OUGD405 - SELF EVALUTATION

What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

In this module I have gained a better understanding in identifying my visual investigations and research appropriately to the brief. This allowed me to create more idea's and develop my designs stronger prior to the previous module  I have been introduced into many ways of researching and problem solving through various studio sessions and briefs which has been very useful. I have also gained knowledge on how to use In Design and Photoshop that I previously didn't know. The skills introduced allowed me to create some nice postcards and preparation for the new module in February. I enjoyed this module as I found out more about my topics than I have previously and this in-depth research opened doors for more techniques and ideas.


What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

This module my work has been focused on digital skills such as, editing, stacking images editing with tints and blending tools on Photoshop. Working with Illustrator creating nets, kerning text and experimentation with colours and textures. I was also introduced to InDesign where we made a mock up publication which is something I am really interested in and want to explore further.

Due to the module focusing on research I had to go down 3 routes in order to fufil the briefs. Firstly I carried out primary research, creating questionnaires, online surveys and watching documentaries. After finding more about the subject matter I would follow onto Secondary research, which consisted of looking at online resources and reading books to find out what I need to find the direction I wanted. Lastly I would find a focus from all my research 'Design direction' and with that I would produce developmental drawings and mood boards that I could refer to when working digitally.

What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

My strengths lie within how I approach set briefs and I think I always utilise them in really different and interesting ways. I also think my research a development has increased much more than the previous module and I will continue to apply these skills to a higher standard. 

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

I think I need to keep a more consistent application of my skills at a high level to help improve my work, weather it be through more visual developments or really focusing on the tasks the brief requires. I think I could have found more ways to find primary research as I think just doing surveys doesn't give a lot of other options than photographs and visits to museums would.

Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

1. Experiment more with different methods of design rather than digital. This would allow me to have different outcomes that I could work with such as mock ups, printing methods and stock consideration.
2. Try to focus on what the brief is telling you to do, I think if I focused on the message that I am trying to send rather than just the design would strengthen the meaning of my work for myself and the audience I am trying to engage.
3. Explore more ways and methods of collecting primary research will allow me to find more routes to go down.
4. Document all the development processes of my design thoroughly with analysis so if I wanted to recreate certain things for another brief I would have guidelines to reffer back to.
5. Ask for more help and opinions from peers. I am very comfortable working from home as I find the studio distracting but if I worked around all the other graphic design students my designs could be more stronger due to the knowledge they know and their influence.

How would you grade yourself on the following areas:

5 = excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor

• Attendance: 5
• Punctuality: 5
• Motivation: 4
• Commitment: 4
• Quantity of work produced: 4
• Quality of work produced: 3
• Contribution to the group: 2

RESEARCH, COLLECT, COMMUNICATE: PUBLICATION SELF EVALUATION

The theme I was given over the Christmas period was Roswell, however through my research I was lead onto another path that I found more personal interest in and I thought I could work with. My intentions for the brief was to create an interactive publication informing students and people interested within the subject about the Illuminati.

I looked into what was already in the market and I found that it lacked something contemporary so my design idea's were fuelled on creating something that looked innovative. I personally felt that this took up the majority of my time instead of sticking to the main bulk of the brief which was to put my information into simple and interesting infographics. However I really enjoyed the brief and the skills that I have learned over the past months such as publication design in Indesign and making nets, arranging text in Illustator have helped me create my visions more professionally.

FINAL CRIT

For the final crit for our publication, our tutors; Amber + Simon analysed our work for 30 minuets when we were out of the room and gave us constructive criticisms. The crit was structured in a different way from our previous ones over the past few months, due to us not being able to respond or explain our reasons for our design.

I found this crit really helpful as we got their point of view not only as a tutor but a possible consumer with no outside knowledge of what we have researched. 

I had some positive feedback regarding the production of my design and the style. However I focused on the criticism that would make my design stronger and allow me to develop as a designer.

FEEDBACK

1. Nothing to say what it is to the public.
2. Confusing what it is.
3. Infographics could be improved.
4. The book should be the same size as the book casing.
5. Legibility of type.

I agreed with most of the feedback I received and I was aware of these issues, specifically the legibility of the type and the sizing of the book inside the box. Most of these issue were created due to scaling issues that I didn't notice until the final print.

Resolution

1. Be more explicit about the issue you are trying to portray.
2. *Same as above*
3. Research more inforgraphic designs and always look at the brief to make sure you are follwing what the client wants.
4. Print out more prototypes or research/consider scaling and sizing issues.  
5. Let the consumer test out product before print and ask for peers/tutors opinions
6. 
   

Next Steps

Taking on my feedback and the ways in which I could improve my work, I created some digital alterations following three of the comments I received back from Amber + Simon. These alterations are presented on my design practice blog. - LINK

RATIONAL: PUBLICATION

For our lesson we were put into our presentation groups and as a group we discussed what intentions we had for making our publication, product or distribution item. The design would  be based around the research we collated over the Christmas period and would be presented in information graphics.

I filled out a sheet of my intentions and presented my ideas to my group along with a few images from my research.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Add Led lights to the box
2. Create a book for more in-depth infographics
3. Look at pop culture
4. Look at redesigning the logo of the Illuminati

The suggestions from my peers was very helpful in regards of what I had to research further to develop my initial idea. I particularly wanted to recreate the logo design as that's something I find I didn't really achieve successfully in the How To brief due to lack of research. 

*INTENTIONS*

HOW TO: SELF EVALUATION

Our first brief for Design Process was based on working within a group. I was put in a group of 5 who included  Ewan, Ellen, Sarah and Dan. We were given the word 'routine' as a starting point to generate idea from.

As a starting point we individually researched different variations of the word routine. I chose to focus on OCD and routines people with the mental illness faced. I found this topic really interesting researching the avenues of primary, secondary and design direction. In the crit I felt my peers really liked my idea's however it was quite a difficult subject to interpret when we was given our second brief.

The second brief  was 'make someone try something new'. With topic it was very hard to think of ways people with a mental illness could try something new and the subject was a little too deep. After discussing ways we could overcome this problem as a group we decided that Ewans research fit the brief best. His subject was based on fitness and we chose to look into Fitness routines. We wanted to create something new and different to what was in the market currently which was very challenging. We decided to chose a target market to help our focus and we chose students as we can realate and know them.

We designed an easy step-by-step guide to 5 simple exercises for students to do in day-to-day life. After group meetings and discussions we called our brand NUYU. 

The 'how to' brief was challenging when it came to conflicting ideas and product decisions , however we all put a good input in, to make our design reach it's potential. Looking back I would have liked to take on more creative control but due to me not knowing how to use the software I just had to voice my suggestions. I wished we worked harder on making the product more innovative and different from what's out there. We initially wanted to create an app but we took into consideration that not all students could use it and we also didn't know how to create one. One of the main weaknesses in our group project was communication and our presentation. We were very organised in what we wanted to say and present to our peers. I learned from this situation and for the future I will make sure that we can keep regular notes of our process and document them ready for a potential presentation to save time in the long run.

Something I gained from working in the group was that I did learn new skills that the individuals in my group offered such as using the image tracing tool on illustrator and changing the style of text weather it be in weight or alignment. The benefits of working in a group is that you are able to share ideas that you wouldn't necessarily think up on your own and the work load is more manageable when each person is assigned a role.

I felt our project communicated the brief however I think it could have been developed a lot more in terms of the overall aesthetic, promotion and content. We could have possibly made a blog or facebook page so that we could see the success of the product and users comments to improve it.

FEEDBACK SHEET

 (Feedback Sheet)