Why I Am Pleased I Did Work Experience

Today was my last day of work experience. For the last 2 days I have been working on a design brief for a charity T-shirt that will be sold to fund raise by students at the school the business works with. I have loved working as a designer for the last couple of days. I want to work in design when I am older but I never thought I would have the opportunity to design something that could be used commercially at just 15 years old!

The people I was working for were really pleased with my design. They have asked me to keep working on a digital version and possibly come back later on in the year to do some more work with them, or when I am in college. They said they might even pay me! I am now really pleased I did work experience as without it I would never have had this opportunity. It has definitely been worth it!

Bake Off - The Final 2016

Tonight is the final of Bake Off. Jane, Candice and Andrew will be competing for the last time to try and win. Personally, Candice is my favourite, as she consistently produces bakes with amazing flavour and they usually look good too. She is also a very likeable character. However, Jane has many years of baking experience and Andrew's creations are often brilliant too, so it could be anyone.

We also of course have the excitement of seeing what colour lipstick Candice has on this week!

As Mel, Sue and Mary won't be in the show when it moves to channel 4, this will be the last episode of the show as we know it. I am very upset they are leaving; the show won't be as good without them. So tonight lets enjoy our last ever bake off with the troublesome duo. Who do you want to win?

The Best and the Worst of Work Experience

Today was my second day of work experience. I have been working at a Design and Print workshop as I am interested in being a graphic designer. I did not realise it when I applied, but the business is actually owned and run by a local secondary school. They do a mixture of jobs for the school and jobs for external clients. They were set up to allow students to get work experience and they employ a group of "student staff " who get paid to work there after school. This means they are used to working with teens and were very welcoming.

For the last couple of days, I have been helping in the print workshop to carry out the various print jobs needed by the school and external clients. On the first day, this was very interesting as we were doing lots of small jobs, allowing me to gain experience with a variety of techniques and machines, some of which are relevant to my graphics work. However, today we had to make 900 booklets which was really boring as we were doing the same thing over and over again all day.

I have been told I will be involved in the design work later on in the week, so I have that to look forward to. However, tomorrow will be spent putting all 900 booklets into envelopes! :(

Loving Mandalas

Recently I have become fascinated by Mandalas. These intricate designs are spiritual symbols that symbolically represent the cosmos. Drawing them can be used as a form of meditation, as the process can often be described as an outpouring of the soul. They are full of patterns and usually very colourful.

One of Animal's limited addition skateboards features a mandala design, shown on the right.

I have been having a go at drawing my own mandala and I have fallen in love with them. They are quite hard to draw as they should be symmetrical, yet are made up of repeated freehand irregular shapes which are often hard to get all the same size. However, I love the fact that there are no rules on which patterns you use, allowing you to be very creative. If you like drawing, even if you are not very artistic, I think you should definitely try designing one.

The Latest Dan and Phil Release...



I am a fan of Dan and Phil - I have liked watching their mad videos for a while now and I have read their book. Now though, they have taken their crazy world of internet fame to a whole new level with their new song! In aid of Stand Up To Cancer, Dan and Phil have released a song called The Internet Is Here. It is about the internet and how it fits into our modern lives. You can listen to it below:

 

I'm not sure I agree with some of the lyrics, but it is still funny! I think they need to work on their vocals though! Could they be the next number one? The next big thing? I guess we will have to wait and see! Hahahahah!

Girl Power Playlist

The media seems to get a bad reputation when it comes to promoting feminism. Often, this is unfortunately very true, but there are some artists who write songs that have the opposite message. Songs that promote girl power. Little Mix are especially good at this and have many songs with positive messages for teenage girls, but there are other artists as well. Below is my playlist of empowering songs that reflect what the media should be doing.

Wings - Little Mix
All About The Base - Megan Trainor
Hair - Little Mix
Royals - Lorde
Salute - Little Mix
Hard Out Here - Lily Allen
Just Like Fire - Pink
Black magic - Little Mix
Roar - Katy Perry
We Are Who We Are - Little Mix

Making a Difference

As young people, it can be hard to get our voices heard on issues that are important to us. We are the people who will have to live in this world in the future, and yet we have little role in shaping it. But there are still ways for us to make a difference. One of the reasons I write this blog is to give myself a voice. This sense of how writing can give you a sense of purpose is illustrated beautifully by this quote:

"Whatever we write, we are reaching out. We are declaring that we are not alone on this planet, and that we have something to share, something to say. Our writing survives us, even if nobody ever reads a word of it. Because we have given back, we have reflected our truth. We have mattered."

Larry Brooks

 

There are other things you can do that will make even more of an impact. There are many sites with online petitions that you can sign. These can be found on all sorts of issues. Greenpeace usually have ones on a range of ongoing environmental campaigns. Currently, you can sign to protect Indonesian rain forests, whales and the environmental laws created by the EU, which could be dropped now we have left.

 

You can also raise awareness of these issues by sharing them on social networking sites. If you really want to get involved, you could always write to an MP.

 

So even though we are still only teens, there are lots of ways we can make sure our voice is heard, to help create a world we want to live in as adults.

Autumnal Dresses

Although the weather is getting colder, we can still wear dresses! These casual autumnal styles from around the web are perfect for wearing with leggings or tights and ankle boots.

This cool shirt dress could be worn
in the day or evening.
New Look, £24.99

This stripey jumper dress is perfect for colder days.
New Look, £24.99

I love denim dresses, and the longer sleeves on this one
allows it to be worn well into Winter.
New Look, £19.99

This dress is very casual. I love the layered skirt.
Animal, £45

This jumper dress could be worn casually in the day
or dressed up for evening.
H&M, £12.99

I love the rich colour of this dress.
H&M, £12.99

This cool jumper dress has cut out details in the arms.
Topshop, £49.99

The Problem With Pre-conceptions

Reputations are not always true.

There have been several occasions over the past few years, when a place or person with a bad reputation has been totally different to what people expect. It can be a school, a college, a person in your class or a singer. Whatever or whoever they are, you can't just judge them by what you hear about them.

There is a college near where I live that I have visited and thought was perfect for me. Not too big, good at the subjects I am interested in and only a short walk up the road. My cousin went there and loved it (she got two As and a B). And yet because they have had problems in the past, everyone I spoke to told me I shouldn't go there. People who had never been anywhere near the place were telling me to avoid it. My school have every prospectus in their library but theirs. They are always giving out leaflets advertising open days, but not for that college.

So I have ignored them. Because I believe that reputations do not match reality. And I encourage you to do the same in your lives, get the real information for yourself instead of listening to the rumours.

The Apprentice Is Back

This Thursday, The Apprentice returns with 16 new candidates for Lord Sugar to terrify challenge. If you can't wait till then, have a look at the video below. Matt Edmondson has done hilarious interviews with the new group, revealing that some of them are nutters have a few, er, quirks.

Click here to watch it on BBC iPlayer.

I love the show because Lord Sugar can be really funny in the board room, especially when they make stupid mistakes. Are you looking forward to The Apprentice?