OUGD405: Module Evaluation

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

I have learnt further how to respond to critique and how helpful it can be especially from my first crit, I also found that from experimenting with papers within this brief it helped me develop my work into something that could target its audience. In the second brief I learnt that using the internet is not always the best form of research as through communication and talking to others more research can be gathered such as primary photographs and opinions, even though this brief was incredibly tough I enjoyed researching and the communication and reaction of fellow students. In the third brief I learnt how to use in design and as I haven’t been introduced to this before it was challenging but I felt I learnt and awful lot which can be used in further briefs. In the last brief I felt it was quite a challenge to understand the overall idea of concepts and problems and how this could work in terms of graphic design but I managed to produce something that could work.

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

I learnt about the idea of grids and layout, which, I haven’t come across before, and I think this will help me in further briefs, as I have been able to understand placement and composition of text and imagery. I have also been able to further study the idea of concept which in terms of Graphic Design is highly interesting and is something I want to pursue in further work as it means that the design isn’t just based on aesthetics.

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

In terms of strengths I think my initial ideas have been strong and have been received quite well in crits, I have also been able to build my confidence slightly within this module and have felt more able to participate in discussions openly about others Graphic Design. I also felt that within the briefs my research is quite thorough with content and also quality of photographs such as visiting locations and talking to others.

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

In terms of weakness I think I need to work further on my skills on the computer as I have found this quite challenging and troublesome especially with illustrator and in design, however I think in the future I should be able to progress more by asking questions on design ideas I have. I also found brief 2,3,4 quite challenging in terms of content as with my word I could of possibly looked further and tried to link my word “keys” to something which somewhat excited me in terms of design rather than just a simple issue.

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

- Allow myself more time to plan and to be able to experiment with processes such as screen print and using different stock, I’m disappointed that through lack of time ive been unable to do this.

- In terms of my research I could of extended it further by doing studies of other lost objects, which relate to students.

- Also in connection to my last point I could of further researched into my word keys to link it to me and therefore allow for me to become connected to my work, I felt as though those briefs were quite challenging for me but I know for next time it is worth taking a risk.

- Next time I will gather more primary research rather using books/ the internet/ blogs because I have found primary research to be more useful in terms of design and I feel as though I didn’t do enough of this.

- Lastly, I will try to experiment more with my designs and look at designers which wouldn’t necessarily be what I find visually appealing, especially with the idea of target audience it is difficult to decide whether you are designing for yourself or the audience and I think I need to further target this.

Real life is more important than Graphic Design!

I haven't had the opportunity yet to deliver a presentation to the class on what I do in real life other than the course so I thought I'd blog on here generally what I do and also what I did over the easter holidays. I visited France for a holiday and stayed in the countryside on the Atlantic coast where there were some fabulous small villages and coastal towns. 

Some of the places I visited included coastal areas such as Les Sables d'Olonne, Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie and Saint-Jean-de-Monts. It was really lovely to experience different a different culture which wasn't overly tourist focused unlike the cities (Paris for example). It was quite easy trying to learn little bits of the french language and way of life within the smaller countryside towns. I especially loved seeing the different kinds of shops at the bigger resort of Les Sables d'Olonne and I noticed that the Graphic Design there was entirely different to that in the UK. In France where I stayed they seemed to incorporate colour more boldly within their designs. In the future I might possibly be thinking about spending more time in France so small visits every so often are definitely worth the experience. 

I also read a few books recently which included the whole Bridget Jones series (3).

But also Karl Pilkington: The Moaning Of Life

I really enjoy books that make me laugh as its a form of escapism- on the whole I really enjoy humour and I think that comes across into my design work sometimes. This book also intrigues me because I love the illustration and use of type throughout which is created by Andy Smith!

I also am really passionate about animals which of course was proven when I chose to do a small campaign about shark finning in OUGD403. I tend to spend a lot of time with animals especially horse and my own dog, Lexi. She's an english working cocker spaniel (she's a different breed to normal cocker spaniels). 

In conjunction with creativity-  I'm really passionate about a whole range of different things but most importantly social issues do spark me to become extremely passionate, I love creating campaigns and trying to raise awareness for charities. 

I also love comics (as stated before about Nobrow.. Hildafolk) but also with illustration as a whole and would really love at some point to collaborate with some of the illustrators on the course to create books. This is much the same with photography and I personally love it and tend to take some form of camera with me to most places- It'd be a pleasure to be able to work with others who are exceptionally skilled in specific areas. 

(My photographs)

OUGD404- Module Evaluation

Level 04 BA Hons Graphic Design

OUGD404: Design Principles

Melissa Morris

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

Throughout this module I have not only had the ability to gain new skills but also put these skills into practice in other modules. This especially has been useful when learning about grids and page layouts, this knowledge from research and taught sessions not only meant that I have been able to complete Brief 2 What is a book but also page layouts in other design modules. On a general scale this module has given me skills to improve my design work as a whole, which includes a greater understanding of the fundamentals of design and has changed my overall approach to design too.

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

As stated above my approaches have changed because of the amount of knowledge I have gained through not only taught sessions but also through ordering books and reading these and also books available in the library resource. Before this module I didn’t know any of the knowledge that I do now and it has been incredibly useful and enlightened me to how detailed and complex Graphic Design actually is.

I personally found the colour sessions really useful because beforehand I was unsure on how to create colour schemes and why colours look good together aesthetically, this gained knowledge has really helped my design work and through looking back I can see how knowledge has imputed to my design choices and I seem to consider “why” more often.

The type journal I find has also changed my overall outlook on design that I see now as through understanding origins of type it makes me question if my design decisions are well thought through but also of other work. This definitely has had the biggest impact on my work because I have been actively trying to open myself up to viewing more design work and type in particular.

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

In terms of strengths I found that perhaps my research skills were quite strong within this module and it really helped when it came to blogging and collecting knowledge together for the double page spreads. As stated above I also really enjoyed the type journal and feel this was a strength in its content (written). This module has definitely improved my analytical and critical writing skills in terms of my own work but that of others (type journal).

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

I personally found the font family incredibly difficult to create because I was unsure whether I was being bold enough with my changes in the typefaces and perhaps I should have experimented more with other forms of type including serifs, block and script. I think this would definitely of improved my confidence with changing letterforms. Another weakness I have found is that I only seem to keep and blog the work, which I think, worked well instead of stating how I have improved also through mistakes.

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

Blogging- I need to blog my mistakes as well as my final pieces and clearly explain these.

Experiment- Especially with the font family I could of really experimented more with serifs.

Type- I could really of blogged more type for my type journal, I seemed to look at and comment on more type than I have blogged. My blog only really shows a small proportion of type that I have looked at/been exposed to. This probably will not benefit me as much as taking the time to blog all my work. Therefore next time I need to take more time each week to blog for my type journal, as this will really benefit me for inspiration in the future.

Layout- I think if I were to do this again and had more time I could of experimented with many different layouts and possibly cut down the amount of body copy to a minimum.

Strive for perfection/ Motivation- This is something I really need to work on, I think I need to push myself with my work and do more than is expect because it will benefit me in learning more within Design Principles. All the information taught to me within this module has been completely new and I need to make a conscious effect to do more.