Task Two - Where are they?

Where are my potential clients located?

Having moved from Rugby up to Leeds to study, I now have contacts in both Warwickshire and West Yorkshire. With this in mind, my "universe" is both local and national. This means politically, I don't need to worry about trade restrictions and licences to export and import. With my "universe" being local-national, communication between myself and any potential clients should be easier considering there are no time differences, and if necessary I can meet with clients to discuss work in person.
The economic state of the country is an important consideration. At the moment, there are more unemployed than in previous years, businesses are closing and many of the businesses still running are trying to cut costs. At the same time though, they are desperate for customers which theoretically means they need advertising. Although they may not have a large budget for this, it is a good opportunity to do work for them- with the hope I'll remembered at better financial times. Predictions for after the recession also suggest that there will be a boom in new businesses, again generating more work for designers.
I'm not sure how much "society" affects my potential client. As I said previously I would like to be able to work for any client that needs me, and things like demographics and lifestyle trends I would consider more when thinking about my target audience. However, I do have restrictions with clients when it comes to language as I only speak English.

Task One - Skills and Needs

What skills are needed and how do you go about developing them?
What are your professional/creative aims and how do they relate to the needs of the world at large?

Of the 13 sectors I believe I could fit into more than just one. Currently I would say advertising, crafts and design are all suitable possibilities. When it comes to discussing what skills I need to be a successful designer one in particular strikes me as being the most important; adaptability. It seems to me that each client is different in what they want to communicate, their approach, their understanding and their needs from a designer. It is up to me to be able to have the ability to provide specialist skills that they perhaps do not have, but also skills that compliment their own. To be able to do this however, good communication between myself and a client is vital. From PPD sessions I have learnt to talk about my work and explain ideas but this will only become useful after gaining initial contact with potential clients. How to approach client's for work is something that I have not experienced and am quite apprehensive about.
Practical and conceptual skills are also very important. At the moment I feel more confident with conceptual thinking and identifying problems than I do with practical skills and image making. In particular, using software is something I have struggled with and am trying to learn in time outside of college. To develop these skills is just a case of practise and looking at pre-existing design to understand how to successfully communicate a message.
My professional and creative aims at the moment are not well established. I suppose my main aim is to become an adaptable designer, with the ability to work with a number of clients.