OUGD602 - Studio Brief 3: Third Year Reflection

As the final part of reflection in preparation for the final PPP presentation, I looked over all the work and comments I had made since beginning this year to see if I had achieved everything I had set out to do and how far I have come as a designer since starting the year.

Aims for the year

1. Create a sophisticated project
2. Design an App
3. Create self-branding
4. Do hand drawn typography
5. Create a book
6. Collaborative project
7. Get a placement
8. Do a live brief
9. Design a typeface
10. Win YCN
11. Try different production methods
12. Get some client briefs

PPP Design Strategy Presentation - 9/10/14

Manifesto
I am a typographically driven designer who works primarily in branding, promotion and editorial design.

Where am I now?
Branding, Promotion, Editorial
Typography, Typeface, Layout
Large amount of deliverables
Competent with digital software

What do I want to achieve?
To be a consistent designer
To create work over a variety of sectors
Have a stronger understanding of typography & form
Refine concepts, designs & presentation
Stronger research & sources
A strong portfolio

What do I plan to learn?
To create strong hand-rendered type
How to work designs across different medias
How to apply design theory more effectively
To create strong vector images

How do I intend to learn this?
Undertake experimentation in typography
Undertake primary research - tutorials, lectures, workshops, events

Skills to improve
Illustrator
Hand rendered type
Cross media design
Layout
Presentation
Consistency


Manifesto Presentation - 19/02/15

Manifesto
I am a typographically driven designer who works across both print and digital media, primarily in branding, promotion and editorial design.

Current direction of my work
Typographical
Cross media
Simple
Clean
To the point
Considered
Sophisticated
Clear


Where am I now?

What have I enjoyed?
The main thing I have enjoyed is being able to take control of the briefs that I have done throughout the year so far. Having control and writing briefs that excite me and allow me to grow as a designer has been beneficial to me as a designer as it has definitely helped in my confidence as I feel the work I am creating is what I want and how I want to come across as a designer. Being able to control the time-scales and deliverables of the briefs has given me the chance to come up with different sized briefs and experiment with the different kinds of briefs out there.

Another aspect that I have enjoyed is linked to this in that I have been able to explore skills and expand on them. A primary example of this is my web designing skills. I think in the previous year, where the coding was required, I was unable to really push my design skills because of the fear of not being able to code it. This definitely stopped me from exploring this, however this year, where the coding is not necessarily required at all, I have been able to push my skills in this area and create some solutions for web and App design which I am really happy with.

Something else I have enjoyed in doing my own briefs is that everyone in the year is doing completely different work, meaning that my outcome to my brief is completely individual to me as a designer. Previously I felt that I judged my work compared to others, however now I feel much more confident in my work.

The final thing I have enjoyed immensely was my two week work placement. Initially it was a bit daunting and I was worried that my work wouldn't be good enough for industry, however I really enjoyed it and found that the experience really helped me develop in confidence and as a designer, and definitely helped me prepare for moving into working in industry.

What have I disliked?
The main thing I have disliked is the number of live briefs given his year. While I think the outcomes I created have been of a good standard, I do think that some don't show off the best of my ability, and a couple came at times where it was a bit inconvenient or not when I would have liked to have completed it. The main brief which this applies to is the DSM brief. The subject I was given in this brief was the one that I definitely did not want, which did lower my enthusiasm for the brief. Because of this, I just didn't really want to do the brief, and while the outcome wasn't so bad, it's definitely nothing that I would ever consider using in any circumstance, and I feel that this makes it a bit of a waste of time when I could have worked much better off one of the other subjects.

What have I learnt?
A big skill I have learnt through practice this year is hand rendered typography and what kind of typography I am best suited to creating. Doing typography by hand has always been something I have wanted to learn how to do effectively and confidently, and by completing a brief where I was doing a piece every day, it really helped me see what kind of style I enjoy working in and gave me confidence to be able to sit down and do it instead of always worrying about how bad it will look. It also showed me that working at something over a sustained period of time is definitely the way to improve.

Another thing I have learnt is that I do have the skills to create good web-based outcomes. I have always been a bit cautious about web-based design following the module last year where this was necessary, and have always felt that while the original idea is good, my execution of this kind of design has never looked as professional as it could or as clean as it could. Through practice and through my placement, I have learn what works and what doesn't work, as well as what kind of web designer I am.

What is there that I still want to learn/do?
I do still want to continue on the path of creating hand drawn typography, so this is definitely something I want to come back to and continue to work on. As well as this, something I want to do is create a full typeface. Over the course, and especially through COP, I have learnt a great deal about typography construction and I want to put this into practice to create a full typeface which I can be really proud of.

What is there left to do?
At this point I have completed a wide range of briefs, however there are still briefs that I am yet to complete or start, and these are ones that I am really excited about doing.

Brief 1 - the first brief of the year, I am still yet to complete. I stopped work on this back in December with the idea of coming back to it after COP, and recently looked over it all again. With creating the App for this, which was unexpected but definitely a huge learning curve and enjoyable, I was able to move the brand through the design of this, and it has given me more ideas on how to work with the printed materials, so a bit of a redesign needs to happen to create a fully rounded project.

How have I progressed as a designer?
I have become a much more confident designer and my design has progressed to a much more sophisticated and professional level. At the end of last year I felt I had learnt the necessary skills but was frustrated in the fact that the outcomes I produced did not show off my potential. Through creating my own briefs this year, I do think that I have been able to develop these skills further and really create pieces of work that I am happy with.


Overall I think my progression as a designer has really happened this year. The first two years were all about getting the necessary skills and experience to be able to create the work that I want in this final year and really progress myself as a designer and figure out exactly what it is that I want to do. While I have a large focus on typography, I do feel confident in use of imagery as well, and I like to think that I am able to create design for a wide variety of areas instead of sticking just to one. I do favour areas more than others, for example, I enjoy promotional work, however I don't want to purely work in this. I like that I have the skills to be able to work in editorial or way-finding as well.