Monday, 13 May 2013
OUGD402 - It's Up To You Research
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
OUGD401 - End of Module Evaluation
1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
The skills I have developed in this module are mainly research skills into contextual work. This has strengthened my practical work in the second half of this module and has definitely improved my approach to this area of design. I have also improved my essay writing skills.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
A method of design production I learnt about in this module is creating more than one product for the final outcome. Initially when given the brief, I was planning on creating just one final product, however I quickly decided to create a package of multiple products. Doing this has definitely helped me be more creative and made me do work on packaging, something that I never really like to do.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
In this module, I feel my strengths have definitely been in the designing and creating process a lot more than in the research. I finished my final outcome to a high standard, I believe, as presentation is something that I think is very important and I have continuously shown I can do it well. I will continue to produce work at this standard and better it.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
My weakness in this module is definitely in the research relating to the essay. As essays are not something I look forward to, I lacked in this area of the module, and although I finished it to a good standard, if I took more time to find better research/quotes etc, I think it would definitely be improved. In the future I will try to be more selective when it comes to research and writing an essay.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
The skills I have developed in this module are mainly research skills into contextual work. This has strengthened my practical work in the second half of this module and has definitely improved my approach to this area of design. I have also improved my essay writing skills.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
A method of design production I learnt about in this module is creating more than one product for the final outcome. Initially when given the brief, I was planning on creating just one final product, however I quickly decided to create a package of multiple products. Doing this has definitely helped me be more creative and made me do work on packaging, something that I never really like to do.
In this module, I feel my strengths have definitely been in the designing and creating process a lot more than in the research. I finished my final outcome to a high standard, I believe, as presentation is something that I think is very important and I have continuously shown I can do it well. I will continue to produce work at this standard and better it.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
My weakness in this module is definitely in the research relating to the essay. As essays are not something I look forward to, I lacked in this area of the module, and although I finished it to a good standard, if I took more time to find better research/quotes etc, I think it would definitely be improved. In the future I will try to be more selective when it comes to research and writing an essay.
- Do research before thinking about how the final outcome will look
- Let the content of the research influence the design, instead of the other way round
- Be more focussed on research
- Look for better sources/ look at books more
- Do research into areas of design that interest me
I think by doing these five things it will further my understanding and ability in this area of design. It will influence how I design work in all modules and with the right research, it really backs up a concept I have come up with.
Friday, 3 May 2013
OUGD406 - End Of Module Evaluation
1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
The main skill I have developed in this module is the use of InDesign. I had used it once before but was pretty much completely unfamiliar with the software. Through the workshops and my own use, I quickly learnt how to use the software and how it can be useful in the briefs I have been given, particularly when I want to create a book. Before, I was just creating the whole thing in Illustrator and then putting them into InDesign, but now it is a fifty-fifty split between the two.
I think I have also increased the amount of design sheets and drawn work in the briefs. I didn’t have many in the last practical module. This has definitely aided my development throughout the briefs.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
I have worked a lot more in hand drawn design sheets to lay out work before creating them digitally. I have found that drawing it out by hand gives me the freedom to place things where I want instead of being limited to the screen. From these designs, it then makes it very easy for me to create them digitally as mock ups and then choose the one to go with instead of taking a long time to digitally experiment and take up the valuable time where I can be furthering the final outcome creatively.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
The strengths in my work have been the fact that when given a brief, I can come up with a concept very quickly and stick with it, experimenting within the concept and strengthening it instead of having too many different concept ideas and no idea which one to go with. I think this strengthens my work as it allows me to get a more resolute outcome which includes a lot more contextual research and back up to it.
I also think I have a strength in making editorial work. I find it a lot easier to do something large like a book than a single piece of artwork.
I also have a strength in digitally produced work as I understand the software and am now quickly producing work and experiments in quick time.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
I think my weaknesses in my work for this module lie in my layout skills. I don’t think I have been as experimental as I could have been, especially in the last brief of the module where I used it the most. I think that because I am usually strong in this area I haven’t bothered with it as much and now it has negatively affected my work.
I think the amount of hand rendered work is also a weakness. I have more than in the last module, but I do feel that I should do more and better my skills in this area, and even potentially do a final outcome in this media instead of being digital all the time.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
The main skill I have developed in this module is the use of InDesign. I had used it once before but was pretty much completely unfamiliar with the software. Through the workshops and my own use, I quickly learnt how to use the software and how it can be useful in the briefs I have been given, particularly when I want to create a book. Before, I was just creating the whole thing in Illustrator and then putting them into InDesign, but now it is a fifty-fifty split between the two.
I think I have also increased the amount of design sheets and drawn work in the briefs. I didn’t have many in the last practical module. This has definitely aided my development throughout the briefs.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
I have worked a lot more in hand drawn design sheets to lay out work before creating them digitally. I have found that drawing it out by hand gives me the freedom to place things where I want instead of being limited to the screen. From these designs, it then makes it very easy for me to create them digitally as mock ups and then choose the one to go with instead of taking a long time to digitally experiment and take up the valuable time where I can be furthering the final outcome creatively.
The strengths in my work have been the fact that when given a brief, I can come up with a concept very quickly and stick with it, experimenting within the concept and strengthening it instead of having too many different concept ideas and no idea which one to go with. I think this strengthens my work as it allows me to get a more resolute outcome which includes a lot more contextual research and back up to it.
I also think I have a strength in making editorial work. I find it a lot easier to do something large like a book than a single piece of artwork.
I also have a strength in digitally produced work as I understand the software and am now quickly producing work and experiments in quick time.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
I think the amount of hand rendered work is also a weakness. I have more than in the last module, but I do feel that I should do more and better my skills in this area, and even potentially do a final outcome in this media instead of being digital all the time.
- Be more experimental with layout designs. I do create a variety, but they are all of a similar form and aren’t as creative as I could make them. Next time when working with layout, I will aim to be a lot more creative with it and try stay away from the typical look that I have become accustomed to.
- Do more hand-rendered work. As I know how to use all the software on the computer now, it has taken over my design process and I have been lacking in the hand-drawn side of design. I aim to start including it more and developing it.
- Work in different media. I have worked mainly digitally throughout this module, and think I need to start working in other media, such as screen printing or incorporating design using the laser cutter or hand rendered design.
- Work on a larger scale. All my work has been relatively small for this module, so in the future I would like to work on a larger scale, producing work of an A2/A1 size.
- Be more creative when it comes to typography. I think throughout this module I have generally used the same kind of typefaces and haven’t really developed any of my own. I think experimentation with this is key.
Thursday, 2 May 2013
OUGD406 - Speaking From Experience Self Evaluation
This was definitely favourite brief from module, and I think it definitely showed in the work I produced compared to the other three briefs. I found that, as it was a brief with no restrictions apart from a final outcome, I was able to be creative in the areas I work best in, and in this case, it was definitely editorial work where I am more confident in working at the minute.
I chose a subject based on my experiences from the first year. When looking back over my PPP tasks and research for other modules, it is very clear that it was all lacking good designer research. This was due to the fact that I didn't know where to go, had a limited knowledge into some designers and usually stuck to the same ones because of it. Coming into the first year, I was very accustomed to the amount of work and how the course was structured, but not so much into the research side, and it definitely showed in my work. When asking others, they all seemed to have the same problem of sticking to what they knew because they didn't know where to go to find new design.
Before starting this brief, I had taken time to compile a list of designers & blogs, categorising them and adding some images. I found that this post came in very useful throughout this brief, and as I discovered new designers and blogs, I was able to add them to that post so I have a large collection that I can now look over. I think this is the strongest area of my final outcome, the fact I researched into so many different designers and blogs and categorised them into their major fields. I looked into well over eighty or so designers and many more blogs to get the final ones I used.
In relation to my design work, I think the most successful part was the icon designs. It was something I had never done before, so I was quite cautious about doing them, however I found it was an enjoyable task and am quite happy with the final six icons I came up with.
I also think the production of the book was successful. Something can always look good on screen but the moment you print it, it could look terrible. I think due to careful consideration into stock and book binding it worked out very well and looks clean and finished.
My weakness in this project I think has been the layout designs of the pages. Although I stand by the reason for having them so consistent and repeated in each section, I now think that maybe I could have been more experimental and tried creating individual layouts for each section. The whole point was to make it easy to find designers, so I kept the format the same throughout but I do wonder if that was really necessary. I think when doing something like this again, I will definitely be working to make every single double page spread individual and give it its reason to be in the publication.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this brief, and I think the work and my final outcome reflect this. I kept it simple, didn't over complicate the concept or how the book was going to be laid out, and just set it out as an aid to understand the five areas of design, find some new designers & blogs.
I chose a subject based on my experiences from the first year. When looking back over my PPP tasks and research for other modules, it is very clear that it was all lacking good designer research. This was due to the fact that I didn't know where to go, had a limited knowledge into some designers and usually stuck to the same ones because of it. Coming into the first year, I was very accustomed to the amount of work and how the course was structured, but not so much into the research side, and it definitely showed in my work. When asking others, they all seemed to have the same problem of sticking to what they knew because they didn't know where to go to find new design.
Before starting this brief, I had taken time to compile a list of designers & blogs, categorising them and adding some images. I found that this post came in very useful throughout this brief, and as I discovered new designers and blogs, I was able to add them to that post so I have a large collection that I can now look over. I think this is the strongest area of my final outcome, the fact I researched into so many different designers and blogs and categorised them into their major fields. I looked into well over eighty or so designers and many more blogs to get the final ones I used.
In relation to my design work, I think the most successful part was the icon designs. It was something I had never done before, so I was quite cautious about doing them, however I found it was an enjoyable task and am quite happy with the final six icons I came up with.
I also think the production of the book was successful. Something can always look good on screen but the moment you print it, it could look terrible. I think due to careful consideration into stock and book binding it worked out very well and looks clean and finished.
My weakness in this project I think has been the layout designs of the pages. Although I stand by the reason for having them so consistent and repeated in each section, I now think that maybe I could have been more experimental and tried creating individual layouts for each section. The whole point was to make it easy to find designers, so I kept the format the same throughout but I do wonder if that was really necessary. I think when doing something like this again, I will definitely be working to make every single double page spread individual and give it its reason to be in the publication.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this brief, and I think the work and my final outcome reflect this. I kept it simple, didn't over complicate the concept or how the book was going to be laid out, and just set it out as an aid to understand the five areas of design, find some new designers & blogs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)