End of Module Self Evalution

I just would like to say first of all that I think I missed the point on this Module as a whole. I understood what I had to and what was required of me, but I think I approached the opportunity with the wrong mindset. I produced decent finals for the booklet brief and ok visuals for the packaging. I should have had more fun with the good brief, towards the end I saw what I could have done differently and through making design decisions later than I usually would that hindered my use of creative processes, such as testing foil blocking, thermo inks and screen printing, which I would have loved to have a go at.

My research was appropriate to the concept I had, I felt I had a varied amount of it which did filter through to my reasoning behind the concept and paved the way for informed content. For example, through carrying out research into ink consumption and the cost of printing artwork online was less cost effective than buying a physical copy CD. That evidence was concentrated down and made its way to the final designs in the form of content. I think some of my research could have been more 'radical' as the brief outlines, but I carried out research I felt was relevant. I didn't want to do something that wasn't going to be made use of.

My investigation into production processes for print was good. I had a lot of copy for the magazine which I had correlated from my research and broke down into language I understood. Although it felt like I had a lot of copy at the time, it still sat well in the layouts. Each method or process I wrote about was relevant to my practice, and was carefully selected to include some methods I knew about already and some I had not known anything about previously, so as I was writing the guide, I was learning. Even though I had learned a lot in the workshops, I didn't want to write a guide of 'how to' in Photoshop, etc.

I managed to contact printers and that was an 'experience', some were nice enough to help and some just weren't interested as soon as they knew I was a student. I got a detailed quote for the magazine which I included on the blog. On the other side of the scale, I was disappointed not to get a quote for the packaging, which is partly my fault as I left it far too late to start looking, but then I expected at least one printer to return my emails, perhaps I should have been hounding them on the phone too. As a whole, looking over the module, I felt I did enough work on that side of things. I actively seeked out appropriate processes for the packaging brief, which I illustrated on the boards along with a choice of substrate that I deemed suitable.

Onto the ideas and I started out as I always do, and naturally filtered my ideas so I'm not just churning out rubbish and wasting paper. That said, I know I can't develop an idea that is in my head either but I feel as though every idea should have some quality to it, something that can be worked with. I did alot of writing too, instead of sketching, which I thankfully got out of the way eventually. I tend to write down ideas before I visual them, which is ok to a certain extent but it just got out of hand and I needed to be stopped and told to refocus my attention to visualisation of all these words I had on the page. The development after I had my idea took off quickly and I yearned to get to the computer to work on but I made sure I had something solid to work on before I attempted to use the mac. For example, I sketched loads of little icons for the 'AI' before I started developing digitally. Last year, I would have probably go straight to digital, so I pleased with the progress there.

I do take pride in my work so the documentation and organisation as well as presentation is major factor for me. I dare say I am always organised to an extent but the way I lay work out and how I come across in crits could do with improving. I need to start organising work so it has a clear line of development. Sometimes there is no definite line of enquiring and that means my development work is left until late or is fairly thin, because of my urgency to create an idea digitally, that said digital work is my strong point so I work to my strengths. In the instance of this module, and because of the good work I did on the logo development, that seems to have worked out quite well.

The success of my final products on the one hand (the booklet) was pleasing, and on the other, not so (packaging). I can't quite put my finger on why though. I think, with more development, the packaging could have been successful to its target audience. I worked on the 'good' brief from a different perspective, which I know will come up probably every time I get a brief in industry. Last year most of the target audiences included me, so I only had to please myself. The packaging, by other peoples opinion probably was seen as successful but it just didn't really appeal to me, and so I instantly think it could have been improved. The 16 pager, however, was successful and I had a few good verbal comments on it too.

What I would do differently next time
1. Take time when sketching. (my sketching is shocking when I rush)
2. Give myself little deadlines within module deadline (By the final week I was so stressed about everything I still had to do, which impacted on the final product)
3. Plan in advance, especially with printing (had a nasty shock with the print resource and had to change my plans, in future book in advance)
4. Make sure I have input on my work as much as possible without being paranoid (I had more tutor input in this module than most modules last year and it helps)
5. Buy some folders to organise the montain of print outs I have (I was badly organised compared to some people so I worked against the clock to get the extract looking like I had all my work in order)