London Calling

Greetings dear readers!

It's been just over a week since my last post, and let me tell you, a lot can happen in one week. Last Monday I said goodbye to the states and hello to the UK. After struggling to narrow down four months of existence into one suitcase, waiting painstakingly through numerous flight delays, and (not) sleeping through one six hour haul, I finally made it to London!

Naturally, we were given hardly any time to adjust to extreme jet lag and general disorientation from stepping foot in a foreign country for the first time. Orientation procedures started promptly at 5:30 pm and got us geared up for the weeks to come. Most of the week was spent doing things like this; meeting and greeting, exploring side streets, and desperately searching for a flat to live in for four months.

After finally settling in at the new flat and successfully surviving my first day of classes, I'm loving London even more. Prior to today, I did manage to get some exploring in with some friends. We've stumbled upon a few local coffee shops, a delicious Filipino restaurant, a design & architecture exhibit, and even made our way to St. Paul's Cathedral.

Here are a few shots from our adventures so far!

Classic Telephone Booth Shot

Sculpture Near St. Paul's Cathedral

Design Exhibition in Holborn

St. Paul's Cathedral

& a few shots from the super-cute Dose Espresso near St.Paul's Cathedral:

After just a few days of wandering around various parts of town, I can only imagine what else London's hidden side streets and tucked away neighborhoods will reveal to me. It's not like I'm going to be here for four months or anything (:

Cheers! 

U.K. English Word of the Week: "Cheers" meaning thank you or thanks

Catching Up

With just one week until I take flight and make my way to the UK, it's been quite the...experience getting all my affairs in order. Making sure I have all the necessary documents ready, all my bills and bank accounts taken care of, and just generally my head firmly on my shoulders has been a lot to juggle. On top of that, I've been working on an updated portfolio of my strongest work. Basically, it's been the week for lists on lists on lists.

Trying to update my portfolio has been especially challenging. For obvious reasons, I'm trying to get that done before I leave next Monday. A week is honestly plenty of time to put together a sample portfolio, but it's been difficult for me to weed out what projects have been more successful than the others. Obviously, I'm proud of all the work I've done, but they sure don't say "kill your darlings" for nothin'.

After hours - literally - of thinking about this, I finally narrowed it down to about five projects that I'm SUPER confident showcase my skills without eliminating variety in my portfolio. Now the real challenge is to show those projects in a way that really sells me as a designer. That means, dun dun DUN, more editing...

Fitting my projects in one or two pages maximum has been, truthfully, a pain in the you-know-what. Giving enough context so the viewer understands the project without being a complete overload is a delicate balance I'm still trying to figure out. Hopefully, with a some perseverance and a little bit of luck, I'll get it all together and sent out to a few firms before my little Eurotrip. 

Until Next Time!