Speaking form experience. Final reslution.

This final project has been the most enjoyable thus far.  For sure.  I've learned so much, and also learned how much I never knew.  Most of all i've learned how to take advantage of others' skills and experiences.  For example, me and Sadie collaborated for this brief and it turns out we were quite a successful pairing.  We both have different skill sets and used them accordingly- thus generating more work, more quality work at that.  Working in an enthusiastic pair has motivated me so much throughout, you have someone to push and someone to push you.  We worked pretty much constantly and I think the amount of work we've done reflects this.  However, I think we could have finalised the final product more to make it look quality and solid- so that it actually looked like a final resolution.  Given the time constraints I think me and Sadie have compiled a large quantity of work which shows off our skills.  We had to come up with a resolution to the problem that we didn't really take advantage of the print resources available to us.  I think this, if it were fully polished would be extremely successful as a pack for the first years to be inspired by.

Module Evaluation

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

Time management.  This was especially important within the speaking from experience brief- there was a lot to do and not much time to do it.  Every evening I made a to do list for the next day which included everything from taking books back to the library to going down to Vernon St and setting up the letterpress.  I think this worked very effectively, throughout this whole module I’ve felt much more organised and productive because of it.  More specifically, I have developed physical skills such as embossing and foil blocking, which have increased the quality of my final resolutions.  From working as part of a collaboration I’ve learned so much.  Compromise being one- sometimes you are not right and you need someone to tell you, and vice versa.  Delegation another- me and my partner both have different skill sets and we had to make sure we were doing the thing suited to us.  Using our skills appropriately means that our final resolution is solid physically and conceptually.  Above all though, I’ve learned to enjoy myself and keep in mind the reasons why I’m doing this course, because of this, I think this module is the one I’ve put the most passion and enthusiasm into.

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

I’ve developed a much more physical approach to research- rather than just presume something will look bad and not try it. I’m now testing things, changing slight aspects such as leading to see if it makes a big difference, and usually, it does.  This, I feel, has made my designs much more informed with regards to the final resolutions.  There is meaning behind everything I have chosen to do from the spacing in between images (InDesign) to the difference in two close typefaces (Speaking from experience).  I feel that I’ve learned a lot from the InDesign brief- just by flicking through magazine after magazine I now know how things should look.  This contextual understanding has helped me decide on the tone of my double page layout and the options I have from there.  In all it has made my design look legitimate.

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

Mainly my layout skills have increased within this module.  From my exploration within the InDesign brief I feel I can apply it to any of my future briefs because it is relevant throughout all areas of graphic design.  I hope that it will give my resolutions the quality finish of a more advanced designer.  Motivation.  I have found working collaboratively to be really motivating- bouncing ideas off each other, having someone you can always ask a second opinion on- I think it keeps you wanting to do work if the other person wants to.  Even so, if the partner wasn’t so enthused you’d feel a responsibility to yourself to try and get it together so you look like you’re taking it seriously.  I think overall, the running strength throughout this module has been my concept led work.  It is already an attribute of mine, however, I feel that I can now make a concept more solid- thinking of all different aspects that need to be considered.  For example, the logo for ‘Speaking from experience’ meant something.  I tried to find similarities within all the print processes so that we could work from that and create a logo that encompasses all of the processes we were including.  In the end I think became a strong logo visually and conceptually.

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

The thing I regret the most is not sending my ‘Design is about doing’ brief in for the competition.  This was a conscious decision of mine as I felt that even though I was proud of the concept, visually my work was just not up to scratch and therefore didn’t deserve to be entered.  I now know that thinking like that is ridiculous- why not take the opportunity whilst it’s there.  And also, do what the brief tells you to do- I should have put my discontent aside and sent off my work because it was a mandatory requirement of the brief.  I will address this by never making that mistake ever again.  Another weakness was perhaps my enthusiasm to the ‘Communication is a virus brief’.  I got carried away with the idea of what our group were doing and essentially forgot that we were on a graphic design course and there designed very little.  I have addressed this by going back, mocking up some business cards- developing/ branding this person more fully on the design side of things.

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

-       Blog.  Everyday.  Something I forgot this time round.  It would definitely make me more organised if I did it on the day because if not it all gets piled up and takes longer.

-       Come In to college early every day.  Just to get set up for the day, rather than walking in on time.  This will make me more proactive from the start.

-       Eat properly.  Trying to do work on an empty stomach is very distracting.  I’ll get my work done a lot quicker and to a better quality if I haven’t got other things on my mind.

-       Send off competition briefs.  You’ll never know if you’re work will work in the real world if you don’t try.

-       Constantly remind myself of the brief.  There have been numerous occasions where I’ve done something wrong because I forgot what the brief said (InDesign madatory 2 images).  This will stop me doing work that isn’t relevant and incorrect.

InDesign Final Resolution

Overall, from this brief, aside from learning about technicalities on Illustrator, I have also learned to think for myself.  Rather than asking someone as soon as I don't know how to do something I explored every single toolbar, button etc and found what I wanted myself.  I have gained an initiative that I was surprised I never did until now.

This is a brief that, although I feel I could have spent more time on, I have nevertheless thoroughly enjoyed.  I've always been interested in layouts in magazines, on posters etc, but I never thought that i'd enjoy it myself.  The reason I have chosen this specific layout as my final resolution is because of its simplicity.  Its more weighting and pointsize that attract attention.  I found that I mainly enjyed playing around with one image, however, on looking at the brief again I realised it needed to include two.  This was much harder for me because it meant there were more components to think about.  In the end I think this has turned out well.  I think i'm capable of doing better, but my priorities were more on briefs such as 'Speaking from experience'.  The main thing I have taken away from this brief is that I can now use InDesign confidently and confidently find out things I don't know.

Speaking from experience, time management

Not much time for anything else on thursday (5th) as we had a day workshop with John.