End Of Module Self-Evaluation: Design Practice 2 Part 2

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
I have learned what juggling lots of projects at once feels like. This was good practice for the real graphic design world but it was very stressful and confusing at times. I chose briefs that would make me focus on my type and layout skills. Thats what I like doing and am best at. I have developed my abilities regarding the use of grids. I set out the text in manageable chunks to make the viewer more inclined to actually read it. I learned a lot during the typography module that has had a great impact upon my abilities in these areas. I think I have applied the principles of type and layout design to my work in an effective way. I spent a lot of time getting point sizes and leading right to make body copy look as good as possible.

Surprisingly I also managed to develop my illustration skills! The booklet was supposed to be aimed at teenagers onwards and so I felt it would be better with some kind of illustration in there. I'm shocked because the images aren't actually too bad. I got some practice on how to combine illustration and text which is always helpful. I also developed my skills with colour and think that all the work I have produced for this module has been bright and attractive.

2. What approaches to generating work and solutions to problems have you developed and how have they helped?
I think that good research is key to the success of a project. The speed dating poster could have been more interesting if I had gone to an actual speed dating session or talked to people who have done it about it. The book cover brief was also difficult to research but the way I solved it was purely design based as it had to be replicable by a printer so I feel that it worked out alright. I did the most research for the booklet brief and as a result I am most pleased with the outcome.

I think that choosing an idea and getting on with it helped me to meet the deadlines. Before we started the module, I had a pretty good idea of what direction I wanted to go in for all of the briefs so it was just a matter of researching and developing my ideas fully.

I spent lots of time designing layouts for all three of the briefs. This meant that I had a large selection of visual material to work from when I moved onto InDesign. Hand drawing layouts takes time but it makes it easier to come up with something that works than just playing about on the computer.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I think that the layouts I have produced are very strong and dynamic. The amount of these that I did, especially for the book covers brief meant that in terms of layout all of the work I produced was interesting to look at. I will continue to design lots of different layouts for all future projects as I think it can sometimes help to inspire the content as well. Colour is something I work well with and think the use of colour in these projects has made them look really good. In terms of type I feel that I have good ability with body copy and know how to set it out well.

I liked being able to constantly switch between briefs so when I got bored or stuck on one I could just work on a different one. However this meant that I spent too much time on some things when I should have finished a project days before.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how could you exploit these more fully?
My time management for these projects was pretty appalling. I had originally planned to do 4 briefs and I think if I had actually stuck to what I had planned to do, I would have been able to the Wagamama brief as well. But there were a couple of weeks at the beginning where I had only done any work 3 days of a week. I've been quite distracted over this last module and wish I had worked harder all the way through it. Poor time management meant that I had to omit some parts of the briefs but I think I managed to make them work well nevertheless and I have answered all of the briefs as fully as possible in the time available. I think that I needed to make more of crit sessions. During pretty much all of them, I just presented the work and didn't really get the answers I needed to progress. But I've learned from this now and will make sure I am always prepared next year.

I played around with layout a lot but not as much with typography. I think if I did more display style type work then it might have made things more interesting. I can manipulate body copy well but I think I just need to be more experimental in general.

5. Identify five things that you will do different next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
1. Create a time management plan at the start of the project to give me some idea of where I should be with a project at any given time as well as working harder from the beginning. Then update this plan each week to make sure it is still relevant according to my progress.
2. Try to be more innovative with research even on day briefs, it will help no end.
3. Book time in the digital print studio at the beginning of a project because I will need it no matter what I decide to do with a brief.
4. Think harder about the target audience and whether a brief will work if you tested it on them.
5. Get things done quicker so I have time to photograph things in context.


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

Attendance - 5
Punctuality - 5
Motivation - 3
Commitment - 3
Quantity Of Work Produced - 3
Quality Of Work Produced - 3
Contribution To The Group - 3

Final Boards

DONE.

Final Booklets

These are the final covers I decided on for the 10 Things brief. I chose to go with the dotty stock I got from Craft Wise as the texture just seemed right for the project. Gardening is all about getting your hands dirty and feeling about in the ground. My printer messed up a bit so I had to cut off loads and as a result the backs are a bit short!! I only had one sheet of each because they were expensive, but I managed to make them work by folding them in a certain way.

Finished Book Covers

These are the book covers I made for the Faber Film brief. I'm happier with them now that they've been put on actual books. They've photographed really well.

Finished Poster

These are pictures of my speed dating poster. I decided not to fold the actual poster because it was too nice and didn't want to risk destroying my work. So instead I made a mock up using plain paper and my printed front and back covers.

Final Book Covers

Here are my final book covers for the Faber & Faber book cover project. I know I said that yesterday, but today has changed things... I went to the charity shop in Headingley today but one book cost me £2!! So I bought it, and figured I could stick all the covers onto one book to photograph. I then went to The Works to look for some paper stock for my booklet project. Whilst here I found 6 books for 49p each! When the woman scanned them in, they were only 25p! I've spent less money on buying whole books than printing the bloody covers. When I got back to college, I realised that the books were a different size to what I had designed (stupid wikipedia grr...) so I spent lunchtime resizing everything. I stuck down the covers today but my camera is at home, so I'll photograph them tomorrow.

Knowledge is...

Jonathan told me this great saying today and I just had to include it in my booklet.

Book Covers

Here are the final cover designs for my books. For ages I didn't know what to do to make the book titles on the cover better. I tried finding a relevant font for each book but this proved to be impossible. Instead, I plumped for American Typewriter Bold as I thought that the typewriter look related well to the look of screenplays. I think it works a lot better now. I just need to actually buy some books to put them on now!

More Film Like?

So in the crit on Thursday I asked people how I could make my books look more film related. Someone suggested that I add something related to film reels. I drew out a texture on illustrator of a film strip and applied this to each cover. They look better but I'm still not happy with the font on the cover!!

Final Booklet Covers

These are the final covers for my booklets. I only have to make the growing vegetables ones but I'm going to print the other ones as well to make little mock up books.

I love Sara

Today Sara couldn't make her digital print session and very kindly offered it to me. So I finally got to print off my speed dating poster. Unfortunately James informed me that the A1 printer was fully booked until June 2nd - a little bit late for the deadline! Next time I'm booking time downstairs at the very beginning of a project because I will definitely always need it. Lesson learned.

Homebase

Finally got around to visiting Homebase after the crit to take photos of plants and to see what information/places to put information they had in the garden centre. I went to Moor Allerton. An hour, a walk across the dual carriageway and one bag of cookies later, I realised that Homebase was hidden behind Sainsburys, gahh.

Inside the shop I found this great book on growing vegetables. I snuck some photos of the pages because it had some nice illustrations and lots of info in it.

10 Things Cover Ideas

Some cover ideas that seemed good at the time, then I remembered that I cannot draw: