End of Module Student Evaluation BA(hons) Illustration Module Code: PPP3 OUIL602 Name: Dan Gilmartin Student ID:dg255740 Please identify where the evidence for each of the learning outcomes is within your submission and how well you feel you have met the learning outcomes. Please also grade yourself in relation to the learning outcomes using terms: > poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent (Note- This is so that the team have an understanding of how well you feel you have done. It is not an indication of the actual grade you may receive) Learning Outcome
Evidenced where? Blog, Sketchbook, Roughs Final Illustrations, development sheets etc. (No more than 75 words)
Your grade Using words: > poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent
6A3 Demonstrate specific knowledge and specialist understanding of the professional and contextual location of their practice. Knowledge and Understanding - RESEARCH
Blog
Good
6B2 Undertake research to identify and evaluate their personal and professional skills and the career or progression opportunities available to them. (Cognitive Skills EVALUATION & REFLECTION
Blog
Good
6C2 Develop and implement a personal promotion strategy to communicate to relevant organisations. Practical & Professional Skills - VISUAL QUALITY)
Creative CV, Business Cards
Very Good
6D2 Use a range of appropriate communication methods to present themselves as a professional practitioner to a relevant audience. Key Transferable Skills PROFESSIONALISM & COMMUNICATION
Blog, Design Boards/branding, Presentation, Creative CV
Very Good
Evaluation (See guidance below for more information) You are required to write a 500 word evaluation of this module. This year's PPP module has been hugely beneficial for me in terms of forcing me to make decisions about my practice. I feel that towards the end of the module I had successfully identified a path for future exploration, and a plan for my career goals, which a short while ago were incredibly vague and ineffective. This module has helped me to understand alot about how the creative industries work, for example, how an illustrator would usually be commissioned on a freelance basis by an advertising agency, as opposed to what I previously believed, that illustrators would work inhouse. I've done a great amount of learning which has informed my decisions about the future, and pushed me to aim for a path that is less freelance illustration, and more design based. Despite my decisions concerning Illustration and Graphic Design, I'm confident that this course was beneficial to me. I started with an interest in commercial image making and design, and feel that it has just helped me to identify areas that I want to develop but also discard. I feel that I have also gained a much more in-depth understanding of the term Illustration. In comparison to other people on the course, I feel I haven't developed professionally as much, mainly because of my struggle with my creative identity and defining the ideal direction for my development. I have struggled with maintaining confidence in my work which has resulted in a lack of self-application and engagement with the industry. If this module deadline was extended by a few months I feel that I would have been able to approach practitioners, employers, job applications etc, with a much fuller picture of what I am offering as a professional, which I intend to define over summer. Where appropriate I have engaged with opportunities that I felt would benefit my practice however, including the Stratstone BMW brief and the various exhibitions at Colours May Vary that are displayed in my current portfolio. I feel that the skills I have built over the duration of the course have created a solid foundation that I can use with a range of platforms, and apply to graphic design projects, but also to general business. When developing my creative presence for the module, I found it difficult to identify certain elements of my current practice that I want to promote/market. I based alot of my decisions on the feedback from Ben Cox, when he gave me an insight into which pieces of my work would be commercially viable and which wouldn't. The less commercially viable (the darker, atmospheric images) I avoided using on my business cards as that style of working isn't relevant to how I want to develop my practice, and wouldn't be the type of work I want to be commissioned for. Ultimately, I was so happy with how my brand identity turned out, because I feel that it is effective and relevant to my future goals, and looks really professional. Overall, PPP hasn't been a straight forward path for me because of my lack of confidence and inability to capitalise on successful areas of my practice, and because of this it's been a struggle to fully engage with. I'm confident that I have created an effective action plan to get where I want to be, also learning about various tools and platforms that will benefit my professional development. I also found blogging to be a really effective tool in terms of expressing my thoughts and developing opinions, which is something that I would really consider for the rest of my continuing practice.
Evaluation Guidance This should be a reflective summary of your experience across the module -
How did it go? Where did your journey start, where did it end? I knew very little at the start of this module. At the end of the module I feel that‌
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What learning took place? What was useful to you? Be specific. New skills? New methods? New processes or approaches? Did you use the blog to reflect on your project development?
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What went well and why? What did you enjoy? What were you happy with as an outcome? Be critical and analytical. Why did you enjoy it? Perhaps identify particular sessions?
This could be ideas, solutions to problems, studentship or research. How well did you use the studio? Did you invest enough time in the development and testing of your outcomes? -
What could you have done better? What were the problems you faced? What did you do to try to overcome them? This could be in reference to studentship, organization, blogging as much as studio practice.
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How can you apply what you have learnt here for future modules and projects? Application and future thinking. Things you would do differently next time? What useful methods, processes and ideas will you take forward into the next module?
You may also want to consider: Self-questioning: How did your thoughts and opinions change as you progressed through the module? Feedback: What other people (tutors and peers) thought of work and how you responded to that feedback? Research: Did you use contextual research to inform your ideas, ways of thinking or understanding of the challenges set. This may include further research of your subject matter, slides from the presentations or use of the library.