Things I hope to achieve next year...

In September I made a list of 10 things I want to achieve this year. I looked back at this list a couple of months ago, and was happy with my progress, but now the year is almost over, and I am preparing for my PPD presentation I am going to evaluate how much I have achieved, and also things I want to achieve next year.

Old Targets

1. To improve confidence for talking in front of large groups
- I am still a bit nervous when talking on my own, but feel better about presenting group work to a large group. I have had lots of experience of talking in front of lots of people in crits and presentations, and find it easier the more confident I feel about my work.


2. To learn how to use software other than Photo shop
- I have learnt how to use lots of different software this year, which is a big achievement as I started the year with only limited knowledge of photo shop. I'm not an expert with all of it and may need to ask help with the technicians for a refresh. However, I now feel confident with Photo shop, Illustrator and In design and completing the briefs for these inductions. 


3. To experiment with print and other relevant areas I don't know much about
- I have had inductions in screen printing at Vernon street and here at Blenheim so I now feel like I know what I am doing however I haven't actually put these new skills to use yet


4. To learn to print on different sizes and different materials instead of what I am used to
- I've printed in digital print where possible, printing on a range of sizes up to A1, on different materials such as gloss, matte, tracing paper and more. I've learnt how much a good quality stock can improve a final piece, and how important presentation is.


5. To be organised and update my blog regularly
- I feel I have really achieved this target as I update my blog almost daily and feel I am organised with my work by keeping good time management, especially after the time management sessions earlier on in the year. I now make lists of what I need to do, and stay at college later when I need to.


6. To be more selective about my research to help aid my briefs
- I think I am looking at more relevant research that I did on my previous courses and annotating it to explain how it helps. But I think I need to make it more obvious how it links in to my design practice work.


7. To explore areas of graphic design I haven't previously given much time to as they were not my favourites
- Previously I was most interested in illustration, which still remains my favourite, but I also have really enjoyed learning about all the different areas, which I didn't know much about, from typography to moving image and more. I have really enjoyed all the type and grid work and this is something I'd like to make good use of in the future.


8. To improve presentation of final pieces
- By printing in digital print and choosing good stock, I feel I have improved the presentation of final pieces. Also by just taking more time to be accurate and using things such as a bone folder when folding work have improved presentation. I think I could still improve by making things a bit more interesting with book binding and screen printing and other techniques.


9. To make sure every project is unique and I am constantly trying new things
- I think I now have better concepts than at the beginning of the year, and especially after learning about primary and secondary quantitative and qualitative research, I feel that I am now more aware of what I should consider before starting a project to ensure that I'm not just doing something that has already been done many times before. 


10. To work as hard out of college on my work as in college
- I have found this difficult as I don't have a mac, but hope to invest in one soon. To get around this problem, I make good use of the mac suites at college and stay late or come in on a Saturday when needed.


New Targets

1. To take advantage of the printing facilities, such as screen printing
2. To not be lazy and use the resources at Vernon street
3. To be able to ask for help when I need it
4. To create a moving image and learn how to use the required software
5. To put in to use the new skills I have learnt in inductions
6. To use initiative and take it upon myself to learn and try new things that what we have been told to
7. To feel more confident and proud about my work, and enter competitions or try to get some freelance work
8. To get the most out of every day at college by arriving early and staying late
9. To update my design context blog more regularly and make sure there is a link between the work I am putting on there and my design practice work 
10. To make my briefs 'live' and actually usable and useful

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

Re-designing my Blog

After researching successful blog designs for my current brief, 'Speaking from experience', I thought it was about time that I re-did my blog to make it more attractive, and also easier to use. This is the design I have been using since September. It is quite boring and there is nothing about who I am as a designer reflected in it. 

This is the new design, which looks much better in my opinion, and makes it easier to navigate around the different pages. I have introduced a new page, called 'things I like', which is a bit like an online notebook for me to record inspiring images and websites which may not be relevant to any current project. I have recently been experimenting with creating my own business cards, and so I think there should be a link between the design of my blog and these business cards.

This is my final blog design, bringing in one of my favourite business card designs, but with the colours altered to match my blog. I tried this logo with and without the line used in the business card, but think it looks better without it. I am much happier with my blog after this re-design and feel it is a lot more personal, sophisticated and easier to use now with the new link scheme. However, I think there will probably still be many blog re-designs to come over time!

Final Design:

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. 

End of Module Self Evaluation

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

As this module has been going on throughout the year, I have learnt a lot which has all been valuable. We have covered a wide range of topics, such as things that may seem very simple, but are actually very important and often ignored, such as revisiting English language and covering verbs, nouns, adjectives etc - something that I haven't really had to consider in many years.


The things that stand out to me the most are what I have learnt about colour theory and also what I have learnt about grids. Before this course, I didn't know anything about either of these areas, so since developing these new skills, I have applied them to all of my Graphic Design in general, and therefore have noticed an improvement in my work as a whole, so I think I have applied these skills effectively. Learning about colour theory has made me think more about the choices behind using a colour, what this colour means, and how the use of it effects how the piece looks/is read. Learning about grids has ensured that my pieces have a visual consistency, making them neater and more professional.

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

For this module I haven't researched as much as I have done for other modules, as most of the time has been spent on the visual language sessions. I have completed secondary research for the briefs set on photography, books for the book fair and the what is a line brief. I have used books and the Internet to find examples of inspiring artwork - this including graphic design, illustration, photography, and paper folding - as well as to find out more about the subjects I have chosen to create work for.


All my forms of primary research have been either photography or drawing for this module. I have done a lot more observational drawing as research than before, as usually I only use photography as a method of primary research, and then draw from these photographs, where with this module, especially with the 'What is a line?' brief, I have captured my researched through drawings.

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

As the visual language sessions were only half day sessions, I worked quickly and wasn't too precious about the work I produced. This is actually a good thing, as this way of working allowed me to think of many different responses to a problem, and to be experimental with my work, trying things I wouldn't usually as I would be too scared that it would not work. By trying things outside my 'comfort zone' style of working, I feel I have benefited greatly, and hopefully will capitalise this strength by working this way in my next module. In previous modules, I haven't achieved what I had wanted to as I hadn't experimented much; I had just stuck to my initial ideas.

Relating to the 'being experimental' strength, this module has encouraged me to try new things. After being introduced to photography through the induction, and having an idea for how I could use photography in the 'What is a line?' brief, I bought a fish eye camera and enjoyed taking film photographs with a totally different type of camera to what I am used to. Although I didn't end up using the results for my 'What is a line?' brief, I took some photographs that I quite pleased with, and will be capitalising on this new skill by taking more photographs with this camera.

Another strength is that I think I am improving on aspects I have noted that I wanted to improve on in previous evaluations. For example, at the beginning of the year, I don't feel as if I put enough effort in to my presentation of work, and I didn't experiment much with stocks. In this module, I have taken better care with my presentation of the work I have produced for the brief, printing in digital print where possible. For the books I created for the book fair, I tried out many different stocks before deciding which one to use. I hadn't done this to this extent before, so I hadn't realised how useful this experimentation is, as the use of different stocks can completely effect a piece, from making it stand out more, to making the text easier to read and other aspects.


Overall, I have found this module enjoyable and hope my passion for this subject can be identified in the work I have produced.

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

I think a weakness for the work I have produced for visual language is the lack of quantity of work, compared to the amount of work I have created for other modules. The only way to address this weakness more fully would be to spend more time creating work outside of the sessions.


I found it harder to manage my time for the briefs set for this module than with the other modules, as we only had one half day session a week. Therefore, for the rest of the week, my time was spent concentrating on the other work I had for my other modules. Also, knowing that the module hand in date was quite far away from things were initially being set, I didn't feel the same pressure which motivates me, that I felt for other modules. To address this more fully, I could set myself mini deadlines to ensure I am completing the work as I go, rather than rushing to complete it at the end.



Another weakness is not asking for help and feedback with my briefs for this module. Again, this relates to how the visual language sessions are different to the other modules, so with less time there have been less crits, and less time for detailed feedback on my work. I could address this problem by asking for feedback from other students or emailing tutors about my questions, instead of just waiting for the next week's visual language session for the advice I need.

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

I haven't done much research for this module, so next time, I would like to research the topic we have covered after a session, to expand my knowledge and to find relevant images which could inspire future work. I did this for only a few topics, such as the paper folding session, and was really fascinated about what I found out, so next time feel it would be useful to research a topic without having to be told to do so.

Following on from the previous point, after researching relevant work for a topic, I would like to revisit what I have learnt in my own time, and spend a bit longer on the quality and presentation of my work. Everything I have learnt in this module I have enjoyed, and it has been a nice change from the other modules as it is so different, but I don't think I have fully capitalised on what I have learnt as I haven't managed to use the skills in other projects.

Next time, if I was set a brief where the majority of work was to be completed over a holiday away from college, I would be sure to plan ahead better. When I went home for Easter, I needed to work, which meant that I had a lot less time to concentrate on this brief, as well as facing difficulties due to not having very good equipment. At home there were many distractions so I found it quite hard to do any work. Next time, I would set aside some time to return to college during the break as it is a much better environment to work in, and at college I would have access to facilities such as the Mac suite and digital print.
I changed my idea for the book for the book fair over half way through the brief which left me with very little time to actually produce my book. While I am still pleased with the book I eventually produced for the fair, I think next time I could gain more time to spend improving the quality of my work by thinking through my idea more thoroughly before starting to design. I don't think I considered aspects such as the purpose of my book or my target audience until much later on, and when I did, thinking about these considerations made me change my idea.
As relating to the weakness I have stated in the question above, next time, when I feel I am at a dead end with my ideas and stuck what to do next, I will ask others for their advice. This will allow me to get on with my work, rather than waiting around or putting off this work. From doing this, the quality and quantity of my work should improve.

6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas
(5= excellent 4=very good 3=good 2=average 1=poor)
Attendance = 5
Punctuality = 4
Motivation = 3
Commitment = 3
Quantity of work produced = 3
Quality of work produced = 3
Contribution to the group = 4

Identity

After seeing examples of second years business cards in a seminar with Fred, as well as looking at other first students blogs, I have decided it is time to create an 'identity' for myself. This isn't a marked project, it is just something I wanted to do to improve my blog. 

To create my business cards, I have used the same process that I used to create posters in the 'communication is a virus' brief. This is to draw letters (CRG - my initials) by hand with fine writer, from typography books and from downloaded fonts, and then to scan them in. I then live traced the letters in Illustrator, and then took these images back over to Photo shop to create my business cards.

Letterforms

Experiments

Adding Colour

To start with, I have used the same colour scheme that we used in the 'communication is a virus' brief.

I think these colours are more personal to me, but at the same time could still appeal to a male audience.

More Experimentation

I decided to take a step back from colour and try some more designs in black and white.

Final Business Card

This is my final business card (for now). I am also using this logo for my blog re-design. I changed the colours of the logo based on the colour scheme of my blog. I don't really need a business card at the moment, so there is no doubt I'll be creating many more experiments before I actually need one.