OUGD104 Visual language self evaluation

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN LEVEL 04
Module Code OUGD104
Module Title Visual language


END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME Lisa Whitaker BLOG. ADDRESS l-whitaker1013.blogspot.com

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
As I was gathering all workshop notes and briefs together I suddenly realised how much we had covered with this module. The introduction to grid and layout has been invaluable however will become even more so as we progress next year.
I still need to become more confident when using SLR cameras but never the less I am pleased with the ten photographs finally produced.
Through online tutorials I have developed further skills in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and using the bridge. The results for What is a line are by no means conclusive but I applied the new skills fairly effectively.
Colour theory was a revelation and I understand the relevance of RGB and CMYK especially when setting up documents.



2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
Using primary source photography and video has strengthened the outcomes.

I have also read around type, grid and colour theory using sources such as Ellen Lupton ‘Thinking with type’ and the Design basics series. These have re-enforced the workshop notes and also extended my understanding. With Contextual Studies and Visual Language I think I am starting to join the dots of Graphic Design, past and present.



3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
Although I only sold two books at the book fair I was pleased with the quality of the book I produced. I have since sold some to friends and given them as gifts.
One strength, I don’t think has come through as strongly as I would like in this module, is that I can turn ideas on their heads. The idea of stripping a moving image back to jpegs then back to line drawings was strong.


4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?
I have struggled to engage with the ‘what is a line’ brief. The main reason for this was reluctance on my part to make mistakes especially by hand so I avoided putting pen to paper. I think the need for everything to look to polished as resulted in me running out of time to develop the results to a level I am happy with. I need to stop focusing so much on outcomes, especially with this type of brief and just experiment. Saying that I have not really produced anything fit for a musical audience, that was one of targets.
Also due to the time constraints over the year I have not applied myself as effectively to Visual Language as much as I should. I have started to appreciate where this module can strengthen my work generally.


5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
• Write up notes and blog after each workshop to even when there is no submission date nearby.
• Practice some of the practical workshop skills beyond the workshop i.e. Grid and layout
• Don’t be too ambitious i.e. drawing 500 frames of a moving image was not realistic, challenges are good but ensure can be achieved in time available.
• Don’t allow time constraints to dilute the value in primary research i.e. illustrate from primary not secondary as much as possible.
• Start hand drawing again, I have lost confidence with this over the year. This is a useful skill even is to storyboard ideas


6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas:
(please indicate using an ‘x’)

5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
                                               1  2  3  4  5
Attendance                                            x
Punctuality                                            x
Motivation                                     x
Commitment                                      x
Quantity of work produced           x
Quality of work produced         x
Contribution to the group                   x

The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

Interim self-evaluation

List 5 practical skills that you have developed.  When have they proved useful?

1. Screen printing - another option for outcomes and cheaper for printing in volume.  Used to print 70 books for Do Day.
2. Adobe Illustrator- Use instead of Photoshop so images are not pixelated
3. Use of an Apple Mac (PC ONLY BEFORE) - Useful all the time
4. Use of Quick Player and Final Cut - another option for outcomes i.e. Collection100
5. Using an SLR and studio lighting - throughout course

List 5 transferable skills that you have developed.  What have you used them for?

1. Project management skills- every brief, planning, time management
2. Analytical skills used to analyse primary research so inofrmation is more manageable and relevant.
3. Life experience - know where to look for data/ info.
4. Time management across all briefs/modules
5. Understanding primary,secondary, quantitative and qualitative reserve techniques - most briefs

List 5 things that you have achieved.  How they helped you progress?

1. Managing my college/life balance successfully - time to meet deadlines/time for family
2. Fitting in and feeling comfortable with the group as a mature student - one less thing to manage!
3. Surprising myself by how engaged I was with Contextual Studies - thinking about the impact social/cultural/political factors have on design and visa versa.
4. When my moving image about Barney Bubbles went viral online - confidence building.
5. Third place in typogateaux - confidence building!

List 5 problems that you have had to face.  How have you overcome them?

1. Managing my time when faced with several deadlines - lots of planning /lists and sheer bloody hard work!
2. Stepping away from leading group briefs  - I recognise others have more advanced software skills.
3. Lack of confidence with Software skills especially Illustrator- keep intending to do some online tutorials.
4.  
5.  

List 5 facts that you have learned. When have they been useful?

1. I I catch 7.33am I will definitely be on before 9.30, if I catch the 8.15am I am at risk of being late!
2. Harvard referencing system _ CTS essay
3. The relevance of CMYK/RGB files - knowing best for print or screen
4. Using batch process on Photoshop - speed process when dealing with a number of files eg Moving image.
5. typeface facts and terminology - ie kerning and tracking

List 5 things that you will never do again.  Why?

1. Try to screen print double sided without guides -waste of time and poor results
2. Putting off blogging - nightmare to catch up.
3.  
4.  
5.  

Which of these five words describes the way you work as apart of a group?
Open
Vocal
Decisive
Critical
Determined

Which of these qualities do you most appreciate about yourself?
Honesty
Creative
Commitment
Punctuality
Organised

Which of these attitudes best describes the way you worked as at the start of the group brief?
Organised
Focused
Direct
Committed

Which of these attitudes best describes the way you work now?
Organised
Focused
Direct
Critical
Commited

Opposites - comeptition brief

This is the final design which I submitted to the Competition website:

Communication is a virus -final outcomes and evaluation

Evaluation

Overall the brief was a team effort and was answered well.  There was a distinct split in the group in terms of ways of working and also what we wanted out of the brief. Despite the group agreeing deadlines for various things on several occasions these were not always met and this led to conflict and frustration (Mainly on my part or at least I was the only one to say anything about it).  


Sarah and I made a good team and both worked really hard to pull the production and distribution off. We were keen to make this go live and as such we went down the screen print route as this is not only a cheap way to print in bulk but it also gave us the finish we were after.  We were disappointed that on the day we had agreed to distribute everything the posters had not been printed out as agreed and it was only after much persuasion that we got them printed.  


We managed to give out hot dog books and put up posters around Leeds however I think the most successful way of getting this to go viral was using Facebook and Tweeter.


I was conscious that although I contributed to the initial design ideas I did take a back seat in this area.  This was because I recognised that Dom, Sarah and Matt all had stronger skills from me in this area.  I think my role was the initial idea/concept and also the organisation throughout.  I liked Dom's logo and felt the DO DAY brand is strong despite Matt pointing out later it is very "Easy jet'.


Although we received positive feedback to our presentation I don't think it portrayed how engaged we had been with the brief and the extent to which we had taken the production and distribution both physically and digitally.  I have not managed to get a copy of the presentation to post on my Blog.  Dom is a confident speaker and likes speaking 'off the cuff' whereas I would have be more comfortable presenting something more structured.  As it was Dom carried his part off perfectly.  


On a positive note the fact Laura Jordan invited us to do another Do Day is testament in itself that we had communicated our message.

Final crit - Communication is a virus

Group 9 gave us feedback to our presentation.  The feedback was very positive as they said the brief was well answered. The concept, content and method of delivery were clearly defined and described well. The font and stock worked well.  Luis said he wasn't sure the stickers worked as they only had DODAY on however I explained the idea was to have them spread around Leeds and as you walked down the street there would be another poster or flyer explaining more.  Amber agreed this was a good concept as it was drip feeding information.  They felt the stickers and badges would work well to make people part of something.


A suggestion was made about making a physical event where people can exchange ideas and perhaps have workshops with ideas.  We still feel the overall tone should be kept spontaneous and lighthearted. Sarah and I had been keen to set up an area marked out with poster, balloons, banners wearing tshirts so we could make more of an impact on Leeds on the day.  Overall it was good to get the project live and out in the environment.  The experience of actually handing leaflets out (difficult!) and also seeing and hearing people's reactions was useful. 

The feedback also mentioned we did not put across how engaged we had been with the project in the presenation.  We should have included more photographs of how far we had spread the word on the day and also the results of the survey feedback.  Liv said it would have been interesting to hear what people had actually done (although it is recorded on the blogs).


We gave Group 3 there feedback.  This is a link to Beljeet's design practise blog page. The concept which was to test how visually aware people are or tell a lie convincingly was answered.  Niall gave a convincing performance as a guest speaker to the second year Graphics's students however we commented that they had not really delivered a graphic response to the brief.  Their presentation had engaged us as much with the anticipation of seeing Niall and was some what diluted by the fact they had been unable to capture his performance on video. The photograph in the presentation was difficult to see so whilst we could imagine how good it was, especially with Amber's enthusiasm, we really only had videos of five second years to back this up. 
We had difficulty answering the guide questions to the feedback as the group's work had mainly been focused on the character development.  Equally it was difficult giving negative feedback to what had on the surface been a very successful live result.  We considered how they could have answered the brief more fully, given more time.  As the group had developed a website and business cards they could have actually used this more fully in the lie/cover up.   The second year students could have been given time to look at the website and then videoed for their reactions.  (This fulfilling the Graphics response). Another idea was to start spreading a rumour from one second year student (virally, word of mouth) that indeed Niall was a setup.  They could have then monitored/recorded this. 

Communication is a virus - Progress Crit

We took the Hot dog fold book and the colour samples tested.  Dom and Matt also had their Macs with them so could show Jo the poster/flyer ideas.  Jo liked the concept DO DAY but asked if we had considered other names.  We explained how we had explored several different concepts and vehicles for this including birthday cards and apps.  This concept was more accessible and could be done live.

The main points from the crit:

• She recommended we think about whether this could become a regular event. 
• Why we had chosen Wednesday 23 March.  She recommended to think about how to make the day memorable.  She felt Tuesday may have worked better.  I was unsure as we had planned Wednesday as we had nothing booked in college that day and also it gave us an extra day for preparing any material we needed.  I was also unsure as we had already gone live on Facebook/Tweeter with Wednesday.  Matt and Dom were more receptive to the idea so we agreed to discuss with Sarah and then make a decision.
• She discussed the legibility and readability of choosing Capitals over lower case for our Do Day brand.
• With regard to the Hot dog fold book she said we could put more of an intro so people would engage on page 2.
• Shae also recommended we think more about what our 'new' ideas were and the order on the page
• We said we were thinking of just doing the Hotdog fold books single sided to keep costs down however Jo felt it was worth exploring having a poster on the back as people may take them to work with the.
• Re-visist Concept, Content and method boards.

What is a line - original brief and rewritten brief