Hello! I am a student from Taiwan and going to apply for MFA Design as my graduate study.
I am not confident about essay writing and have just finished my SoP today.
Would you please have a look and make commend on it? As much as possible!
Thank you very much!!
instructions: (one or two pages) giving the applicant's long-range goals, interest in the chosen discipline, and reason for applying to OOOO for advanced study.
Statement of Purpose
I am applying to Communications and Package Design because I want a career in creation and cooperation. I found image an influential media to express thoughts and it is what I am most clever at. In addition to this, I enjoy exchange and revision of ideas in teamwork, which I gained experienced at the position of creative director in university student council. In my friends' point of view, I am a sensitive person who perceives the change of emotion and senses the demand before words come out. Constantly, people around me are surprised by the touchy atmosphere my sketch or photograph catches. I believe this talent would help me becoming a good designer since I am good at being someone else's shoes and strive for meeting his needs. On the other hand, it is my concern about people and culture that makes me wanting a career as designer and determines my future goals.
Growing up in the poor countryside, I have the passion for weak people. How to help them with my effort has been what I always concern about. Although it is widely believed the utility and beauty design possesses have been applied to the general public a since the establishment of Bauhaus, I notice there are still some corners that have yet covered by benefit of design. They are elderly farmers and minorities, to be precise, the groups of people with little education and property and have to labor the whole life. I once talked to an old, poor farmer selling oranges in the suburban market. He told me that his orange has good price that year, one NTD (34 NTD to one USD) for two. He and other orange farmers were forced to throw away most of their harvest in order to keep the price and avoid dull sale. I felt a heart pang. We are proud to be a productive agricultural country exporting juicy fruits but we do not take care of the most loyal, devout farmers. I want to help these farmers by designing internationally accepted package for them, so that they can process and export their harvest instead of throwing away. In addition to the enthusiasm, I need the knowledge of commercial design, which I desire to obtain in graduate program.
I always believe that my background is my rich resource. Majored in Chinese Literature in University after being raised in a traditional Taiwanese family, I am aware and proud of the uniqueness of my own culture. I understand deeply the thoughts, value and aesthetic of Chinese literati, ancient to recent, from their literature and the biographies, thus develop my outlook of life. Apart from scholars who dedicate to preserve the treasure by formal research and teaching in schools, I desire to share them with general public, by the method I am most clever with: arts and design. Through my observation, the design objects with "Chinese style" on the market today, I must say, are mostly chasing superficial Asian craze, therefore would not be classic. Drawing lessons from it, I would like to go profound with my knowledge and self-cultivation, most importantly, with my future education as a designer. I need professional training of typography and visual perception, so that I can interlace my original thoughts with viewers', hopefully print out a piece not only comprehensive, but innovative.
What's the most important element that forms the best designer? To my knowledge: plenty of appreciation from experiences. I image there's a database stockroom in every designer's brain, which accumulated by the exposure in idea-stimulating occasion. Considering myself one of the designers, I have been working hard on life experiences collection. I had worked as waitress in several restaurants, illustrator for Macau government, volunteer in museums and primary schools. In addition, I have an impressive list of travelling, which contains more than 35 countries and 2 years in total. As a backpacker, mostly alone, I had chances getting close to locals, catching sights of authentic life styles, and, contemplating the treasurable cultural differences. The encounters with different groups of people in my homeland and abroad arouse my aspiration for being an universal person, who has no prejudice and therefore is able to communicate with the world. Now comes the question: how am I supposed to make the best use out of my abundant data and visualize them precisely, in other words, how to process the "stock" before they reach the perfect serving standard? In addition to my manual drafting skill, which enables me sketching ideas promptly, I need to polish my manipulation of computer design software, which I consider useful and powerful tool. Based on my recent familiarity with Adobe series, I am confident that I can manage computer-generated art and present my work in professional level after my further study of digital design.
OOOO is a fascinating place for creative designers to go not only because it locates in vibrant, irresistible New York City, but also because it contains more than 12 different fields of architecture, arts and design. Thus, it is the best place to comprehend the entirety of creation. In addition, I consider OOOO as my best choice for graduate study for many personal reasons. Having a degree in Chinese Literature instead of arts or design, I desire for a school that welcomes participants from various background. I believe my different point of view would bring spark of brainstorming, which benefits creative thinking. Also, I am looking for a place that does not reject students without formal working experience in the first place. Some schools deem working experiences as the most important element to evaluate if the candidate has potential succeed in the study and career in the chosen field. It is not quite fare for me, to be frank, because I certainly know what I need and have the urge now pursuing knowledge and method in my chosen field. Why should I wait and see the flame die out? As a result, I was more than happy to know that Communications and Package Design of OOOO requires portfolio that demonstrates candidates' design potential, instead of sophistication. I sincerely hope that the admission administration finds my talents and works appropriate to your department.
