Evaluation

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

In regards to the practical skills that I have developed throughout this module, I feel it would be fair to say that revisiting my ability illustrate has been a very worthwhile process considering that I have neglected it for the majority of this year so far. In direct reference to the 'How to...' and 'Speaking from experience' briefings, I feel that I have developed my approach to drawing considerably from my previous years of study both in terms of how I make use of line qualities as well as thinking about what process I intend to take my work to after the original inking.

As a result, this module has also been useful in providing me with instances in which I have been able to make use of the screen printing process to complete my given resolutions. This can be seen most significantly within the 'Speaking from experience' brief where I have produced a comprehensive body of prints for the first years of next year to take for themselves and learn from in relation to our experiences of this academic year.

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

A key aspect of this module for me has definitely been working to short deadlines and instances of quick turn-around. The recognition brief was specifically very challenging in terms of only having one week to complete the research and resolve; not to mention the two thumb print posters that had to be resolved within one hour. Relating to this directly, I am quite confident that developing a better sense of time management helped me to address the problems that were set before me in a such a short space of time. This was done via to-do lists in small note books and diaries, as well as a few specially developed time tables and action plans... something I was very poor and un-organised with towards the beginning of the year.

Another aspect of this module that I feel has helped me to progress as a designer was the 'Communication is a virus' brief which saw me having to collaborate with two fellow members of the course. Although this was comparable to the very first brief of the year, it was clear to myself as well as Ollie and Emma just how much more mature and capable we were of dividing tasks between ourselves and organising what needed to be completed and when. As a result, I feel the resolves to this brief were probably some of the most successful that I have produced to date and the fact that we learnt a lot from each other was also very beneficial.

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

Given the way that I used to work in previous years and even at the beginning of this academic year, I have noticed how much more informed I have become in making design decisions prior to the construction of a final resolve. It has become far more apparent to me that an array of decisions need to be addressed and carefully considered, especially when it comes down to creating a product for a specific target audience or conceptual message. This can be referenced to such briefs as the 'Recognition Day' brief as well as the 'Speaking from experience' brief geared towards next year's first year.

What weakness can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?

Although I was fully aware that there would probably be no alternative, I feel that it would have been nice to have been able to dedicate a larger proportion of time to producing the final 50 print resolve for the 'Speaking from experience' brief; this was in opposition to completing a smaller amount of worthy prints for the module submission last week. Although many things played against my intentions (ie. having my screen split just before it was ready to print), I still wasn't prepared as I perhaps should have been for the final crit and could have therefore managed my time a little better in the closing weeks of that final section of the module... there's always time to manage your time better is there not?

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

1. Be sure to document the progressive stages of ideas; i.e storyboards and so on. I think a lot of what goes on in my head is lost to a desire to progress rapidly with a resolution. This is most noticeable in developing my final composition for the 'Speaking from experience' poster; I didn't document my alterations and progressions what so ever and I know that this will cost me dearly.

2. Allow more time for the final resolution to be produced; thus allowing for any mistakes or mishaps that might come my way. It would also allow me to experiment further with things such as ink and stock selections in screen printing etc.

3. Make a significantly improved use of my blog. I have it in my head that I need to write pages upon pages of text, when most of the time a simple paragraph would suffice. This I think could be achievable at least once everyday and would therefore build up a bigger bank of influencing design.

4. Get into better sleeping routines, although I am certain this may never change. I am awful for getting up late... or simply getting up early and feeling rubbish. This results in a lot of time wasted even though I am often in the studio until 9pm.

5. Stop procrastinating and give myself shorter deadlines and targets to meet. If I look at the bigger picture and say 'Oh I have 5 weeks to do all of this' I never exploit my full potential and constantly feel I am behind given the maximum that I could achieve.

How would you grade yourself on the following areas?

Attendance - 5

Punctuality - 3 or 4

Motivation - 4 or 5

Commitment - 4 or 5

Quantity of work produced - 3 or 4

Quality of work produced - 4

Contribution to the group - 4

Speaking From Experience Resolution

Manifesto

1. What I used to be:

I used to be a lot more lazier than what I am now; always leaving things until the last minute and procrastinating. Also quite dismissive of other peoples work and also of their opinions if I didn't like their work in the first place. I was also too careful with my approach to design and didn't ever like being pushed out of my comfort zone. My time management was appalling, although somehow I was always confident that I would be able to pull something out of the bag and make whatever I was doing... work.

2. What I am now:

Nowadays, I am much more informed and aware that experimentation and inspiration are the key to developing as a designer. Other peoples opinions are also invaluable, even if I don't always like what I hear initially. My time management is a lot better, although I still have a way to go I think before I become truly efficient... I definitely understand that I can't pull something out of the bag all of the time. It just doesn't work like that.

3. First thing that I intend to become:

More routine with my sleeping patterns and efficient with my time management.

4. Second thing that I intend to become:

Respected for my skills and for my opinions on design.

5. Third thing that I intend to become:

Employable and the best that I know I can be.



Simple in theory, tougher in practice. I will get there.

x

PPD Session 01

This focus of this session was to discuss our personal and developing interests of 5 selected pieces of contemporary design. For me they were as follows:

1. Cristiana Couceiro


2. Jacob Arden McClure


3. Patrick Morgan


4. Olivier Kugler


5. H.N Werkman

Type and Grid Pt. 01

Being briefed on the type and grid workshops last week was quite an experience and definitely an eye-opener to myself and many others I am sure. I guess I have never truly understood just how much detail goes into designing a page layout be it in a book, magazine, newspaper, website or leaflet... the list is endless if I'm honest.

Moving on however, the brief itself was to produce a fully laid out editorial article of the our creative partner; who is in this instance is the delightful Kate Fenton - good times! The article has to span three double page spreads and has to be based on both primary and secondary research; all of which should reflect our partners interests, ambitions and personality. According to the brief you should also 'never let truth get in the way of a good story'. Interesting.

After a  moderately lengthy interview and a fairly tame interrogation later that day, I acquired much of what I needed to know in order to produce the mandatory 500 words for the first DPS. I shortlisted a few relevant images for the layouts also.

If you have ever needed to learn a thing or two about Kate Fenton then read on...

Kate Fenton exemplifies the particular mixture of imagination and drive that is needed to get things done. 

She has a keen awareness of how concepts can be developed and is often at the forefront of producing the goods when an idea is in need of being plucked from the clouds of creativity. Informed both by her roots in fine art and textiles her own personal approach to graphic design can be somewhat diverse as well as insightful and imaginative.

Talking about her time at London College of Communication where she studied a foundation geared towards graphic design, Kate says ‘I enjoyed my time there quite a lot, it was really good fun. It helped me to develop and explore my strengths in photography and abstraction. I felt that I learnt about myself as well as the ways in which my opinions were relevant to how I wanted to take my artistic direction forward.’ As a result, it comes as no surprise that Kate often utilises photographic based imagery to progress with the development of her ideas and to ‘make sense’ of the problems that she is faced with. But there is definitely more to this girl than what meets the eye…

Pursuing her studies onto degree level, it is clear to see that 20 year old Kate who is now a local resident of Leeds is not only a creative with a camera. After a particularly inspiring visit to Ardman Animation (Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run and Creature Comforts) in midst’s of 2007 and a recent reunion with the collectives work this spring, her work often takes shape in the form of animation that combines a stop frame and photo frame aesthetic. Commenting upon a recent piece admittedly experimented with out of boredom it was said ‘My logic first came from working directly with music and imagery more, and finding an appropriate balance between the kind of music and the imagery or shapes that were being used.’

Prying further into this aspect of her life definitely unearthed some intriguing discoveries… ‘Yeah haha, I really have a passion for Indie and Electro at the moment which is probably reflected within my design work.’ She also elaborated by saying ‘Kings of Leon, Foals and The Klaxons are always getting a play on my iPod at the moment.’ Being an ex-musician herself, it also came to light that Kate played the trumpet for roughly 8 or 9 years and inevitably became ever enthusiastic about the classical jazz artists from the 1960’s and 70’s.

It is not only this that may come as a surprise however. Born and bred in the suburbs of Harrow Kate is an open follower of Judaism, boasting the capabilities of be able to read fluent Hebrew whenever the opportunity should arise… ‘Sure, it’s a very handy talent to have, but in respect to living in England all of my life I’m not sure as to how this may benefit me socially, let alone within my studies as a graphic designer!'

x

Communication is a Virus // The Big Release

Text coming soon...

Thumb's Up

This was a quick-fire brief that had to be completed within one hour. The deliverables were two A4 format posters that consisted of no more than two colours. One had to advertise your own capabilities as a designer and thus sell yourself to a client. The other had to detail what you were looking for in regards to a perfect creative partner. No prizes for guessing where this was going to lead then...

My own thumb print, my own handwriting and a body of text about myself. Can't get anymore organic than that really?

Again my own thumb print, yet less words in less coherent manner. The idea with this was more lending to the fact that I didn't know who was going to fit the criteria and thus they would be effectively filling in the gaps themselves... I guess you could say they were volunteering themselves to fit into my thumb print, or the mold that I had set.

x

Snake's Alive!

So I'm still behind, but what's new? Let's roll...

With another new week came another new brief, this time entitled 'How to...' Luckily for me the brief was a two week task, although I have to say it was probably one of the most obscure briefs that I have ever received in my life; let alone this degree. The first port of call was to pick a number from random that ranged between 01 and 1001. For no particular reason I selected number 677; which quite humorously correlated to the task of 'How to care for your snake' in the Collins book of 'How to do just about everything.'

My initial concept development led to obvious interpretations of how to look after a snake as a pet; a notion that the book itself advised me upon. As per usual however, I liked to make the task a little more enjoyable and subsequently progressed onto topics such as advertising for hair-care products (using Medusa as a mythological reference point) and caring for a snake with intention to consume it. The latter perhaps not in the snake's best interests, but after all a brief is what you make it!

From a particularly interesting crit, it soon emerged with feedback that the idea of consuming snake as a meat dish was by far the stronger approach; and so the development continued. The most peculiar product that I came across was without doubt snake wine; an alcoholic beverage that combined your average wine with a fermented cobra in order to let the venom pass through. Thank you for that Vietnam... I think I'll pass.

In struggling to finalize my focus down to a specific audience, I had a somewhat welcomed epiphany thanks to Glass-eye Gasi and his fond love for food. This resulted in producing a couple of final resolutions, the first being an instructional poster for chefs to prepare the snake for eating. The second being a complimentary recipe card for restaurant goers who would perhaps like to try preparing a meal in the comforts of their own home.

Here's what I came up with...



The theory behind this design lies in the way that the business card sized image would slot over the main A6 recipe card like a paper clip. In doing so the receipt would be secured and given to the customer in one neat little package.


This would obviously be laminated and situated within the workplace; in this instance the kitchen. I aimed for a very direct and informative approach that delivered clarity through both type and image. Photographs of the design in the real world will follow shortly as soon as I get back home and have a word with my old boss; I'm sure he wont mind.

Nice Nice

x

Re: Cog Resolutions

Sorry for the delay in updating my progress with this brief; have been exceptionally busy with this that and the other. You all know the feeling I'm sure. Here we go...

I eventually come up with a set of six final resolutions as I felt they all needed to be done. Multiple ideas were tackled with each of the given designs. The basic premise was either to create a card that could be given in the way that you would give a birthday card, or to alternatively create an interactive card that you would fill out yourself as a gesture of good will.

I finalised my decision based on what I considered to be the strongest resolution in terms of both aesthetics and theory - 'Thank you, you have been a star' and 'Thank you for thinking out of the box' were the two to make the final cut. I felt they possessed the strongest message and worked best given their layout and format.

A few coffees later I chose to submit 'Thank you, you have been a star' as my final entry to the competition. It conveyed a more accessible message that could be received by a much larger and broader audience; mass production was a consideration I was trying to aim for.

Thank you for listening, well... reading.

x

Recognition Day...

A brand new brief for a brand new module and whaddya know, it's a one weeker (for us anyway) courtesy of Cog Design. The idea and concept is as follows:

'Recognition Day (4th May) is one day in the year, that we celebrate an excuse to dispel cynicism, to reach out and say thank you.

Genuine praise is wonderful to receive and simple to give, but none of us do it enough. We want everyone to take a few minutes out of their day to tell others that they appreciate them. On Recognition Day it’s acceptable to suspend the barriers and to say thank you for the little things.

We are looking for challenging, interesting, exciting, awe inspiring, thought-provking visual responses to the concept of Recognition.Create your responses using a method that best suites your idea: paint, typeset, knit, sculpt, print, photograph, doodle, carve, crochet, engrave, stitch or draw. Capture your creation and send us your response.

We will choose sixteen of our favourite entries and publish them as A6 postcards. The postcards will be used as part of our annual celebration of kindness – Recognition Day.

Three financial awards are available to the students who best demonstrate a creative talent through an inspired response to the brief. Each of the three will also be considered for a three-week placement at Cog Design’s studio in Greenwich, South London.'

Sounds straight forward enough? Here's last years winner:

I think I've got a few ideas up my sleeve for this, stay tuned.

Links::

Cog Design
Recognition Day

x

The Message:

Hi,

Just to let you know that this blog will contain the latest goings on that I feel you should know about in regards to my final module as a first year undergraduate student. OUGD103 Design Practice is all about discovering who I am as a designer, what my concerns are, what ambitions I have, what I want to be and how I want to go about it.

I'd like it if you would discover this with me...

.ta x