#fidm la

[krislamchin]

Thank you, FIDM :) 

[krislamchin]

I attended FIDMs Career Connection Event this morning! It was great to be back on my stomping grounds and helping current students. I just love being able to shed some light on what they should expect post graduation because it’s not always what it seems, haha. I met a lot of great people and saw a lot of familiar faces who gave me warm hugs. It was a lot of fun and I’m so happy I was able to give away some waffles :) Email me at [email protected] if you have any questions! I’m always here to help! 

[krislamchin]

My Top 10 Creative Resolution

1. Go back to school. (And, try to figure out how I'm going to handle being a student and working full time...again.) 

2. Hand Lettering. I find solace and satisfaction with the world of typography whether digital or hand drawn so I really want to focus on bettering my skills. Since I do it almost every day (doodles) in my planner, I might as well get better at it. 

3. Drawing. While fine art might not be my forte, I should continue to get better at drawing or.. illustrating.. doodling...really finding and refining my style. I have to admit that I'm proud where I've gotten since I graduated with my doodles and "drawing" skills. My doodles have shoulders and necks!! LOL.

4. Understand Business/Marketing. Let's face it, yes, designers can make things look amazing, but I feel what makes a stronger designer is knowing how and where to sell their work. Not only that, but if I continue to work in the creative/marketing department, I should get to know the ins and outs of both worlds. 

5. Write more. Because, hello, eloquent and well thought out wore...is kind of important...(whispers) and kinda sexy. 

6. Read more. Whether it be design books to strengthen my lingo, sarcastic humor to keep me creative, or even personal growth to keep me going, I need to keep my nose in a book at all times. 

7. Editorial. I get a lot of that creative exercise at work. I'm exposed to fashion/magazine layouts every day, so I'm need to take advantage of grids, type, detail & all that great stuff at work. 

8. Public Speaking. I often find myself stuttering more & more, and that's just no good. So I am taking it upon myself to be more verbal whether at the office or just out with friends and really taking the time to think about what I have to say before randomly throwing words out there, repeating myself and pretty much sounding like a complete fool, LOL. 

9. Meet more creatives. Workshops. Mixers. Conventions. Everything and anything to surround myself with my peers. Because, creative people are awesome >:]

10. Stop being so hard on myself. I strive to be great at what I do because I love to do it. However, I often find myself setting the bar way too high and rushing at it, and while that might seem really great setting up my goals really high, I set myself up for disaster when I bite off more than I can chew then I get all sad and discouraged and blah blah blah... so, that being said, I need to slow down and be happy that each small goal will lead to bigger goals. 

What are you creative resolutions?

Cheers and get creative! 

[ladyelectrica]

3 Days of Fashion

Anyone in Group M????

[alexandrunk]

hey is fidm hard to get into?

Nope, but let me tell you that it is a waste of money and patience. I suggest you look for another school :)

[prettybre]

College Kids

what loans do you guys take out to pay for school??

[fidm]

From the Intern's Desk: Working Towards Your Dream

 Have you read the latest post on the FIDM Blog? 

[krislamchin]

My Admissions Process [Graphic Design FIDM Advice]

Hello! 

A lot of you have been asking about the admissions process to FIDM. So I'm here to help! 

My admissions process to FIDM in a nutshell (please note that this was 2 years ago and this could have changed entirely since then) - 

I applied for the Graphic Design - Branding program back in 2009. I was scared beyond all reason because I didn't think I'd get in! I saw a lot of work from students and it was intimidating, but that didn't stop me from applying (and it shouldn't stop you either!).

I was asked to design a project that would help decide whether or not I would be admitted to the program. I'm not entirely sure if I should or am allowed to share what the project is about, but it was definitely challenging for a student straight out of high school with 0 experience. I put my heart and soul into the project knowing that there have been plenty of projects (albeit even better) that have come cross the process and mine, compared to theirs, wasn't good enough. But I kept going. 

Laura Gorahm was my admissions advisor and guided me every step of the way up until I met with the director. There I was, little 'ol me all nervous and possibly about to throw up my breakfast presenting my project and my statement. 

After my presentation, she gave me a few critiques and finally said after much anticipation, we would be honored to have you in our program. 

And thus the beginning of my design career !

Just a few quick tid bits about applying:

Be confident. I am not even kidding about this one. Everyone is good in their own way, don't compare yourself to others. 

Wear something business casual, but still has a little bit of YOU in it. (It is after all, a fashion school.) 

This kind of goes back to being confident, smile, a lot. A happy designer goes a long way.

Practice your presentation over and over again. And then over again. 

Be early. Be on time. 

The best piece of advice I could ever give to an aspiring designer is to just be yourself. You will come across tons of people in your life that will be more experienced than you, but just remember that one day you'll be that person. So in the mean time, enjoy who you are now and learn as much as you can.

I hope this helps!

Feel free to send in more questions!