Ingrid Jensen believes curiosity is key. According to her, “you have to learn to ask questions, probe deeper and approach matters from different perspectives”. Currently studying Creative Writing and Journalism at Louisiana State University, it was Ingrid’s curiosity that led her to take the Fashion Journalism Online Short Course and the Fashion Illustration Online Short Course at London College of Fashion.
Ingrid grew up in and around the film industry – her father is an actor – which is how she developed a fascination with the nuts and bolts of storytelling through different mediums.
Yet seeing her name up in lights and walking red carpets across the globe does not interest Ingrid. Instead, it's how fashion, art and writing all intersect. So much so, she studied fashion design and costume history for 5 years before her current endeavour at Louisiana State University.
“Film, fashion and writing all have incredibly close ties in that they are different forms of visual expression that combine to tell and explore stories,” Ingrid tells me.
In her own time, Ingrid has written for Please Kill Me magazine on topics such as the long-standing history of a fashion staple - ripped jeans. She’s now working on her own self-published fashion magazine, FREAK OUT, where she pulls together her own photographs, catwalk reviews, drawings and writings from herself and her friends.
In her own time, Ingrid has written for Please Kill Me magazine on topics such as the long-standing history of a fashion staple - ripped jeans. She’s now working on her own self-published fashion magazine, FREAK OUT, where she pulls together her own photographs, catwalk reviews, drawings and writings from herself and her friends.
Despite a busy schedule Ingrid was keen to see how short courses could help develop her own practice. Especially as the Fashion Journalism and Fashion Illustration courses married her passion for storytelling and understanding of fashion perfectly.
“The Fashion Journalism course taught me a great deal about the structure of journalistic articles and the planning stages of writing a piece. This knowledge of formatting and outlining has been quite helpful to me in my English and writing classes,” Ingrid says.
Beyond the transferrable skills she developed during her time on the courses, Ingrid credits the invaluable feedback she got from both the tutor and peers for her work as a major bonus.
“I enjoyed working with other students to critique and comment on each other's work. It's really a tremendous relief when someone tells you the truth about your work; whether a sentence works or not, or whether a description is comprehensive or just absolute garbage. The constructive criticism was extremely helpful for me.”
Looking back at her experience and time on the courses, which she succinctly described as “enlightening, intriguing and formative”, Ingrid would not hesitate to recommend others to do a short course. Especially when the courses are so focused on a particular discipline or practice.
“So many of the UAL short courses offered teach specific, highly valuable skill sets in the arts that are also a bit niche, so it's nice to have the focus on one skill set at a time instead of someone trying to teach you to navigate an entire field at once, which is overwhelming and never works!”
Ingrid concludes: “The online short courses are also wonderful to meet people from around the world while taking the classes. It’s a fun way to network.”
------
Has Ingrid’s story inspired you to consider a career within fashion? Whether it’s designing clothes, sketching ideas or you’re intrigued by the business side of the things, our How to start a career in fashion article stitches together the various gateways into this fast-moving and creative industry.
Or perhaps like Ingrid you’re curious to see where our short courses can take you? Our full collection of online short courses can be found on our website where we have a short course for everyone.
