BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN
LEVEL
Module Code
OUGD203
Module Title
DESIGN PRACTICE II
05
END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION NAME
SOPHIE WILSON
BLOG. www.s-wilson1013.blogspot.com ADDRESS
1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? I feel that throughout this module I have been made far more aware of “real life” design, designing for a live brief, and how to professionally approach a brief to produce outcomes to a quality level. Although only very fundamentally, I feel as though I have come to learn more about branding, and the effectiveness of a brand, and particularly design consistency, which was particularly applied throughout the YCN/Graze collaborative brief. I also feel, as a result of improved time management that my organisation and productivity has been greatly improved, and, hopefully, evidenced throughout the module and my design outcomes. My design development and concept building has greatly developed, and I hope I can continue to push this further and in a more professional and considered design context within future design briefs and projects, both within University and in my own design practice. 2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? Throughout the two projects within the OUGD203 Design Practice II module, I feel that my illustrative skills have improved, which is something I really wanted to work on, with illustration a potential field to specialise within upon graduating from University. As aforementioned, I feel that a developed understanding of concept building, development, and generating feedback and opinions of others through market research has helped towards my design production, in order to give myself a far clearer focus on the design outcomes to be produced, and what is most suitable for the target audience in question. Although there are undoubtedly times, within both of the projects, where I feel I have made mistakes in regards to my design decisions at the start, I feel that I have generally learnt from the mistakes quite quickly, and now feel more “unafraid” to make such mistakes, and I know it will make me more aware of design and the suitability of my decisions in the future. 3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? Particularly within the YCN collaborative brief, I took a great deal of responsibility with the tasks, and although when my partner and I did work together some good ideas were produced, in general, unfortunately, it felt a little one sided on my part, and I felt a little demotivated as a result at times. However, despite little problems along the way, I feel that I have produced a substantial body of design work and research, which shows clear direction and development. This has inspired me to further my work ethic and try to work on more substantial briefs with highquality, professional outcomes. I feel as though my design work still needs a great deal of attention
and improvement, so will look for personal projects throughout the summer to develop my understanding and experience within various design projects, and try to improve upon my design outcomes and overall standard of work. 4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? I feel as though this module would have been a great opportunity to experiment with design outcomes and processes, yet, unfortunately, I stuck to the same vector outcomes as always. Although I had ambitions to work with packaging, laser cutting and typographic design (the latter of which I touched upon ever so slightly within the Product/Range/Distribution project), time management in some cases, and unforeseen problems that I came across with my design outcomes led me to not necessarily having the time or drive to experiment with different styles, design outcomes and concepts. Although the project outcomes I have produced are okay, they’re not really anything that special, or different from the projects currently in my design portfolio. In the summer I hope to experiment a great deal more with my design practice, and to explore more areas of design so I don’t always fall upon the “comfort blanket” of vector design, and, even within this process, explore more outcomes and variations in order to build up a much more creative and unique design portfolio. 5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? 1. Experiment more with my design outcomes, and not be afraid of trying something new (as appropriate to the design outcome/target audience). 2. Be less self-defeating about my design work. If I don’t enjoy what I’m doing, try something new, or take a break from it for a while as opposed to trying to “battle” my way through it, and consequently making things more stressful/difficult in the long run. 3. Be more tolerant of others! Everyone is different, and works differently. In the case of the YCN brief, although I wouldn’t readily express it, I sometimes felt frustrated with a lack of motivation from my collaborative design partner. Everyone has motivation at different times, so just utilise your own as and when you have it, and make the most of each and every project. 4. Balance my research/design development work a little more effectively. All to often I spend a lot of time on research, and leave myself far too little time to work on my design and concept development. I call this “productive procrastination”, as I am still achieving something useful out of it, but, generally, it doesn’t provide too much use, but a distraction if I’m feeling slightly intimidated by the design workload I have to drive myself to work on. 5. DON’T GET STRESSED. Often I put myself under too much self- expectation for project outcomes. Usually, I’ve found, it backfires and there is risk of enduring a “mid-project crisis”. It’s not useful, it’s not helpful, relax, and be realistic about what is expected.
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 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.