Student Profile: Mandy Sellers
My first degree was a BA in Biology (human anatomy/physiology) and 4 New Media undergrad courses. I then worked as a Flash banner designer. I see myself as coming from the discipline areas of science and digital media.
I chose the IOCT Masters in Creative technologies as I felt I had just enough experience to get another poorly paid job in digital media but wanted to pursue this area at full force, learn as much as I can about digital and interactive web design so I would have to feet firmly planted in this field and have a dream job at the end.
Otherwise I’d be toiling away for years to gain this kind of experience and knowledge. Plus I didn’t feel I could teach myself programming.
What I have found most exciting about the Masters so far is the Thursday and Friday discussions. Seems like these are our playtimes, to really talk about creative technology and discuss what each of us knows. It’s like the ultimate gossip corner. There’s so much out there to absorb and it’s easier when there are 20 other people putting out their feelers who bringing back stories and new info each week to discuss. It’s a synthesis time; we become bigger than the sum of our parts.
I’ve been challenged by my programming course because I find it difficult material to understand in the first place along with the break-neck speed my professor is covering the subject. Also, I’m taking one module too many this Semester (no choice, classes only offered 1st term) so I’m not having the time to really soak in the community aspect of the IOCT (like attending events and having time to go through all the info in our list of links). I’m not sure I’ve overcome them yet…! I guess I’m just putting my shoulder into it as hard as I can and hope I pass!
At the moment, I’ve got two projects that are really interesting; one is for our Interactive Media class where I’m redesigning a friend’s business web page to add more interactive elements and the other is for Digital media design. Again this will be about an interactive application, maybe a game, that will try to help teens raise their self-esteem or at least raise awareness about their self-image. Both will give me the change to design web elements that I’ve never taken a crack at before. So, I’ll hopefully learn a lot!
In terms of my future Creative Technologies work, I’m not sure, but figure everyone wants a better, more interactive website. So many small businesses really miss the chance at having a good site and viable online business. I figure there is a lot of fertile pasture out there to redesign sights to become more web 2.0.
For further information or to be kept informed about the IOCT Masters, please contact:Dr Sophy Smith
Institute of Creative Technologies
De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH
Tel: (+44) 0116 255 1551, ext. 6864
Email: SSmith05 [at] dmu.ac.uk