My Skills
Hard Skills:
- Photoshop: I have been familiar with the program for around a decade now, so I would say I am fairly acquainted with most of what goes on in the program.
- Illustrator: I would love to specialize in Branding or Packaging Design, so I have spent a good amount of time in Illustrator as well.
- After Effects: Motion design helps bring to life my otherwise still graphics, I think this is an often neglected area of design, that brings some uniqueness to some of the work that I do.
Soft Skills:
- Creative Problem Solving: As a designer, I think it is imperative to be able to come up with unique solutions that solve any design challenge that is presented. I am confident in my ability to step up to any task at hand.
- Adaptability: In this profession, it evolves at a very rapid pace and I feel as if I am really good at keeping up with what is going on and staying in the loop.
- Attention to Detail: I understand that the smaller details are crucial to get right. This in turn saves everyone time, money, and energy. I have learned from prior examples how this goes a very long way in the design field.
Two hard skills I would like to develop during the next year and a half at SCCA would be InDesign and UX/UI. These are two hard skills I had little to no knowledge of prior to joining SCCA. If I can just build a solid foundation for these two, I think I could have a solid amount of skills where I could take on more jobs and feel confident in my abilities. Probably not something I want to master, but just enough to where I can be proficient in them.
As for two soft skills I would like to develop, I would have to say my communication skills and time management. I always will turn things in on time, but I would like to better utilize my time. This I think will get better over time if I am on a consistent schedule and understand the goals I am working towards. As for my communication skills, I would say I tend to be more of an introvert for my whole life, but I have definitely been making strides at expanding my communication skills. I think the pandemic also did not help me in this aspect, but I can find a silver lining in it and it made me realize how much we really need each other. As much as it can feel draining to me sometimes, I see how important it is to articulate your thoughts, especially in the design space when presenting your work.