The main skill I have developed through this modules is my ability to create a concept and sustain it throughout the brief. I have always thought more about the design than the concept so doing this module where everything is concept driven has made me work hard to create solid concepts that make sense and fulfil the briefs set.
The other main skill I have developed in this module is coding with HTML. Coding in general isn’t that new to me, but coding for web is. I found it was something easy to get a hang of because of my past experience, and found it very easy to build up a website quickly. This particularly aided me when I changed my whole visual aesthetic of my website at last minute and had to recode it all.
On top of this my practical design skills have improved with me doing workshops and inductions into some of these.
What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
For this module I have experimented a lot more with hand rendered and other forms of design production, trying to look away from the digital design production. I engaged in screen printing, foiling, flocking, spot varnishing, laser cutting and book binding. On top of this I did an induction in embossing & photo-etching. I found that these were all valuable skills and benefitted me in the development of my briefs.
I have experimented with the format of the briefs given and have tried to design to specifications that I haven’t done in the past, and wouldn’t instinctively go with. This has benefitted me as I feel it has developed my skills as a designer and helped me see that I can apply my skills to different areas of Graphic Design.
What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
The main strength in my work is the final outcomes. My practical skills when it comes to the final designs have always been strong and I have continued to develop my skills in this area to continue to get the best outcome I possibly can.
Another strength I think I have is in layout and grid designs. I feel I am able to utilise the space given and design to it appropriately. I have used this skill throughout the three briefs and I think this skill has benefitted me in the visual qualities of the final outcomes.
I also do a lot of development of my work by hand and digitally, and have found that this has benefitted me in making more resolute solutions to my briefs.
Another strength of mine is my ability to learn skills fast. I found this particularly useful when it cam to web design and doing the inductions/workshops. I was able to quickly grasp the instructions and skills necessary to fulfil these tasks and get a successful outcome from these.
What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
The main weakness in my work is in my conceptual work behind my responses to briefs. I focus more on the design than the concept and even though I have definitely improved in this throughout this module, I do still feel it is the weakest area of my work. I will continue to spend more time on conceptualising my ideas before getting to the design part of my briefs.
Researching is another part of my work which I think is a weakness of mine. I need to spend more time on this in the future to fully get a contextual background behind my concept and design ideas. I need to particularly focus in on getting better at audience research as this is definitely where I lack the most.
Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
I would like to spend more time on building up a stronger concept through better research and development instead of jumping straight into the designing stages. Doing this will help me develop as a designer and help me create outcomes which are consistent and useful.
I would like to engage in more inductions and workshops in the future as I have seen the benefit of these throughout this module. These have given me more options to consider for my designs and more way to push these to their full potential.
I would like to experiment further with the formats and scales of my designs as I have found that working to these has challenged my skills as a designer and stops me doing the same thing over and over again.
I would like to work more with photography and experiment with this and combining it with other digital and hand rendered processes to create more exciting outcomes.
I would like to start using more colour in my designs as well. For this modules the outcomes have all been using only one or two colours plus stock, so I would like to work in full colour or more colour.
