OUGD503 - Module Evaluation

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

The main skill that I have developed through this module is my ability to take a brief and deconstruct it to find out exactly what needs to be done, whether the client is asking for it or not. I have found that this has been an essential part to my practice during the course of the module and has aided me in creating some outcomes which I can be proud of as I know they are good solutions to the brief.

Another skill I have developed through this module is my ability to take briefs from different areas of design and apply my skills to them. Initially when starting this module I was quite unsure about how far my skills could be applied and in which fields of design, however I have found that I have adapted myself quite well to a lot of different briefs.

I have also used this module as a basis of improving my Illustrator drawing skills. While I am confident in my use of software, drawing images in Illustrator is something I tended to avoid in the first year. In the second year I felt this is the time where I must address this and get over the fear I had of the skill.

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

I have particularly found the studio sessions helpful in opening my eyes to the way in which to respond to a brief. While it all seems pretty standard things being discussed, saying them really put it in my mind and has helped me when I have received a brief and started designing a solution for it.

This has definitely helped me in my approach to the larger competition briefs as initially these seemed quite daunting and had a lot of elements to work out and around. However after deconstructing the briefs it made them much easier to follow and come up with a concept.

This module has also shown me that I don't need to spend a huge amount of my time on a brief which has only a small outcome. Time management has been key throughout this module as there are deadlines for each brief, so working around how much time was left and deciding how much time to spend on each brief has massively improved my designing for each brief as I am working to the time restraints and not taking as long or little as I want to.

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

The main strength I have is in my ability to quickly turn drawn initial ideas into digital versions. This has always been the case, but this module has really helped me develop this skill because of the time scales of each brief. I intend to take this forward and continually develop the quality of this initial design work so that by the end of a brief I have a piece of design which I am very happy with.

Another strength I have in my work is my ability to come up with an idea and then quickly think about how this could be spread across a large range of media. This has helped me immensely because I know the minute I can't think of how it would span over a variety of media, it is not the idea to take forward. This skill also helps me as I am constantly developing these distribution methods along with the development of the brief.

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

I still think my weakness is in my Illustrator drawn work. While I do feel I have improved, I know I still have a long way to go to feel truly confident in this area of design, and I do think that my inexperience shows in some of my design work. To try counter this I have kept some designs simple where I would have liked to be a bit more complex, and I do think that this is a shame and has deterred my progress in this area. However as I know this, I will start to try respond to briefs in a way in which I can include this skill and try develop it to a good standard.

Another weakness is in a couple of the smaller briefs. I do feel that there was a point half way through the module where I got a bit lazy, and the design work shows that. This is obviously not good for my practice or for my portfolio as it shows some work which clearly hasn't had a lot of time spent on it. To address this I will be stopping myself from jumping from initial ideas straight to the computer, to try and develop them first and get a good concept built up.

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

1. Find another large brief - I thoroughly enjoyed doing the Domino's brief and do regret not choosing another larger campaign brief to do. While I enjoy small briefs, I do get much more enjoyment out of developing an idea over a number of weeks and strengthening it as I go along.
2. Design for a wider range of briefs - Something I do regret through this module is not looking around a bit more for some other kinds of briefs. I did have an editorial brief which I never got round to, and very much regret now. By doing a wider range of briefs it develops my skills in a variety of areas and makes me a much more confident designer.
3. Work more conceptually - While a few of the briefs are built up on concepts, the others are missing the concept element to the designs. Building up a concept is beneficial to creating good design and I will continue to develop my skill in this area.
4. Work with photography - While I did do a couple of briefs where I experimented with photographic images, I didn't do many. I regret this now as the whole module seems to be based on vector designs and not a large variety of work.
5. Design for another media aside from digital - something which I haven't done through this module at all is design for another media apart from digital. While I understand this is obviously a fundamental part to design, I do feel I have missed out by not designing something by hand or for a manual process.