OUGD303 EVALUATION
Brief one: Fudge Kitchen The purpose of this brief was to explore the idea of creating an overall brand experience through the use of both print and digital based elements. I feel as though I have achieved this but also feel that the standard of the products could have been a lot better. This was a brief I ended up leaving to complete toward the end of the module when initially it was one I was really getting on with. Due to leaving this brief I do feel as though I rushed the production of the products. Although they arenʼt terrible in terms of the quality, I know they could have been better. Despite this however, I do feel as though this has been one of my strongest briefs overall because Iʼve really pushed the outcomes in terms of the context and the products I have produced and proposed. There hasnʼt been much development within this project but I put this down to the fact that I was working against time so I was literally just designing things how I pictured them in my head and taking existing nets for packaging etc to make the whole process more straight forward because I knew these worked already. This brief however, is one of the ones I have the most research for because although I know a lot about the company already, I looked into various types of packaging and the brand application to see how I could capitalise on this and to gain inspiration. Despite the downfalls with this brief, I am actually generally pleased with how it has all come together. As an overall brand experience I feel that it really works and I donʼt know if I can put this down to the fact Iʼve worked better under the pressure but obviously this is not a scenario I would like to repeat. Brief two: Surface Pattern Yearbook The purpose of this brief was to extend my existing collaborative skills and get involved with a live brief cross course. I actually really enjoyed this brief, Iʼve never been the biggest fan of collaboration but working with the course, the tutors and the people in my group was really good because I met new people and the overall outcome has had praise from the relevant areas of the college. This was also a chance for me to get more into design for screen because our yearbook needed to be a PDF and also a chance for me personally to explore publication layout because this is something that I havenʼt really done in the past. Despite the hiccups we had in our group with blogging issues, I feel it all came together in the end because we resolved these issues in an adult manner which was also really a learning curve. This brief has made me appreciate collaboration a lot more because if it wasnʼt for the fact that everyone pulled together and did their bit, we wouldnʼt have such a good outcome to be proud of. I had no personal issues with this brief and was quite willing to take on various tasks to do my bit to contribute. Overall, this has to have been one of my favourites because itʼs really the first big live brief Iʼve worked on so Iʼve learnt a lot about myself as a team player and also working with a client. Brief three: Tigerprint Colour The purpose of this brief was to explore colour trends and pattern design and I feel I achieved both of these things well because I spent quite a lot of time developing the pattern and also researching into the current colour trends. I do feel however, this brief has let me down quite a bit in terms of the production value. Although it wasnʼt intended to be about the production value, as a print based designer I do feel a bit disappointed with my outcomes. I think the reason Iʼve let myself down with this is because of the brief being about something other than production values so careful crafting skills just went out the window and I rushed the outcomes just to get the brief done. If I had pushed this brief also at an earlier stage in terms of the colourways, this could have been a lot better because I would have had more proposals or products to show for the time that I spent on it. I do however, think I spent the majority of the time focusing on the areas that I wanted to explore within the brief so this does pull back a bit of the production disappointment. Although I have made clear I understand the context of this brief on my boards and how I
OUGD303 EVALUATION
would like it to appear within stores, If I had have shown this, this could have added more to the brief too. Despite the disappointment with certain areas of the brief, I am really pleased with the development of the actual pattern designs because there is a substantial amount of this and the actual pattern itself, although simplistic, looks quite unique. I was also able to explore finishing within this so this added to the quality of the outcomes a bit too. Brief four: Nail Varnish The purpose of this brief was to explore a new area of the industry, production methods and also products (packaging) in general. This was another one of my stronger briefs both due to the production of the products and the proposal for the context. Initially, with this brief I had no idea what direction I was going to take it in and I kept thinking about it whilst I was getting on with other things. The concept just seemed to click eventually and I ploughed into the brief once I was happy with this. This is another brief that has more research because although Itʼs a product Iʼm interested in, Iʼve never really followed specific brands so I wanted to get inspired before I got really stuck in. I spent quite a long time hand foiling the packaging so although this isnʼt perfect, Iʼm really pleased with the quality of these products and it was definitely worth the time because the photos are something to be proud of. This is probably one of the most minimalistic pieces of work I have created to date so it was quite a challenge but overall Iʼm very pleased with it. With this brief I was able to capitalise on my digital mock up skills again and the idea of how elements would look within context and Iʼm pleased with this aspect as much as I am the actual packaging. Brief five: YCN UK Greetings The purpose of this brief was to capitalise on my drawing and hand rendering skills and also product making. This is definitely my favourite brief to date. Once I had a secure theme I really got into it and loved illustrating the different animals I chose. This probably has the most substantial amount of development because itʼs one of the very first briefs I did so I let it take over a little bit unlike other briefs where I came up with an idea and just produced it. I feel my drawing skills have definitely improved because although the animals are really simplistic, they are unique and have their own character. Iʼm also pleased with the quality of the outcomes, although they arenʼt perfect, they photographed really well. The set works really well together through the colour choices because they each bounce off one another. If anything, Iʼd say my only downfall with this brief was maybe the stock choice. I printed it onto bulky newsprint so the colours werenʼt quite as bright as they could have been. Brief six: Emily Ward Branding This was an additional brief I was really keen to get into to improve my client and communication skills. It took a little longer than anticipated but this was just because I spent odd days a week on it and ran it alongside other projects. There wasnʼt really a rush for the outcomes though so this didnʼt really matter. I really enjoyed the brief, not just because I was working with an easy going client but because I got to see what other courses are doing and be part of my second live brief. The outcomes were really straight forward but Iʼm really pleased with the quality of them and the client was too. My favourite part is how I have chosen to submit this element because itʼs a bit different and creates a nice final element.
OUGD303 EVALUATION
Brief seven: Geek Table This was a semi collaborative brief in order to improve this skill and also for us all to be able to have a bit of play brief and just do what we love within Graphic Design. I got into this brief more toward the end of the module when I was going back and altering my pieces and actually printing them but I donʼt think this has hindered the quality. Although we spent a lot of time having meetings and discussing things, when we actually got down to designing elements it was really fun because we could just enjoy it and do whatever we liked. As a result of this weʼve got a publication that we can all be proud of and keep as a memory. Design Context Publication It took me a while to get started on this but once I did I really enjoyed it. I already knew of a theme and a few people I planned to look up that Iʼd followed for a while so they were obviously relevant to my practice but once I got into the research element I found so many more people who I will continue to follow in the future. I was quite decisive from the start about how I was going to produce the actual outcome and I think this helped when I was choosing work to place in the publication. In a way, I wish Iʼd got started on this research sooner because I could have researched so much more as there are so many different things that influence me within image based design. Overall, I went into this module intending to explore branding and image based design. Iʼve come out the other end of it exploring both these things really successfully but also production methods which has made me realise just how much I am into print based design. I think understanding production methods is going to be really important for me when I go out into the industry so Iʼm glad I picked up on this during the module. Although it definitely had itʼs high and lows I feel Iʼve put so much time and effort into the module to make some of the best work that I can be really proud of to contribute to my portfolio. Part of a learning curve throughout the module has also been time management. Although I have good time management skills I think I let this slip a bit in terms of the fact I got way into some briefs and therefor neglected others which made me rush them. The module has also made me realise that I am very much a skills based designer and this is shown through the lack of research in some projects because I wanted to get stuck into the making rather than spending so much time on the researching. I am conceptual but not so much so that research massively informs everything I do. All of my skills have definitely improved in some way but I just feel the most significant thing is the actual quality of my work so Iʼm really pleased with this.