My time at Leicester College has sadly come to an end!
It has been an amazing 4 years and I have absolutely loved it. Looking back to the person I was when I started college way back in 2007, I come to realise that I have thankfully come out of my shell and become a lot more confident. Granted, I’m still not confident with my work, despite the amount of praise I have gotten over the years but I guess that is something I can work on in my own time.
There’s been huge highs and thankfully, not that many lows! I’ve meet some great people, fellow students and tutors, and some not so great people.
It’s true what they say, college is completely different from school, the whole atmosphere is completely different and so are the people! They may say “School is the best time of your life”, but they couldn’t be any more wrong. In my opinion, college is the best time of your life and there’s quite a few moments that I’ll never forget!
So, I’ve just finished my BTEC National Diploma in Graphic Design with 3 distinctions which gives me a grand total of…. 3 A Levels!!!
If you had told me in July ‘07 that in 4 years time I would have 4 As at GCSE level and 3 A Levels under my belt, I would’ve honestly thought that you’d lost the plot!
With results like that means I will be returning to Leicester College at the end of August to enrol onto the Foundation Degree in Graphics and eMedia. Although it is based and ran by Leicester College, it is in fact a De Montfort University course and therefore I will be a poor uni student rather than a poor college student! However, with that said, this course is only part time and is ran 1 night a week which means I will be spending my days looking for work and hopefully getting HawkinsDesigns out there and recognised!
So if you’re looking for a graphic designer, or know someone that is, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
I am currently in the middle of teaching myself CSS in preparation for September. I’m getting there slowly, but finding it very frustrating as not only am I learning a completely new way of coding a website, I am also having to relearn HTML as it has been such a long time since I built a website.
With that said, I’m enjoying (nearly) every minute of it and I’m pleased to say HawkinsDesigns already has it’s little home on the interweb, so watch this space!
Having said all that, I am currently taking a break from learning CSS and building a website for HawkinsDesigns for a couple of reasons.
- Having learnt the basics and now having a rough idea about CSS, I am going to have a serious sit down and think about how I want the website to look.
- Once I have the money I want to start looking into deals on hosting packages.
- I am working for the entire week next week at Popularis and then for a week at the beginning of August.
- I also have a lot going on at the moment in my personal life, nothing serious just nothing graphics related so don’t worry, but they need sorting out first!
In other news, I have a huge update regarding simplygym.co.uk; If you follow HawkinsDesigns on Twitter and Facebook you would already know that the website has finally gone live! So feel free to head over there now and check out my logo, which looks great, even if I do say so myself! I’m currently planning a trip down to Cheltenham in August so that I can finally go and see my logo in all it’s glory. It is definitely something I am very excited about!
It is quite a big thing having something you created being chosen out of 15+ other designs, let alone it then being used as a companies corporate identity. I don’t think it has sunk in just yet and will be quite overwhelming when I see it on the side of the building!
Seeing as I have already given them a mention, I had better explain how I got involved with Popularis. As part of my course, we were given industrials which were assignments we had to complete within a 2 week period.
Anne Hock, from Popularis, came into the college and asked us to design a poster which would promote anti-racism. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I found out that my poster had won me First Prize!!! An achievement I never thought would be possible as there were so many great designs by my fellow classmates.
As well as my poster being used all over the country, displayed in schools, work places, police stations etc, I have also been offered a couple weeks work experience at Popularis. 1 of those weeks begins on Monday and although I’m not 100% sure what will be asked of me, I am looking forward to it.
You can see my anti-racism poster by heading over to the HawkinsDesigns Facebook!
While you’re over there why not view the album entitled “Final Major Project - Nat Dip Graphics, 2nd year!” where you will see all the final pieces I produced for my last ever college assignment and the reason I received double distinction for my Final Major Project.
This now leads me to my final update of how I created Ben Mills’ official logo!
The subject for my Final Major Project was originally to rebrand a 5* restaurant. However, from the start I knew it was something I had no interest in whatsoever although I had already completed a great deal of research. Upon returning to college after the Easter holidays I knew, if I was going to change my FMP subject I needed to do it now as the Final Major Project assignment only ran over 5 - 6 weeks and I have around 11 final pieces to create.
I had my worries and concerns, of course I did, but I was in a much better frame of mind and I knew from day 1 of changing my FMP subject that it was the right thing to do.
To cut what could turn into a very long story (as I get far too carried away with anything Ben Mills related!), I will forever be grateful for him helping me with my project. I know it sounds cheesy and very cliché but I really couldn’t have done it without his help as my photography element played a huge part in all my final pieces.
With that said, it seemed only right to allow Ben to use the logo I created for my Final Major Project as his official logo. I was stunned that he liked it enough in the first place and after a change of typeface at Ben’s request, I believe it is a very successful logo and a piece of work I am extremely proud of.
And if you’ve managed to stay awake up until now, well done! You deserve a big pat on the back, as I do tend to waffle.
Once again I would like to take this opportunity to thank a very close friend of mine, and of course Ben. You both are very special to me and I will never be able to thank you enough!
I’d also like to say a huge thank you to Mel Jeffrey, for believing in me and giving me that place on the Introductory Diploma in Art, Design and Media back in July 2007. If it wasn’t for you, I’ve no idea what I would’ve done these past 4 years. I hope I’ve managed to prove to you that you did the right thing in giving me a place on that course!!
And to my other tutors (new and old) thank you to each and every one of you. You’ve had to listen to me whine a lot over those 4 years but you pushed me in the direction I needed to take, one that sometimes I have to admit not being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. You didn’t give up, just told me to shut up and get on with it!
There’s only 2 other people I need to say thank you too. 1 being my mum, for knowing there was something wrong and for taking me out of school, for being there for me when I needed her and for putting up with me taking over the entire downstairs of our house with my Final Major Project for the past 4 years.
And lastly and no means least, a huge thank you to Jackie from Connexions Leicester. Who helped me fill in the forms and apply for my Introductory Diploma all those years ago! We wouldn’t have had a clue where to start or where to go if it wasn’t for you.
Thanks everyone!!!!
Here’s hoping 2011 continues to be a great year for myself and HawkinsDesigns.