Week 3

Gunnar Swanson quoted it best about one's target audience, saying that, "Most people don't seem to be able to identify anything specific about their clients. For years, I've asked, 'Who's your customer?' and got 'everybody' as the answer." I agree with Swanson. Before you begin a project, you must research. Just in the sense of cooking, before you begin to cook a meal, you must prepare your ingredients. One of the most important steps in design research is to figure out who your target audience is. Without determining who your audience is, you cannot complete your project. You will be lost because you will be designing something completely opposite of the clients you are presenting to. In "Designing A Digital Portfolio", I was able to relate closely with the search tools listed on pages 46-51. When I went searching for an internship this past summer, I first turned to my father to see if he knew anyone in the design field who might know of an opening in a job for me. After he said he would look into it, I decided not to wait on him and possibly find another internship while I waited. I went to the internet for help. With websites such as Craig's List and Jersey Intern. Obviously Google.com was more than helpful, but I wanted something local where I could possibly go back and work at once I graduated. One source that I didn't seem to find in the book was Career Fair's. I went to a career fair at a local college near me and I was able to hand out a resume of myself to several companies, and in return, I received business cards and a few call-backs. However, my father and I found Prime Visibility which was local and dealt with several interesting fields that I wanted to get involved in.