Fashion Designer Employment Status Report - Assignment Example

Fashion Designer Employment Status Report Goals My short term goal as an artist is to gain more experience in the fashion designing field. I plan to achieve this by attending actual theatre studio such as the summer theatre in Anaheim, California so as to widen my knowledge as pertains to fashion designing. Even though some of the projects that run there are small, I will be more than happy if I could show what I am capable of doing through the costumes that I will help them design, even if the opportunity that I will be given is to provide the tiniest of accessories. On the other hand, my long term goal is to become a costume designer who can create magic out of a piece of fabric. In order to become a costume designer like such I know that I require a lot of training. Philosophy Realistically, since I am still a starter on this career, I will take on any opportunity that I will be offered to be able to showcase my ability. This will entail attending any beauty pageant that I am able to so that I can sharpen my designing skills. I am constantly seeking growth as an artist while trying to enjoy the process as much as I can. I feel that if I enjoy myself while working on a piece that I am designing, the pleasure will help me put in that extra effort that is necessary to make the piece truly polished. Even though I am so passionate, there are moments when I feel there is something holding me back. This often happens when I have conversations with my parents regarding my future. They always ask me questions that I do not want to answer due to the fact that they consider I do not take my life seriously. However, I am motivated to pursue my career in the fashion design industry due to the fact that this industry has grown up a lot in the past 20 years. It has become a large part of the creative industry hence competitive; as such there is no guarantee that one can be successful. Despite the fact that it is extremely hard to get established in this industry, there are some things that I can do to make myself get a better chance of getting noticed. I believe that I can work hard and produce great work at college hence recognition. The quality of my work is my biggest philosophy; I believe that this is the greatest tool that I have to boost me to achieve my goals. Currently, I am a student in the Academy of Art University majoring in Costume design. Since joining this university, I have seen how to design in my own way so that I am comfortable designing each piece in the shortest amount of time but still keep developing my own style. In order to gain my own style is to take the next step. According to Careers in Fashion, p.1, fashion marketing careers are highly competitive, so the more you can learn from fashion school, the better prepared you will be. At the moment I am a student and my next step is to gain experience in the business field. Currently, I take the opportunity y attending summer theatres programs and apprenticeships. Market Place My competition is every other student in the school that I attend as well those in other schools that are pursuing the same career. Apart from that, I face a great amount of competition from veteran fashion designers who are more experienced and have a lot of say in the market. In addition to this, the advent of outsourcing has been a significant contributor to how the business progresses. This has brought competition from all over the world as people are able to participate in fashion designing pageants that are miles away from them. However, I intend to counter this by engaging myself in very many projects that will give me experience so that I will be able to grow, stand out and fight for my place in the market due the exemplary work that I will be able to provide after getting vast experience. It is my greatest desire to come out of any project with a feeling of accomplishment in that I have to learn something that I was not aware of and perfect it after the completion of every project that I attend. Market plays a key knowledge formation role , the design market is not a narrow channel that only sends flickering price and demand signals but instead acts as a broad, interpersonal and frequently relational channel that carries a great deal of learning and knowledge experience (Aspers, p.3). As such, it is very important to know the market and our market strongholds. I plan to organize my own fashion design show where I will invite other upcoming fashion designers as well as some seasoned designers so that we would learn from each other. This way, I will also be able to sharpen my fashion designing skills and learn other things from the other professions who will be in attendance. Even though the event will be small scale, I believe that it will be a big step towards cutting myself off from the rest of the market. Apart from learning a variety of things that I was not aware of earlier, this would be a great opportunity of marketing myself. This is coupled by the fact that my show will be open to anyone who will be interested in attending as opposed to the other high class fashion show events where attendance is on a strictly invites only basis. Many people being aware of my talents will help me acquire my place in the market. During this event, I would display a number of exemplary outfits that I have done while giving an opportunity to other upcoming fashion designers to do so. This would be able to provide room for comparison so that people may see my work against that of other fashion designers. The fact that I also have a passion for beauty and rather talented in it will give me an upper hand in the whole show since I will be directing the makeup and general appearance as well. Online marketing has paved way to many possibilities and is cost effective (Harris, p.141). As such I intend to try and market some of my designs online so as to increase my market coverage. Skills and Tools In order to get a place in the fashion designing field one has to know all the tools and trends that are considered fashionable at various times. One needs to master the mechanisms of innovation and have a good understanding of what is considered to be trendy and cut out from the rest. To achieve this, versatility is of key importance, it is not always just about designing pieces of clothing but designing those that stand out and are recognized the world over. I am always catching up with trends that are coming up in other parts of the world by the use of my exemplary research skills (Trade Schools, Colleges and Universities, p.1). The internet should be a great tool in achieving this as one needs to do extensive research so as to be aware of the latest fabrics and designs that people are into (Trade Schools, Colleges and Universities, p.1). The finest bit in fashion design is not making the best outfit only but also making what is considered trendy that is going with the times in the fashion industry. Creativity is also of utmost importance due to the fact that even though a person may be aware of the latest fabrics and trends in town, if they are not creative enough to come up with something that would interest the public then all their effort would be of no use. My Japanese identity is shown throughout my designs, I was born in Japan and brought up in Osaka, the biggest city of Japan. I was brought up in a Buddhist family where I was forced to memorize different rituals. The books of rituals contain a lot of shapes and this is the time when I became interested in various shapes with some being curvier and more complicated than others. The fact that my mother and grandmother also teach Syamisen, the Japanese tradition guitar worked to draw me towards fashion designing. At the age of 8, my mother brought me to the theatre and I became so much interested in the beautiful costumes and jewelry and my interest in shapes never diminished. As I became older, I started searching for an occupation where I could work with the great costumes hence my passion for fashion design. At the moment, I could say that I am always at par with the latest trends and come up with designs that have the potential of being appreciated from any part of the world. I am well aware that am still below the professional level since there are renowned fashion designers such as John Richmond, Givenchy, Dolce and Gabanna among others (Top Fashion Designers, p.1), I continue working hard and being determined so that I can polish my talents through improving what I already know and taking positive criticism from other professionals in the fashion designing field and other people that I work closely with. So far, my weakness is the fact that I tend to work so much on creativity to the extent that I come up with designs that are quite absurd and would require courage to adorn. To avert this problem, my instructor and guide advised me that in as much as I try to embrace creativity by creating outfits that are unique, I should consider the practicability. The outfits should be trendy enough to be appreciated as well as simple enough to be adorned by those that are not so much fashion savvy. She told me that there are people who though may be keen on looking good may not take on the very bold designs. With this advise, I have learnt that I need to tone down on some of the designs that I think of coming up with so that they may fit people of diverse personalities. One key tool in the fashion design industry is having the knowledge of the mood and style of a production that one is working for by reading the script involved. By reading the script, designers are able to understand the relationship between characters and how the actor and the director intend to portray the various characters. As far as I know, Film production and theatre companies hire costume designers and I could get an opportunity as a freelance designer, residential designer or as an academic designer. Any of these fields will greatly help me to sharpen my skills in the fashion design field. Networking Despite the fact that some fashion designers may feel that their work is exemplary and that it would sell itself, they still need to be networked. It is human nature for people to work with those that they are familiar with and this is one reason why it is important to be networked. Interpersonal connections are extremely important and even the briefest meeting could give you an edge because human beings are social creatures. In addition to this, conventions are an important networking tool since they bring together professionals from all over the world. This would be an important avenue for networking since ideas are shared and in case of an opportunity to work somewhere one is given an upper hand. According to the British Council, p.4, one simply needs to be open minded and look actively for future collaboration and business with other companies, organizations and the individuals that they meet in these conventions. The Future To be honest, I do not have an idea of an ideal job in the fashion design field. I have asked my friends who work in other fields about the same question and they feel that there is no ideal job. Ideal jobs come in many different factors such as the salary being offered, working environment, nice coworkers, job satisfaction and other factors. With that, as long as the place I end up being is able to provide an environment where I can focus on the things that I like and achieve my full potential. The ability to explore my creativity to the highest level possible and have lots of passion in what I do is what I want for the future and this will be my ideal job. Works Cited Aspers, Patrik. Using design for upgrading in the fashion industry. Journal of Economic Geography. Advanced Access Publisher. Retrieved on http://www.mpifg.de/pu/mpifg_ja/JEG_10-10_Aspers.pdf British Council. International Young Design, Fashion and Media Entrepreneur Award 2012. Retrieved on 12th March 2013 from http://www.britishcouncil.org/br/brasil-artes- economia-criativa-international-young-creative-entrepreneur-premio-moda-design-e- midia- guidance-notes-2012-brazil.pdf Careers in Fashion. Fashion Design and Marketing. Retrieved on 12th March 2013 from http://www.careersinfashion.net/cat/fashion/career-link/fashion-design-and-marketing Harris, Jason. Internet Marketing 100 Success Secrets: Online Marketing’s Most Asked Questions on How to Manage Affiliates, Techniques, Advertising, Programs, Solutions, Strategies and Promotion. New York: Lulu.com (2008). Top Fashion Designers. About Top Fashion Designers. Retrieved on 12th March 2013 from http://www.top-fashion-designers.info/ Trade Schools, Colleges and Universities. Fashion Designer Career Information. Retrieved on 12th March 2013 from http://www.trade-schools.net/career-counselor/fashion- designer-information.asp Read More