OUGD404 - END OF MODULE EVALUATION

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

I have found this module extremely useful, as there as so many aspects of it that you can apply to your own work.

Firstly, I have learned a lot about layout. Beforehand, most of the things I did I would create on Illustrator or Photoshop, but now I have become quite capable at using InDesign. We were able to see how to effectively take a hand drawn thumbnail and bring it into digital. I had previously used InDesign before, however, not to this extent. I am now much more aware of it's different features and how to prepare images in Photoshop so that they are ready for this application. Although my designs weren't the most complication, I am being more competent at using this program and hope to go on to use it more when layout is involved. 

The thumbnail design process also affected other areas of this module. I took this process and used features of it to apply to my design developments for what is a line. It made things a lot clearer and a lot more structured. As I was producing book covers, this process was helpful, and similar to that of the previous task.

Colour was also of great importance during this module. The workshops taught me a great deal about how colour works, and what colours compliment each other. These workshops were useful, but it was a lot to take in. I feel I struggled when it came to deciphering the difference between all the terms (hues, saturations, tones). This therefore made it difficult when it came to taking my images. Everything sort of merged into one, and it became very confusing when considering the definitions and what colours would need to be used. 

Finally, I feel that the 'What is a Line' brief has allowed me to incorporate different tasks and workshops, particularly layout, which I am slowly becoming more confident with. 

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

The use of thumbnail designs has really informed my design development process. It has allowed me to become a lot more used to developing my ideas and getting them all down on paper.
 I enjoyed the process of the type and grid task, however, there were points where I felt like I was over thinking it. Sometimes I hold back, in fear that it will look awful. I still need to get to a place where I can just put everything down and do more. The use of thumbnails is a more structured approach, however I feel that it will help me and give me space to design within. I have also become more confident in applying my designs from paper to digital.
 This task also aided my 'What is a Line' brief. 

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

I feel a lot more confident in layout design now, and applying it to Illustrator or InDesign - becoming much more familiar with these programs. I plan on incorporating InDesign more into my work, particularly when it comes to looking at layout.
I have also worked on my drawing abilities and using hand rendered type. I am really enjoying the mixture of hand drawn and digital, and I have found a way in which I like working. Hopefully, I will slowly become more confident at drawing, and will also experiment more with type done by hand, as this is something that interests me.

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

I feel that colour theory was definitely my weakness. From the beginning, I struggled to get a grasp of it. When taking the images in both studio and at home, I found it quite difficult working out which colours meant what, and what it meant when they were put with others. After the task, I definitely had a better understanding, but there's still a lot more to learn. There are so many different terms to get a grasp of. I would like to develop this further.

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

1. Make sure I blog straight away. Little things can get forgotten about as it was such a long time period. If things were done the second I received them, then things wouldn't go missing or take a back seat.
2. Make sure to back images up as I lost all of my colour theory images and as this was done using the photography studio, I would have had to book in order to do it all over again. Unfortunately, the images just wouldn't upload onto the computer, and therefore I couldn't use them.
3. I will experiment more with different stocks and different ways of printing. I feel that I am being too 'comfortable' in my decisions, and need to experiment more with different processes in order to get different results and different aesthetics.
4. I would have liked to have looked further into the 'zombie type' task, perhaps creating my own type. I feel that I could have took this task a lot further, and really explored the idea of deconstruction of type. This would give me a better knowledge and understanding of how type works, and how you can create your own typeface.
5. I will push myself to get a better understanding of colour theory and how it can affect design. I will become more aware of the different terms and exactly what they all mean so that I know what I'm talking about.

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

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

Attendance 5

Punctuality 5

Motivation 3

Commitment 3

Quantity of work produced 2/3

Quality of work produced 3

Contribution to the group 2/3