School of visual art - statement of intent for MA of design

SVA application essay

Hi- I'm writing a Statement of purpose and want to get into SVA .I just want some feedback and want to control the length with 500 words. Thanks !

Hello SVA,

Nice to meet you. I'm Xinyi, who loves to communicate visually and solve problems through visuality. A fun fact about me is, my undergraduate and first master degree are political science and Asian Studies - yes, none of them are art-related. So you might ask why do I want to be a designer after years of study in another field? It's a good question and let me explain it to you in depth.

As an Asian girl who first came to the States for study, I first chose political science as my major because art and design was not a viable choice for career success compares to finance and consulting. At that time, creativity was a hobby rather than a profession. Eventually I graduated with a political science degree - not exactly what I like. Right after graduation, I chose to study East Asian Studies as my MA because I have an interest in traditional East Asian culture- specifically the art part. After graduation, I gap for half a year traveling and then landed a marketing internship at a policy institute. I worked with the external relations team on social media and communication for 6 months. I've gained experiences for social media marketing, operations and digital marketing, and gradually realized that I do not want to be a consultant or a marketing specialist. I want to choose what I like to do for my career, instead of working in a field that I have no interest in.

So why do I make the decision to be a designer now? Communicating visually with people around the world through innovative content and having designer friends inspires me to become a designer. I wish to contribute to the public discourse of design by engaging in social, cultural, visual , and technological issues that can make a transfer into today's media and art industry. I believe creative content is a medium that helps people speak out their words and solve problems. Though we are intercultural and speak different languages, the cross media visual design can act as a bridge to let people communicate thus make life easier.

Design empowers us to bridge rifts in a divided world and solve social problems with the power of creativity. The gap of culture breeds misunderstanding and social challenge. To solve the problem, we need to fill the gap, but how can people solve it when people have intercultural backgrounds ? Creativity is the vehicle. As a profession in East Asian Culture, I often paid attention to how different countries introduce their cultures to foreigners. The Japanese designers are good at utilizing their culture with daily life-they are good at combining traditional culture with daily goods, such as cups, scarves, cosmetic packages and stationary. They blend traditional elements into contemporary society to keep the inheritance. A vivid example is Kimono, which is no long just traditional clothes, as designers blend Kimono patterns into the notebooks, gift packages and art ware. When I went to an exhibition for Japanese sword, I found that the ticket's design blends traditional Japanese family crests and modern art. As a foreigner, I got known of what family crests represent through the ticket. For me, the designs are vivid storytellers that minimize cultural gaps.

I am passion specifically about graphic design, because I believe it will equip me with the necessary skills and tools to build the best products for the challenges I want to solve- the cultural gaps and social challenges.

Additionally, I have passion for graphic design because I believe inspiration comes from life and serves for people. I'd love to be a connection between challenges and creativity- to foster a broad understanding between my creation and various communities around the world.

Though my resume and portfolio summarize my recent achievements, the opportunity for an interview would be much more illuminating to all that what I could bring to this program and beyond.

You may want to lose the friendly letter of introduction format in this presentation. You are undergoing a written interview, so a formal academic tone of writing is always best. As this is a statement of purpose, you need to forgo the personal statement aspect and focus on the purpose of your application instead. Leave the first 2 paragraphs of this essay for a personal statement (if one is required).

In truth, what you wrote overall, is a personal statement. Not a statement of purpose. There is a no reference to any formal work experience in relation to your chosen masters course. Since you are shifting careers, you should be explaining the purpose of the career shift, how your current experiences support this shift, and why it is academically and professionally important for you to make this career shift at this point. There is a lack of actual purpose in your presentation because it does not reflect the requirements of a statement of purpose. You don't only need to lower the word count for this essay, you need to write a totally new essay. One that presents an actual series of defining purpose for the course, how you have prepared for it, and where it will take you career-wise in the future.

You can use this essay as a personal statement and nothing more. Do not try to use it as a statement of purpose because, like I said before, there is no purpose indicated in a manner that suits the information requirements of such a written interview.