Hopes, Fears and Opportunities.

     During my first two years at uni I got a real mix of briefs that I either could not relate to at all, or eventually found myself being surprisingly interested in. So this year I'm planning to make sure I find an angle to approach each brief, in a way that will definitely interest me and fit with the way I work. In other words; pick briefs that are challenging in terms of the ideas and subject matter involved, rather than because I have to attempt to produce work in a way that is uncharacteristic of my personal work: I enjoy making work in the way I want to make work, and there's no sense in disregarding that.

     Taking this into account, my fears are fairly obvious: If the above issues were not addressed (and I became stuck in the monotony of trying to churn out work that I don't take pride in producing in order to jump through a divergent succession of hoops that are established by a client on a high horse) I feel it is unsettlingly likely that I will lose interest in what I've enjoyed my whole life, turn my back on the dream of making images for a living and become the real world equivalent of Seymour Skinner; moving back home with mother and living there until I'm in my late 40's.

     As luck would have it however, this year I have several opportunities to steer myself in the direction of the path I do wish to take: I have more than one self-directed brief I can take advantage of to make work I'm personally interested in, as well as a couple of portfolio visits on which I can meet and receive advice from enwisened and like-minded individuals.

"One day I'll be a beautiful butterfly!" - Heimlich, A Bug's Life.