OUGD301 - End of Module Evaluation

At the start of them module, having to choose our own briefs was difficult as there was so much I wanted to do and had to narrow down the choice. I feel like the briefs I chose have allowed me to develop my design skills and have helped me to focus mainly on branding and designing for a range of media channels.

I started with Brief 1, Leeds College of Art Graduation design to kick start me with some guidelines to stick to so I wouldn't get too lost with the brief. I did go off the focus point on this brief, and when I realised I had to pull my design back and simplify them to suit the college guidelines. This was hard as I had to find a balance between what the brief was asking and what I wanted to do. However I got to do some screen printing with metallics and spot varnish, and this is one of the things I wanted to do. Overall I think the brief turned out well and was relevant. I do however should have set myself stricter deadlines as I feel I spent the longest on this brief when it should really have been one of the shortest, that is something to take into consideration and also making small deadlines for me to stick to.

I chose the Fedrigoni YCN competition brief for my second brief, as I wanted to experiment and work with stock. The concept was quite weak to begin with, and I felt that I was getting bait lost, but then after re-focusing the design direction I clarified the concept and mad fit stronger and it turned out to be one of my favourite briefs of the module. I was really pleased with the outcomes and I got to use the laser cutter for the first time which was another process I wanted to use. Again I had to think bait the the Fedrigoni brand and try not to go off in the wrong direction, but overall I think it turned out well

Branding was my third brief. In this I created the whole story and concept behind a 7 deadly sins themed Ice Cream Lounge called Devilicious. I feel I had the shortest time on this brief, and should have got stuck into it earlier, so I would have had more time to experiment more ad come up with a wider range of possible design solutions, I feel I limited myself the most on this brief, and although the outcomes turned out ok, I am going to reassess this brief, re-print and photograph them for my portfolio, when I have more time. I was quite pleased with the logo design.

Brief 4, coming up with a design concept for new denim brand Waven, was a fun and interesting brief that I really tried hard to get it right for the pitch. I spent quite a lot of time on the logo, however not enough time on the other collateral such as labels tags. I did incorporate a few clever ideas such as a plantable swing tag. 

Brief 5 was to design a logo for Louise Tiler, surface pattern designer. This was a short two day brief that I think went well and I designed a logo that worked nicely against her detailed designs. This however wasn't picked for the pitch, but I think maybe creating a typeface out of the letterforms I used, could be something to look into.

The OTW, for brief 6, was a chance to work directly with a client and as part of a collaboration. We each came up with our own ideas for the logo and then combined them and came out with an 'ultimate'. This experience of working with a client taught me a lot, as ideas that you think may work the best, may not be the one the clients likes, so compromise and not being precious about ideas is key.

Brief 7, D&AD was one of the first brief, again a short brief to design the poster for the North Lecture. I really like this and it kick started my designing when I cam back to uni and got me working to a deadline. 

Overall within the module I feel I have worked hard and realised how much I can do if I really myself. I feel that my time management has let me down with tis module and is something I need to address before starting my FMP. I am happy with the outcomes of the module and feel I have some good material for my portfolio, which again is something I set out to do. I feel like I worked a lot harder later in the module and I want to keep tho momentum for the FMP and work hard all the way through. I want to carry on experimenting with stock and processes and designing across a range of media channels.

OUGD301 - Interim Self Evaluation

Comment on the extent to which work presented demonstrates a clear approach to the research development and resolution of a personal response to the briefs.

-There is not much physically printed and mock-up work
- There is development evidence on blog but needs evaluating and analysing.
- Need to show a range of alternate deliverables
- Briefs 2 and 3 need to get up to the same standard of ideas and development as brief 1, in terms of quantity of ideas and development.
- Poor time management and lack of focus means I have been spending a lot of time on things are not contributing much to my briefs - need to pick up the pace and get more done faster with a more focused approach.
- Need more focus and direction to briefs - reconsider what I want from them


Comment on the extent to which the work presented/proposed demonstrates a critical approach to the investigation of content, audience and context. Has this been informed by appropriate levels of contextual research.

- Design for target audience has been taken into consideration
- Need more critical analysis
- A lot of research - means I have made informed design decisions


Comment on the investigation of a range of products/proposals with regards to their effective and innovative use of media, processes, techniques and formats.

- Print processes investigated on how I could use them in my briefs appropriately
- Range of products investigated and narrowed down to specifics
- Need to look into tock for each brief, and get more printing done - experiment with spot varnish/colour etc.
- Need more mock-ups


Additional Comments

- Need to manage my time better - for efficiency, I will use an hourly timetable to keep track of how much time I am taking to do things.


Action Plan

- Blog - analyse and evaluate everything ensuring all design decisions and direction is clear
(Reason) - To make the development of my work more fluid and easier to understand my thinking process and how I have made decisions

- Brief 2 (Fedrigoni) - need more mock-ups and design ideas for mail shot and posters, and use of colour. Concept also needs to be more focused and clear, and relevant to the brief.
(Reason) To show a broaden range of ideas and experimentation for resolutions

- Brief 3 (Ice Cream) - needs more direction and ideas of what final range will be like. Need to choose final logo and get designing and the development is very slow. Also need to get menu together.
(Reason) Need to broaden design ideas and experiments with composition/layouts

- Printing - get mock ups on the right stock with the right print processes - see what works and what doesn't and move forward.
(Reason) Final resolution ideas - improvements and changes

- Photograph work - professionally

- Do contextual mock-ups - photograph images

- Define deliverables - stick to them - identify format, do variations and research into existing products

- Need to redefine what I want out of briefs - restructure and rethink briefs and have more of a focus into the direction I need to go in.

- Need a bigger quantity of work and a higher quality