<Instructions: please write not exceeding 2 pages on an A4 size format, one-sided only. >
At ten years old, I designed my first car. With rope tied to my tin-car, I dragged my tin-car along the dusty Lagos road. I have been trekking for three hours looking for buyers to buy my tin-car so I can purchase food to fill my rumbling tummy. While thinking of continuing what seems like a fruitless journey, I was interrupted by a young voice saying to me, "I like your car", "I like your car". Curious whose voice it was, I turned around hurriedly and what happened next was memorable. A young boy who should be about 2 years younger than me placed 40 Naira (equivalent 120 South Korean Won) on my right palm. With his head raised and eyes wide opened almost popping out of its sockets, he exclaimed "I like your car, I do not have much, please sell it to me". Feeling overwhelmed, I mumbled to myself, "is my car really that good".
Four years after my encounter with the young boy, I was in my in my third year of junior high school. I was selected with two other students by my art teacher to design a stencil for the fast approaching inter-class sport competition. We were tasked to stylize the word "SPORT FESTIVAL"using our creativity.
Looking carefully through my backpack, I brought out the new sketch book my dad gave me. The sketch book was given to him among other prizes during the ESTATE AGENT MANAGEMENT award night. My imagination failed me as I could not sketch a single idea no matter how hard I tried. Feeling disappointed, I closed my sketch book then I picked up my journal to read. I gently flip from one page to another in a state of reminiscence. During this time I came across these words "I like your car". These words reminds me of my encounter with the young boy five years ago. The simple act of interest he had in my tin-car inspired me to keep creating. Why am I slacking off now? I ask myself.
Motivated by these words -"I like your car", I continued my stencil design. I quickly went to mymum's stationery store to get a new pencil of slightly thicker lead. Using this pencil, I finished the refinement stage of my design. I heaved a sigh of relief when my stencil got selected by my art teacher. This earned me an invitation to work side by side with screen printing professionals as we printed the stencil at the back of each sport vest. During the course of the week, I had to relate effectively, diligently5 following orders from the team to get the job done faster. There was a notable improvement in my interpersonal skills after this. On one occasion, a team member asked me which color would be better for printing. I gave a random answer, he made me realize the importance of branding and suggested sticking to company's color would be the best option. This improve my critical thinking as a designer and he recommended me books to read on design. It was a long week as we went on to print six hundred sport vests for the school.
The young boy love my tin-car which to him was a winning design even though I created it with no knowledge of basic design principles. He offered me 40 Naira (equivalent 120 South Korean Won) which could not buy a candy as a candy cost little as 100 Naira (equivalent 300 South Korean Won) but his interest in my tin-car inspired me to become a better designer. Reflecting back on this moment, I realize that a new responsibility was given to me, how much of a good job I would render depends on how far I am willing to grow as a designer. Hopefully, one day the world would tell me "I love your design"
I LIKE YOUR TIN-CAR
At ten years old, I designed my first car. With rope tied to my tin-car, I dragged my tin-car along the dusty Lagos road. I have been trekking for three hours looking for buyers to buy my tin-car so I can purchase food to fill my rumbling tummy. While thinking of continuing what seems like a fruitless journey, I was interrupted by a young voice saying to me, "I like your car", "I like your car". Curious whose voice it was, I turned around hurriedly and what happened next was memorable. A young boy who should be about 2 years younger than me placed 40 Naira (equivalent 120 South Korean Won) on my right palm. With his head raised and eyes wide opened almost popping out of its sockets, he exclaimed "I like your car, I do not have much, please sell it to me". Feeling overwhelmed, I mumbled to myself, "is my car really that good".
Four years after my encounter with the young boy, I was in my in my third year of junior high school. I was selected with two other students by my art teacher to design a stencil for the fast approaching inter-class sport competition. We were tasked to stylize the word "SPORT FESTIVAL"using our creativity.
Looking carefully through my backpack, I brought out the new sketch book my dad gave me. The sketch book was given to him among other prizes during the ESTATE AGENT MANAGEMENT award night. My imagination failed me as I could not sketch a single idea no matter how hard I tried. Feeling disappointed, I closed my sketch book then I picked up my journal to read. I gently flip from one page to another in a state of reminiscence. During this time I came across these words "I like your car". These words reminds me of my encounter with the young boy five years ago. The simple act of interest he had in my tin-car inspired me to keep creating. Why am I slacking off now? I ask myself.
Motivated by these words -"I like your car", I continued my stencil design. I quickly went to mymum's stationery store to get a new pencil of slightly thicker lead. Using this pencil, I finished the refinement stage of my design. I heaved a sigh of relief when my stencil got selected by my art teacher. This earned me an invitation to work side by side with screen printing professionals as we printed the stencil at the back of each sport vest. During the course of the week, I had to relate effectively, diligently5 following orders from the team to get the job done faster. There was a notable improvement in my interpersonal skills after this. On one occasion, a team member asked me which color would be better for printing. I gave a random answer, he made me realize the importance of branding and suggested sticking to company's color would be the best option. This improve my critical thinking as a designer and he recommended me books to read on design. It was a long week as we went on to print six hundred sport vests for the school.
The young boy love my tin-car which to him was a winning design even though I created it with no knowledge of basic design principles. He offered me 40 Naira (equivalent 120 South Korean Won) which could not buy a candy as a candy cost little as 100 Naira (equivalent 300 South Korean Won) but his interest in my tin-car inspired me to become a better designer. Reflecting back on this moment, I realize that a new responsibility was given to me, how much of a good job I would render depends on how far I am willing to grow as a designer. Hopefully, one day the world would tell me "I love your design"
