How I survived my design school and get my dream job.

I still wonder how I survived my design school.

We had a ton of projects.

I remember wondering if they put that pressure on us on purpose.

Maybe they wanted to make us overwhelmed,

to see if we could manage the intense pressure and workload?

I could not finish all my projects

It was impossible for me.

Same for my classmates.

To survive, give your best to do things you love.

Focus on school project you love the most.

To survive,

I decided something.

To focus on my strengths and self-interest.

Instead of giving all my project average,

I prioritized and focused on the one I enjoyed the most. 

So I could give bigger value to my portfolio.

Two things mattered to me.

My Master degree project, and my portfolio.

Why?

To pass, we had to succeed our Master presentation

in front of a jury of professionals.

They would be the one to decide. “Not the school.”

Create personal projects for your portfolio.

My design school wanted to make sure our student project is relevant to the market.

(Even though they all expect to see us pushing the boundaries of the possible.

And express our creativity to its maximum potential.)

Our 5th year was fully dedicated to this project. And I gave my best to it.

But, on top of our school projects,

Since my second year of school, I understood pretty early there were extra projects that could matter even more.

The personal projects.

The ones that no teacher would give any marks on it.

These projects would not help me pass, but help me get a designer position I love.

We were all doing the same projects,

and was going to the market for an internship or job interview at the same time.

A way to differentiate yourself

is to create your own.

Apply only to design companies you love.

Target the companies you love,

And create projects like if you were working at their Research and Development team.

Go to their websites, and absorb their values.

Philips, for example, is about: “Sense and simplicity”.

Make sure you are not making something loud and eccentric.

If you did this on purpose, make sure you can show the positive value in it.

Having your projects will help you stand out from others.

And show your high motivation.

I was not taught about footwear design. But I was attracted by this field.

So I learned myself.

Went to Coroflot looking for professional sketches and boards

from designers from Nike, Adidas, Hummel, Puma…

I taught myself Photoshop and Illustrator to make pro renderings.

A while after I joined a French brand of sportswear in Paris, then, later on, I flew to Adidas in Germany. 🙂

Be resourceful, and your dream may come true.

Cheers,
Chou-Tac

PS: By the way, I am preparing a course on sneakers sketch and rendering. Stay tuned!

Let me share with you a sneaker tutorial I gave to my colleagues after work at Starbuck: https://www.thedesignsketchbook.com/tip-82-how-to-draw-a-sneaker-youtube-video-with-shoe-vocabulary/