Typography End of Module Self Evaluation

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
The module has encouraged me to develop skills in hierarchy, using point size, weight, typeface choice, leading and colour. The module opened my eyes to an extent of where by I know how to make those decisions with an audience in mind rather than making decisions purely on aesthetics. Negative leading was something I didn't really understand until I tried to read some of my own work and sure to say I will always print out rough proofs before moving ahead with my decision making.

2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
My type diary was my main form of research outside the taught sessions and I wish I had engaged with it more throughout the module. In the end I spent the easter break working in it and it turned out to be something I thought I had to do than something I wanted to use as a tool for development. This was my biggest mistake of the module. I didn't have much of an idea where to take it, as the subject of typography is so broad, I just did not have a starting point and I allowed other modules to take over. The taught sessions, however, allowed me to develop my skills in certain areas and I ended up taking some of those skills further and applying it to things I collected that had type on them.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I felt that the pieces I created always were strong aesthetically and I felt I kept that even though I had all these constraints on how to create maximum readability and having a certain audience in mind. For example, the allotment leaflets I did were a good example of my attempt to refine my layout skills as my first attempt did not hit the requirements of maximum readability for that audience. I felt it helped doing multiple versions with different arrangements so I could pick the best one for the task.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?
As I had picked up on before, the type diary became more of sidetrack rather than something that drove my learning. I am disappointed with that, but I also could not have done much more with it in the time. I don't want to blame my other studies as everyone had the same ammount of work to do. Perhaps it was my time management.

5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
1. Devote more time to type diary.
2. Never again rely on aesthetics to push my layouts.
3. Delve deeper into one area of typography, rather than try to cover everything.
4. Develop my own typefaces
5. Use serif typefaces more as they are better for long pieces of text.

6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas:
Attendance 5
Punctuality 5
Motivation 5
Commitment 4
Quantity of work produced 4
Quality of work produced 4
Contribution to the group 3