Interim Evaluation

1. Evaluate the problems that you identified and had to resolve;

Communication is a virus

During this brief, one of the main problems we faced was the actual concept at the beginning. At first we were going to create poster designs to give to the homeless which we felt would of given more opportunity for the homeless. We felt that having a well designed, interestingly visually pleasing design would attract more people to the homeless man. During the crit we received feedback that suggested that we shouldn't do that as the theme we were going for was a humorous approach. Jingles and poems were something that we felt could get the attention of the public but during the crit, our feedback suggested that our quotes / sayings were offensive to the homeless even though we were trying to help them. It was also suggested that it would be quite dangerous to get 1st hand research. From this point we had to change our idea to a more substantial concept. We resolved the issue by creating a campaign but still keeping with the tone of the project. We decided to create a charity campaign for 'St Georges Crypt' who helped the homeless. We re-focused our ideas and then came up with 'Tins of Things' which was an appeal to donate tins.From our second crit we gathered feedback that was a lot more positive and relatable so we were happy with our decision. 
Rain Posters

With this project i encountered a problem that seemed to effect most of the class. I struggled to find many positives about rain and its activities so it was hard to find an appropriate starting point. The concept of people coming over to Britain for rain is probably the difficulties thing i have encountered. i wanted to chose imeregy that was positive but not cliche as i knew that many people would do the usual umbrellas theme. I wanted my reason for positive rain impact to also be quite un-common, so i stumbled across how the rain falls down UK landscapes and allows green to grow, which related to tress, then paper then printing, so i think i kind of related the piece back to graphic designs aspects. I feel that the designs are not amazing but i wanted to focus on an unusual idea and concept so i feel that i achieved something different from my designs.  
Stamp It

One of the main problems I felt with the stamp brief was narrowing down my ideas. From my extensive research and development skills i ended up with a lot of ideas such as, recycling / global warming etc. I ended up choosing 4 of these ideas and used 1 for each stamp which when in the crit i realised didn't work at all. there was too much detail in the stamps and the ideas and concepts didn't relate to the briefs focus and the audience it was approaching. The colour scheme was also a negative aspect and i felt that at the crit i seemed to get very negative feedback, so from this i changed my designs and decided to focus on just recycling and re-using so that the audience could actually do the task. I also changed how much detail was on the designs and made it a lot simpler . 

I thought the brief was quite open into interpretation but i feel that i didn't reach my full potential with these designs.

 

2. Evaluate the key considerations that you had to take into account when investigating briefs during this module

I feel that a main key consideration was audience with all these briefs in this module. It played a major role in communication is a virus. Audience means a lot to a brief as it can be its main focus, and so with communication is a virus we had to adapt our ideas to our audiences. The function of the ideas and the design is influenced by the audience. During communication is a virus we had to re-consider our audience from a very public audience to leeds college of art student specific audience. 

Another key consideration was the scale of briefs. During this module we had to variate our designs on communication is a virus. WE created tin labels / posters and a5 flyers that we had to create consideration of scale to gain the best possible outcomes. 

With the stamp it brief we also had to take into consideration our scale sizes. The measurements of stamps i really struggled with as I couldn't make sense of the scale, so i ended up printing some variations on a larger scale. Also scaling up the first day cover was difficult for me. 
As well as this, experimentation had to be taken into account, in order to get the best out of the brief. It's easy enough to just get stuck on your first idea, instead of pushing it, or looking at other possibilities. Changes may even come half way through. 

3. Evaluate the research activities that you had to undertake in order to resolve the brief

Research came in a number of different formats during this module, looking at primary, secondary, qualitative and quantitative. 

The main research we had to undertake was when we had to go to St. Georges Crypt to gather 1st hand research on homeless, we also rang up the Crypt numerous times and responded to emails. It was interesting to hear what they had to say. They gave us advice on a number of things that was very useful and influenced our work. it was effective in measuring these aspects and i feel that it worked well in response to our final outcomes. 

We also made surveys to see who people would respond to the homeless, what they would give, wether giving to a Crypt would be better then handing it to a homeless person etc. It is easy to voice your own opinion on the subject matter but with research we included a strong and equal response. 

Secondary research was also a huge part in our response. With the stamp brief we had to investigate numerous ways of ' Being Green '. We had to considerate ways of importance with audiences. We treated websites that offered information regarding specific subjects allowing me to find important pieces of information and a strong foundation of work. 

4. Evaluate the examples of secondary research that informed your resolution
When it came to secondary sources we thought it would be best to look at examples that we could trust and that could be reliable. This included looking at sites such as:

St. Georges Crypt

Greenorg.com

When it comes to look at secondary sources, it's always best to look at credible and trusted websites and/or books etc. so that you know your information is going to be correct as you don't want to be delivering the wrong information. 
BBc websites // St. Georges Crypt

5. Evaluate the examples of practical research that informed your resolution

The main research we undertook was to create a questionarre and a Facebook page on the 'communication is a virus' project. It was interesting to see how people reacted and used the pages and how it will or has effected people. With this primary research we have ended up getting primary evidence also as the numbers of tins collected looks efficient. It allowed us to measure amounts, if it was working, suitable audiences, responses and we could get feedback from that. The results we got from the Facebook page and the evidence from our responses was easy to get involved in because you see how successful our project is. 

6. Evaluate the breadth of initial ideas and visual ideas that you generated in response to the briefs 

I feel that though out this process i have started to develop and get better at. When i start to get my ideas down in a visual format i feel is a good process and allows me to experiment further with my design and my ideas. THROUGH THIS UNIT OF WORK I HAVE EXPLORED MANY TECHNIQUES that have influences my design methods and visual ideas. designs sheets are becoming more and more useful to me and my work and they allow me to make mistakes and then generate more ideas. Even making the slightest changes on the designs can influence or change your ideas into positive designs. it seems to help when you talk to the studio and gather information from around you. ideas are always bouncing around so adding in thumbnail designs is always helpful, small and tidy designs on one page is a useful technique and allows expeimrnetation to be clear portrayed. 

I feel that i need to be producing a lot more designs before i do each brief. Working with a group in communication was also something that i enjoyed a lot.