This quarter, in Comm 350, I have gained a variety of different skills that will be applicable in my future career goals. I hope to become a brand marketer, and the design skills I have learned from Photoshop, Indesign, and Wix will prove invaluable during my search for a career out of college.
Prior to this course, I barely had the skills to operate Microsoft Paint; now I feel that I have drastically improved my technological know how. I can now create business cards, publication layouts and covers, advertisements, and websites—all applicable to my desired career path. Aside from software skills, I learned how to effectively design a graphic to appeal to an audience—it is so much more than just throwing some images and texts onto a page! There is a real science to creating effective designs. Certain colors, alignments, and graphics appeal to different audiences and knowing this will help make your end product successful.
Here are some links about design and knowing your audience:
Early this quarter, we were asked to join a social media site, which I discuss in my third post:
“For the purpose of this assignment, I joined Pinterest because I have heard women rave about it and reference it frequently. The concept of the site is simple, create inspiration boards filled with pictures ranging in topic. I fell in love with the site almost instantly, as it was very user friendly and a mindless way to pass the time. It reminded me a lot of blogging in the sense that you can either upload your own content or re-post another user’s image—the site thrives of off reblogged or “repined” image sharing.”
I have remained active on this site throughout the quarter because it is quite addicting! While it is useful to draw inspiration for projects, it is a great way to pass the time while I’m at work waiting for check-ins (I work front desk at a hotel). It is very user-friendly, and I found myself getting lost in the images of pretty floral arrangements and delicious food for a very long time! In all honesty, I will most likely continue to engage in this social media platform and spend far to much time repining ways to decorate my room.
Another main component of this course was maintaining this blog! However, I found this to be the least engaging element of the course. Seeing as how the online platform was incredibly simple, after the first post I didn’t gain any additional technological skills. The writing is also not very formal, so I don’t feel as if my writing technique has improved either. For the most part, this blog served as a way to rehash what we learned in class without actually going into too many specifics. Consistently posting was also a hassle because the staggered due dates were difficult to remember if not written down—plus they were on a Saturday which is not a typical homework day. Nevertheless, I have heard that the best way to learn is to teach the material to someone else, so perhaps restating how to operate the in class software did provide me with a better understanding.
Overall, this course has taught me so much about a topic that I had absolutely no experience with! The material is very relevant in today’s society, and the skill gained are applicable to nearly every career field. I have recommended this course to several of my peers, and feel it is one of the most useful courses I have take during my time at Western Washington University.
Image: http://wardcorner.edublogs.org/files/2012/09/blog-wm-office-clipart-crop-600x369-24bdbfy.jpg
Image: http://wardcorner.edublogs.org/files/2012/09/blog-wm-office-clipart-crop-600x369-24bdbfy.jpg
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