For my Interview about writing in my desired field, I want to interview Assistant Professor Nicole Trimble who works with in the Media Communications and Technology department at University of Cincinnati. Professor Trimble teaches several courses such as Media Aesthetics and Media Design Foundations. I’ve taken a course with her and am familiar with the story of her professional experience. I am unsure of the exact kind of career I want to be developing after graduation from this program, but I am interested in graphic art, design, and photography. She is qualified in these practices and an expert in designing digital art, and project management. She’s very talented and has a lot of experience doing the kind of work I’m hoping to take on in my career.
I’m interested in learning more about her roles in collaborating with ArtWorks, which is a nonprofit organization in Cincinnati. I want to know if any kind of writing was necessary for making their public art projects possible. I am also interested in becoming an educator later in my career. I want to know what kind of writing and planning is required to structure her lessons and to make desired outcomes achievable for her students. If I remember correctly, she ran her own design business before becoming an educator. I want to know what kinds of documents were written to manage client relationships.
Because the main goal of the kinds of work in question is to communicate visually, I’m interested in learning the role writing has in facilitating these purposes and why writing is necessary for designers to show some mastery over. I struggle most with time management, so it will be helpful for me to better understand how much time she allots to the various kinds of writing for which she has been responsible for producing and the general procedures/steps involved.
I think it would be preferrable to conduct the interview over a video call using Microsoft Teams. I will ask if she has any availability to meet in person, but many people are working remotely as much as possible to reduce contact and possible exposure to COVID-19.
Questions I may ask:
- What writing tasks did you take on, if any, during your role in creating public art in collaboration with ArtWorks?
- What kind of writing tasks were involved when managing your design business?
- What are some tips you have for streamlining the writing process?
- Does the tone and style of your writing depend on the needs of a specific client or project? If so, how do you determine that such adjustments are necessary?
- What kind of writing is typical in your role at the University?
- Typical deadlines? Turn around time?
- Do you have experience constructing design briefs, project proposals, treatments.
- Is it useful to write a written reflection for creative projects?
- Stages of the writing process and how much time is devoted to each stage?
- Are some stages collaborative?
- How does written work inform the visual deliverables?
I know I need many more questions but this feels like a good start!