Collection 100

My photos (blah bah blah...)

The images I norrowed these down to use as my selected images for my research are these:

Visual Language - Colour Theory Pt 2

OUGD101 Module Self Evaluation

Blog Address - s-pritchard1013.blogspot.com

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

The main skill that I have developed through this module definitely has to be my Illustrator skills. I couldn't really use it properly before we started, and I managed to pick up what we learnt quickly and easily from the inductions we had, and now I can do things that I never thought I would have been able to do. Also, my time management skills have improved because of the fast pace that we are required to work at. It has taught me the importance of making decisions as quickly as needed and to just get on with things rather than stewing on something for a while before going with what I originally thought.

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

The approach that I quickly got into the routine of throughout this module was to as soon as we received a brief, to go and look at related designs and images to what the brief requires. As well as writing/sketching down any of the initial ideas that come to mind before I got onto the idea generation stage; so that if there is any really good ones then I don't forget them and possibly miss out on producing something really good.

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

A strength that really stands out for me from this module was my ability to pick up the fast pace of working we had to do in order to keep on top of everything and not fall behind. Also, I found myself for each of the studio briefs considering every little aspect of what I was doing so that when it came to the crits, and discussing my work I knew exactly what I was talking about, and could explain my intentions thoroughly. Another little thing that I find myself doing most of the time with anything that I am designing is trying to produce something to as much of a professional quality as I can, and I imagine how it would work/where it would fit if it was to be used out in the 'real world'. I think this shows within my final outcomes for the briefs, and I will ensure that I continue this, and the other things throughout the next module, and the remainder of the 3 years on this course.

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

Often I found myself, towards the end of a brief coming up to a studio deadline looking back and reflecting over the work that I have produced and thinking to myself how I could have maybe put more effort into coming up with more variety of initial ideas to then go on to explore. I often come up with a good few ideas, and experiment with a couple, then to go on to develop one into my final idea. I think I should try and spend a little more time in the initial stage of a brief, just to give myself more of a choice when it comes to making any decisions. Also, I found that in the group brief that we had at the beginning of the module I  really struggled to cope with this. I am not a very confident person and it just completely blew over my head. As much as I had all intentions to jump straight into it and be confident, I just found myself being pushed to the back, and almost felt to the point a little left out because I just didn't have the confidence to push myself more. I think also within my group there was some really strong characters, that were determined for things to go their way, so this also really didn't help because that just isn't the kind of person I am. Even so, I definitely see this as an issue for myself, and will be something I will concentrate a lot on to improve over the duration of the course.

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

The first thing that I will address for this will be my group working skills, as explained in the previous answer. I understand that group work is an important factor to working within Graphic Design, so I will benefit a lot by concentrating on improving these skills, if not just for the remainder of this course, but also for what ever I will be doing once I finish.

I found myself towards the end of the module slacking off from keeping on top of updating my blogs which I found slowed me down quite a bit with everything else I was doing, and I found myself having to play catch up with it in this week coming up to the deadline. This is definitely not something that should be an issue in ensuring full preparation for a deadline, and I have definitely learnt my lesson from this. Updating my blogs will be more of a priority throughout the next modules, especially more towards the end of them so that I can keep my focus on other more important things that are going on.

A not so good thing that I did (without actually intending to) was I put the Alphabet Soup Illustrator brief we received on the back seat throughout this module, and neglected working on it until the deadline was looming. This resulted me in not being fully satisfied with my outcome for this brief, and do think I could have responded to it a lot better than I have. I will make sure that I make time for any other briefs we receive similar to this where we don't have any scheduled studio time for them to make sure it doesn't happen again.

I do think that throughout this module I have stayed pretty close to my comfort zone, which isn't really what the first year on this course is about, so with future briefs I will make sure that I push myself more to trying out new things I haven't done, and experiment with new medias and materials.

An important factor to surviving in Graphic Design, and making yourself as good as you can be, has to be listening to feedback and taking on board anything anyone has to say about what you have produced, whether it is good or bad. So within the next module, I will purposely seek more feedback from both my peers and tutors to try push myself to be a better designer. I won't just do the typical thing of asking if something looks ok, I will ask questions such as how do you think I could improve this? As advised from visiting professional Mark Howe. As well as trying to give better feedback for anyone who asks me something about what they are working on, rather than just saying 'yeah I like it, it's good'.

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: 4

Commitment: 3

Quantity of work produced: 3

Quality of work produced: 3

Contribution to the group: 2

No News Is Good News Mailshot - Final Presentation Feedback

Here is my final presentation feedback sheets I got for my final outcomes for this brief.

No News Is Good News Mailshot - Mailing List

The other requirement to this brief was to produce a mailing list. Using the same text I used on each of the envelopes for the addresses, and put the question on the bottom of it so that it is visually similar to the rest of the designs.

The addresses that I have used are people that I know that fit into my target audience that are parents with children aged between 7 and 14. Even so, this isn't entirely clear from looking at the list, but I don't really know how to make it more obvious without actually spelling it out on there, which wouldn't really be necessary because all that the people will see that are receiving the mailshot would be the actual mailshot, so in my opinion this doesn't necessarily matter so much.

I got it printed in the Digital Print room on matt paper, the same as the mailshot that was sent through the post.

No News Is Good News Mailshot - Delivered.

Here is how the mailshot that I sent through the post came back.

It has come back as predicted. It stayed sealed together and didn't rip or come apart at all. The only thing is that because of the type of paper I have used, it shows up little scratches and things, so if you look carefully at the pictures it has come back looking a little worn. But apart from that it is all fine, and I a happy with the results.