End of Module Evaluation

This is my last ever evaluation on the BA Graphic Design course.

OUGD303 has been the longest module that has run over the three years on the course, and probably the most intense for requirements, both in terms of physical work and management.  As with every module, the workload was stepped up considerably from the last with a fairly steep learning curve, although my downfalls in the previous module set me up with a running start in this one. This module has without a doubt been the hardest that I have worked during the three years on the course and I honestly think that it shows.

My rationale for the year: “An image driven investigation of promotion and print with a focus on identity and branding.” This is saying that I enjoy working foremost through imagery over type, often with the intent to promote and generally for print based resolutions. Visual identity is often created for solutions to my briefs, although branding as a whole is not my most comfortable design skill.

I think that the briefs chosen for the module are reminiscent of this rationale and all fairly appropriate to me as a designer. I wanted to pick briefs that gave me free reign but also deal with more live briefs as I worked on none in the previous module. As a result, I worked on 5 different briefs for the module covering a range of themes but all solved within the same area of Graphic Design. Three of the briefs were also live briefs, pushing my design practice out of the imagined world and into a professional graphic design environment. Above all else, the live briefs created much more personal interaction and communication, dealing with designer to client relationships and forcing completely immovable deadlines. I think I have learned and developed my practice, and built confidence as a designer more as a result of these situations than most other things. This has shown to me fairly conclusively how much more rewarding live client briefs can be toward professional development when compared to self-directed projects. To continue developing at this pace, I need to continue to work on live briefs.

As has been said in almost every module to date, I feel that my biggest pitfall has been management of time. Although, it is clear to me that my time management has improved dramatically since the previous module and those before. I think the main reason for failing to follow the time plan has been in failing to account time for mistakes in things like production process. A fair few things went wrong when it came to printing and crafting, and this tended to throw the whole management out of sync. This was helped slightly by starting to plan time from hour to hour later in the module rather than the conventional to-do-list. If the last module taught me one thing, it was that things take a lot longer to do than I think they will. The most important lesson from time management during the module is that time needs to be set aside for mistakes, as they are increasingly inevitable as the number of simultaneously running briefs gets higher.

Another big learning point for the module was realising when to take a step back and see that I am overcomplicating things. This happened in two of the briefs, and after clearing my head and trying to view them with fresh eyes, the simple solution was that I was the one complicating the situation. I think it is easy to get absorbed in briefs, and sometimes too many ideas within the concept will start to confuse what the concept actually is and start devaluing the communication that is intended from resolutions. This wasted a lot of time both in trying to clarify the situation in my head and clarifying the message in the brief, when really it just needed to be taken back a few steps and simplified. “All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the right one”.

I think my greatest strength in the module has been the development of ideas and the evaluation and selection of which ideas are most appropriate to take forward. In previous modules I have often come up with a few ideas and then found one that I thought might work and gone straight into developing resolutions. This usually left me stuck at some point with no development to fall back on and no other ideas explored, stuck in a dead end. During this module I spent a lot more time considering ideas and trying out different things. When I did come up with a suitable idea, I tried to exhaust development opportunities wherever possible, giving me loads to work from and potentially a lot in future if I needed to fall back on it (which did happen a few times). As well as this, I think my work has become a lot more informed by research, which naturally helps it fit appropriately into context within specific areas of design. My ability to come up with quick and appropriate design ideas has increased too, and I think I have started working much more specifically to my rationale, which has shaped my design practice and me as a designer.

Without contradicting my less than great time management, I have definitely managed the workload on each brief much more successfully during this module. At times I have been working on 4 of the 5 briefs at once, when compared to concentrating on only 2 in the previous module and still falling behind quite easily. As well as realising when I am complicating a brief, I have started to see when I need to leave a brief for a while and work on something else to spark some creativity.

Finally I think that one of the most obvious strengths for the module is quality and presentation of work, which has increased considerably since the last module. I think this shows in my design decisions, physical resolutions and final boards. When compared to any previous module, I think my work has a significantly more professional look and feel.

When comparing the work completed to my statement of intent, I think it is fair to say that I did a pretty good job of achieving most of what I set out to. I have continued to develop image and illustration design and my context publication work has pushed my understanding of the context of illustration in graphic design. I’ve continued working on promotion and using different print processes, working with identity and across two collaborative briefs, as well as taking on more live briefs.

It is clear to me that this module has been really important in clarifying where I am now and where I want to be in a future career within graphic design. I think this is the first module that I have finished feeling like I can really work in a professional design environment.