Monday 23 November 2009

On Top and Motivated

It has been quite a busy last two weeks with the start of two new assignments. The first task of which, I really wasn’t looking forward to. The concept of writing an article about a design icon seemed fairly interesting to me.


This was until I discovered my allocated icon to be The Beatles album cover, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band. It didn’t look good as I had never seen this album cover in my life, and have strong opinions on how shocking their music is. I did, however, get a little more into the work, forgetting about my original views. It became an interesting task to review the history of a 'considered' icon and to discover how designs can be iconic.


Also this week we had to produce our full development for the Blacker Hall Farm rebuild. This was very stressful, as I like to spend a lot more time developing my ideas, creating neat and detailed drawings. I realised I would have to speed up in the process and realised that my final product wasn't of a great standard due to this. This has taught me a lesson though, and I need to learn how to develop quicker but with the same final production level.


The next task was to design for a random object. I knew many people would struggle but this has been very enjoyable for me as I thought it would be. I am still doing this now and ideas keep flowing and it has been a really good experience just to spend time being creative. I have learnt a lot about how to get my brain into a design mode, and not to dismiss ideas but draw anything that comes to your head.


Finally I have been learning a Content Management System (CMS) ; Wordpress. This has been a very draining experience to try and get my head around. Missing the tutorial day didn't help but I feel like I have caught up this week and am starting to get my head around the way it works.

Overall, I am happy with how these assignments are going. After an initial rush I feel like I am on top of my work but I know I can't be complacent and I need to well motivated from now on.

Tuesday 10 November 2009

My Interview Question Explained

This weeks blog post is to turn an interview on its head, and have me asking the questions. As the interviewer, I will be listing some of the question I would ask to a potential client in the industry of web design. The aim of this is to be able to put ourselves in the shoes of both the interviewer and the interviewee. This way we can be fully prepared for future interviews. I will also be giving a brief explanation into why I chose these questions in particular.

What drew you to this job in the first place?
This is a fundamental question to establish the intentions of the employee. You will learn a lot about where they want to go within you business, through the answer they give you. They will also give away a few preferences as far as what motivates them in work.

What do you know about our business?
This shows how much the potential employee has research the job and how much they actually want it. Extensive background research will indicate that he/she is very keen on the job and would also suggest they would be more committed to the work they would be given.

What previous experience have you had within the Web Design?
Fairly obvious, this will indicate how experienced they are. From this you can determine how well they will fit into your business. It is crucial to employ someone that is well experienced.

What design software have you been using up to now, and at what level are you with them?
It is crucial for you both to be on the same wavelength and if he/she has no experience in the software used, then this will give you a whole new task to familiarize them to it.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?
This is going to tell you there opinion of their own strengths and weaknesses and is often quite a hard question to answer. It means they will have to self assess themselves and often people find this difficult to do and generally you will get honest answers.

What qualities can you bring to us?
This is a further question to the previous whereby it asks them more specifically to assess themselves. This can definitely give you an idea of their character and how well they would fit in.

Do you prefer working on your own or in a group?
This will give you an indication of their preferred working environment. There answers will either fit into the job role you had in mind or they may be suited differently.

Where do you see yourself in 3 years?
This will give you a small insight into their intentions within your business from the present and the future. It should determine whether they are committed to the web design industry or whether this is just another job to them.

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