Career Pathways- My Design Skills

Because we are approaching the end of our university course we have been advised (in the form of this professional practice brief) to begin looking into potential career options. In order to understand what kind of jobs I am eligible for it made sense to first define my skills. Because I will be a recent graduate (hopefully!) then I am going to have to be pretty flexible and open to a variety of jobs because the kind of jobs that I am probably going to be eligible for are going to be pretty broad. As such I am going to have to be malleable because getting a job in my industry is going to allow me into the design career sector and give me relevant work experience. 

My skills- In order in what I feel I am best at:

Illustration - Drawing has always been a passion of mine and in my opinion at least I think I am pretty good - I'm always trying to improve and it is the area in which I am most interested.

Photo Manipulation and Photoshop Drawing: I am comfortable drawing in both Illustrator and Photoshop and have been using the two in conjunction throughout many of my projects- I feel like defining this will also show potential employers that I can manipulate photographs and am comfortable with both vector and bitmap images

Software : Illustrator and Photoshop - the ability to use a graphics tablet

2d Animation/Motion Graphics- I know the basics of animation using software at least and I'd like to think that my attempts at motion graphics have worked well. Like illustration it has always been an interest I have always been inspired by the Wallace and Gromit films and because of this I intend to base my independent project on the idea of creating a stop motion.

Software: After Effects, Stop Motion (which requires the use and knowledge of lighting soft boxes, cable release and a camera)

Photography- I am an adept photographer and have the relevant equipment

Branding- Thanks to many of our briefs we have all been taught how to brand ourselves and others and we have even had to create our own branding guidelines. Though it is not a particular favourite of mine - it is a skill that I possess and because all design companies and potential clients have/need brands then showing that I can adhere to them again conveys that I am adaptable.

Graphic Design- I feel that graphic design is a term that is thrown about a lot but essentially it revolves around using digital technology to create design something that thanks to this degree I am perfectly capable of.

Indesign- Admittedly I only know the basics of indesign but it is one I have used before and isn't that hard to use - after a bit of practice in it I am sure that I will know enough.

The ability to translate concepts to outcomes-Although this might be an obvious one it feels prudent to note and sign post that I am used to following briefs, adapting briefs and turning ideas into actual designs.

Video Editing- The briefs and concepts that I have elected to do haven't really needed this skill so I have no proof in my portfolio (aside from the motion graphics stuff) but I can use after effects to edit video - again I know the minimum in this area since its not a massive interest but I can do it.

Other softwares that I can use: Pages, Keynote, Word, Motion, Final Cut, Wordpress and Powerpoint

Now that I have ascertained my skills I can compare these to real world jobs and what they are looking for.