Industry Engagement: Easter Talks

6A2, 6B2

Over Easter I attended a number of events in order to see what networking opportunities were available to me after University, and to get a further insight into the practicing world of design. As I splif my time between Leeds and London, I searched on the designcalendar.io - an extremely useful sight for engagement with the industry - for relevant and free talks and events on in both cities over the break. 

Finding out about the design calendar website allowed me to attend some really interesting talks and a networking event in South London. Rye Here Rye Now was an opportunity for practicing professionals to meet and exchange contacts. I met a variety of creatives from an animator, to other graphic designers. I managed to exchange a few contacts with people who were working on projects and looking for a graphic designer to finalise the packaging for print. With my experience in the print rooms and after the visit the Evolution, I felt confident enough to put myself forward.  

The talk 'The Future Is Female' was an unexpected highlight of the Easter break. Due to my current project investigating the evolution of digital language and the role of AI in this, this event had relevant information that I can use in my productions. It was also useful for its references to the various softwares developments going on BTS, and opening up the discussion of where the future is going. I feel its important to consider / predict this as to adopt ones practice in preparation - e.g. learning particular software / not learning software as will it be relevant? Lastly, it was also just an overall empowering experience to be in a space that celebrated women in the industry. Thus, being in a room of female creatives was a lot more motivating than I ever expected, to progress in this profession.