End of Module Evaluation

Self-Evaluation

This responsive module has taught me a lot as a designer and as a professional. Throughout this responsive module I feel that I have developed as a designer in more then one way. I have started to tackle personal and proffesional problems that were arising within my organastion and design skills. 

My aims for this responsive module was to tackle my illustration skills. Throughout my time on the course I have always been intrested in developing  these skills as I have always ‘doodled’ and i thought it was time to apply these skills to see if I could gain any improvement.

The modules I am submitting I have tried to variy in skill set so i can achieve more confidence within specific areas.

Confidence when submitting designs I feel, has always been a low point for me. I would always be consious of my designs and what people would think of them but I feel that within this module I have become slightly less paranoid and started to think of the real issues behind the briefs so that my designs benifit.

My skills with digital aspects of design were also lacking. Throughout this module I ave tried to devlop my skills on illustrator and indesign. Mocking up boards has taught me about proffesionalism  and layout, and has also benifited my selction process of design.

Selecting the right designs to be taken forward and portraying the designs in a clear contextual format has given them a sense of proffesionalism in itself.

The responsive module has simpily given me a cahnce to select and  explore a selection of different briefs that I will probably never get the chance to do again. The selection process has allowed me to pick briefs that best suit my time manangement, design skills, and genrally the way I work. I was quite aprihensive when first starting this module, due to confidence and technical issues, but since undertaking briefs at my own pace and selection it has given me encouragment. 

1.  What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

Throughout this module I have developed skills both technically through research ability, illustration design and programme development. I have also developed confidence skills and professions' skills that can be pushed forward into other aspects of my design career. These skills are probably most important to be as they have allowed me to devlop and because more open to certain things. Creating a sense of professionalism in order to recieve and give critical constructive criticim is ideal. Also skills in working as a collabrative have also devloped. Listening to what people have to say and taking on board design decisions  and concepts is useful process.   

Learning about how to respond to certain briefs, and idea generation was also a useful skill. I believe that I have also learned and develop new skills in the adobe suit.

I had to tacle using illustaor and indesign for the first time with these projects. I can't use these devices so it was very difficult for me to get to grips with the systems and working within teh specifc artboards. It was a major challange for me as i really do have to persue new design skills in these area but i feel that I have devleoped futher with these skills escpeically carrying it on through illustraive techniques and how to adopt me designs from hand rendered to digitally enhanced. 

Learning how to select briefs has also been an extreme learning curve. I find it very difficult to adampt to new situations and devices so i feel that with more pracice i can enhance all the teh skills os brief selection and idea generation.

I feel that i have applied these skills in a very basic way, as i have been learning and developing, if i had more tiem i feel that i could push the boundaries futher to enhance my designs and design skills. The briefs I selected were based mainly on short - term complitemnet and a few long perios deisgns to keep my time managemnt organised. 

2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

My design approach has been different for the specific briefs I have undertaken. The short term design briefs I have used illustrations and hand rendered mock up designs for final pieces. 

The approach and perspective of this project has been different to any one I have done before. I have never made an application before and very proud of my self for doing so. It is alot harder tehn i first thought it would be but i think with more practice i can devlop this futher. The deisgn mok ups and fucntioning and working out of scales etc was quite hard to devlop. Thinking about the user activity and various other formats also made me devlop the designs futher.

The approach i have had this time has been quite developmental for me. I have approached the adbobe suite with extreme caution and was always worried about using teh software. Most things i have done within this topic is brand new to me, and seemed hard to get to grips with, therefore my method of production has been slower and more bsic compaed to what i feel confident in producing. Certain aspects of illustration and are new skills, from developing images of 'doodles' to final designs.  

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

I think one my strengths is learning new techniques and skills. I now have confidence in my designs skills and feel that adapting my new found skill set will be less stressful.

I will develop these skills so that my designs can become more enhanced and devloped and will ultaize this on my own work also.

From this process, I have discovered that the best way for me to work on briefs, is if I can control time scales. The briefs that worked best for me included the Threadless T-shirt brief and the It’s Nice That brief. These two briefs allowed me to explore a range of products and devlop ideas futher then specified. The Its Nice That Brief I found enjoyable because it encourged me to actually think of how the user will interact with the product. I know we have discussed this in sessions, but this brief gave me the opetunity to actually figure out how to do this, why I am doing this and who it is actually being produced for. Exploring a range of ideas and tackling the issues that came with the project really inspired me in other aspects and modules of design. Co-ensiding with this brief, the Threadless competition was a new and exciting competition, and something I had never really entered before. Using refreshing and creative illustration that I liked as a designer gave me the oppetnity to focus on something I really wanted to focus on. I explored methods of devlopment, such as adding colour to hand rendered illustration and experimentation with different styles of illustration. I found out that I liked designing for varied age groups when it comes to illustartion. For instance, the Whittlebee competition allowed me to deisgn for a very young age group. I had to simplify designs and characteristics in order for the audience to relate and understand the illustrations. And for the Threadless competeition I could create more detailed or ‘stylish’ illustrations that related to a specfic ‘student’ based audience.

I feel however, that some of the briefs I selected did not work out well for me. This was because I felt that the final products did not reflect the input or that by the end of the brief I felt that the time management had be ‘dragged’ out.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

With these projects, i feel that i have felt in some cases out of depth, because of this my time managment and finshed products have not been upto the statntd i would ave liked. 

I feel that all the desigsn i have created do not look as vsually pleasing as i thought because i have been trying to get to grips with software, equiment etc. 

I feel that i could improve my final designs and generate a lot more idea generation. I could of also rpinted off my final designs and worked across media to devlop the designs and techniques.
For instance i could of devloped my Threadless brief by screen prnting the T-shirt. This would of devloped my experience and would of giving me knowldge on the asthtics.

I feel that in the future i will be able to contribute more asthticlly pleasing deisgns, though the medium of the above techniques. Although i experimented, the experiments were miniamal and i feel i could devlop this.

I feel that the research i undertook dint quite relate as much to the ocntent i produced. I feel that with more time and motivation I could express ideas through extensive research and get a broad range of products. 

 5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

Next time I will try and make sure I stick to a proper timescale in terms of balancing out research time and designing time. as it  will hopefully give me a more reliable and valid outcome and my desigsn will be of a more aesthetically pleasing layout. 

Also now I have seen a different approach to a project I can take what I have learned and apply it to the next one. I think I will experiment more with different outcomes of design as I really enjoyed the construction side of my products, which isn't something I often do. 

Hopefully by doing this I will broaden my knowledge of design and it will also test my composition and printing skills. Next time I want to do even more screen-printing, as it will improve the outcome whether it is paper or fabric. 

6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas?

Attendance- 5

Punctuality- 4

Motivation- 3

Commitment- 3/4

Quantity of work produced- 3/2

Quality of work produced- 3/2

Contribution to the group- 3/4