It takes a lot succeed in your career and pay off your student loans! And like a swiss army knife you need a lot of tools on hand to reach that goal. Here I’m gonna make like some ikea furniture and break down… some of the tools in my tool belt.

To know what tools I need, first I need to know what I want to do. I spent the first quarter just happy to be here, unsure of what my goals really are. It’s starting to set in that I need to think ahead if I want to actually end up with the right tools. I’d hate to end up with nothing but a hammer when my dream is sawing, for example.

My passion in life is telling stories that entertain people. One way or another I want to get involved in an industry that indulges that passion. Movies, animation, game design, book covers: these are where I’ve set my sights.

So, what tools do I have?

A big ol’ creative brain. I may not have flexed this skill professionally but I’ve been making shit up all my life. I love Dungeons and Dragons (and other better-but-lesser-known rpgs) and I’ve been running games for my friends for years. I’ve spent hours painting world maps that only 4 or 5 people will see, dreaming up obscure lore for gods and goblins, detailing the intracies of ork culture, and writing twists to shake my players to their core.

Improvisation. I yes-and with the best of them. Inevitably, despite careful planning, my players will zig where I expected them to zag and I need to come up with the culture of the obscure world they crash-landed on and bring a character to life that didn’t exist two seconds ago. Outside of games, this skill makes me quick on my feet and capable of winging-it when I need to.

Theater?? I’ve been acting in shows since I was 10 years old and I’ve been in dozens of shows. How does this apply? I’m figuring that out, but it’s in my belt. I’ve also done multiple voice acting jobs which are at least tangentially related to some of the fields I’m interested in. Theater does teach you: teamwork, memorization, communication, listening, research, vocal control, and how to use your body. Some of those are definitely useful skills.

What am I working on?

These are the skills that I have that need work.

Illustrator. Thanks Jason. I’ve started down this path but there’s a plenty of work ahead. I had dabbled in Illustrator before this program but it turns out I didn’t know the pen from brushes.

Photoshop. I’ve used Photoshop in the past for painting so I have a general understanding of the layout. I know how to import custom brushes use multiple layers to built up a character illustration. I know Photoshop is an incredibly powerful tool that I’ve barely scratched the surface of and I’m looking forward to learning more.

Elements of Character Design. This is more of a pet project but it’s definitely something I’m keen on learning more. I’ve got the basics of building a recognizable silhouette, using a strong color palette, shape language, etc. A lot of this is theoretical knowledge that I need to learn to put to practice.

Illustration/Art. I have vastly overestimated my skills in the past, but I’ve also created some stuff I’m pretty damn proud of. I’ve got a lot of love for traditional art and illustration and I’ve claimed to be an illustrator in the past but I need to put in the mileage and turn into an actual tool in my belt.

What do I need?

I don’t know! But here are some things I think would be useful or I just really want to learn!

Animation I recently tried my hand at animation and it was excrutiating and made me want to throw my laptop across the room. But then I finished and hit the play button and it was like magic. Whether this I use this for motion graphics or character animation I really want to learn this skill.

So much I don’t even know yet. Sometimes I feel so ignorant when I try and talk about what I want to do after the program. This is just a case of not knowing what I don’t know. I don’t know how to describe the elements of design that I’m missing. I’m excited to find out.