OUGD103 Module Self Evaluation

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

One thing I think I have developed a lot through this module is my development skills. I haven't just stopped when I have got to the point when I thought I was 'finished', I left it for a while and came back to it which always turned out to be beneficial as I always found something I weren't so keen on once I came back to them.

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

Throughout this module it has been more focused on what I will produce in answer to the brief so my method of research was so that it would feed into what I was doing and inform/inspire me to do better or change what I was doing. I found this research quite interesting and rather enjoyed it as it meant I was directly looking for something similar to what I was doing and not having to plough through loads of unnecessary information to find something I could use.

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

Again, my development skills throughout this module have been better than they have in previous modules, but I also think this came down to my better handling of my time management throughout. I have made sure that I have kept up with things and not really 'left' anything for too long so I have felt a lot more on top of things.

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

I think in general I could have done more research than I have and probably made it more varied rather than keeping it focused. Even though I did like doing the more focused research, I think if I were maybe to have kept it more general it could have changed my outcomes in a better way - or worse. It would probably have allowed me to be a bit more experimental.

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

1. I have kept on top of my blogging a lot better with this module than I have previous ones. Still weren't absolutely on top of it but didn't leave too many things until the last minute so it had made the actual deadline a lot more bearable.
2. Developing work that bit further has proved worth while with these briefs, so I will make sure I will keep practicing these skills in the future.
3. I will do more experimenting with different ideas before making definite decisions for what I am doing on longer briefs to see what sort of things I come up with.
4. I had difficulty booking into the digital print room in time for the final crit for Speaking from Experience so I will make sure I plan ahead and book times well in advance to make sure that I get in in time.
5. Explore my target audience I am producing a brief for better as I feel I haven't really done this properly this time, and this may help me make better decisions as to what to do.

How would you grade yourself on the following areas:
Attendance: 4
Punctuality: 3
Motivation: 4
Commitment: 4
Quantity of work produced: 4
Quality of work produced: 4
Contribution to the group: 3

Time Management

My plan for the time management aspect of this module was to keep a diary then have blog posts to feed through the work I have done at the end, but when Blogger messed up the other week ad decided to stop working, it changed a lot of the dates and times a lot of the posts were posted when I went back and edited them. I don't really have the time to go back through all of the posts to set them back to the right date so I have decided to just include the diary in my module submission folder. It shows me reflecting back over things I have done, and then making plans for things to do. As well as a small table with plans of when to get things done by and what not.

The pages look like this:

Lovin' Leeds

Over two Thursdays we had a workshop with John called Lovin' Leeds, where we were to come up with a huge event that would be sort of similar to the Woodstock event that happened in USA back in the 60's. Unfortunately I missed the second session due to the fact I was ill, but that has already been discussed. Even so, here are the worksheets from both the sessions for our idea.

The idea was to create a massive sleep over where anyone and everyone would be invited to join in. The original thought for the project was to try break a world record, and after many ideas we came up with this. At first, thinking 'big' was quite a hard thing to do as with the other briefs we have done so far on the course we have had to think realistically, as if they would be live briefs happening. Even so, once the group shook this off and got more into the workshop it turned out to be quite fun actually imagining these 'big' things happening.

I have definitely learnt from this workshop to think that bit further with things that I do, and not to just stick with what I know I would be capable of achieving, and I do think that this reflected a little with the Speaking from Experience brief as I think at the start of the year, or even on the previous module I wouldn't necessarily have thought I could have produced 'so much' and maintained a moderately high level that I have. So because of this I am glad that John has pumped this kind of thinking into me, and I will certainly think more like this in the future.

What is Graphic Design For?

All the posts on my Design Context blog under the OUGD103 label are in response to the What is Graphic Design For? brief. As I was doing it I forgot to specifically tag them all under this, and don't have time to go back through them all to do so.



Click here to see the posts in response to this brief.

InDesign - Further Development

The main thing raised in the crit, mostly from what I was thinking was to add a bit of colour to the DPS, so I experimented a bit with this. I don't want to add too much and ruit it so I will just add it to a few elements and see.

I like how this has turned out as I feel it shows a bit more of Dom within the layout as he stated one of his favourite colours were purple. This is now what my finished DPS will be.

After realising I didn't set up the document to the right scale (fail), I changed it, and altered the design slightly for it to fit into the right one properly.

Design Is About Doing - Further Development

I left it quite a while before I came back to this brief, and with the time limit and everything else that is left to do before the module submission, I don't have the time to be able to screen print the poster. Even so, I think just having it printed on a nice stock will give it a similar sort of 'finished' feel I am after.

I have done a lot of research for multiple things since this brief, and have seen some good layouts and techniques I would be interested in trying. One layout example I have found would work really well for the idea I have for this brief, so I will interpret this and manipulate it to make it work better. I will use the same information and typefaces and what not that I have used previously.

I started by working on the layout of the information on the poster first.

I narrowed down the designs until I ended up with the one I think works the best, and then began working with the title. I have decided to change this slightly to make it fit more with the tone of voice for the rest of the design. First though, I changed the format of the poster slightly so that it read better.

The title I have decided to use is this.

Once I positioned this right on the page, I started to think about the format of the poster, as it was suggested to do so in the crit feedback. I think because the information looks rather lost in the middle of the artboard I have been using, I decided to experiment with one with a 2:1 ratio, and positioned it better within the frame.

I am happy with the progress I have made on the poster. A thing I have learnt throughout this module is once I think I have 'finished' with something, I should then leave it for a while and come back to it. That way I will see any mistakes or what ever I have made and be able to put them right.

Speaking from Experience - 'This Pack Contains' Note

While imagining the packs been given out, it would obviously be explained why it is being given out at the time by who ever is giving them. Even so, I think I need a little something of an explanation to be in the pack just to clarify the intentions of it. I did consider having a little explanation on each of the products but as shown in my development I decided against this. I think the best option would be to have a small separate sheet of paper with a short explanation for each of the products in the pack.

This how it will look. The size will be slightly smaller than A4, but still big enough so that the writing will be big enough.

See the finished product here.

Speaking from Experience - USB Stick Pt 2

Considering how the pack is now going to be, I would prefer to have just the USB as a box rather than what I developed it into previously, so I mocked up a net for this on Illustrator using basically the same measurements, and then started to put the design on to it.

Once I got to a certain point I printed out a mock of the box to see how it would be, and I am glad that I did as the measurements I were using were way too big, and with the design I have it just basically looked like a plain cig packet. I reduced the size then to make it a lot smaller.

The smaller design works and looks better, so I will continue the designs on this net. I want it to basically explain the purpose of the separate folders that are on the memory stick, as well as have a little 'tip' on the side of the box as a 'just incase' they were to loose/misplace the memory stick in the college.

This is how the finished design looks.

See the finished product here.