End of Module Self Evaluation

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

In Design Brief

Feedback from first crit

I was in a crit group with Sophie, Baljeet, Kirsty A and Kirsty H. I also got some feedback from Lorenzo. Here are the points from this crit:

-Check spellings and grammar

-Consider layout of text, get rid of widows (one word in a line)

-Expand the margin on the right page, and make sure the layout of text works, as at the moment one column ends with 'and' and the right one begins with 'and' which doesn't look right

-The CMYK colour scheme layout was preferred to the black and white one, and the image on this page was also preferred

-Get rid of the centre line as you wouldn't find this in a real magazine

-Try three columns of text instead of two

-Try block coloured background

-Un-check hyphenations on In Design as hyphenated words don't look good

-Good use of negative space, keeps article simple and effective

-Try different fonts

Also consider the general points made in the type and grid sessions, such as:

-Think about trying the headings and completely different sizes, weights and fonts

-Try more informal designs

-Try aligning things diagonally, and be more experimental with designs

-Re-consider the hierarchy of what is on the page

-I should look at other magazines and find layouts that I like, and question why I like it and then try out that layout with my own designs, to test what works and what doesn't.

Final piece

Evaluation

I have struggled with learning how to use In Design more than with any software induction we have had as it something I was really not familiar with, however, I think it will probably be one of the most useful pieces of software I have learnt, and I wish I had learnt how to use it earlier. I have also really enjoyed the type and grid sessions with Lorenzo; my favourite part of all this is drawing out different layout designs by hand. Before learning about magazine layouts, it wasn't something I would have thought that I would have been that interested in but now I would definitely like to do it again in future projects as I've really enjoyed it. The hardest part was making things look sophisticated in In Design, so it looked like a real magazine, but after trying out what I learnt in the induction as well as trial and error, I feel a lot happier. Some of the issues with my article that Lorenzo pointed out like how widows and hyphenations don't look good, or how one column ended with 'and' and then the other began with 'and', I don't think I would have noticed these unless they were pointed out, but now I know to always consider how the text looks. I still think that I have a lot more to learn with In Design but I am really pleased with what I have learnt up to now.

Speaking from experience

Links to other posts:

Actual BAGD 2011 Blog
Final Blog
Illustration
The website
Primary Research
The brief
Secondary Research: Illustration
Secondary Research: Blogs
Secondary Research: LCA Resources

Rationale:

Idea One

The Brief (what is the problem you intend to solve?)

How to find out what to expect about your first year of Graphic Design at LCA.

What do you need to communicate? (be clear and specific)

I am communicating what the students can expect from the first year, to excite, inform, reassure, and prepare them for what is to come. I will do this through images of work, text, and links.

Why do they need to know? (the concept for your problem)

This is a problem that worried me as I had only really seen examples of 3rd year final work before I started. I hadn't seen the development of 1st years pieces. With the summer task, I had no one to ask for advice and feedback and so I panicked with this.

What will they respond to? (will they see/watch/buy/wear it etc?)

They will look at a website. They will have the opportunity to ask questions and receive answers/ There will be links to other websites and things they can do to find out more. For example, they can find information like the times and dates of exhibitions at the college, and details of visiting artists etc.

Where do they go? (how will they access/receive/discover etc the resolution?)

They access the information on an online blog. This will save print costs as there are 46 students coming in September, and it also allows for the blog to be interactive and updated. They will receive the link to this website through the post before they start the course. This link will be given to them on a well designed postcard, so that they feel they want to keep it and find out more rather than throwing it away.

Idea Two

The Brief (what is the problem you intend to solve?)

How to find out more about your accommodation and what is around the area.

What do you need to communicate? (be clear and specific)

I need to communicate the cheapest places to shop, the best places to eat, the location of cash points and rail ways etc. I need to show how to reach college from different accommodations. I also would like to communicate what to expect from different accommodations.

Why do they need to know? (the concept for your problem)

Before moving to Leeds I was worried as I didn't know what my accommodation would be like and I didn't know where to shop etc. Even when I moved here, it took a lot of wasted money and time before I discovered the best places to go.

What will they respond to? (will they see/watch/buy/wear it etc?)

They will read the information in a booklet and read this and look at images and maps.

Where do they go? (how will they access/receive/discover etc the resolution?)

They will receive a welcome pack with information in it on the first day of college. The information will vary depending on which accommodation the student is staying at.

We then swapped our rationales with another member of the group who gave us their opinion. I swapped mine with Michael Mooney, this is what he thought about my ideas:

Idea One

The blog is a nice idea, maybe us lot can all chip in examples of work we've done throughout the year? Maybe also link them to various other websites of interest, and maybe some graphical challenges to get them in the right frame of mind would be cool... something I personally would have appreciated.

Idea Two

This is spot on, but it might be cool to draw up some budget plans maybe? Like, how to live off £50 or something, like where to buy the cheapest best bananas for example. And how many to buy for the week...

Week One Crit

This is the feedback I received from tutors and other students after presenting my three direction boards.

- Good concept, new idea, relates just to this course

- Could make this project time based, so that it starts now and lasts up til the students start, rather than them getting all the information at once. This would get the students in to the routine of to keep checking the blog, and makes more sense for this to be a blog rather than a website.

- There is a big gap from the work you do on art foundation/college compared to the third years work you are shown, so their work is quite scary. The gap from  art foundation/college to the first year is not as a big, so to see their work would be reassuring, and let you know that you can do it.

- Blogger designs can be ugly, and this project is about what you want to be as a graphic designer so concentrate on the design identity

Week Two Crit

Unfortunately because of the blogger meltdown, all my work from the week was deleted so I had nothing to show other than my logo designs for the crit. My work was never recovered, which has affected my progress for this brief, as I had to spend time re-doing the tasks that were deleted rather than progressing with my blog for the new students. It also stopped my progress over the weekend as I was waiting for the blog posts to return that never did. I now know to back up all of my work and not rely on blogger in case a similar thing happens again.

For my crit, I talked about my blog and my ideas and still received useful feedback. These are some points from Amber and the other students in the crit.

- Everyone has progressed so much over the year so it will be useful for the new students to see this development. Look at the first year blogs of the second and third years to see how much they have developed.

- It is good how there is not just 'excellent' work, but work from all different students - this makes it more realistic.

- Focus the blog on reassuring the new students that they can create good work, and that they will improve, as everyone agreed this was a problem for them before starting.

- Would be useful to know how a piece was made, what software was used and where it was printed.

- Need to send out an email, asking everyones permission to use their work and asking if there is a piece of their work they'd particularly like on the blog.

- Could use the masks of the tutors off the course blog.

- Would be good to have illustrations of tutors and form reps (Lewis, Luke and Charlie).

- Don't just include final pieces.

- It would be good to see the development of a piece, including earlier design ideas and the final piece.

- It may be useful for the new starters to see photographs of the group to know who we are.

- Include links to each person's blog under their work.

- Need to decide a date for when it will become live.

- Think about how you can make this real and how can you extent this.

Final Crit Feedback

Other Comments

As well as getting feedback from the crit, I asked other students on the course and also other friends for tips on how I could improve.

- Have the links in the same place at the top of each page as its confusing otherwise

- Make sure all the banners at the top are the same height and width

- On tabs it should be 'First Year's Work' not 'First Years Work'

I've made changes to my blog based on this feedback; this is really useful as they are all points I might not have noticed myself.

Final Design Direction Boards

 

Screenshots of Final Blog

Final Link Card

Link to Blog

Evaluation

I've had countless numbers of problem with blogger, which has really made this project difficult. After the blogger meltdown, in which I lost two days worth of work which never came back, I started up backing up my work just to be sure. I've had problems such as being signed out when publishing a post so losing that post, 'blogger could not complete your request' messages with what I have done also being lost, problems with images not loading, the new template being lost with the blogger meltdown. For example, I have typed up the equipment and reading lists three times before the post actually worked!


Apart from these problems with blogger I feel this has been a really successful brief. I think I had a really good concept and so put a lot of effort in to ensuring that my final product was the best that it could be. I have spent so much longer on this project that I have for previous briefs, as I have really got into it, and was motivated by the fact that this blog could actually really be used by the upcoming new starters if it was successful. I feel really positive about this project after comments received in the three crits.


I think the way I have worked has been better than on other briefs, because this brief has been all about what I want to be as a graphic designer, so I've been a lot more motivated. I have experimented a lot with different styles of illustration, which is something which I am really interested in. I hope my work on this blog shows my improvement throughout the year just as the examples of first year work prove how much we have improved as a group during the year. I think my blog does answer the problem I initially set myself, of showing the new starters what they can expect from their first year. If I had more time to spend on this blog, I would like to add more content to the 'before you start' page, and maybe add some more pages.


I think the blog doesn't look as good as it could do, but this is mainly because of the restrictions of blogger. I have learnt how to edit the blogger template, and how to code some simple html to help improve the look of this blog, but I think to make it look really attractive I would need to use a different website to host the blog/website, and learn more about website creating. 

Communication Is A Virus

Week One Pitch

Issues raised
- Take care with presentation of design boards - white boarders need to be chopped off
- Design boards may be easier to read if they were portrait as there is a lot of text
- The concept board makes the idea sound new and exciting, but the other boards start to talk about what has already been done
- Example leaflets are interesting but need to move away from these for a new idea

Actions to be taken
- Primary and secondary research - look at websites such as Leeds volunteer society, free cycle, peoples supermarket (channel 4 programme) and websites where you can click and companies give
- Could make publications to advertise a charity that you can volunteer for
- Research into the psychology of why helping others feels satisfying
- Need to make sure what you create is eye-catching, interactive and easy to follow so people don't just throw away any postcards/mail shots you make
- Be careful not to harass or irritate people, such as people with buckets in town centres do
- Would be good to actually host your own event, such as the Leeds RAG week events that are taking place this week
- Need to let people know that giving more is simple
- Let people know what they can achieve in what amount of time, let them know there are more valuable ways to spend their time, such as half an hour watching hollyoaks could be half an hour giving blood, which is saving lives
- Make people realise they do have time to help, there are simple things they could add to their daily routine, and there are ways that everyone can help
- All the group should actually do something to help a charity, such as volunteering, donating to charity or giving blood and write about their own experiences

Week Two Crit
- There should be some visual consistency between the posters, this could simply be that they are the same orientation and dimensions
- Each poster could contain a question which triggers a response to motivate
- Need to help the viewer to be inspired and understand why they should do the suggested activity and what it can do for them e.g. going for a run benefits fitness
- Need to make the viewer think in a different way, and have an impact on their mind
- The responses could be personal to the things the people in our class wanted to change
- Could make the viewer feel guilty or positive, which could effect their motivation
- Could include a link to a website or more advice of where to go next
- Could attach the designs to relevant products
- Look at artist Anthony Burrill and his motivational typographic posters
- Look at self-help books for motivational phrases
- Make sure the type on the posters is legible and that there is an impact on the viewer
- Hand rendered type related to the theme
- Motivating the viewer is more important than providing them with a practical outcome, but how do you motivate?
- Prints seem to have more sense of value than digital, especially framed prints. This is something to research. If the posters were screen printed they would have more value.
- The concept is challenging, thought provoking and inspirational
- Need to re-work design concept boards for the presentation next Friday, which needs to include a PowerPoint presentation which lasts between 5 and 10 minutes.

Final Feedback

This is feedback we recieved on our presentation from group 7, aswell as from Jo and Amber

These are the questions the group had to consider while giving us feedback:
Was the concept clearly defined?
Was the context clearly defined?
Was the method of delivery clearly defined?
What methods were used to gather information?
What methods were used to evaluate information?
What methods were used to distribute information?
How was the problem resolved?
How could the problem be resolved more effectively?
Was the problem delivered in the correct context?
Did the problem communicate with an audience?

 - Liked the concept, think it is strong
- Might be better to challenge people rather than be too nice to them and guide them
- Fear motivates more than positivity, so could include facts and figures
- Posters are aesthetically nice but there isn't much depth and meaning
- More of a 'kick up the butt approach' could work
- Liked the posters but don't think they are motivating
- Would be worth creating other products that are more relevant to students
- It would be good to test the products now that you have actually produced them and to see whether they work
- The posters seem a bit girly so a different approach would be better for males
- Posters worked for Kirsty, she did think they were motivating
- Liked the logo, thought 'help yourself' was a clever title, could make more use of this logo
- Some of the type styles didn't relate to motivation
- The different skills of group members is useful
- How would you give the products out? Have you tested it? Does it work?

Final Pieces

Matt's Designs

Stickers

Posters

Websites

Kirsty's Designs

Posters

Screenprints

Kirsty modelling her t-shirts and bag

My Designs

Shopper Bag

Posters

Final Products

Steph's Work

Screenprints

 Doiley

Tearable poster

 

Poster

    

Fridge Magnets

Mitch's Designs

Posters

My Evaluation

I think this has been a really difficult brief because of it being group work. There are always problems with group work, such as some people not putting in as much work as others but I also think there are benefits to group work. For example, I have learnt new skills on photo shop and illustrator from Kirsty and Steph, who knew a bit more than me. I hope I have also been able to teach the others in the group something too. It was good that we could all put in our different skills, as we discussed at the beginning of the project. I have been inspired by others work, and tried new ways of working. It has been good to discuss ideas with others, as they may notice flaws that you don't, or suggest other things you haven't thought of. I think I personally work hard in group work briefs as I don't want to feel like I am letting the rest of the group down.

Earlier on in the year, when we did other group work briefs, I think it was easier because people weren't as confident about speaking out so would tend to agree with ideas rather than to fight for their own. This isn't necessarily a good thing, but now, with everyone willing to speak out, there are far more conflicting ideas to choose from. At the same time, this is good, because it allows for a really original idea to be chosen.

I'm not sure if our answers to the brief show the keywords we described ourselves as at the beginning of the year: motivated, fresh, talented, edgy and innotative. There were certain times where we were all not motivated at all, so to try to solve this we had regular group meetings, and discussed our ideas with Amber or Jo where possible. We did try so hard for our work to be fresh, and hopefully showcased our different talents through the variety of work. I wouldn't say that what we produced was edgy, but we did try to use innovative, however, due to various restraints, I don't think our idea worked as well as it could have done.

At one point we felt we had come to a dead end with our ideas, as we felt it had all already been done before. Some members of our group had different opinions about where to go next than others. After a crit with Jo, we decided on a good idea that we all felt positive about. However, I don't think our ideas execute this idea to its full potential. Other groups had made their briefs live and we hadn't, which really let us down. I feel that we had so much opportunity, as our initial concept was good and received really positive feedback in the crit, but we didn't produce the quantity or quality of work we could have done. I don't feel as if our final pieces actually answer the problem of getting people to give more. I think they look good, but don't actually work. We should have tested the posters and products to see if they were actually motivational before our presentation. 

Design is about doing. Letter, Word, Sentence, Paragraph.

.Opposite - Blue & Orange, Red & Green, Yellow & Purple

These are opposite colours on the colour wheel

Concept - I will spell out the name of a colour with objects that are the colours opposite. I will do the same for the opposite colour, and include this underneath so the idea is obvious.

Crit

How much is it worth?

In our crit, we worked out roughly how many hours we thought we had spent just on this brief, to help us to work out how much our work would be worth if we were professional graphic designers.

Mon- 5 Tue- 0 Wed-2 Thurs-7 Total-14 hours

Charging £100 an hour would mean this work is worth £1,400

Feedback

It is a good concept, and is interesting because it is 3d, but some photographs may need to be retaken to ensure that the images are sharp.

Things to consider

Is the concept clear? I think the concept is fairly simple so can be understood by everyone.

Is the typography legible? Some letters are not as easy to understand as others, but I think next to the other letters and with the use of colour it is obvious what the words are.

What stock would you print it on? I am not sure yet, I will need to experiment in digital print, but I probably won't print the posters on to snow white paper as the contrast between the white and the colours is too harsh.

Receipt

Final Piece

My Evaluation

Despite this only being a one week brief, I am really pleased with my final posters. The pieces are quite different to what I would usually do, due to the restrictions with the brief, but I am happy about this, as it has pushed me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to do things differently, and as a result, I am really pleased with how this has turned out. I think considering the time we spent everyday on the brief was a really good way of reflecting that I think I will use in the future. With so many other things going on also during the week, I do feel as if I left the designing of the final piece until the last minute for the final crit. However, after the final crit, there was still an amount of time before the piece had to be submitted for the competition. So, after the feedback I received in the final crit, I went back and neatened and edited the images to ensure that all of the letters were clear and easy to read. I have printed each poster onto A4 gloss paper in digital print to ensure the best quality presentation.