Don't Panic Live Brief

30 ideas in the context of "Vogue".......

Models

Magazine

Fashion

Catwalk

Fashion photography

"Voguing"; style of dance based on 1930's styles

Madonna

Posing

Changing trends

Style

Sophistication

Wealth

Money

Bling

Pretentious

Posh

Over the top

Eccentric

Fashion disasters

Desperation

Anorexia

Riduculous outfits

Champagne

Wannabes

Famous

Celebrity

Designers

London

Paris

New York

Glamorous

Shallow

End of Module Evaluation

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN LEVEL 04 Module Code OUGD102 Module Title DESIGN PROCESS

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME

Polly Williams

BLOG. ADDRESS

http://pa-williams0912.blogspot.com/

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

Not so much in the 'What if..' brief, but in the 'Collection 100' brief I have experimented with Illustrator and Photoshop considerably more so than I did in previous projects. I have also experimented with InDesign which is a program which I am not really familiar with. I have learnt a variety of simple bookbinding techniques which I would very much like to take on further. I also think my research skills have improved in terms of categorizing and findingtruly relevant research. In the group project I think that I really improved my communication and diplomacy skills. I think it may have helped being the only girl, as I felt I really had to make them listen and stand my ground! Although I didn't have much to show in terms of practical design of the final products, most of my ideas were used either completely or partly, and I think they really worked.






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

I think that my methods of collecting primary research have improved, mainly because of what I decided to do, I required a lot of primary research, and needed it to continue with my final piece in the Collection brief. I found the group crits useful ways of generating new and more relevant paths of research. The more I was encouraged to look at, the more ideas I was able to generate in terms of the solution.


3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I was especially pleased with the quality of my final piece for the Collection project, in terms of craftsmanship... I really thought there was a high chance of something going seriously wrong, as there weren't many opportunities to practice the book binding techniques. What allowed everything to run smoothly was my time management; something I usually struggle with! This time I really managed to identify the areas which I may struggle with and would possibly need more time than I first thought, and made sure I allowed myself the time to complete the tasks. I think that I was only able to do this because of the longer length of time allowed for the project, but it really worked. I think I now just need to learn to manage my time effectively for a shorter project. I need to find a better balance between good timemanagement, and pushing myself to the absolute maximum. In the What if brief, I think my communication skills improved the most, both within the group, and also standing up and presenting. Even if I wasn't brilliant, I definitely felt far more confident. I think this could have been because I felt I was far more involved with the project, so I really knew what I was talking about. I also think my leadership skills improved, I am by no means a leader, and wasn't our group leader, but I was far more confident in myself with pushing my ideas which I felt would work, and coming up with good compromises.





4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?
For the Collection project, I think the most obvious weakness was the resolution of the pages in the final piece. After spending a lot of my time making each image/message look exactly as I wanted on Photoshop, I made the mistake of resizing them once I had dragged them into the page layouts in InDesign. I have since realized where I went wrong, so I am putting this down to a learning curb! However, had I asked someone, and not been so stubborn in trying to be self-sufficient, I could have found this out sooner! Another weakness I felt was my packaging resolution. I don't think I focused enough research and thought into the packaging, at least not as much as I did for the other elements of my product. I am satisfied with my resolved packaging, but it could certainly be improved if I had a bit more time. In terms of the What if brief, my main weakness was my lack of involvement with the practical design side. I think I wrote it off as something I wouldn't be able to get involved with, as we chose to make a website and a photoshop impression of a lunch box, both things I wouldn't have the first clue how to make! However I admired how Arthur made is own hand rendered versions of the website, which I could easily have thought to do myself, and is an area I would have felt comfortable in. Although we didn't use his website, we ended up choosing his map, so it just shows that I really could have pushed myself into that side of the project, rather than focusingon research and ideas.





5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
1) Not be afraid to ask more people more questions about software and areas that I am not experienced in: This will allow me to pick things up more quickly and make less avoidable mistakes.

2) Make sure I allow equal time to answer all areas of the brief: This will prevent me from missing out on important areas and marks.

3) Make a prototype: this will allow me to correct unpredictable errors.

4) Improve time management skills: although I thought they were a lot better in this module, I still think that they could be improved upon even more.

5) Try to make use of my design skills, even if its not first clear where they could be used: This will allow me to stretch my imagination and increase my involvement in this area of group work.




6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas:

5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor

Attendance 4

Punctuality 5

Motivation 3

Commitment 4

Quantity of work produced 4

Quality of work produced 3

Contribution to the group 4

The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

Collection 100. Final Product

Images of my final product:

Collection 100- Packaging Rethink

In the final crit, the main issue raised was my decisions in relation to the packaging. Due to James down at digital print being off sick, despite having a booked session, I was not able to reprint my stickers. I made a mock up sticker, but felt that it looked a little cheap and unprofessional. I rethought the packaging, and looked back at some of my initial, more tactile solutions. I liked the idea of having something physically restricting the book being opened unless it be ripped (for example). I looked into printing some kind of wrapping paper, or parcel wrap, but the idea I liked the most was a simple card band. I think it looks smart and simple, but still encourages the reader to feel as if they are reading something that they shouldn't. I chose to print a text message on the front that someone had sent me in response to me asking for forwarded messages. It was one that I hadn't chosen for the book, but seemed relevant for the cover. It communicates the secretive theme of the book, as well as remaining unclear as to what the book itself contains....

Photoshop Brief

I experimented with the clarity of my original images, overlaying the clearer photographic image with a colourised, poster type version. I like the way that the colours vary according to the style. Some work better than others, and although I don't like some of the colours, I think they work interestingly together.

I particularly like the effects that these two create, as the image was already blurred due to the low shutter speed. They have become even more abstract, and I think work better compositionally than some of the others.

Collection 100- Feedback

Unfortunately I was ill for the concept crit, but I was able to do a similar crit with a group today when they were going through their feedback. The general feedback I received from this crit was in favour of the scrapbook style that my book is going to take on, however the general consensus was that the book would look better if it were presented neatly and well finished. I presented them with my mock up which shows how I was going to make the book quite tactile, with bits that would fold out etc, but they favoured the more simplistic ideas. I like the idea that the content dictates the tone of the book, rather than its appearance. To enhance the scrapbooking theme I want the images to fill the page where possible, with no boarder. I will be able to achieve this by trimming them down before I bind the book. I was considering giving the book a more focused purpose, perhaps with the addition of some lines o make it a note book, or something similar. My group for this crit felt that this was slightly unnecessary and drew the attention away from the concept of the book. I think I will look into this idea anyway just to see if it works.

Design for the front page:

I wanted to include some kind of introduction/explanation as to what the book is about, just to make it more clear to the audience.

I like the way that the first page continues the colour scheme and style of the sticker for the front cover.

Censorship

I have been looking into a variety of ways of censoring out words/names etc which should really remain anonymous. I tried initially using a swatch of the watercolour from the sticker design, to try and continue this theme throughout the book, however after testing this out i felt it looked a bit of a mess and it wasn't clear that that was what I was trying to communicate. I tried out the smudge tool on Photoshop which I was surprisingly pleased with. It worked well with the messages written in ink as it looked very realistic.

collection 100- Packaging

In terms of packaging, I have been exploring a few possibilities. I like the idea of the cover being quite subtle and secretive. As the messages are supposed to be private/personal i like the idea of not making the content completely obvious. This will hopefully initrigue the reader.

I could do this by having a completely white cover for my book, either thick white card or making a white hardback cover, and perhaps embossing the title on the front so that it remains subtle. Another idea I quite like is to have the plain white cover with a simple sticker on the front. I think this works well with the scrapbooking theme. I quite like the name 'Public Privacy' for my collection, and I think that giving it a simple and intriguing title will encourage the reader to want to know whats inside.

Here are some of my initial sticker designs:


These are the two that I felt worked best. I like the way the watercolours were used on the first one, bowever I think overall it looks far too feminine for a book which ideally should be aimed at both sexes. In both I have made the font have a very much hand written quality, but I think the second is far more edgy and interesting.

I had the stickers printed but I wasn't happy with the cropping and the colours. I redesigned it, using more versatile colours and made the type more legible to improve its readability.

Collection 100- Book binding workshop

I had been really looking forward to the bookbinding workshop, as it's something I had never done before. It was a shame that I wasn't feeling that well but I still enjoyed it and learned a lot. I would like to spend more time in this area as I find the whole process really interesting and I know there is a lot more to learn. I have decided to use a Japanese bind for my book as I like the way that it is a visually interesting stitch as well as the fact that I only plan to print one sided due to the volume and content of my book, and this will work better for a book printed in this way. I will have to learn how to make a cover for a Japanese bind book and how to bind it with a cover. I understand it has to be bound with the thread loose initially and then pulled tight at the end which could prove slightly challenging!

collection 100- Content (texts)

I have been experimenting with how to layout and format the text messages. Initially I experimented with some text style fonts, and used my pretty weak Illustrator skills to try out different ways of presenting the texts. I think that this idea would work if I spent more time on the images, and if it were a book of texts only. I think that it slightly overcomplicates the idea and draws attentions away from its simplicity.

I have decided to hand write out some of the texts which could stand alone in a not nescasarilly text format, and try using a variety of fonts, including some text style fonts, to present the others. I also think that I could experiment with some less conventional layouts of the text.

I did consider using fonts that perhaps denote the tone of the message, or perhaps contradict the tone. Again, I feel that it is very easy to over complicate the tone of the collection so I'm not sure this will work.

collection 100- Content (Written messages)

I have managed to gather a number of written messages and also a few doodles which I think would work quite well in the book. The magority of the messsages were given to me by classmates, friends and my own, but there are a few such as this note from a tutor to a random girl which I found in a really old book. I think the ones that work best are he found messages and the ones that really require a context for them to be fully understood.

Examples of some of the written messages:

I have also decided to include a few printed messages such as this one:

I like the way that it is second hand, so although it carries a common message, it was given to someone specific.