Creative Futures Student Conference 2013

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Glyndwr University held a Creative Futures Week where many artists from a variety of areas and careers where invited in to talk to us and give us  an insight into the realities of working in the creative industries. They provided ideas and various opportunities to develop professionally. And told us that if you network within the industry and contact professionals, they can help develop your future career.

Monday 4th March 2012

On the first day the morning conferences started off as a general insight into the design industry and how you conduct yourselves, as well as a quick run-down of what the plan is for the week.

Some quotes for the morning were:

• “work harder and be smarter than the creative director”
• “be original, find your own influences”
• “passion will drive you to work harder”
• “its not how much your degree costs, its what you do with it”

Sarah Mair Gate (Creative and Cultural Skills).

She gave to us a brief chat about their work and website and how they interacts and helps students and graduates in the Creative Industry to find a job.Basically the speeches during this session were brief heavy and largely statistic focusing on advertising their works.But after Stuart Cunningham make me reflect better when he suggested that if more people stayed to work over Wales Industry obviously the wages shall rise.

Tuesday 5th March

Phil Hirst (Getting a job in the Media)

He spoke about graduation importance and how to climb the industry ladder. When you finish your graduation then different lines start to be clear, doors start to open and to many ways become more understandable, what’s going on and what’s this for, what is that for, all this become just natural, all things around get involved. We really need to study Media Studies for understand small and big things that happens around.

The companies in Media looks for people that shows clearly strong skills evidences through the way that increase effort and passion for the Media.

Journalism got a different view and Methods specifics for them views and that don’t work for me and my personal perspective, point of view and my own way to think.

Through the Organisations and Jobs researches, Enthusiasm and Passion for the area, Broad General Knowledge and Curiosity to Learn more, Practical Work Experience, Determination and Persistence. We must to get some Work Experience, moving around and make some Apprentice Improvement, Volunteer on Student Newspaper, get involved in Studio Radio, work by Charity in Hospitals, Community Centres, Radio.

Wednesday 6th March 

Yasia Williams Leedham (Book publications) 

Yasia graduated with a degree in Design and Art Direction from Manchester Metropolitan University in 1998 and moved to London where she began working fin magazine design.

Overall I found it interesting and very informative; she first told us how she worked her way up from graduate to the position she currently holds. She also emphasised how important work experience was, and that even work experience staff have helped put publications together and gained full time jobs from it. Furthermore she said about the market and the changes and the factors that effect her job such as eBooks. This made me realise you need to be flexible within your work to adapt to society changes.

Thursday 7th March

Kirsteen Harris-Jones ("How to be a children's book illustrator")

Kirsteen was an ex student of Glyndwr University (whilst it was NEWI) and spoke so highly of all the staff. This talk was one of my favourite as it the most relevant for myself. She showed us work, and spoke of her experiences as a freelance illustrator. 

Again she was emphasising the importance of work experience and how it helps to reach jobs in the future. 

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Furthermore she mentioned how she had previously had trouble with an Design Agency she was with straight from University - from this I will definitely take a lot of consideration when chosing my agency. This has also helped me realise I would like to get jobs via an agency; although they take a cut of the money the legwork of finding jobs and advertising will not be done by myself as well as fitting in actual illustration work, with an agency you can have jobs lined up one-after-another.

She also talked us through what happens from the moment you get a commission to completing the final piece, this taught me there are lot of middle steps as well as lots of communication between myself and the client before going ahead. I found it all very useful and inspiring, even when reiterating the fact that you have to take the uninspiring jobs until you could get a good deal.