OUGD405 // End Of Module // Self-Evaluation

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


I have really pushed and developed my research skills throughout this module. I have learned new techniques when researching which have made it clear which method is appropriate to undertake for what information i need to take away from it. I have also learned how important the research process and methods are, and that it is something that needs to be handled with the correct way in order to get the best out of whatever the brief is. 


I think when it come to applying  the research methods to the briefs, i have been in control. I have never been stuck for a direction to take when researching and feel that i have done the correct, appropriate and sufficient research in order to get the best information to make me intelligent enough to know what i'm doing when it comes down to designing, and also to include in my design. 


On the practical side of things, i have developed new styles of graphic design. I am really pleased that i took a risk and went with a style that i have been interested in for a while, but never had the confidence and appropriate brief to try it out in. I think this is a little bit of a risk, but then again, i want to experiment as much as i can in my first year and i am really pleased with the final results. 


Looking back over to the 'How To' Brief, i feel that i built skills in working in a group. It was a little bit stressful at first, but i feel by the end of the brief we was all really pulling together and working on the same wavelength. I think it is important to understand the creative differences of other designers and artists and realise that bringing in so much different knowledge and backgrounds is a really good way to collaborate, learn from each other, and get some really interesting final pieces. It is good having people of a similar age with the same passion of design around you in the studio, it helps push your design further and is a good to bounce ideas off each other.








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


Again, as i have mentioned above, i feel that i understand how important the research process is to the design process and maybe even more important that the actual 'designing'. I feel i will never start a project in the same way now rushing into designing things without having the appropriate research. Having good research in my opinion makes the world of difference when it comes to producing ideas for design. 


Working in different formats that i am used to was a good way to develop my knowledge and skills in different fields of design. For example, for the 'How To' brief,  i managed to design the full interface for an App which is something i have never done before. I designed, printed and created a zine for the '100 Things' brief as well as posters and postcards, where i had to develop my skills working in InDesign and sorting out layouts for print as well as the actual design. I feel  


In both briefs but particularly the '100 Things' brief, i have been working much more on design sheets, contemplating many different designs and layouts and trying to get as many ideas down as possible before i start working digitally. I feel that this helps with time keeping and keeps me from getting stuck for ideas when i begin to work digitally. I feel that my work style and the way that i work id changing for the better. In the relatively short time of being here, i feel that my time management skills are really improving and just the fact that i am constantly working with design and has now become a lifestyle more so than it already was. 










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


In both briefs I feel that i have developed new styles in my work that have worked well in my opinion. I have wither been challenged or challenged myself to work outside of my comfort zone and experiment with different things. 


In the '100 Things' Brief, i was heavily influenced by the minimalist swiss style which i have been interested in for a while now. In the past i would never had created something so minimalistic for a final product, just because i wouldn't really have the confidence to. In the past i have been trying to 'show what i can do', but i feel that by experimenting with different styles, i can become a more versatile designer and really try and find a field that i belong in. I am also really pleased with the results of some of the finals for this brief, i feel that i have executed my ideas in a sleek, professional way, even though i am already become bored of them, and want to challenge myself again. 


In the 'How-To' brief, i was the person who designed and put together the interface for our main product, The Smart Phone App. I feel that again by working on something completely new, it was a challenge but i feel that i used the appropriate style of design for this, and this meant changing some of the ways i would normally design and working to a different grid format that i had never done before. By creating the logos and interface design for the app, i felt that it put me in some sort of 'leader' role. The other people in the group was designing logo's and bits and pieces for me to bring it all together in the end, so i feel by doing this, and taking in this role was a real strength to the group and having an organised team like this was really successful in the long run. 








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


I feel that in the '100 Things' brief, my work only started to get really exciting towards the end when i started taking a slightly different route and changing the way i was looking at things. I am pleased with the final results but believe that a lot of time was wasted creating the initial set of postcards, which i don't really think are successful now i look back on them. 


In the same brief, i also kind of wished i could have worked more with info-graphics that i did. The subject i was working with did not have any percentages and statistics, just facts. This meant that i couldn't really work with the 'graphs and charts' style info-graphics as much as other people did and this is why my final products resulted in what they are. 


Finally, in this brief, i also wished i would have experimented a little bit with the format of the products as i may not get chance to do this again in the near future. Although i did challenge myself in a lot of ways, and did enjoy creating something different in the form of the zine, i feel that i could have been even more experimental with the format of the products when i look around at some of the other people in the groups' final products. 


To make sure this doesn't happen in the future, i will plan more carefully what it is i want to achieve at the end of the brief before rushing into designs and ideas. I am pleased with the final designs for both projects but feel that there is always improvement for careful consideration when it comes to what it is you want to produce and finally achieve. 










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


I will definitely try to experiment more with my next work. I think it is a really important thing to try lots of new things while i'm still learning and growing as a designer. I think that certain aspects of this module have allowed me to experiment with new styles and this has really worked out well for me. Even if i experiment more in the near future and some things don't quite work, i still think it is all part of the learning curve and is a good way to help develop my own personal style. 


I will try and be more inventive and think outside the box a little bit. Most of my designs for these last couple of briefs are appropriate to what it was, so i haven't failed in that aspect but i want to be experimenting more, using different formats that are appropriate and work better for that brief. Would something work better made as a net, 3D. Would it work laser cut, screen printed or letter-pressed?


I will also try and design more with a pen and paper. I feel that working more and more with design sheets on every brief that i do is improving. I think getting all your ideas down with just a pen and paper is the best way to create effective finished pieces and this is what i will be focussing on doing more before rushing into creating things digitally straight away. 


i will be reviewing my brief, and looking more carefully at what it is that i want to say. I want to strip things down to the bare minimum. I think this is a good way to start. Look at what needs to be said? how does it need to be said? It is also important to see what style would work best, i learnt this while completing the '100 Things' brief. Sometimes a much more minimalistic style will be more appropriate, but thats not the case all the time. 


Finally, i have been trying to make sure that i am making the best of the software that i use. For example, creating books/zines in Indesign and creating all the vectored images in Illustrator. I am so used to photoshop that i need to carry on pushing myself into using everything that is the most appropriate piece of software for the job. This will save me time and help me work more efficiently and effectively in the long run.