This year I began my journey as a Freelance Graphic Designer and it definitely proved to be a challenge. I was having a hard time feeling motivated. I was at a roadblock and winning the Scholarship from Shopify was encouraging! It was an indication to me that the world was telling me not to give up. Having the chance to hear other designers talk about their challenges and personal design processes helped me realize that I am not alone on this journey.

 

I left feeling inspired, curious and motivated by everyone, from seeing the interactions on social media to the conversations held on Discord. It was comforting seeing people come together in a new way. I found Sara Wachter-Boettcher's Brave Conversation talk so helpful in navigating how to have difficult conversations with a teammate. Bruce Mau was humble and inspiring, his comment on "starve the things we hate," really resonated. Boost Creativity in Your (Home) Workplace by Robert Smith RGD helped me understand new ways to be creative while working at home. Let's Talk About Value had so many great panelists discussing the value of design. I believe it was Chris Do who said, "It's important or it's not. It's going to cost money or it's not. It can't be both at the same time." Honestly, every speaker was great and I'm happy I have the chance to watch the ones I missed since they were all recorded. 

 

My favourite session/speaker was “Pencils before Pixels: Boost your creativity in your (home) Workplace” by Robert Smith RGD. This session I learned practical techniques to use in my daily work to make my “at home” workspace feel more inspired! It felt very immersive, with questions being asked from Discord and answered almost immediately. One of the best tips I got from Robert was to “Consider your Environment”. Robert talked about having two desks. One desk for your electronics and things you need for executing your final outcomes. The other completely empty other than paper and pencil to reduce distractions and improve creativity during the rough sketch process. This is something I looking to implement in my own workspace. 

 

 

Phoenix Mounce Student RGD

 

Receiving this Scholarship meant exposing myself to experienced creatives and seeing how they navigate the industry. It's inspiring to get a chance to see different approaches as I graduate next year!

 

In my portfolio review session with Sarah Di Domenico, we had a great chat about following one's inspiration and intuition. I was also showed the thought process behind some projects and what was the inspiration/intuition. It was all very timely as it helped me quickly revisit with those thoughts in mind and further solidify the direction of a current project.

Getting to see talks about diversity, racism, inclusion and social justice. It was extremely insightful to get to know about trends within the industry, as well as how the perception of design and roles of designers are changing. As a young designer, it was very helpful to hear advice on business interactions and owning my own creativity.

As a Graphic Design major, I've always wanted to attend DesignThinkers but never could as the tickets were a little steep for my student budget. This Scholarship from Shopify was one of the best presents I got in this depressing year. It allowed me to be feel a part of Canada's graphic design community. 

I was glad that there are a lot of junior designers and even experienced professionals out there who have similar concerns to mine. That gave me some sense of comfort that I'm doing well despite all the uncertainty and anxiety in this pandemic and it was encouraging for me to participate more actively in the community.