Comparison

Weekly Report 5: 09/17/2018 to 09/23/2018

This past week has been spent comparing the two interviews I have been on recently. The two topics which I have selected as areas of interest for this year are entrepreneurship and graphic design, and these interviews have each focused on different aspects. Meeting with Mr. Chris Brooks from FastSigns International differed from meeting with Ms. Karen Bouton from NextWave Creative in that Mr. Brooks focused more on the management and business perspective while Ms. Bouton explained more about the fundamentals of graphic design.

One aspect which I appreciated about Mr. Brooks was his ability to incorporate his love of artistic design with his skills in the business world into one career. Although I was inspired by Ms. Bouton’s passion for creative advertising which encompasses video marketing, mass media communication, and large-screen image design, Mr. Brooks explained how he has the ability to utilize his artistic and design skills in planning sketches for clients he selects, while also working in the management department of his company as an organizer for projects. This combination allows him to selectively choose which projects to take on, but it also allows him to express his leadership abilities in organizing the plethora of products and services which the company offers. This appears to be a path which I could easily see myself taking on; creative advertising as a whole is interesting and would give me the opportunity to innovate on a daily basis, but combined with the business and leadership aspect, this would provide me with an outlet to utilize my management skills.

While learning about proper applications and techniques for graphic designers was intriguing and valuable to my studies, hearing Mr. Brooks share about starting multiple businesses was fascinating. In order to further understand if the topic which I will choose this year should be business-oriented, it is important to schedule additional interviews with entrepreneurs and management consultants to understand the full scope of the field. My research for the upcoming week will center on understanding entrepreneurship and looking for business-related contacts.