End of module self evaluation OUGD103...

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

One of the main skills that i have started to develop further because of this module, is experimenting and trying out new things. As it is the last module of the first year i felt that this was my last chance to really go all out and use methods i hadnt yet used. Things like screen printing for the Communication is a virus brief, i really enjoyed the process and the outcome, although it takes a long time it is so worth it. It is defiantly a skill that i want to keep progressing with into the second year. I feel like my confidence has grown too, i have really tried hard in this module and find i have more confidence in my designs and ideas, i am also starting to find an approach to Graphic Design that i really enjoy.

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

With the what is graphic design for? brief and communication is a virus, i did a fair amount of research but feel that i still havent grasped the importance of good research, with the speaking from experience brief i did a lot of primary research to try and solve my problem, i also did work on my design context blog looking at packaging design and survival kits that already existed, to give me inspiration and an idea  of what should go in my own.

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

Strengths that i think i have gained and improved on throughout this module, include experimenting more and trying harder. I know these are both things that i should have been doing anyway but i feel that i am really getting into it all now and i wanted to experiment with more methods and mediums than i had before. Things like screen printing, transfers, making stickers and designing packaging. These are now skills i can develop further in the second year. I am becoming a bit better at researching for briefs too which is a very important process, i wouldnt say that i still do enough but again this is something i can really push myself with when entering the next year. Another strength i think i have developed a lot would be time management, i have really tried to do work when i get it (apart from the what is Graphic Design for? brief, which i have left till the last few weeks). When i was asked by people if im on top of everything they seemed really surprised which then made me think i had missed something out or forgotten something important!

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

Even though i mentioned in my strengths that i was improving on research methods and gathering, i feel that it should be a weakness too as i still havent fully mastered research or the understanding of its importance. I think its good that we point out our weaknesses as it motivates you to do better next time.

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

- Research, research and research some more, i feel i really need to get it into my head that research is VERY important!

- I wont leave research briefs (what is graphic design for) till the last minute, this is a brief and a process that i should be doing all the time. Looking at other designers work for inspiration is very important, it will help me to learn what is good, bad and graphic design that i like and aspire to be like!

- Not panic! At the beginning of the module i was ill and missed out a lot of things in relation to the Opposites Live brief, i panicked thinking i would not catch up, but after speaking to my mum she said i could and would do it! I think really believing in myself is something i will do from now on!

- I think that when we worked as a group for the communication is a virus brief, it would have been good if we had worked just that bit harder as a group. I guess everyone finds group work hard because we all think differently but next time i would like to put more effort in.

- Listen to feedback more and respond to it, i wont lie sometimes i dont even take feedback into consideration because i feel i dont always need to. But sometimes your peers know better than you and the feedback is there to help you, its not them telling you your idea is crap!

 

6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas? 1= poor, 5= excellent

- Attendance: 5

- Punctuality: 4

- Motivation: 4.5

- Commitment: 5

- Quality of work produced: 4.5

- Quantity of work produced: 4.5

- Contribution to the group: 4

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Additional comments:

Overall i have really enjoyed this whole module and feel i have put nearly 100% into it. I have learnt a lot about myself, like how i work, what i like and what i dont like. It has had its good bits and bad bits and its quite sad that its the last module of the year! Bring it on second year!

Speaking from experience..final crit...

- Problem analysis: Identification and evaluation of key issues relating to the brief including creative opportunities. Target audiences and appropriate contexts.

Comments:


- Not effectively linked together through design, 2 different approaches.
- A lot of effort can be clearly sen, strayed away too much causing confusion.

GOOD


Contextual understanding: Awareness of the creative and professional context for the work produced, informed by the critical analysis a range of appropriate contemporary creative practises and methods of distribution.

Comments:

Understanding of the amount of ways you can approach one problem. Thought about promotional material. Scale it down. Needs something to tie it together, too much going on at once.

VERY GOOD


Research: Evidence of the ability to gather material from a breadth of sources using a range of diverse and inventive primary and secondary research methods appropriate to the brief.


Comments: No physical supporting evidence, would of liked to have seen how you got to this stage, there has been a small element conducted for the book.

SATISFACTORY

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

- Overall a lot of effort, in approaching a range of methods and mediums.

- Clear amounts of design work/ lack of development, would like to see how the outcome was achieved.

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I am fairly pleased with the feedback i received in the final crit, they appreciated the amount of work i had done, but didnt see the link. I think that my worked linked together through the colours and branding, the comment about too much was going on i didnt really understand, as the pack was supposed to have a range of things within it. Concerning my research, i have done a fair amount but didnt take it to the crit, but all my research can be seen on my blog.

Speaking from experience..first crit...

Crit feedback:

- i have a strong concept, which has the potential to work well.

- they don't see the relevance of the 10 small boxes that i wanted to make, this is because i wanted to make these purely because i wanted to do packaging design.

- packaging/ method of delivery needs to be thought about more and more original and relevant to my product.

- an idea was to create a survival pack for 1st year students, that they would receive within the first half hour of starting the course. It would be something that they could look at together in the group, kind of like an "ice breaker" pack.

- possibly having an item or object for each 'commandment' that is relevant and interactive.

Speaking from experience: time management...

Because this is the last brief of the year and i really want to do my best with it, i need to make sure i manage my time the best i can, so i can use my time effectively over the next 3 weeks.

Below is my plan of action, i will evaluate this plan each day and will do so honestly. I will then evaluate each week to make sure i have done enough work.

Plan of action:

/ tuesday 3rd may: 

- go into uni early to do some design work, experiment with logo designs and packaging- draft one.
- take photos ready to print out on the wednesday to trace. take at least 20 good photos tonight.

/ wednesday 4th may:

- go into uni to print photos and trace, edit on illustrator and see what i can come up with.
- print out concept boards in digital print and book slots for the next few weeks.
- research more for the brief

/ thursday 5th may:


- stay behind after uni to do work.
- make sure i have everything ready for first crit on friday.

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Wednesday 11th May

Came into uni today to do work, i have a print slot at 6pm (digital print is so busy lately). Came in at 1pm and have been on the mac all day. i have a huge to do list, with things like:

- make hotdog book ready for print today
- print out name stickers
- print out pencil case
- print out packaging
- produce more designs
- start getting stuff ready for submission i.e opposites brief.

- update blog:
- all recent design work needs to be analysed and evaluated
- first crit needs to be written up

After doing a plan of action that i didnt really stick to i figured that i dont really function like that, but i still feel that i am getting everything done that i need to. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day and time is going so quickly!

Speaking from experience..problem analysis: rationale 2...

- The Brief: (what is the problem you intend to solve)

How to deal with homesickness

What do you need to communicate? (be clear and specific)

How to deal with moving away from family and friends

Why do they need to know? (the concept for your problem)

Moving away from home can be stressful for some students and hard to come to terms with at first. I will give advice on how to overcome homesickness and enjoy student life- can be written in first person and from personal experience.

What will they respond to? (will they see/ watch/ buy/ wearing it etc)

Feel good posters, postcards with advice on, maybe some designed letter writing kits for students to write letters to family and friends. Could design a calendar where students can cross off the days till when they next go home.

Where do they go? (how will they access/ recieve/ discover etc... the resolution)

Advice can be found somewhere like student union, student advice or student halls.

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Feedback on this rationale:

- not everyone in my target audience will experience home sickness

- maybe choose something that the students can interact with for the resolution

- feel good posters a good idea- will grab people attention

- try and make it more relevant to GD students

Speaking from experience..problem analysis: rationale 1...

The Brief: (what is the problem you intend to solve)

How to survive, deal with being a first year GD student- what to expect etc.

What do you need to communicate? (be clear and specific)

How to deal with the work load, what they can expect, the do's and dont's.

Why do they need to know? (the concept for your problem)

So they can be fully prepared for the year ahead.

What will they respond to? (will they see/ watch/ buy/ wearing it etc)

Info booklets with advice in, quirky posters, a blog site with information on, maps etc.

Where do they go? (how will they access/ recieve/ discover etc... the resolution)

I will design a graphic design first year 'survival kit/ guide' which they would receive at the start of the course.


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Feedback on this rationale:


- Good idea
- helpful and relevant to new GD students, keeps inline with target audience
- maybe use humour to get info across
- hand out sweets

Communication is a virus...Final feedback...

Final Feedback

This is feedback we recieved on our presentation from group 7, aswell as from Jo and Amber

These are the questions the group had to consider while giving us feedback:
Was the concept clearly defined?
Was the context clearly defined?
Was the method of delivery clearly defined?
What methods were used to gather information?
What methods were used to evaluate information?
What methods were used to distribute information?
How was the problem resolved?
How could the problem be resolved more effectively?
Was the problem delivered in the correct context?
Did the problem communicate with an audience?

 - Liked the concept, think it is strong
- Might be better to challenge people rather than be too nice to them and guide them
- Fear motivates more than positivity, so could include facts and figures
- Posters are aesthetically nice but there isn't much depth and meaning
- More of a 'kick up the butt approach' could work
- Liked the posters but don't think they are motivating
- Would be worth creating other products that are more relevant to students
- It would be good to test the products now that you have actually produced them and to see whether they work
- The posters seem a bit girly so a different approach would be better for males
- Posters worked for Kirsty, she did think they were motivating
- Liked the logo, thought 'help yourself' was a clever title, could make more use of this logo
- Some of the type styles didn't relate to motivation
- The different skills of group members is useful
- How would you give the products out? Have you tested it? Does it work?

Communication is a virus...Development...Monday 21st group crit...

Monday 21st March: Group discussion

We started to look at colour and scale of our posters/ ideas today, we decided to stick to a fairly neutral colour palette, as we didnt want our posters to be too 'in your face', we want them to be almost poetic and our colours needed to reflect on this. Because our posters are typographic based and some of us are hand drawing them we figured that they would all have a different style to them, so we thought it would be a good idea to design a logo which help give visual consistency throughout the poster designs, we would also have them the same size and orientation, and using the same colours.

As a group we thought that it would be a good idea to come up with 5 final posters each, which would give us 25 different designs in total, because we each had a category to work with (mine being fitness). Because we are designing the posters to motivate individuals in our class we wanted a variety of designs and styles that would appeal to a large percentage of people, we want them to have an individual feel to them.

Communication is a virus... Crit two Friday 18th March...

The Crit

We had another crit with Jo and numerous points came up about our ideas so far.

- Should we be posing a question to our audience to try and get them motivated?

- Do we need to use a statement to get them motivated?

- Do we need to try and trigger guilt to motivate them or use a positive approach?

- Does there need to be additional information on our posters, such as advice on the poster content?

- We need to think about the colours we are going to use, for impact and legibility.

- We should look at self help books.

- How do we motivate people, what key technique can we use that would be effective?

- Could we put our designs onto objects such as t-shirts, tote bags and posters?

- Could we frame our posters to make them more valued than just a poster?

- How are we going to print our work, screen print, digital print etc?

With the feedback given i feel that as a group we need to discuss how we will apply the feedback to our idea in order to develop it. With the idea of focusing on the individuals needs rather than for a practical purpose, i think we need to decide what technqiue we are going to use, will we pose a question or include a statement to try and motivate the individual? It's important that we know how we are going to approach this.

With the designs that i had done, the feedback was that at the moment they were too practical and needed to have some kind of statement about running on it, like how running is good for you or why you should go running or to the gym. I think in terms of applying my designs to objects, it could work on t-shirts (because the inividual could wear it when they go running); water bottles (this is where i could design stickers to be stuck on things like this); gym bags (could use transfer paper to print onto a small gym bag).

I think it would be really nice to personalise out designs for our peers, hopefully it could actually help motivate them and give more to themselves.

Communication is a virus...self led group crit...

Group Crit

We discussed our ideas, after researching our initial idea of getting people to give more and came to a slight dead end. Our idea was to create a swap shop event where students could bring their artwork, materials and books that they no longer needed or wanted and they could swap them with other students. But we weren't sure if the event would come together and we didn't know if our idea was original, once we had researched this idea we found that everyone was doing it right now, there is the Papergirl event where artwork is given out free around Leeds. There was then an event TK Maxx were holding for Comic relief at the Town hall where artwork will be given away for free and they were asking for artwork from people. We also found websites that were swap shops, one was specifically a student swap shop online.

Another idea we had was to look at time and how some students waste time that could be spent giving. For example in the time it takes to watch Holby city, you could have given blood, and between a tv break you could have gone online and donated your organs. The idea was to make people aware of the time they were wasting and what they could be doing within this time that would be worth while.

What next...

We spoke to Amber about our ideas and discussed ways in which we could approach our problem in an original way, she said about focusing on getting people to give more time to themselves to try something new. For example Amber wants to start making lunch everyday but doesn't know what to do, how can we help Amber to make her lunches? We could motivate her, enlighten her with ideas or just come up with really simple ideas that we know would be practical for Amber.

We asked people in the class to tell us a problem they had that they would like some advice on, or even solving. A lot of the problems were to do with being active, like people wanted to go running or swimming but don't have the "time" or motivation. Our problem is their problem and our aim is to come up with a solution that will help them to give time to themselves to do what they need/ want to do.

Communication is a virus...first pitch crit...

Today we pitched our idea as a group for the 'communication is a virus' brief, we made 3 boards to show our idea, one for the concept, one for the content and the other for method of delivery. The pitch went well, we were told that the presentation boards themselves could be altered in terms of their design.

The main points made from the crit were:

- If we are trying to get people to give more then for our research we need to take part in an activity that is about giving, for example i am going to give blood and we could take something to a charity shop just as evidence that it is easy to give and to show that if we can do it then so can everyone else.

- We should look at the current market and try and approach our idea in a fresh, original way.

- We should look at free cycle and Leeds volunteering websites to research other ways of giving.

- We could look at the time it takes to 'give', for example how long does it take to give blood and try and tech people that if you have a spare hour what could you do in that time that would help someone else.

- We need to find out how many students give already (what and how much), what would make them give more.

- Following the crit we discussed ideas and what we need to do next, we made a list of things we could/ need to research and then split this into manageable do to lists, so we each had an allocated job to do over the weekend.

I am going to research giving blood and donating organs and i will also research how many charity shops there are in Leeds and where they are.