reflections

Reflections as I sit here in the first semester of my first year in design at the University of Auckland. Unfortunately, you are not writing this from halls but your room back at home in Hamilton. The first month of university was amazing and you are itching to get back to the design studio to create, think and brainstorm with your inspiring lecturers and peers. Right now though as you work on your blog posts for your des100 assignment you get asked these questions of how do I grow as a designer? What disciplines am I interested in and want to specialise in? What do I want to do in the future and why? I want to answer these questions with thought as I can't wait to read back on this blog post in my last semester in my final year and reflect on this blog post in particular. I grow as a designer by sitting in design and just taking everything in! Everyone I have met so far has such incredible ideas and different ways of thinking I find it truly amazing. There is no one way of doing anything. Your background, where you are from, your different priorities of interest shape everything we design and find it so uplifting listening to the lecturers and students who are passionate about the same things I am of trying to make a positive impact on the world. I am personally interested in augmented reality as I feel like there is unlimited potential in this field and lots of opportunities to be discovered. Especially in the fashion and marketing industry, I believe we have not utilised this new medium to create a point of difference. In the future, I want to make a difference in society. Fast fashion, child poverty and gender equality are topics that stand out to me the most and I feel the most passionate about. In particular, I want to try and minimise the environmental damage from fashion, reducing waste of fashion and the exploitation of workers in the textile industry. I one day want to own my own business hopefully with a key focus on minimising this impact. As of now, I don't know exactly what designer I want to be and I am happy that I don't. I want to grow, explore and approach everything with an open mind. When I reflect on this post in 3 years I hope I developed and worked on projects that keep sustainable development goals in the forefront as well as my morals I value such as kindness, open-mindedness and positivity.

#des100

(illustration by me)

source cites:

McFall-Johnsen, M. (2019, October 17). The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined. Here are the biggest ways it impacts the planet. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com.au/fast-fashion-environmental-impact-pollution-emissions-waste-water-2019-10?r=US&IR=T Envision2030: 17 goals to transform the world for persons with disabilities Enable. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/envision2030.html