end of module evaluation:
I feel this course, especially this module, has been invaluable to me in terms of progressing as a designer. I feel this year, for me, has been the most focused in terms of what I want to be doing and where I want to be going. Since starting the module as the months have gone on I feel I have developed a direction within my practice that I am beginning to feel happy with. In the previous two years I have never really been happy with the end result or felt as though my design was a bit of a compromise either down to poor time management or lack of skill set. However this year, being as independent and as focused as it has been has really allowed me to develop work I can build on, ideas I can speak about confidently and work that could be put into a portfolio. I felt for the first part of the year (from september-december) I wasn't focused enough on extended practice, I felt like I hadn't got a clear direction yet and with focusing on COP I felt like that was distracting some of my practice. Before the december hand in I wasn't especially happy with anything I had produced, either the final outcome had been a disappointment, for example with Spectrum (collaboration with Emily Ball) the development and research were what we wanted to focus on and the final outcome ended up being a compromise and not turning out how we had wanted it. I felt from january onwards I had started to find a style and more focused area within design.
Since starting the course I had always been more interested in editorial and publication design but I felt in the second part of the year I began to produce more editorial work. I think being able to have your personal input in the briefs made the whole of extended practice really interesting and engaging for me as I was incorporating areas of interest I liked not only within graphics but outside of design. The COP publication was something I really enjoyed putting together as I felt it allowed me to sum up visually but also contextually what my practice has been about this year and the research that has gone into the ideas, briefs and decisions I've made. I think a big focus for me this year was research, I was really eager to try and incorporate as much primary research into my briefs as possible as I feel from past experience this made the final outcome of my design a lot more successful and innovative. There were various briefs (contemporary culture, unsung heroes and heroines, museum of childhood) that I had written up that relied heavily on primary research, and reflecting back on the module now I would say they have been some of my preferred briefs in terms of actually designing but also preferred in terms of the final outcome. I feel it allowed me to become more confident in engaging with the public and gathering an archive of research I could constantly refer to to improve my design. I feel this year a lot of skills have improved, because I have been engaged and enthusiastic about what I've been doing it allowed me to explore processes I wasn't that experienced in and was able to be happy with the outcomes. For example brief 03, Absolutely Fabulous, experimenting with screen print and colour was not only something I really enjoyed doing but I was happy with the results.
This year I feel I have incorporated photography into my work more than I have in previous years and I think my work has gained from this. I have been using a lot of film photography this year which I think is a really nice aesthetic that adds something to my work that can't really be imitated in the same authentic way. I feel this module more than any other has allowed me to develop a more consistent style within my work and presents a certain style and aesthetic that, although needs working on and improving on, I am happy with the ground work. Although I have always enjoyed working on the course I feel extended practice really gave me a freedom that
Funnily enough, towards the end of this year I feel I have progressed hugely in terms of technical skills such as inDesign and photoshop. Producing so many publications towards the end really allowed me to get to grips with inDesign in a more professional manner and I feel I can use it a lot more confidently now. The same goes for Photoshop, before this year I would of never of used it, not even to edit photographs, however after consistently trying to get the hang of certain techniques I now feel a lot more comfortable using it and can produce certain bits of work from it. I think another thing that has been a huge improvement for me this year is the photographing of my work, this is something, I've not learnt, makes all the difference to the presentation and professionalism of your own work. Before third year I had never booked a photography studio out or used any kind of lighting equipment. I could see straight away from the first shoot I did of my work how beneficial that extra bit of effort is, it can change the whole appearance of your final design. My one regret with photographing the work this year is running out of time to properly photography the publication Lisa and I designed for 'An exhibition of Paris' this is something we will have to revisit when putting the final bits of our portfolio together.
I've learnt the importance of development work this year as we had such long time periods to work on chosen briefs it really effected the final outcome for me as I kept trying to go further with the brief and on occasions the deliverables or outcomes of the original brief would change, however I felt this was beneficial to my design in the end as it was more thought through and thorough.
In terms of things I still need to improve upon, time management again is the one constant reoccurring thing. I felt this year was a real challenge as we were completely in charge of our own deadlines our own work ethic and our self discipline. I felt this improved hugely towards the second part of the year as in the first part of the year I felt I was still finding out exactly what I wanted to do. Although I feel there were some things that were impacted by some poor time management, I do feel like that has improved every year. Another thing I feel I need to focus on more is my attention to detail at the end of a project, I feel sometimes with the finishing touches I become slightly impatient and this could possibly impact on the end result due to lack of patience.
This course and this module has given me a completely new outlook on what I want to do and has motivated me in so many ways, it has given me a work ethic and a direction and the amount I have learnt and improved since starting has been a considerable amount.
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