kjerstinasak.com

Guess who went and finally got herself a proper domain name for her portfolio?

Go check it out: kjerstinasak.com

Planning my future?

Slowly but surely it seems my time at Buskerud University College is running out. The focus is still heavy on the school work but for some time now I’ve had a nagging feeling about how I’m going to get ready for what is to come, (real life). Of course I have been thinking about this for quite some time now, but it feels a lot more real now that I’m just months from the leap. Do I have the knowledge? Is my portfolio sound enough to start applying to junior design positions or should I continue at a private design school to get some more practice? All I know is I need to prepare myself thoroughly to make this work. Of course I’m aware that I will encounter good and bad periods throughout this and I wouldn’t be surprised if it took me more than a year to get the kind of job I’d be satisfied with as a Graphic Designer, I kind of expect it actually. This implies that I will constantly be searching for businesses who need new people, developing new work for my portfolio and in the meantime get a different job to have something to go on - I do like having a bed and eating real food you know, gotten quite accustomed to it. Plu as a side-note I also think it will be very important to make the other (hopefully) employer aware of my plans, because getting a bad rep as an employee anywhere certainly won’t do you any good.

So what do I do? I research. 

There’s a few articles I just read that I’d really like to show you:

http://graphicpush.com/hiring-a-junior-designer

 -          Not exactly new, but it shows what you’re expected to know. The comments also show a healthy dialogue of education vs. being self-taught

http://www.hugoandcat.com/careers_junior_designer.aspx

-          Some really good points about what you should try to contribute with when you don’t have too much experience. 

http://www.lifeclever.com/talent-isnt-everything-7-habits-of-highly-effective-junior-designers/

-          Some pointers to remember that you might know of but haven’t really put into context. This one isn’t recent either, but I think it shows some general ideas that transfer well into today’s market. And I’m also quite sure these three can translate into the Norwegian design business. Disagree? Please do comment! Any discussion on this will be quite helpful.

Guess who's back

Aaand then she was home again. Well I was actually back around Christmas time, but I didn't feel like writing about it then. I'm a bit miffed, yet back on track in the place they call "Norway" (It's actually Norge, dumbasses) I must say I miss all the drawing, the short travel distance and of course the people. (Which I keep repeating on facebook incidentally). It's quite a contrast going from what felt like a stressful version of my favourite playtime with coloured pencils, cutting and pasting and adobe basics, to mostly business and project related stuff here at home. I've gotten much better at maintaining focus during lectures after the substancial break from it, so I'll count it as a success. 

 Indeed.

How did my trip to Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England change me, or what have I learned? Well I reconfirmed that I do in fact enjoy drawing and being creative. Watercolours are fun. I still posess the ability to befriend new and amazing people - I have highly exaggerated my "lone wolf" tendencies before now. I'm more confident when it comes to my English (which I'm not sure I needed because I'm getting a bit cocky about it, bad Kjerstin). I can present my own work again which I was much better at before I started Uni. I love snack cheeses now. Vinegar on Chips is the bomb. Fireball Whisky and apple juice shouldn't be alcoholic cause it tastes like liquid Christmas and I wish I could drink it all the friggin time. Use any excuse to promote yourself. Be more forward to leave an impression on people. German people are cooler than I thought. Eat ALL the popcorn! I finally got the hang of paragraph styles in Indesign (about time). Always plan ahead of time, cause you never have the amount of time you think you have...

 Bye-bye Sunderland, bye Clanny House...

BBC Sherlock drawing

You should watch BBC Sherlock. Just saying!

Cairo Coffee Poster

Assignment, promotional work done in coloured pencil for a fictional coffee shop

The Hunger Games

An assignment and how it looks thus far (I'm supposed to add the author and fix the background a bit, for my own sake) Check the book(s) out as well! They're brilliant.

Halloween '11 in Sunderland

Did I tell you that I had a REALLY good time? Yes? No? Anyway.. I can show you!


 I did some costume research and ended up trying to do a Mary Poppins, and then figured why not just make her a zombie. I was Little Red Riding Hood last year, so I wanted a bit of gore this year.
I had my first try with liquid latex to make some wounds the week before. A good idea, since I had no idea what I was doing. Youtube was good help as always, so I'd recommend checking that out.

First try: 

Liquid latex drying

first try with covering, not at all good

2nd try, on the actual face.. meeh too small!

Ok, and there it was, the big day! (I'm pretty sure no-one else cares about this as much as I do, but I don't really care anymore... MY blog! :] )

Bigger, bolder, braains.

Concealer on and corrective contacts in

Acrylic blood and improvised black+yellow eyeshadow skintone

My german friend Sebastian, and myself ( check out his black contacts.. eery)

The rest of the extremely lovely gang!

Trying to stay in character.

Failing miserably.

All in all, fun was had by all!

As a note, that hat took just about as much time to make as doing the make-up.. I shouldn't have bothered! Oh, and why no bloody clothes you say? Well duh, would Mary Poppins ever allow blood on her clothes, even as a Zombie? I don't think so. (Oh, and they're proper new clothes, I can wear them again? Hell yes!) Gonna go and watch The Walking Dead now, Zombies are just too terrifyingly awesome.

Some other stuff

The Great Green Goblin, Trampoline Tia!