Katalin Lacey studied online with IDI towards a BA (Hons) Illustration degree. After discovering her love for illustration in her native Hungary, she wanted to continue her studies in the UK which lead her to IDI.
Katalin joined us at the IDI Graduation 2017 to celebrate completing her degree. She discussed with us the change in her perception of online studying and becoming part of an online community.
Katalin’s Design Work
“Global warming is arguably the greatest challenge facing mankind. As an essential part of living, what we eat is of great importance, not just for our own health but for the well-being of our planet. For my final major project, I set myself the task of creating a series of inclusive images to stimulate a long-term cultural shift in meat consumption.
“Meat in the Middle, the title of my outcome, is a short interactive documentary that intends to encourage the ‘eat less meat’ message in today’s industrialised world. The friendly style of writing, that aims to turn the viewer into a more conscious consumer, is accompanied by moments of life that we can all relate to.”
Interview Transcript
Where have you come from to be here today?
I’ve come from Wales, from a little village, in north Wales. We drove up this morning.
What made you choose to study online with IDI?
So, back in Hungary I started a course, I enrolled on a design course, and I discovered that I absolutely love drawing, and I wasn’t sure where it was going to take me but we then decided to move to the UK and I just started looking out for opportunities to continue this. I found IDI, and it was a friend of mine, a fine artist, who convinced me to start the foundation course. After I finished that, I didn’t have plans to continue but I just suddenly felt like I lost something that I loved so quite quickly I decided to enrol on the Illustration degree course.
What were the highs and lows when studying online?
Definitely there’s highs and lows to everything. I think when I started I thought that online study would be quite a bit simpler. So, I thought that I read the activity, I do it, and then, in my own time, and then I upload what I have, I get some feedback, I move on, which is what happens but it is, the level of requirement was quite a bit higher than what I expected, and it continued to rise over the course, which was a great thing, but it was almost presented me many challenges.
Was studying online what you expect?
I think I had this idea that maybe an online course is not as serious as a full-time course and that very quickly I realised that that wasn’t the case. I think I fell behind quite early on with the foundation course and I really had to start speeding up and just completing everything in order to catch up. After that I realised that I had to take this much more seriously, and that helped.
What was the communication like between yourself and your peers?
I think it starts out a little bit isolated, I think that’s a fair thing to say, but then, I think when you enrol on any course it starts out like that, you’ve got to make friends. I think you just become better at making friends online, so it takes a little while but you do definitely become part of a community and it was just so lovely to see people who I’ve been talking to on the forum for so many years.
Would you recommend studying with IDI?
Definitely, yes, I think it’s a great opportunity that you can do this in your own time, in your own space, and it is, you get back as much as you put into it so if you work hard and listen to the advice that you are given then you will develop quite quickly, so definitely.