I’ve cut socialising out of my life for the next 6-8 weeks. Pretty big drama, I know but VERY necessary. As if we weren’t stressing enough, the lecturers piled on more work on us this week, 4 new MASSIVE briefs to work on oh joy, on top of the current overload. It’s like a pounding headache that won’t go away. It’s actually really great stuff but the pressure is intense.  It’s week 10 next week and week 16 is doomsday. I don’t actually know when anything is due anymore, all I know is that I needed to get them done last fucking week.

I made a list of things I need to do by end of June:

• rebuild website (www.rollerskating.com.au – gotta love it) using CSS/HTML. I like this but it’s taking ages.
• construct a flash based site (my friend’s photography – got the brief on Tues) – will take day I don’t have WEEEE
• a logo, brand, identity (and the corresponding research document – this often takes longer to work on than the actual design)
• a poster for a charity (brainstorming next week)
• another website (oh joy – got this on Thurs) to redesign – I chose www.ardesign.com.au because let’s face it, he needs help
• 3 animations (15 seconds each but feels like a lifetime. I am so stressed about this – about 10% done on the first one, I am SHIT)
• christmas postcards (will get this probably next week)
• marketing plan (due on wed)
• photography & drawing assignments, thankfully we do most of the work in class
• metcards and a card holder + research document (a public transport ticket)
• a manuscript and a student profile brief (a magazine cover + 3 pages)
• 3 slide presentations for some of those projects mentioned above

I’m actually just coming face to face now with the likelihood of failing at least one of these subjects because I might not be able to submit everything on time. And I’m already doing everything I can to get things done. Oh yeah, I HAVE TO WORK PART-TIME AS WELL.

AND OH YEAH, I NEED TO GET 40 HOURS OF WORK EXPERIENCE. And I need to find a studio that will allow me to come in for a week and interrupt their workflow. Gee, I can tell this is going to be so easy.

AND ANOTHER OH YEAH I’M MOVING OUT IN JUNE. Ugh it’s never ending.

Everything I do takes so much longer than it should because it’s a learning process. While I’m a big fan of learning by doing, this is just TOO FUCKING MUCH.

Easter holidays are coming up, I’ve got one last class tomorrow before we get a week off school. Does this mean we get a lovely break from projects and deadlines and thumbnailing and sketching and wireframing and drawing and presenting and researching? A big fat NO.

They actually assigned us stuff to work on over the break. All of them did. So it’s not a break. It’s the time to finalise everything we have going at the moment. So by the time we come back from “holidays”, we will have finished our drawings, our poster should be pretty much done, we should have fully-skinned wireframes for SIX web pages, the short animation we’re storyboarding tomorrow (one of THREE) should be pretty much done by the time we’re back in class. The research we’re doing for our case study in marketing should have been gathered and reviewed by then. The “progressive value” drawings should be ready for submission.

I’m cracking. I’m not joking. I am seriously cracking.

The problem is that I’ll be out of town from the 7th of April and won’t be back till Sunday 11th. I work the following Monday and Tuesday starts the school week. Hell week. So from tomorrow. I have Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday to work on everything. I guess I’m lucky I wasn’t able to grab extra shifts at work. Not making money this weekend but it’s a blessing I have that time to finish school stuff.

You think four days is enough? I really don’t think so but it better be. I’ve mapped out what needs to be done and I’ve spread them over the four days and have decided I’m bringing the visual diaries for drawing and animation so I can finish my thumbnails and work on my storyboards for animations #2 and #3. It should work out fine since I’m staying at an arts lodge in Byron Bay. I can mingle with the vrais artistes and grab a few ideas from them. So I’m hoping that works out nicely.

This poster took far too long to produce. I started out ambitious with all sorts of ideas, one of which included a paper cutout of a person looking at paper cutouts of clothes (the stuff I photographed in week 2) then started cutting back until I went back to my comfort zone. While it came out alright and it does work as it is and it does stand out against the other posters, mainly because it’s the only pink one around haha (it’s not even a color I’ve ever favoured!), I need to push myself harder.

Please ignore that where says rabbit’s paw on there somewhere. I was writing that when someone in class was harping on about monkeys..

Please ignore that it says rabbit’s paw on there somewhere. I was writing that when someone in class was harping on about monkeys..

Next poster for this class is for a design school’s Open Day. Have just started working on conceptual development.

As for others, we’re at the wireframes stage for a rollerskating website. It’s a great one to work on. I’ve been researching that site for so many hours that it’s beginning to feel like home when I type in the URL to go there haha.

Ok I gotta go before I miss my bus.

Today he made us draw a lot of stuff without looking at our work and without looking at the object and without lifting the pencil off the paper and with charcoal and in two minutes. We did lots of drawing today. Well, you can guess how that turned out. Or so I thought, he said he liked my bold confident strokes. I think it’s got more to do with the fact that I’ve grown a bit more shameless in things I do but not very well. I shrug and give it a go anyway. Nothing to lose when you’re coming from zero.

I’d think he was taking the piss but he strikes me as someone who takes drawing very seriously. So I’ll take what I can get from his feedback and keep drawing even though it’s something that’s made me uncomfortable all my life. It makes me happy to know that I have drawing class all year.

Anyway so yeah that poster’s due. Also due on the same day is a proposal presentation for a website we’re meant to be redesigning this semester. I love it and it’s going to be massively fun but I have even less done for that. Right now I’m at work and tomorrow I’m doing a quick (I hope) photo shoot for everything I need for the poster. Funny thing is (by funny I mean stressful) I’ve got to clean up the photos on Photoshop, print them out, cut them out, lay them out then take ANOTHER photo. Also I have to find a rabbit. Live one would be better but I may end up drawing the damn thing. That or re-conceptualise. By re-conceptualise I mean throw myself in the path of an oncoming train.

A grid enlargement/tonal shading drawing exercise is due on Wednesday and I’ve got to start working with an assigned group (woe!) on a case study for marketing. Please don’t get me started on getting the hang of Flash. My brain exploded last Thursday just trying to get a fish and shark to swim around, blow bubbles AND blink their eye(s). It wasn’t even good.

Photography is my current favorite subject.

I’ve also got an Open Day poster to work on but the concepts aren’t due in for another 2 weeks so I’m not worrying about that yet.

I’m going to crumble and I’ve got another 14 weeks to go.

I will probably have to let go of one of my jobs, probably the car dealership one since it takes up all of my Saturday. That and the new manager is a micro-managing prick.

So I’m going to give it a month and see if this is something I can sustain. I fear I may have to cut down on working and I don’t want to do that because I have about 5 trips planned this year and I need the cash. Part of that money goes to school fees anyway and there’s just not enough to get around.

I am going to get buried. I’ve been reading my marketing book on the train and on lunch breaks (if I’m not busy researching or photocopying and scanning stuff), just because there’s no other time to do it. I still have about 20 pages to read before the next class and while that’s not much, I have to worry about progressing on a drawing, completing a presentation and coming up with at least 3 concepts whose design I can properly execute in 2 weeks’ time and drawing sketches for it, researching on two photographers and preparing a presentation, website research and comparison then presenting on that as well… I’m loving it but if this is what a week is like, then I am so screwed this year.

…into something that I could better understand:

So now I’m beginning to understand what my year looks like and what kind of workload I’m dealing with. I’ve got a section telling me when my breaks are between classes – to make it easier to plan trips and work timetable. I have the classes broken down in terms of sessions, of months, weeks, days and time. I’ve also color-coordinated the subjects I’m meant to be learning this year, and hopefully studying outside of class hours. I’ve also highlighted the week I’m meant to be ready for presentation. And lastly, I’ve included a box indicating what a regular week looks like and when I might be available – handy when planning family events or babysitting nights.

I’m very pleased with what I’ve done, even though it took far too long. It took me ages just to make sense of the original layout, complicated by the fact that a few first-year subjects are thrown in together with this year’s subjects. But now I can organise my water job roster and fit in when I can work on side projects.

I’ve switched schools and so far it’s all coming up roses. Even if I don’t start till the 2nd of March haha, it’s a good vibe I’m getting from them. So this year’s going to be pretty full-on. I love it!

I’ve got Design Studio ALL year, a lot of Drawing and Photography (I think this is all year too yay), Multimedia and Advertising and Marketing. Excited much??

In the meantime, I’ll try to finish reading Designing Logos before classes commence, otherwise I will have no time for that at all.

I am now in the first stages of logomaking. I said I’d make them 3 options for further development but I got inspired and came up with double that. 6 months ago, I would have been less enthusiastic and more nervous about a project like this. Creating logos is serious stuff and I always thought it was something beyond my capacity. I wish I could put my sketches here so far and be able to track my progress here, but I think there might be a confidentiality issue.

Anyway, apart from the logo, they want business cards made (easy peasy japaneasy) and a simple website done. Stress on the word ‘simple’, I don’t have any PHP skills yet. I’m trying to fit as much learning as I can but I’m only human and I can only do too much. I promise I’ll get on to that as soon as I’ve got my basics in place. The trick is to learn lots, apply quickly, turn that into a source of steady cash flow and make room for more learning and gradually cutting down on work I do for the sole purpose of surviving and paying bills. It’s gonna happen. Just you wait.