards the education system. But it’s coming from the same core principles as my short-term goal is, too. I honestly see a vast gap between having fun in learning and in our current school system and practices. I don’t think that gap has to stay. Again, I want to marry the academics and the arts; the fun, and the facts.
Would I be able to attain these goals in a lifetime? I honestly can’t say for now. All I know, because of all the knowledge I’ve most recently gained, is that it’s possible. Very, very possible.
And I can deal with that.
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