BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN
LEVEL
05
Module Code
OUGD203
Module Title
YCN & Product/Range/Distribution
END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION NAME
Francesca Pecqueur
1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? I think my presentation of my work has been improved a lot during this module. I am considering how I photograph and document my work; I think the development of that can be seen in the duration of this module. When I look back on my YCN brief I can see how my documentation of my work has improved throughout these briefs. I think my illustration skills have developed greatly in this module, I have been more confident in my abilities and have found a style that I am happy with and that has developed over time. Within my illustration skills I have also developed my digital skills with using Illustrator and Photoshop a lot more when editing my hand drawn illustrations to give them a more professional look. In both the briefs in this module there has been a heavy focus on packaging which is something I haven’t address that much in the past, I feel my skills in designing packaging have come on and I feel that it is something I enjoy designing and would like to develop more in future briefs.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? I have definitely thought about the idea of producing a range of products and not just one during the course of this module. I had problem in the past was I got an idea and became to focuses on it and did not consider the other possibilities and outcomes a brief could have. Especially in the Product/Range/Distribution brief I considered as many possible outcomes as I could and try to develop as many as I could, even now I am thinking of more possibilities. There was also the idea of keeping all the range consistent, thinking about designing something which can be applied to many different items and products within that range without making too much work for myself. Also working on the YCN brief with a partner I was unfamiliar, in person and in their design work was a new challenge. When working in such small partnerships I normally choose the person I want to work with as I know how they work but being paired with someone I knew not much about definitely pushed me to work collaboratively and work to a good standard as it
was a live brief, which was also a challenge in itself. I definitely feel my collaboration skills have developed since the YCN brief, it has taught me about compromising and how working in the real world will be like.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? In the YCN brief I feel my strengths were working together in collaboration with someone I would not normally work with but still designing a successful project and working in unison. I think these was also so successful because of communication skills, it is a strength we both have and it is so important when working collaboratively so that work gets successfully produced and meets the deadline. In the Product/Range/Distribution brief I think my strengths were that I started to design near the start of the brief, therefore I had time to develop and rework parts that were not successful and I had enough work to show at crits which meant I had strong feedback and new what was working and what needed to be improved. It also allowed me to develop a range of products and not just focus on one design.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? My layout skills definitely need improving, I am not that confident when working in InDesign, I think I need to spend some time getting to grips with it better, I definitely think it will improved the quality of my work and bring it up to a more professional standard. I also need to make sure I proofread a lot! My spelling is not up to scratch so I need to take extra care when going over my submission boards, I possibly need to rope someone in to read over them for me to make sure I have left no errors. Even though I feel like a have develop a range of products I could still develop them more by looking at the digital side of the range. It is something I am not so confident with but it is something I need to address. In future briefs I need to consider web design and moving image more.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? 1. Look at digital outcomes and well as print to get a broader range of products. 2. Proofread all my work and get someone else to look over it too so mistakes aren’t made 3. Spend more time working with layout and InDesign to improve my skills. 4. Get people to crit my work all the time, not just in crits so that my work can progress. 5. Keep the design context blog going throughout the briefs not just at the start.
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 X Attendance X Punctuality X Motivation 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.