Tuesday 22 May 2012

OUGD401 Self Evaluation

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

When looking at old self evaluations, I look at question 5 ‘identify 5 things you will do defiantly’. I believe this is the first time I have not used photoshop to design. This might not seem like such a big deal but it has been some what of a dream of mine to get of it and use illustrator or in design, for the publication I used both illustrator and in design and it was hard as I am very amateur on them but I learned so much. I spent ages and ages in the studios trying to master the pen tool and after hours of practise I found myself improving. This is why I liked this brief as I learned so much, much more than I have learned in previous modules. My publication was about semiotics, an area I am very new with. I feel I have quite a clear understanding of it now after this brief. In terms of how well I have applied them I feel I have applied them very well, I was keen to get down and learn how to use these skills on illustrator etc and in the end I developed a piece of work that I thought I never would be able to. I will defiantly benefit from all the new skills I have learned over this module and I look forward to new brief in second year where I can use them again.

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

This has to be the first module where I have really used design sheet and benefited from them. Because there was so much information from the year (this being theory in to practise) it had to be all jotted out so to become clear. This was by far how my development started. When it came to making the design I didn’t use design sheets that much. This is something I have been doing throughout the year. I don’t really need to work on design sheets to find a particular look in design it usually just come to me. Considering that my theory into practise was to do with semiotics, that being an area I was in no way familiar with, I read a lot of book in order to find the information I was after and that was a big part of my design development.

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

If feel my work has been produced to a professional level in terms of making something legible and clear. Semiotics is quite a hard subject to explain, but through image and Illustration I made it easier to understand. I feel that the amount of work produced is to a strong standard and I have worked hard to show my development on my blog. This is something I always make sure to do, making sure you blog every single change in a design. I have got into having my blog open when designing so that I can simply screen shot why design development and put it straight onto my blog, talk about it briefly and get on. This also helps me go back and look at what the design looked like a while back, to see if I preferred what it looked like before. Over all I think the main strength in my work has to be the amount I have learned thought the process. I really threw myself in the deep end with learning CS and its nice to know I have benefited from it massively.

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

The biggest problem I had within this module was getting started with the theory into practise brief. I have never been great at making my own brief and making something out of it. I found it terribly difficult to come up with a good idea that I felt confortable to run with and I have a git feeling this showed in the presentations before Easter. Next time we are handed a brief that demands we create are own, I must do much more research and commit a lot of time to finding helpful research that will push my thought process and in the long run give me a strong outcome.
Time management comes into this, it’s been ok, but I haven’t been religious with it and that’s something that, as a young designer I should really push. It will help me in the future organize briefs and my general workload. I do have a very good studio attendance and I spend most afternoons and evenings working However, there are times where a think what I should do next and my brain gets overwhelmed with what a need to do resulting in panic. I feel Time management and organisation are key factors to me improving as a designers. The group crits and indeed to last crit of context into practise was very hard as I was told my publication wasn’t suitable as I didn’t use enough of my own words. Negative feedback is always good as that’s how you learn, but I didn’t change is because the publication had already been sent to print. Lastly my essay writing skills. I have always found essays difficult and I always need some help. I recently got on to the DSA and they are going to give me software that will help me read better. I believe I will have help with essay organisation too.

Attendance:                                  5  
Punctuality:                                   4
Motivation                                      3
Commitment                                  4
Quantity of work produced           4
Quality of work produced              3
Contribution to the group              4