OUGD301 Evaluation

Evaluation

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

Throughout this module the learning curve has been incredible, since last year the benefit of doing a work placement initially helped me to work professionally and this has aided the skills gained through this module.

In terms of professionalism, my efficiency and clarity of thought has been fine tuned. I previously struggled with identifying the problem to solve within a brief and this module I feel that I have been able to work this out and then work much more appropriately for a brief. This has helped me with deciding on appropriate outcomes and creating a broader range of collateral.

Working in a collaborative environment was touched on last year with a successful YCN submission and through the enterprise module. However, this year working with Ben on a live brief has worked really well. We have both communicated well with each other. This skill can be seen in our work as I think our skill sets. Linking back to my initial skill too, combining this decision making with the added pressure of a live client has kept us on track to produce efficient designing to fit to deadlines and speed up our turn around.

Another skill I have identified is my ability to cope with the pressures of this year and module, by improving my approach to studio time and putting in the hours, towards the end of this module the studio atmosphere changed and really helped me identify with how much I can achieve in a day and then how fast 9 o’clock comes round.

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

Design production has been influenced due to working with several briefs from start to finish, the first has been the initial concept. I struggled with this last year and so it feels much better to initially identify a problem and then build on this and solve it with a more relevant concept. I would like to build on these foundations as I think a strong concept helps with creating diverse collateral and strengthening impact.

The next approach that I have been much more considered about is the choice of stock and importance of final products. It was really interesting to work out and consider what was appropriate for very different briefs, such as Man Repeller and Body Bags. Despite them both being fashion related the target audience differs considerably and the choice of stock helped my designing.

This is also the first time I have used the photography studios to professionally photograph my work, this is definitely something that I want to develop further to make the most of the products and printed outcomes I design.

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

My main strength is probably communication, from working with live clients on live briefs, to my designing partner for BodyBags and also within the studio. I can critically analyse work of others and my own work. I enjoy working through a problem in the studio as it allows different perspectives which helps my designing.

With regards to working with a client, I have been the one with the dialogue with the client. I have enjoyed the efficiency and fast paced nature of it. Despite the obvious problems of the client sometimes choosing not what we would, I think this work has gone really well and being paid has boosted my confidence.

Looking back at my evaluation last year a weakness I identified was the lack of printed collateral so I am happy to say that I have enjoyed experiementing with packaging and different stocks and hope to really start to expand on this limited knowledge, however I think that my outcomes have been well considered due to trials and evaluation.

Another strength is also the range of deliverables I have for each brief. I think I have built strong brand identities and this is helped by designing relevant collateral to reinforce it.

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you imrpove on these?

Despite starting to build on very limited knowledge of product photography I think that the outcomes of my first attempt are not as good as I’d hoped. This is something that really needs time spent on to do my work justice in photos.

Another more prominent weakness with my work is something that was a weakness in my last module. I stick to safe design, sticking to ‘standard’ formats. I think that I need to research more interesting ways of resolving a problem and then either looking into those different methods or being inspired to play around more. It would be a shame to not screen print while we have these facilities so I hope to do that in the new year too.

I will also try to look at ordering different stocks rather than sticking to the libraries as I think samples and more experimental stock will add interest to my portfolio.

Five things I will do differently:

1.     Improve time management, start MAKING STUFF from the word go to help myself evaluate and play with outcomes.

2.     Improve my wayfinding mock ups, this is something that I want to explore further.

3.     Learn to use photoshop to a better standard, I am happy to work in the other programs but photoshop feels like a weakness.

4.     Use more type, I enjoy typesetting and so I will be looking into designing publications in my FMP which will allow me to experiement and build on my type knowledge.

5.     I think I am using colour more effectively but this also needs to be explored further.

Attendance: 5

Punctuality: 5

Motivation:4

Commitment: 5

Quantity of work: 4

Quality of work: 3.5

Contribution to the group: 5