08.10.09
Guest blogger: Jamie Hearn

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Recent college placement Jamie Hearn offered us his thoughts on entering into his final year at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.

So, it’s arrived. The week I begin my third year at college. I was going to say go back to college, but as it’s my final year, I am treating it as a ‘new beginning’. Not just because that sounds incredibly upbeat and optimistic however. Over the summer the feeling of ‘this is it’ has very much sunk in. What do I want from my final year? That’s the main question I’ve been asking myself over the summer. What would I really like to do with my time? What things would I regret not having done? I don’t want the dreaded ‘why didn’t I…’ popping into my head 12 months from now.

I have often thought of my BA Graphic Design course as a marathon. At times it has very much felt like one. Foundation was a quick sprint by comparison. Like any marathon, there are great moments, mixed with painful unpleasant ones. When you get the momentum you have to keep it. At times you have to grit your teeth and endure. It is an intense experience of ups and downs, with lots to learn both personally and professionally.

College can be my best friend in the whole world. Sometimes it drives me mad and I hate it with a passion. However on the whole it is a healthy relationship. The frustrating comes from being in such a competitive, challenging environment. If is difficult when you are constantly being taken out of your comfort zone. However, this process is rewarding, and you improve quickly.

At present there are numerous conversations about the role of design, in relation to our society in our current climate. As a student, it is an opportunity to think about the ways we can improve our world and make positive contributions. At college, complete creative freedom is given to you. The best students use this wisely and responsibly, in order to achieve great results. Tutors are tough on you. Listen to what they say, and you stand to benefit. They indicate it is a tough journey ahead to be successful in the creative industries. Obstacles are put in your way, a bit of bureaucracy here and there. All of this is frustrating but an important learning curve.

I remember one tutor telling me ‘the world does not need another graphic designer’. A daunting statement, just one term into my course. It made me ask various questions of myself ‘how am I going to make a difference?’ ‘What is my message?’ ‘And what is the best way to communicate it?’ By asking these questions, you begin to develop the professional focused approach needed to be successful.

The alternative approach for students? The naïve one? Around a year ago, I found myself in a bizarre conversation with a group of engineering students, on a visit to see my best friend at a large, well-respected university up north. Two individuals I talked to were convinced the world owed them a living. Apparently a lecturer had made a tongue-in-cheek comment, saying on their graduation a ‘60k job with a Ferrari thrown-in was waiting for them’. They had taken his ‘joke’ somewhat literately. One of them laughed when I said I was studying Graphic Design, and told me my career working in McDonald’s would not be far away.

Subsequently, the two boys failed their first year of Engineering. They haven’t gone back to university. They didn’t get enough marks to do so, I’m told. I hear they haven’t got that 60k job, or the Ferrari. Apparently one of them now works in…

So I am keeping a cool eye on my future in the coming year. Most importantly, I will continue to be passionate about the work I do. If so, work quickly turns to play, and great enjoyment is gained. Enjoyment is a key ingredient to successful study, and what I will aim to achieve most. If I can say 12 months from now I enjoyed the work I did in my final year of college, I will be a very happy graduate.

Jamie Hearn is (now) a third year BA Graphic Design student: his website is here.

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