End of Module Evaluation

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? 2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

During this module, my skills in In Design have really improved, and it has benefited me to learn properly about grid systems and layouts for editorials as I think that for my speaking from experience brief I don't think it would have look as effective if I had not learned this skill.

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

I think that my visuals for finals / developments are improving and I am happy with the results that came out for the Speaking from experience brief - I think that learning new skills such as grids etc are helping me progress. I also think that I am now managing to produce more visual variations, which is helping me make quicker decisions and produce better outcomes.

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

There was a point in the speaking from experience brief when the layouts in terms of colour arrangement and general imagery were not working, next time I want to identify the problem quicker, before continuing as I wasted a lot of time on something I ended up not being happy with. Also for the Communication is a virus brief I wish me and Josh had spent more time talking about the brief and met up more to discuss visuals and where to take the brief, as a result of not doing this I don't think it really developed.

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

• Not waste time on something I'm not happy with.
• Don't leave side briefs - such as design context and in design until last minute.
• Blog more during the briefs - I really need to get into the habit of blogging daily.
• Make more visual developments.
• Plan better so things can be printed a lot earlier for the deadlines. I had to print stuff out on my own printer and as a result the print outs weren't great.

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

Attendance X (4)
Punctuality X (4)
Motivation X (4)
Commitment X (4)
Quantity of work produced X (3)
Quality of work produced X (3)
Contribution to the group X (3)

Speaking from experience self evaluation

What problem did you identify?
That people didn't seem to go away during research visit week - didn't make the most out of their "free time" and I felt it was really important to go.

What evidence did you find to support your decisions?
Well i asked people on the course and a few second years to see what they said, plus as the brief was called speaking from experience - I felt I should talk about my experiences. I felt that going away on research visit week really changed the way I worked, opened me up to new ways of working - just by looking around at my surroundings and seeing other people's work. I felt it was really important to make yourself more cultured as it gives great starting points for ideas generation if you are more knowledgeable.

What methods did you use to gather your evidence and what forms did it take?
Mainly I asked people on the course and used my own experiences to draw upon. When looking into other cities / places to go I did general research about what to do - this was because I felt I felt that just seeing other places / buildings etc was as good as seeing other peoples art / design as it gives original starting points for your own work, rather than drawing on other peoples work.

How did these inform your response to your problem?
The research into other cities gave me a good insight into what there was to do in various places.

What research could you have carried out that would have proved more useful?
I spent a lot of time researching the cities, when in fact it would have been better to look at the top 10 or so things to do.

Five things that I have learned about the design process over the last five weeks:

• Not spend too long researching.
• Make decisions quickly.
• It is better to make lots of visual variations.
• That I quite enjoyed creating magazine / journals.
• Not to get too bogged down with one idea - if I don't like it - move on quickly!
• One other thing - to start with the inside pages first - not the cover - spent far too long on that - it changed loads as I struggled to keep the inner pages uniformed with the cover.

These are also the five things I would do differently next time.

Time Management weeks ending May 21st and May 27th

Speaking from experience part 3

Crit - Comments from Robyn:

Good idea to promote things to do in trip week - guarantee that the majority of people do nothing and completely waste the free time given to them. By Receiving this at the beginning of the year, it gives audeience plenty of time to consider their options and book things early, and in turn getting things cheaper.
Like the use of an interatice online magazine, utilises modern technology well, will appeal to the majority of people on the course. Not something you can loose or throw away, will always be there for future reference.
Really like A3 visuals. Lots of exploration into composition, layout, grids etc. The grey 'berlin' experimentations really remind me of the holocaust memorial in the city - not sure if the link is intentional.
I like the way you have really considered the layout of the city names, and how these hand rendered visuals move seamlessly into computer generated visuals.
Definitly prefer the darker front covers to the lighter ones, they were quite bland and unimaginative. Maybe could be used on letter rather than backgrounds.
Lots and lots of visual variations in regards to page layout - maybe pick a few?
Injection of colour?

Reflection - Before heading into this crit I decided to alter my idea again as I wasn't happy with what I was doing - Robyn has really given me some good pointers to move on with which I will consider - was helpful having as much feedback as I got from her as it's given me a focus.

Speaking from experience crit 2.

Issues raised: Lot of work to get done in terms of doing a guide for each city. Maybe do one full magazine, then 1 page for the others to propose what they would look like. Look at 'wallpaper' guide - simple but engaging graphics.
Action to be taken: Visuals for layouts.
Think about typefaces. Look at publications that I like the feel of - even books and try to emulate and reflect in my work - it will give me more of a focus.

Reflection: Very helpful and insightful crit - really given me a focus to work on now and I feel more confident in myself that I can actually do this now - as I have been worrying about how to resolve/whether or not I was on the right track etc.