1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
In this module I have learnt more about layouts, type and grid through more sessions with Lorenzo. This is something I didn't except that I would enjoy so much but now I am really interested in it and definitely want to do it again in the future. I applied the skills I learnt with Lorenzo to my In Design article.
This leads on to another skill that I have developed in this module, which is how to use In Design. I found this difficult to use at first, but now can see how useful this piece of software is and wish I had known how to use it earlier. I haven't applied this new skill yet, other than to my response for the In Design brief, but only because I haven't had the opportunity. I will effectively apply this new skill in the next project.
During this module I also had my screen printing inductions here and at Vernon Street. I found these really interesting and fun and was really impressed with the quality of the prints we produced. However, I don't think I have applied this new skill effectively, as I haven't used it even though I have had opportunity to do so, and I think this is something I need to make good use of in the future.
Through the group work I have learnt to be more confident about getting my own opinion across. I think I have applied this effectively as I don't feel like I just agree with other people's ideas like I might have done in earlier group work briefs. Instead, when I have an idea, I will put it forward, and if I don't agree with someone else's, I will give my reasons for this. In my group work, everyone seemed a lot more confident about their own ideas which does make group work more difficult but also ensures a better final outcome.
2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
I have done a lot of research through this module. It was useful in the 'design is about doing' brief to research all of my ideas before choosing one to start with, rather than just going ahead with my first idea. This made me sure I was making the right decision.
Research was very important in the 'communication is a virus' brief and we all gave ourselves different research tasks to ensure we covered a lot. As our initial idea was persuading people to give more to charity, we felt as if we couldn't ask people to do this unless we actually did something ourselves, which is primary research. We also did surveys, found out what was already available, as well as the graphic design secondary side of research for this project.
Also, for my idea for 'speaking from experience', I made sure it was a good idea and there was need for it by doing secondary research to see what existed already as well as primary research in the form of a questionnaire. I then turned these opinions into pie charts to help show the answers visually. What I found in my research made me sure that my concept was a good one, as what I wanted to create was wanted and deemed useful, and there was nothing like it existing already.
After discussions in tutorials, I have realised that I need to link my research more into influencing my design practice work rather than the research I show on my design context blog existing separately.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I think a strength in my work in this module is that I now have better concepts. I think creating concept boards is a really useful part of helping yourself as well as others to understand what you are trying to achieve. I have capitalised on these by creating more unique pieces which actually are useful as a result.
Another strength is trying out different things before deciding where to go next rather than just rushing in with the first idea. This is something I had mentioned in early evaluations that I needed to do, and I feel it has been useful, as ideas that I initially felt I would go with have ended up leading on to other things.
As well as the comments I have received in crits, I have continually asked for feedback about my work from other students on this course and friends who aren't on the course. This is useful as they may be able to spot different things that can be improved that I wouldn't have spotted myself.
I think I have improved on a lot of the things that I said in previous end of module evaluations that I said I wanted to do differently next time and I think this has had a really positive effect on my progress. I will capitalise on my ability to do this by continuing to evaluate my work and re-read over targets regularly, to ensure continued progress.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?
I found working in a group very difficult which is a weakness as this is something I'll need to do again in the future. I think in the next group work session it would be good if I had the opportunity to choose who I work with so I could be in a group with people with a similar way of working. Or, just more experiences working in a group would help to sort out this weakness in my opinion. I think our group for the fun shop workshop with John worked really well as we weren't too precious about our own ideas. This was good practice and I think more of this would be useful.
I think a weakness is not taking full advantage of the new skills that I have learnt even though the opportunity has been there to do so. For example, I have learnt how to screen print, book bind, create a moving image, use in design and more over the year, yet I have not really put these in to practice. To address this weakness, I would like to try using the facilities and the software that it is available to me over the summer. I think I haven't used it partly because I am scared of things going wrong as its not what I am used to, so if I was to screen print something which wasn't part of a brief I wouldn't have this fear, yet I would still be practising this new skill, which then I would feel more able to use in the next brief. Also, better time management would ensure that there would be time for me to use such software and printing processes which may take more time than what I usually do.
I have tried to do new things instead of always sticking with what I usually do in this module, but I still feel a bit scared to take risks and do things that I don't feel confident with, and this means that my work isn't as good or special as it could be. This is mainly about personal confidence issues as well as being afraid to make mistakes with my work. I have been encouraged to take risks, so I can address this weakness by asking for help from tutors and technicians when using software that I may not feel I am particularly good at, or asking about ideas that I'm not sure would work.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
- Try not to lose motivation with group work, despite conflicting ideas. If we feel stuck, it would be better to make some design ideas and show them to the group than doing nothing. I except that group work would be a more enjoyable task and the results would be better if I did this.
- Keep referring to the briefs. No matter how good a design is, it is still important to check that it still answers what has been set on the brief. For example, in the communication is a virus brief it states that only two colours plus stock can be used on the final pieces, and we ignored this by accident until the end.
- I have been asking from feedback from friends outside of crit times but I also think it would be useful to ask tutors as well and to keep them updated with my progress so they can tell me how I can improve.
- Next time I'll back up my work as I go along as I have learnt from my mistakes how difficult it is to progress when work goes missing. With the blogger meltdown I unfortunately lost a lot of work that I hadn't backed up, where if I had done this, I would have saved myself a lot of time and stress.
- I need to not be afraid to ask for help from technicians. Sometimes I have ended up doing something other than what I want to because I'm not sure how to do what I want to do, but if I asked the technicians or tutors I may be able to get answers and also find quicker ways of doing things.
6. 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 = 3
Quantity of work produced = 3
Quality of work produced = 3
Contribution to the group = 4
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