... so much has happened since the last journal!

I guess the most obvious things are that I've just turned 22 (don't know whether to shout with joy or start crying in the corner lol) and that on the same day, I celebrated 3 years on dA! I don't think I've ever stuck around a website for 3 years, so it's a feat in itself.

But this week has been a big thinking week for me. Maybe it's the fact that I'm no longer in that 'young adult' bracket, (well, 22 isn't exactly that far afterwards, but 21 seems to be the last year that you should be messing around lol) and that now it's time to get serious.

I've been so lucky to have had 21 (for the most part) wonderful years so far, and I guess now is as good a time as any to make sure that every year onwards is just as good if not better!

I feel incredibly embarassed that I've fallen so behind with the daily designs.. I mean, 20 minutes a day isn't so hard is it? Not when you think about it like that. So I'm getting back on that bandwagon in the next week. I have no idea what I'll start with, but at this point any start is a good start.

I'm also researching colleges in the area that have design courses. The apprenticeship I completed last year was mainly about getting artwork ready to print, and I've definitely had alot of practice at that at work - to the point now that I know I can confidently say I'm a pro at it. But now I want to learn about design - the principles, the theory, the ins-and-outs of typography... just everything that a qualified designer should know. And I want to do it somewhere that a teacher can be stood in front of me, giving me direction on how I should start, but allowing me to figure out how I make my design work. A week ago I would've told you I was a qualified designer, but that's not true at all. I've got the beginner knowledge put into place, the apprenticeship and work have taught me that much, but I'm in no way able to call myself a designer.

I was reading an article this week, as well as a few journals from the creative team on dA (and to be honest, these are probably what sparked this debate in my head) about artists vs designers, and what design actually is. And it makes sense - a designer is someone who actively goes out to solve a problem. If you're 'designing' just for the sake of creating something, it's not really design at all... like I said, a week ago I wouldn't have agreed with that statement, but things change when you're pondering similar topics.

Then there's the whole moving out of home thing... I've already written a novel about everything else, so I'm not even going to open up this can of worms here. Plus it's not design-related anyway, so I'm saving your ears.

Apart from the whole aging and design ponderings, everything else is going awesomely. I've found myself a larger circle of friends since Soundwave last month (probably the reason I haven't played catchups in the daily designs over the weekends !), which by the way, was one of the most awesome weekends I've ever had (apart from the sunburn, I was red raw that weekend lol) and will definitely do it again next year if the bands on the list are just as good. But now it's time to get back to srsbsns. I've missed creating things each day, and I've definitely missed being as active around here, so now I'm ready to step up.



PS. The journal design is missing because I'm going to make a new one - new avatar, new journal design, new start.
PSS. Sorry for the novel.