16 17 ouil502 ppp end of module evaluation a

End of Module Student Evaluation BA (Hons) Illustration Module Code: OUIL502 PPP Name: JOSEPH WHARTON Student ID: JW253302 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, Visual Journal, Roughs, Final Illustrations, Storyboards, Development Sheets etc. (No more than 75 words)

5A3: Demonstrate an informed understanding of professional context of their practice within the creative industries and cultural environment. (Knowledge & Understanding - Research and Critical Awareness)

Demonstrated on my blog through research into practitioners and the industry as a whole.

Demonstrated through my Presentation talking about the application of my work and through my industry report.

5B2: Identify and analyse the challenges and opportunities offered by future developments within individually appropriate areas of creative practice.

(Cognitive Skills - Problem Analysis, Problem Solving)

Demonstrated through my blog investigating practitioners’ practice and their journey to where they are now. Demonstrated through my Presentation talking about plans for the future and developing my practice. Demonstrated through my industry report reflecting on practitioners’ experiences.

5C2: Develop a body of work in response to a defined brief that effectively demonstrates professional working practices in research, planning and communications. (Practical Skills - Visual Quality and Conceptual Development)

Demonstrated on my blog through analysis of practitioners’ work, ideas and experiences of the industry. Demonstrated through my Presentation talking about developments in my own work and analysis of successful practitioners. Demonstrated in my Industry report through evaluation of practitioners’ planning and communication techniques.

5D2:Employ a range of appropriate professional communication methods to record and present their own creative practice, concerns and ambitions. (Key Transferable Skills, Organisation, Communication and Evaluation)

Demonstrated throughout my blog, through my Presentation and Industry Report through documentation and communication of research, reflection and development.

Your grade Using words: > poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent

Summative Evaluation (See Evaluation Guidance on next page for more information) You are required to write a 750 word Summative Evaluation of this module.

Please type up your Summative Evaluation in the box below. Make a PDF of the document and post the PDF as your final post on your OUIL503 blog. Also, please cut and paste the text from this box into the final page(s) of your OUIL502 Project Report.

This module has helped me to reflect on how my practice had developed this year and it has also helped me to gain a better understanding of the industry and my place in it. My practice has become more focused this year. I have been working on narrative-based illustrations, specifically children’s books. Through PPP I have been able to analyse my journey, allowing me to identify professional practices I need to make myself familiar with. I have been researching practitioners, and looking at how they progressed from being at university to becoming successful illustrators. I wanted to see if I could find trends between all of their experiences to identify what has made them successful and what common challenges they faced along the way. This provided me with an insight into their work ethic, their willingness to get involved with a range of projects (not just ones that are part of their discipline) and their ability to adapt. In particular, I enjoyed researching artists whose work inspires me and I found this very informative. I was able to gain a better understanding of how practitioners interact with publishers and authors, the role of agents, the processes of applying illustration to products, and how illustrators publicize themselves. I feel that I have a much better understanding of the industry and greater motivation to get involved with events such as book fairs and collaborative projects. I now have a much clearer grasp of the importance of networking and developing contacts, since as a children’s book illustrator I would either need to write books myself and pitch them to publishers or be commissioned to illustrate someone else’s book.

Amanda Hall’s website has been extremely helpful to me during this project. It contains an FAQ page that is made up of interviews covering a range of topics based around professional practice. She outlines the best ways to approach publishers and common mistakes illustrators make when starting out. This insight from a successful illustrator has helped to give me a more informed overview of the industry, showing me a side of illustrations we do not see in university.

Getting in touch with illustrators to try and interview them was a new experience for me. I think I was overly polite and didn’t really want to bother people. Whenever I didn’t get a response I tried to find published interviews with them where they had been asked questions similar to the ones I would have asked. This helped me a lot and ended up being one of driving forces of this module, as it highlighted to me that as well as not knowing the answers to my questions I also in some cases did not know what questions to ask.

I also interviewed a local screen printer who works with illustrators, bands and event organisers. He is someone I know personally which made it an easier and more relaxed process. The interview I conducted was very useful as it gave me a new perspective and helped me to understand the importance of work ethic, determination and communication. The process was insightful and developed my understanding of how to conduct an interview, and it also helped to build my confidence. I would, however, like to interview a range of practitioners and industry professionals from a number of different roles, especially those whose work is more closely linked to my practice, such as a publisher or a children’s book illustrator.

Going into next year I would like to post on my PPP blog more regularly to keep a closer connection between my practice and reflection and analysis. I would also like to add more variation to my research and visit more events to try and introduce my work to industry professionals and possibly get some feedback. I have struggled over the last two years to get to events as they are usually held on weekends when I work. I need

to be more dedicated and plan my time better. I would also like to make the most of my time over the summer when I will have more opportunity to travel to a wider variety of events.

Over the course of this year the importance of this module has become clear to me. I have come to appreciate that it should form a close connection to the rest of my practice and provide me with tools for reflecting on and analysing work, as well as steering my work toward professional practice through better understanding of the industry. This module has helped me to keep focused on my goals and make sure I am producing work for a clearly thought-out reason. It has done this through teaching me to critically evaluate all aspects of my practice at regular intervals through reflective blog posts, case studies and evaluation.