BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN
LEVEL
Module Code
OUGD203!
Module Title
DESIGN PRACTICE
05
END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION NAME KIRSTY FRUIN
1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? I have learnt to take a brief and consider the outcome as a product, range and distribution; this then leads to a fully integrated campaign that explores all areas of design and the possible contexts in which it will then be distributed. I have developed my software skills in InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop as I have forced myself to use them. My software skills had become a little rusty so I made myself use the software, although it took a little while sometimes, the outcomes were all of a significant standard and aided my work (especially when it came to proposals). 2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
On commencing this self-initiated brief I was not sure what field of design I wanted to take; I was thinking retail graphic design with an interest in print. However, I had never produced designs specifically for retail so I approached this brief with the aim of finding out whether this is the type of design I would want to continue creating next year or whether there was another area of design which I prefered. In taking this experimental approach and working on a retail driven brief now, rather than in my third year, I hoped that it would result in me having a clearer idea of the type of briefs I would want to tackle next year and allow me to continually work on briefs that excite; therefore not wasting precious time next year. This is exactly what this brief has enable me to do. I chose the 17 brief as it was retail driven, nevertheless, I soon found that I was unenthused by the brief and as a result did not have a passion to design. It was this reluctant attitude that I had towards my work which made me realise that I did not enjoy retail design as much as I thought I would. I found the Boots 17 brief a little too commercial, all my designs had to fit within the Boots brand which didn始t allow me to be as experimental as I would have liked and as a result, I stayed safe with my designs. My brief became predominantly centered around packaging design which is not what I wanted to be designing, so by putting the product back into the retail environment I forced myself to make something of the brief and continue to explore this retail driven path I had led myself down. I feel that I would like to work on more branding briefs next year rather than retail led, this will also allow me to focus on print too. Taking all this into consideration, the outcome of this brief has been successful and I feel I have managed to answer the brief. I have enjoyed considering the product, how it can become a range and exploring a variety of channels to distribute my product through; this has opened my eyes to how readily available these channels are and how they can be applied to a large variety of products. I want to take this product, range and distribution method and apply it to my work next year; this will then result in me producing fully integrated campaigns. 3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? My approach to answering a brief has become much more strategic. In both briefs I managed to produce two bodies of work which fully interogate the brief in order to produce designs which answer the brief. I need to continue to tackle briefs in this way in order to fully answer every brief I tackle. I have been able to apply the type skills that I learnt in my typography elective to my designs, which have improved the aesthetic appearance of my designs; even the slightest manipulation can make a big difference. I will continue to utilise and develop these skills further with every brief I work on. 4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
My timeplanning was excellent in the YCN brief but it lapsed somewhat in the latter self inititated brief, I was writing the odd timeplan but nearly as many as I should have in order to keep me on track. Nevertheless, I seemed to manage to keep working at a fairly steady pace and produce the relevant work when it was required. Consequently, I will ensure I continully produce timeplans throughout my other briefs in order to keep my working at a consistent pace. The self initiated brief became predominantly a packaging brief for a commercial brand, which is not what I wanted to be doing and therefore became unenthused. As a result, I will not work on a brief like this next year and will focus of branding driven briefs. I feel I stayed safe with my designs for the self initiated brief and could have pushed my designs to become more experimental and exciting; which would have in-turn made me more enthused to work on them. I am therefore going to attempt to push the possibilities of any briefs I work on next year in order to produce designs of intrigue. 5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? I will work on a branding brief as I think I will enjoy this field of design and want to experience working on this type of brief. The outcome of my brief will contain a multitude of products, not just one end result. This will ensure I produce fully integrated campaigns. I need to produce designs that answer the brief at a fast pace, then I can re-visit these designs and re-work them to allow them to fully answer the brief in the most creative way possible. I want to work on designs which are creative as well as focused on answering the brief, this will result in designs which are conceptually driven but experimental and exciting too. Although my timeplanning was excellent on the YCN brief, it did deteriorate on the self initiated brief. Therefore, I need to ensure I create regular timeplans throughout the whole of my other briefs.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an 驶x始) 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.