OUGD501 Module Evaluation

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN Module Code

OUGD501

Module Title

Context of Practice 2

LEVEL

05

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION NAME

Ellen Setterfield

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

My writing skills have improved massively throughout CoP2. I did not feel very confident when it came to essay writing but I think that due to some practice and also careful topic choice I have improved massively. I have also improved my crafting skills on this brief, both physically and digitally. Though I did not have a lot of time to produce my final outcomes I am very pleased with the results and feel confident in my final submission.

The main skill I have developed through this brief is topic management and choice. The one thing I learnt from first year was that the essay subject determined a lot about the practical element of the project. I chose to write about wayfinding and environmental signage as it is something I am very interested in. This proved to be very enjoyable, as I wanted to do the essay research rather than it being a chore. I will keep this in mind for the future and hopefully I can use my CoP2 to run into my CoP3 project.

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

The research skills that I have learnt in this module have been key to my improvement. I attended an academic writing course, which taught me a lot about research and how to effectively look for sources and information without wasting time and energy. These classes were very helpful and I will continue to attend them in the future.

Since the Design Production module I have learnt that a mixed media approach is very successful, this meant that I would produce both a web and print element to my final design. My own personal interests lie within web and digital design but the print element of this brief was probably the most important. I had to work on my layout and design skills to be able to effectively create my activity book and ensure that the information was in a format that could be read by a range of people at different ages and stages in life. I feel that my craft skills are continually improving and have been doing so on this project, I intend to work on my craft skills into the future to be able to produce professional designs.

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

I think that my strengths lie within the design element of the project, I particularly enjoyed creating the information graphic showing my results as it allowed me to work with a piece of design that I like, the London Underground Map. Having researched the map in a previous project I feel that my contextual knowledge was very helpful in me creating the infographic. I think that by researching into something that interests me and influences my design practice was incredibly helpful and I plan to do this in the future.

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

The one weakness I have found within the second year is time management. Almost all of the final deadlines are in the last semester of the year, which I think is incredibly unorganised. Due to other projects needing a significant amount of time spending on them over the Easter period I had to put CoP to the side to focus on them, doing this meant that I had only two weeks to spend on this project.

I also feel that my confidence in approaching the practical element of the project was very low, this was due to the lack of staff support on the idea and concept development area of the module. I find it very disappointing that we have not been given specific tutor time for crits and tutorials. I find this more disappointing when looking at the module overview and seeing the scheduled crits that never happened. I feel slightly let down by the tutors in this area and I think that this shows in my concept work, had we been given the crits I would probably have felt much better. Though this was a negative area of the module I, along with some other students, set up our own crit and this helped massively. I think that, in the future, the tutors should set aside allocated time for crits and tutorials and not leave us to our own devises to get lost and feel stuck in a project .

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

1. Improve my time management skills to allow me more time to focus on my practical.

2. Set up multiple crits for feedback.

3. Spend more time on the practical element of the brief and come up with a large breadth of research and design outcomes.

4. Branch out and approach a wider range of people for answers to enhance my research skills and also allow me to come to a definite answer to my questions.

5. Spend more time planning essay structure to ensure that I am fully confident in approaching the written element.

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 Attendance Punctuality Motivation

2

3

X

4

5 X X

X Commitment X Quantity of work produced X Quality of work produced X Contribution to the group 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.