Ever since I was a child, I have been engaged in creative activities in various forms. I’ve done drawing, ceramics, fabrics, thread work and many others. However, after the birth of my children, my creative activities were limited to practical techniques such as knitting. When I decided to go back to school at the age of 34, I chose computer science – since computer science requires highly creative skill sets in order to be successful and I missed being creative beyond knitting. Since then, I have studied computer science in many forms for years.
The last 6 years, I’ve engaged in “softer” computer science topics such as interaction design and digital media design. My last university graduate was at the University of South East Norway, where I now have 60 ect in graphic design, photography, web design and video/film making. I enjoyed these courses so much, that when I found the graphic design cours at Noroff, I didn’t hesitate to sign up for it.
My studies at Noroff is planned to be part-time, as I engage in full-time working on the side. I run a company called Pixlweb – a small web design business specializing in digital strategy and development for the travel industry in the area. I’ve run Pixlweb since late 2017. The graphic design studies at Noroff may expand the offerings I provide for clients. So far I do very little design work and hardly no print work, but I hope that will change. For me, design is a special way of seeing the world. Design is not about aestetics but about problem solving.
The services I provide in Pixlweb beyond web development in WordPress, I offer councelling in topics such as SEO, universal design, web writing, information architecture and user testing. I love my job. I meet many different people with completely different perspectives on things, so every conversation with clients – exisiting or potential – is a learning oportunitiy. And I love learning. I’ve been studiying at university level almost every year since 2004, and I have no plans of quitting any time soon.
AW01 comprises of several tasks. One is to create this blog. Checked. The other is to create a self-portrait that is not a photograph. I chose drawing – more spesifically “blind drawing”, where I draw without looking. It is as hard as it sounds. This blind drawing is a technique suitable for un-learning the left brain’s dominance and reasoning and instead think of the word as lines, curves and shapes.
The last part of the deliveries for AW00 is a Moodle Map. I created mine as a sub-way map.