Is it worth re-doing first year?

I never thought tertiary level study would be this hard, even before I started doing this degree I told my self to work as hard as possible. It all started last year when I graduated high school, I knew I wanted to do product design as I’m not really a guy into numbers or programming which most of my friends are studying right now. I’ve been freehand sketching cars and tech stuff all my life, not great compared to the stuff at Core77 but adequate enough to be understood and got high grades in design classes at high school.

I read some of the sticky threads here which I find them quite inspiring but can’t find a similar situation. I did a search and was the same.

If I Knew Then What I Know (Advice to students)
Why did you choose your school?
Industrial Design Schools: Opinions and Questions

I applied to 2 schools that year (AUT and Unitec) which was the only 2 within the region (Auckland) that offers product design without me needing to move out as I fear that if I do not get employed I would have a big debt behind me after finishing the degree. I’m aware that there’s also Massey University which is regarded as one of the best within the Australasia region, but it’s all the way down at Wellington (About 700Km south of where I am) and highly competitive.

I didn’t get into the school I want to go to, so I ended up going to the other school within the region with the aim to transfer over as a 2nd year.

Progress isn’t going as planned. I’ve been getting low grades on my first semester, not only that the grades are low the studio projects themselves aren’t really up to my expectations with few exploration sketches in the process. What should I do? Here are some of my thoughts.

I find the 6 week projects quite fast paced.
I’m quite easily distracted and can spend hours of Youtube on a day where I mean’t to do work.

It’s now second semester I’m trying to learn from my mistakes and make the most out of my time here now. Here are some of the things I am doing as part of my reflection.

Do at least 1 sketch a day to keep up with sketching skills.
Commit to at least 8 hours of school work per day to stay up to date with project.
Spend time reading more about design in spare time than tech news or Facebook.

At the moment I’m considering to re-apply as a first year student at my desired school with works of my studio project from this year; at least that way the work is better than from when I just graduated from high school and maybe more leveled with more skilled high school graduates. However I will need to improve my presentations in my portfolio instead of just images of design sketches which was what I did when I applied last year.

My second option is to stay at this school and work as hard as I can until mid next year to apply for transfer as a 2nd year at my desired school.

At the end of the day I don’t really enjoy being in this school as the equipments are very old and that the school refuses to invest in the design department (Talked to the product design head there). Timetables are not always prompt, tutorials can be cancelled due to lack of attendance as students are allowed to opt out of tutorials which I find unfair to the people that want to learn and paid full amount for. All in all I felt that I been to the wrong school and also not motivated as I should to design. I’ve been to both schools in person so I know the difference.

Sometimes I feel if I should even be studying product design. I’ve considered other careers but none that interested me aside product design.

Edit: I just realized how long this post came to be, so I shortened it a bit. But thanks for taking your time to read :slight_smile:

I don’t know what’s right for you, but I’ll share two of my own insights.

  1. Having motivated and engaged peers who you can spar with and to some degree compete, is very valuable.
  2. Sometimes you have to step backwards before continuing forward.

From the sounds of it, you can still do well where you are if you manage to focus your efforts and motivation, but it will be easier and more fun if you find a good environment with motivated people.

good luck.

A little tough love here. Your post comes off as very whiney and excuse filled. No one is going to hand you anything on a silver platter. You are going to have to work for it. One sketch a day? Make it 20. 8 hours a day? That is a half day at Uni. Make it 16. Discipline yourself to work harder and take your dream. Eat, drink, sleep, and crap design for the next 4 years. Actually your first 4 years of work will be the same so make that 8 years.

Be the change.

I’m with Yo on this one. Design school is ultimately what you make of it.

Most of us didn’t have the resources to go to the best schools in the world, so go to a school, and try to learn as much as you can. If you see that there is a better option than take it, even if it means going 700km away. That’s a couple hours of a drive, some students go halfway across the world for university, a 6 hr drive is a reasonable distance if it’s a good school.

If you find yourself spending too much time on Facebook or Youtube then stop it.

As yo said, 8 hours a day should realistically be a minimum investment for school. If/when you become a full time designer (or any job) you’ll need to put in a minimum of 8 hours a day, and most designers put in much more than that.

One sketch a day is nothing. Consider sketches like push ups. If you did 1 push up a day do you expect to make any real progress? Set aside as much time as you can for sketching, learning new tools, and if your school doesn’t have the tools see what you can do to get them. Software is cheap or free for students.

But at the end of the day, if you aren’t interested in it then you won’t get much out of it. At least a third of the students I graduated with didn’t go into design. They’re doing just fine as real estate agents and bartenders.

Take accountability for your own actions and responsibilities. Great designers come out of a lot of hard work and that’s as simple as it gets.

Also keep in mind, it doesn’t get any easier… Especially when you hit the working world.

THIS
I find the 6 week projects quite fast paced.

If 6 weeks feels fast paced, it is all the more reason to stop wasting your life on Youtube!

I’m quite easily distracted and can spend hours of Youtube on a day where I mean’t to do work.

If it’s distracting, do either one of these things. (1) Turn off wifi or (2) Go into parental controls and block Youtube.com

It’s now second semester I’m trying to learn from my mistakes and make the most out of my time here now. Here are some of the things I am doing as part of my reflection.

Good start, great idea, start with this and increase this load as you go through the semester.

Do at least 1 sketch a day to keep up with sketching skills.

Do at least 1 PAGE a day, one sketch isnt gonna get you anywhere, I can do that in less than a minute.

Commit to at least 8 hours of school work per day to stay up to date with project.

I don’t how long your classes are but rather than giving yourself a duration of how long you are gonna do school work, get in the mindset of starting your school work and completing it first before going on facebook, going out with friends, or other social activities.

Spend time reading more about design in spare time than tech news or Facebook.

This is a good way to be proactive, read, but also explore and discover yourself. Don’t get all the design news online, because it’s already prefiltered for you. Instead find new trends on your own, make your own decisions, come up with your own finding, make your own predictions.

The more I read this, the more it sounds like typical college freshman stuff. Listen. You’re either cut out for this, or you aren’t. To me, you sound like you have no passion and no drive and your looking for the easiest path through school. Your fellow students and your professors will see right through this. Make the decision: commit or change majors. Do it now before you waste anymore time.

First of all, thanks everyone for the inputs I take these very seriously. I know this is harsh, but I will have to suck it all up. From the inputs I have received it is clear that to continue I need to commit long hours on my school work.

Second, if I am going to continue with this degree I rather do it properly. The only logical way is to start as a first year again in 2014 and be in a school that I want to be at and get motivated.

Third, instead of making excuses I will start a thread for my next studio project. This way I will be more motivated and informed of my progress aside from the usual input from class and instructor.

As for better school environment I will work on my time management and work standards before attempting to transfer to any higher rank school.

All in all, I end up answering most of my own questions which seem odd. I know I sound whiney but I am not happy doing what I do at the moment. But I will try my hardest.

Good luck maze.

‘You want a cookie?’ Honestly that’s my first thought when I read the post. Kidding aside your thoughts and attitude on this situation can be dangerously applied later on in the workforce when/if you find yourself working in a company that’s not your No.1 choice. You just have to make the best of it (work hard and try your best). If an opportunity comes up then move on. Like some others said there’s no ideal school just like there’s no ideal companies to work for- they all have their strengths and weaknesses. Obviously some are better than other. The quality of design education depends on your cohorts (who will become your future contacts, partners, boss, direct reports, etc) and to a lesser extent, the equipment and other school ‘capital’.

Are you willing to post up some of the work you’ve been submitting in your first and second years?

There must be a way you can tactfully insist on tutorials going ahead as as scheduled. If others cancel can yours not go ahead anyway?

I think these are all good mental adjustments to make. I’d love to see you post work up here as you progress. A lot of young designers have used the forums like that, Andrew Kim who is now at Microsoft. Rene Lee now at Apple, Mark Miner, now at Nike, just to name a few. Get feedback on your work, not your situation.

Also, one cautionary tale, you could transfer schools and still not feel motivation. Motivation comes from within as well as from your environment. Maybe it will work, just be cognizant of the internal part.

I’ve got a little video that might inspire you. It is Ashton Kutcher at the Teen Choice Awards. I want you to seriously watch this because between the teenage girls screaming are three gems of insight:

Wow, “Chris” really turned Teen Choice into a TED talk. Impressive strategy for the Jobs promo trail.

Thanks for sharing, Michael.

@Sam

I am currently mid-way into my first year and can post up some of my work this year so far. I will need to compile some of my drawings out from my visual journal since we keep most of our design process there.

About the tutorials, they are optional but are recommended to attend and listed on the timetable. Students can either choose to work on their project that time or attend the tutorial. Reason being tutor not teaching on days when there is less people are that they seem to think it is not worth doing since it will benefit less people and if students start to ask people that did attend chances are that they will demand a re-tutorial which is a pain to the tutors. More of an environmental issue I think.

Tutorials are often demonstration of techniques like wood joining, welding, cold joining etc. with occasional theory on research methods.

My point is that I paid for my education and I do not want to miss out just because there is a lack of people attending. I do attend every tutorial when it happens.

@yo

Thanks for your encouragement. I will post up progress on my next project in 2 weeks. I promise.

Will definitely look into works of the people you mentioned in my spare time.

Very inspiring video by the way. I guess the idea is to really push your self everyday and move on the next day with a fresh page, also network with people and push the boundaries; He seem to have a Steve Jobs vibe, probably due to that Steve Job’s movie that he took part in.

That are just my thoughts.

@Sam

I am currently mid-way into my first year and can post up some of my work this year so far. I will need to compile some of my drawings out from my visual journal since we keep most of our design process there.

About the tutorials, they are optional but are recommended to attend and listed on the timetable. Students can either choose to work on their project that time or attend the tutorial. Reason being tutor not teaching on days when there is less people are that they seem to think it is not worth doing since it will benefit less people and if students start to ask people that did attend chances are that they will demand a re-tutorial which is a pain to the tutors. More of an environmental issue I think.

Tutorials are often demonstration of techniques like wood joining, welding, cold joining etc. with occasional theory on research methods.

My point is that I paid for my education and I do not want to miss out just because there is a lack of people attending. I do attend every tutorial when it happens.

@yo

Thanks for your encouragement. I will post up progress on my next project in 2 weeks. I promise.

Will definitely look into works of the people you mentioned in my spare time.

Very inspiring video by the way. I guess the idea is to really push your self everyday and move on the next day with a fresh page, also network with people and push the boundaries; He seem to have a Steve Jobs vibe, probably due to that Steve Job’s movie that he took part in.

That are just my thoughts.

Edit: I just want to add that over here in New Zealand we typically have a 3+1 structure. 3 years for the degree it self with an optional honours year doing a 1 year research project. It will set me back a year if I start again, making me a year older than my fellow students. Question is that does age matter. Would it be a disadvantage if I graduate a year later for my future employment? I am only 18 this year.
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I/we look forward to seeing the work, but don’t make work for yourself, I’m sure we’d all find quick scans or similar perfectly adequate.

Re: tutorials, I was assuming you meant 1:1 sessions with your tutor to discuss direction/progress/feedback on projects, so I can see why these going ahead may not be feasible. However, this seems bizarre. As you’ve pointed out, your degree is an investment and you shouldn’t be missing these due to others unwillingness to participate. Could you discuss with your school?

When I studied a class was a class. Sure, further education is voluntary, but if people can’t schedule their time around immovable events then they’re going to find working life tough!

I’m more curious to hear more about why you think that this would matter. It does not matter, in fact the additional experience may be a benefit.

Just something to think about, after high school you are free to leave behind all those years of institutional education and start to do things your way. Don’t get to caught up in the establishment of their structures for education, when you complete that education is not nearly as important as how you complete it, and if that means switching schools, going to grad school, or just picking up courses after graduation, then do it. If you don’t have the passion, drive, or discipline to do that then explore another path.

Me personally, I committed myself to stay at a school and in a program that was sub-optimal in my opinion. Because I was influenced by external (family) forces and an institutional mindset (education = job). I knew half way through that if I wanted to pursue design as a career that I would be taking post-graduation courses at a top school, so that’s what I did.

Motivation can come from many different things, but the biggest for me is achieving goals. Set yourself certain goals, and meet them. Find an area where you can become the expert (whether it’s sketching, 3D modeling, market research, etc.) and become really really good at it. When you are better than your peers, go find the next thing to become an expert at. Get a friend who you can compete with, and challenge each other. School equipment doesn’t matter. My school had mediocre equipment, but I made the best of it. Find a mentor in design, who can tear your stuff up. Sometimes professors are too nice, find a good senior designer you respect. I had and have several mentors and they really helped me out. They don’t necessarily have to be designers either. I had mentors in marketing, communication design, architects… Whoever’s better than you at something is a mentor.

Passion is an overrated word. Desire is a better word. Passion will die out. But if you have a desire to accomplish a goal, you will get there, even if your emotions aren’t quite there.

@Sam

Here are some of my sketches for now. Really trying to find some decent thinking drawings. I never really learnt to sketch properly as most are self taught and images copied from magazines or newspapers etc. which is why the proportions are quite out. I should seriously look into proper practice if I am going to compete with others in the future.

@rsuzuki

I know what you mean, sometimes I got to really ask my instructor for critical feedback instead of waiting for him to come to me. It is a bad habit but sometimes I don’t have enough progress to show which brings fear in mind. I think critical feedback is one thing motivation is another. Ultimately if I don’t get frequent feedback it will only do harm to myself, like they say it would not fool anyone else. I always slip behind in progress because of that.

I set goals but most of the time I just can not meet them. Either my goals are too big or I need smaller goals as stepping stones.

A weird thought though.

@Greenman

My design and visual communication teacher back in high school last year told me that many employers in the creative industry tend to look for younger people as they are the ones that often have the most creative ideas. It is a vague thought but it seem to be stuck in my head all the time which is the reason I asked to hear others opinion.