My way of becaming UX/UI Designer.
By: Aleksandra Sergiel
Tags: Design, Bootcamp, Change, UI Design, UX Design

We are living in a good times, when we can change our way of life very fast. But is it easy to make big changes in our life? I want to introduce you to my way how I decided to study at Ironhack bootcamp in Lisbon…

Designer’s sketching/ Unsplash Source

Beggining

First of all I would like to introduce you who I am. My name is Ola and I’m 25 years old Polish. My beggining starts when I was 16 and I’ve decided to be an Architect. I didn’t have any clue what does it mean and how does it look like. I was just sure that I want to be a Designer…

Architecture Drawing Course ✍️

Time⏳ : 2 years

Goal 💪: get to Architecture at University of Technology.

To get to Architecture at University of Technology you should achieve enough points from drawing exam and final exams at high school. That’s why I decided to attend to Architecture Drawing Course LIAS in Lublin, Poland to get skills in drawing.

It was my small introduction in what I can expect during Architecture studies. During this time I was learning about perspective and how to see things. It was important to understand how to draw not only from pictures but also from reality. This course gave me possibility to travel and admiring architecture by sketching it. I visited with them: France, Spain, Greece and Italy. My imagination started to grow and I understood that I really enjoy it.

What I gain 🧠:

I’ve started to understand 3D way of thinking,

my imagination was growing,

travelling + painting, sketching= better understanding of architecture,

understanding of scale, perspective and technique of drawing,

my first introduction to creative community.

Unsplash Source

Architecture Studies 📐

Time ⏳: 4,5 year

Goal 💪: to become an Architect= get good and stable job

Studying Architecture was not easy for me. I was fighting with my thoughts if I love it or hate it. For sure it was an amazing time when I was building strong friendships with people who was studying this hard but beautiful field with me. A lot of time spending on hard work made my part of creative community.

In the end of my studies I understood that I’m more interested into first (research) and last part (design of final presentation) of making projects. Engineering projects were definitely not for me and I’ve started to feel very lost. I didn’t know yet that there is some another field of design which would be much better for me…

What I gain 🧠:

I understood that I don’t want to be an Architect,

I started to be interested in Graphic Design and Illustration,

working in programs to make visualisations helped me to understand 3D thinking,

I met a lot of creative people who are interested in many other design sections,

I‘ve started to shape my taste in design,

understanding process of design.

Freelance life in Lisbon and work as a Graphic Designer in Warsaw 💻

Time ⏳: 1,5 year

Goal 💪: find my way of design path which satisfy me

After graduation I decided to move to Lisbon and I didn’t have any plan. I was exausted of studying Architecture and I needed a big change in my life. I decided to start work remotely as a Graphic Designer and Illustrator because I knew that in this way I can learn and work at the same time.

It was true but at the same time big challenge to learn by myself how it everything works. During this 1,5 year of freelancing I came back to Poland for a couple months and I was working in Warsaw as a Graphic Designer. And then I knew that I need to find another way of earning money and I started to search what would be better. UX/ UI Design was something what I was looking for during all this time and I was missing Lisbon. That’s why I decided to come back and have another reason to come so I signed for a bootcamp at Ironhack in Lisbon.

What I gain 🧠:

I’ve learned basics of Graphic Design,

I became an Illustrator,

i understand how to work with clients.

Becaming UX/UI Designer 📱🖥

⏳: 2 years of Drawing School + 4,5 years of Architecture studying + 1,5 year of Graphic Design and Illustration = 8 years of preparation and work in various fields of design

I didn’t know what exactly UX/ UI Design is but my intuition was telling me that everything is going in a good direction. Ironhack was a great possibility to have a good access to knowledge and people from this area. I’m trying to use it as much as I can.

Now after 5 months of a bootcamp I can say that all this time of a hard work and searching what I would like to do to be satisfied at work was really worth it. Finally I feel fulfil and satisfied in what I’m doing.