BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN LEVEL 04 Module Code OUGD402

Module Title PPP1

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME Beth Taylor

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? Because the research and development stages of this brief were all about self reflection and definition I feel I have gained much skill in this area. Answering the five questions in the brief and really trying to understand who I am in a simple and easily communicated way was difficult but became easier through the use of mind maps and other physical means; dividing and distilling the information. Also throughout the year this skill has been honed at regular intervals by posting on my blog at the end of particularly important briefs that have made an impact in some way on my self or my design practice. I already have experience with hand rendered type and although I am only a beginner this experience allowed me to digitally manipulate type on illustrator much more effectively and help build on my understanding of the letterform and what the eye will and will not accept. This was implemented in the ligatures I formed between the letters and the angle they sat at, which had to be done by eye depending on the letters that were being connected. I also made large use of screen print in this project because of the different surfaces I needed to print onto. Because I printed not only onto heavy card like stock but also brown paper bags, tracing paper and tissue paper, I most definitely improved my knowledge of the process and its flexibility when it comes to materials and learned how to change my approach accordingly, to produce a well executed piece of design.

2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? I decided to use screen print for brief 02 of this module because I wanted to achieve a very specific shade of green that I simply felt wouldn’t be faithfully reproduced by digital print. I already knew that I wanted a type-based design but because I would be screen printing I also knew that I needed to ensure that parts of the type did not become too thin to screen print. However, this didn’t stop me from using tapering calligraphic flourishes, which did push the medium to its limits. I also wanted to use screen print because I needed to print onto numerous different surfaces but try to achieve the same colour on all. Considering the temperamental finish of digital print the hands on control of screen print seemed the best option. This hands on essence is also a reason I used screen print. I wanted an earthy more natural finish with slight imperfections and greater texture than digital print could supply. So, I suppose that rather than the production method influencing my design development, my already considerable knowledge of the process meant that my design development dictated the production method.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? One thing I have definitely used to my advantage during this brief is my ability to organise and

manage time. Over the Easter holiday I noticed the second brief for this module and started on it before we were made aware of it in class, which turned out to be pretty late on. This meant that my designs were completely ready for production by the time I started the summer term of college, making everything subsequent a lot easier. As is made clear by my brand, I have a relatively reliable command of words. I enjoy using them and have done so effectively in this brief. I have condensed each of my beliefs down into catchy phases that fit onto the separate articles of the tea set. I take great care in achieving a cohesive sense of design in my projects and this is something I have made us of in the second brief of this module. The consistent application of the rules set out by my original brand design is very important to the effectiveness of the piece and is something I have tried very hard to achieve, controlling myself when creativity may have gotten the better of me. I also feel that I have been very determined in the creation and production of the final piece of brief two. I was uncertain if I would manage to produce it in time but kept trying and spent a lot of time in the print room and I really feel it has paid off.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? I spent a lot of time trying to define my self for the second brief but found that it is very hard to pin down who I am to other people. Because it was during the Easter break this made things quite difficult and I just had to work through as best I could with very little feedback from other people. So, next time I will make the effort to create a facebook group or something similar so that even if I am not near others in my class I can still get there opinions. I also found that although I went through many developmental changes with my brand I didn’t make sketches or try out numerous different ideas. This is not something I normally have a problem with but because I felt rushed and restricted by time and the other briefs that needed to get done, this stage was sacrificed. I will try and re-establish my thorough approach that I have had in earlier briefs and do at least ten sketches for ideas and pursue a few of them so that I give my self a chance to develop and do something different.

5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? - Experiment with the design production method. (I decided on screen print for many reasons, but I didn’t allow my self to make mistakes and possibly expand on and change my designs accordingly, as is often the result of interesting production methods.) -Talk to other people about how they see me (It is really hard to define yourself as seen by others, without their input. A more accurate and possibly interesting self branding resolution would be achieved by doing this.) - Spend time trying out a few different ideas and developing them to a reasonable degree before dropping them (a more accurate and interesting design resolution would result from doing so.) - Do more thorough research into other peoples self branding and how they go about defining themselves. (This would have helped me to define myself, something that I had considerable trouble doing.) -Do a test run for screen print. (Although I was able top get the colour pretty close, it would have been improved had I tied different methods such as CMYK mixing.)

6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)

5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor

1 2 3 4 5

Attendance x

Punctuality x

Motivation x

Commitment x

Quantity of work produced x

Quality of work produced x

Contribution to the group x

The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.