The Value of the Third Year

The university experience has been a strange three years for me. I knew all along that I wanted to be a designer, and I knew what graphic design looked like. It is unavoidable; and like every other industry, it develops and progresses. An attribute that I am less keen on is the association with fine art. I used to shudder when people would ask what course I was on, and when I replied 'Graphic Design' the response would almost universally be on the subject of art or drawing pretty pictures. You can imagine my distress when we had weekly lectures on the subject of Art history, and were required to produce only experimental visual expressions with the odd layout poster to mix things up.

I did not enjoy the first year, and I don't feel that I progressed as a designer as a result of it. Thankfully for me, things changed in the subsequent two years where we produced work that could pass for 'design' as opposed to 'art'. After this slow start, I feel that I have only got to grips with design in the third year - fortunately the only year that counts towards our grades.

Before criticising the way in which the course actually teaches the student about the art of creating quality design, it is important to remind ourselves that it is strictly a 'Communication' course, not a 'Design' course. This alludes the non specialisation of any of the fields of design, including typography & layout, branding, or motion graphics etc. While purporting to produce versatile graduates, there is also the danger of graduating as a designer that is very average at a lot of things. Only through significant independent effort on the student's part can work of any acceptable standard be produced. This is something that I realised and gladly have been doing over the third year where I feel that I am finally producing work that I would not be embarrassed to show an potential employer. Not through fault of the course, it is rightly the students that work hardest on their development that realise these benefits.

This brings me to the original question that this post asks. What is the value of the third year? The tutors always seem distressed that we all care about our final grade. They say that it doesn't matter; but what self respectful individual wouldn't want their efforts to be recognised by the classification of their degree. If it is not the best work that receives the highest marks, then the system must be flawed. I do care about my final grade; maybe less than I did this time last year, but I do care as many others do too. It is only through my astonishment at some of the grades awarded to some of the work that my focus has switched to the quality of my portfolio, as I put trust into my own judgement of the work I have produced.

In spite of this, I can only describe my grades as fair up till now. During my work experience placement, my eyes were opened to the design industry, and the need to demonstrate that I can produce this standard of work. We can create all the work that is 'original' in form, but some things will be an original for a very good reason. Creating installations or outrageous forms may show an attempt to 'buck the trend', and avoid the more convention outcomes such as booklets and posters, but what use would these pieces of 'communication' be in an attempt to convince an employer that we are capable of fitting into their system with as little complication as possible. I prefer to show originality through idea. If an original idea is communicated successfully through a booklet or poster will stand out even more than a quirky gimmick, and be twice as convincing. For me, the real challenge is obtaining this level of communication, where commercial standard work is lit up among its contemporaries. If we are marked down for using commercial form, then I am confident that the work will show its quality in the interview when the student that has attempted to 'buck the trend' will be laughed out of the office.

For me, it is clear that the course is a vehicle for a student's personal growth. It is the openness that allows them to make their own choices and stand accountable for those decisions. This must be why they say that the grade doesn't matter. If we are concentrating on getting the best grade then we are neglecting the necessity to build commercial design skills. This could not be better illustrated than by the blogs that showcase exceptional design work. Are they non-conventional innovative forms, or are they innovative ideas communicated through conventional forms?