Thursday, 1 May 2014

OUGD406 Design Practice 1 Evaluation

OUGD406 Design Practice 1 Evaluation  

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN
LEVEL
04
 Module Code 
OUGD406               


 Module Title
Design Practice 1


END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME
Johnathan Pell 



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

Screen-printing. Continued to develop my screen-printing skills, it allowed me to use unique inks like the metallic silver ink to link conceptually with my design ideas. (Metallic silver ink to simulate mercury)

Physical construction, producing physical things rather than just mockup of design solution has been a main part of this. Experimenting with paper stocks, construction techniques, print methods have all allowed effective application of this skill.

Type design, I created a set of numbers for the calendar I made, I think I carried this out very well inspired the visuals around a strong concept, which I carried out quite well and it simulated this concept well and the glyphs remained legible as individuals and readable when in use with each other. Could be expanded upon to to create a full range of glyphs.

Image making, I was quite experimental with image making techniques this time round, using vector imagery, a combination of analogue imagery and editing with Photoshop, combining analogue image outlines and colouring with Photoshop, all helped me produce diverse and considered images. So I have applied these skills quite effectively. 

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

Conceptual thinking. I have begun to really consider the concept behind ideas, this has helped inform my design process by helping me develop into more considered and out of the box final ideas. I arrived at solutions I never though I would from the first analyse of the brief.

Design inspiration. Taking a range of design inspiration has helped me create a vast array of thumbnail and visual ideas, allowing me to pick and chose the best elements to create more finely polished and aesthetically pleasing design outcomes.

Conceptual inspiration. Looking into non-art based research and more out of the box research has really helped strengthen my concept ideas, like the research I did into ancient code and language to inspire my movie poster, it helped me produce my own personal visual sort of code combined with my visual research they all helped produce a nice design outcome.

Ideas generation. I learnt to fully exhaust an idea, by producing a huge range of initial thumbnails to explore all possible design solutions, it aloud me to take certain aspects from each idea and develop into one solid final.

Ideas development & Reacting to feedback. I feel I have developed my ideas a lot more in this module, really analysing them in terms of hierarchy, layout, readability and legibility, use of colour, concepts and aesthetics. Making tweaks and changes to arrive at developed and solid finals. Taking feedback into account was a main thing this time round, as you don’t see flaws like other people do its good to take peoples opinions into account as your designing for the public not yourself so me taking everyone’s feedback into account when developing ideas really helped produce better outcomes.


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

Traditional illustration techniques, I feel I made some nice analogue illustrations. Were relevant in next briefs I will continue to develop my analogue drawing techniques and experiment with more unique image making techniques using these traditional methods.

Readability & Legibility, I feel when using type I have made it very readable within the design layouts, considering how it sits within the negative space, balance of weight, how it works with image, use of colour, contrast. I considered all these to keep glyphs looking legibile and producing overall readability and I will continue to push these considerations.  

Use of print material, was more experimental in this area this time round, experimenting with printing on tracing paper, producing stickers, identifying benefits of laser prints and digital printing, screen printing benefits over digital print. Every print method has its benefits and I will continue to explore them all using the relevant method were needed.

Conceptual thinking & ideas generation, I tried to think out of the box for most of the briefs, thinking up a range of ideas and concepts before advancing them and taking aspects from all the strongest points and combining them into one. I will continue to think and work in this way, fully exhausting an stretching out an idea to create more solid final concepts.


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

Layout, with large bodies of text in small amounts of negative space I need to experiment with different layouts, more diverse grids will help me arrange this body copy around the page resulting in better presented layouts.

Use of type, I need to start been more experimental with type choice, the type I use is usualy a safety barrier of a simple sans serif or a subtle serif, nothing ever too experimental. I feel some of these type choices are hindering a more finished and considered final design solution, so I am going to be very experimental within the design stages of a project trying out lots of typefaces and also how I can contrast two type classifications together.

Poor finish, for example the binding method of the calendar, the bind is not relevant to my concept I wanted to portray through the visuals. Planning my time better next time will allow me to consider little finishing touches like this and experiment with them to produce a more solid and finely polished outcome.

Type design, this wasn’t really a weakness as such only something I didn’t fulfil very well. I created a numbering system for the calendar I produced, it worked in terms of aesthetics and concept but I should have created the letters to go along with it as this may have strengthened the overall aesthetic of the design a little more. I will expand and create a full range of glyphs next time.


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

If undergoing projects that involve going viral or public involvement really push promotion, think of alternative methods to promote the project to attract more people in and create a more viral response.

Be experimental with construction and print techniques, I began to be more experimental in this module producing physical outcomes using basic techniques like screen-printing and binding designs. But I would really like to push these print techniques, experiment more with the resources available, and experiment with binding methods, construction methods. Will all help me create more unique outcomes, the way in which a design is produced can really change the whole aesthetic and concept so it will create more relevant and considered design outcomes.

When creating images, experiment with lots of different styles rather than doing a more photorealistic image what I usually do, try link the image making method to the concept. This will create more abstract and high impact images, and make the imagery more conceptually relevant to the idea.

Experiment with colour more, through the use of colour stock and design element colour choice. The use of a different colour stock can really alter the aesthetic of the final resolution, considering how the colours work together can create different contrasts in tern creating either more high impact design outcomes or can simulate mood and emotion, for example red is very angry and simulates heat, toned down midnight blue with black type has a very moody feel and a cool temperature. 

If I have to create my own brief again I will consider what outcome I want to do before creating my problem to word into a brief, instead of thinking up a problem which doesn’t give much room for creating very original and innovate design outcomes. This will help me produce more unique and out of the box design ideas rather than boring and lateral obvious ideas.


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.

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