OUGD203. YCN. Evaluation

YCN...

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

With this being a collaborative brief, my teamwork skills have improved. I was nervous about how I would find working with one person for such a long time before starting this brief, but I ended up realising that there are many benefits to collaborative work. The main one for me was that having someone to continually look at what you have designed is like constantly having a crit, so I kept getting feedback, which definitely helped improve my designs and made any mistakes were spotted. Next year I would like to do collaborative work again as I think it can really benefit my progress.

I have improved my presentation skills, as the final boards were such an important part of this brief, that we had to focus on them, and make sure they were perfect and there were no mistakes. Also with Chloe being a type person, while I am more of an image person, I learnt from her, and this can be seen in the boards, which are far more professional and look so much better than the boards I created for the print module. This will really help as in future I will have to create presentation boards for each brief.

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

This brief has been focusing on promotion, which is a different approach to design production than what I am used to. It will help in future, as when I create a product, I can also consider how I will promote this product, rather than it existing out of context. 

Most of the designs I have done have been digital, but we also did some laser cutting, which is something new to me. I was really pleased with the results from this and think my work can improve from making the most of this in the future.

This is the first time I ever used photos that weren’t mine and I thought I would have preferred to use my own, however, I understand this is more realistic, as designers work with photographers and other designs in a real design job.

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

After having my tutorial during this brief, I now understand what I need to do to improve my grades and therefore my design work. This is to link what I put on my design context blog to the work I am creating, this helping me to try new things and create better designs. I have tried to do this throughout my designs in this brief, and I have definitely noticed the improvement, so I will continue to do this in future. For example, with the websites I have created designs for, I would have previously designed one that I thought was okay and just gone with it. However, here, I have created many spin offs, before asking others and working with Chloe to decide which one works best, in the end, creating a far better design than I would have done initially.

I think the work I have created appeals to the target audience, which is something we have considered as it was an important part of the brief. We did a lot of research in to Peacocks and its target audience to ensure our designs were relevant. Through this brief I have kept re-reading the brief and considering what needs to be done, so that I don’t go off track. I will continue to do this, so that I create work that answers the brief as it should.

I think that overall my designs look better, this is partly because of the constant feedback helping me to improve my work. Also mocking my designs up in context helps everything to become more realistic so this is something I will make sure I keep up to keep improving.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?

A weakness is that I didn’t produce as much work as I normally would do. This is because I wanted to work at the same pace as Chloe so that I wasn’t taking over and so that our work loads could be similar, however, I have learnt that in group work this never really happens. I don't think our work loads ended up being the same, I think I worked very hard on this brief and made a lot of decisions and did a lot of design work, which I hope is clear through my contribution boards, but at the same time, I couldn't have done this without Chloe's feedback and the research that she did. I think I have ended up creating better quality work by creating less, but in future I need to find the right balance of quality and quantity of work, to improve my overall outcomes.

I am happy with what I did produce, and think I have learnt a lot, but I think next time I really need to push myself to do more, and do things differently, to create a more exciting outcome.

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

-1- Cover a wider range of materials to create a greater quantity of work and make the project more believable. 

-2- I would have liked to create an actual working website to show the website design is suitable, creating design for screen which is different from my usual printed outcomes.

-3- I will think bigger, think beyond the obvious to create an outcome that really stands out - as this is what is needed for a competition entry.

-4- I would like to take my own photos, and improve my photography skills, to enhance my outcomes.

-5- I would have liked to have print more things rather than just mocking them up in context, as I think things look better when they are printed, if they are designed to be, as stock choices can really effect the final outcome.

6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas

(5= excellent 4=very good 3=good 2=average 1=poor)
Attendance = 4
Punctuality = 4
Motivation = 3
Commitment = 4
Quantity of work produced = 2
Quality of work produced = 3
Contribution to the group = 4