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Prior To Higher Education
I have always wanted to work with visually applied skills and it seems I was destined to be an artist and graphic designer, but I didn’t do well in school, my highest grade was a ‘C’ and that was in art, everything else fell into ‘D’ or lower. Because of this I stayed on an extra year in sixth form in order to get the GCSE grades required to be able to go to college.
College
Once I attained ‘4 GCSE’s of C or higher’, I went to North Devon College (Petroc) to begin training in the field of Graphic Design, but to my surprise, when I got there I was met with contempt and disbelief, this may have partially been down to my punk aesthetic and 6 inch mohawk atop my head. I was seen as, and I quote, “a troublemaker” and wasn’t believed that my portfolio of work was my own. This understandably upset me and effectively was a proverbial tree across my path.
After being told that I couldn’t start on this course,I went to see the head-teacher of the college and explained to him that this is the path I want to take and that I have spent the past year getting 4 GCSE’s in business studies in order to ‘pass the bar’. I was then reluctantly told by the then head of the art department, Colin, that “if you succeed, then I will be the first to pat you on the back”. I took this as a personal challenge and it gave me the motivation I needed to succeed and spent the next three years persevering to complete a first and national diploma in art and design. Despite the harsh beginnings to this course I proceeded to give it my all and thrived, fast forward 3 years and I completed it with triple distinctions. Evidently, Colin was a man of his word and on the final day of being in college said to me - “I owe you a pat on the back - don’t I?” to which I humbly replied “you don’t need to do that but I appreciate the gesture”. The positive and the negative aspects of the situation gave me the drive to continue to University.
University
I would be lying if I said I didn’t find University daunting, I was now a fish in a much bigger pond and was amongst people that had a much higher understanding of the application of graphic design within the real world. I found this stimulating and challenging for the most part which helped me to grow my technical abilities even further, but there was a clear bias that permeated the campus, one that saw graphic design as little more than a tool for financial gain, which felt worlds apart from the free artistic expression that I was used to.
Employment
A year or so after graduating I got a job in Barnstaple at a Graphic & Web Design agency where I largely worked with creation of brands & designing websites on the Shopify platform, but something was missing, I was in an environment that wasn’t good for me and the projects were no longer mine to own, in the 6 years that I worked there, I began to develop tension in my shoulder that lead to getting a trapped nerve. Due to the culmination of mental anguish and physical stress, I left the job at the beginning of the COVID lock-downs in the interest of healing.
Freelance Employment
After a couple of years and a couple of part time retail jobs, I decided to try to make it on my own and started up my Freelance Graphic Design business, WillMW_Creative and while it is quite unforgiving at the beginning, I can say that I am very happy to be self motivated and can really own a project.
What I Have Learned
I have learned a lot from this process, most pertinently; that you cannot judge yourself through the eyes of others if you wish to succeed. I don’t mean success from a ‘financial profit’ perspective, but true success; one of purpose and fulfillment.
To you reader, don’t give up because something is hard, don’t judge yourself by other peoples standards and for god's sake, don’t sacrifice your dreams. I implore you, live your life, because no one else will.
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