My name is IDARA Etta, from Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria and I currently live in Abuja, Nigeria. I am married with two daughters.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Physics, Yes, I love Math very much. Most of my work experience has been in the Education sector comprising of Administrative work, Tutoring children in Arts and crafts, organising workshops, exhibitions, hands-on training, setting up classrooms in schools, and creating newsletters and publications for the company using just essential MS Office software.

My ex-boss understood when I told her I wanted to go on and study to acquire professional skills in Graphic design. So, I quit my job, a tough decision, and began my search for a school.

So with all the excitement in me, I started making enquiries and communicating with the Director, Pete Sturgess, who was very prompt in responding to my plenty of questions.

After a pre-assessment, Pete said I was ready to enrol on Level 2 of the Graphic Design Diploma Course.

It was a struggle at first, but he kept encouraging me and telling me I needed to develop a creative process for each project.

Eventually, I became familiar with the process and that has really helped me so far with the course projects and external jobs I have done.

The highlight of my study experience at CDS was during my 3rd module, page layout and design. Coincidentally, my ex-boss, Emem, called on me to design a School Directory that would contain information from various schools.

After discussing this with my tutor he readily agreed to the School Directory as my 3rd Module project.  I was able to use all the information I got (text and images) to design unique pages for each school while maintaining a colour scheme throughout the publication. 

I loved it because I was able to combine my inborn talents with the skills I was acquiring from the CDS. It was a long-term project but very rewarding. My tutor, Pete, was there and always ready to help with handy tutorials whenever I got stuck and the publication turned out a huge success. 

My experience at CDS has not only helped me build a Portfolio but has also boosted my creative skills and given me the confidence to work on various design projects.

Right now, I am working on my last module and I am looking forward to continuing my career as a full-time freelance designer where I would work on a variety of design jobs. I hope to achieve more experience and also work as a Page and layout Design Artist for companies that produce magazines, newspapers and other publications.