Hello level designer from The Game Assembly! (or someone else) :-)

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I really hope you're having a good time. If you're in the second year starting/ working on your portfolio project(s) or just someone reading, curious what this message is about (which is fair), I just want to give some tips that I personally found very useful when working on and finalizing my 2 portfolio projects.

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1. Listen to your peers - but not too much ;-)

They are all extremely knowledgeable in their areas and deserve all credit for that but keep in mind that their ideas and thoughts are just like feedback from anyone else, everything doesn't always apply. Do listen, but focus on what feedback is most relevant to you.

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2. Plan, plan, plan

I'm very much a person that plans and organizes everything in my life BUT, it does truly make a difference. I for example set up a custom calendar (which I still do at IOI) to keep track of what to do and when and it gave me a great overview of exactly how much time I had. Also, give yourself buffer days. I personally decided that every friday was my buffer day, so if I got stuck on something during the week I pushed it to be done on friday instead of wasting time. Best thing I ever implemented in my workflow, it relieved a lot of stress.

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3. Set aside time for your website

I think I originally gave myself 2-3 weeks just for the website. Some worked on their pages during the weekends but I personally believe that keeping work away from weekends and fully focusing on work when at work is healthier than working a little all the time - but everyone's different.

I had to take away 1 week however from designing the website to get a little more time on my second portfolio project, but since I had already planned 3 weeks for it I had more than enough time anyway. Just know that it often takes longer to make than you might initially think.

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These tips might not work well for everyone, but perhaps they can inspire?

Remember. Take a break, go for a walk, drink water, listen to good music that inspires you and you'll be fine :-) if you ever have any questions I promise I almost instantly answer on TGA's discord, however, linkedin and email is slower. 

Have a good one!

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This was written Jan 23, 2021

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