BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN LEVEL 05 Module Code OUGD503 Module Title Responsive Design Process

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME: Jamie Pudsey

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?I think the biggest skill set I have developed throughout the module is working professionally and learning to communicate effectively, whether that be with a client or another creative collaboratively. As the briefs have all been for real life clients or competitions, I think it's important to gain the knowledge and experience of working to specific guidelines or working closely with the client to help make sure you meet their desired needs.

A specific aspect of communication which I have ad to refine is the knack of presentation. Through studio sessions and crits I have learned to refine this and this has particularly helped me when it came to submitting boards for my Eastpak YCN brief. I chose to propose an app for this brief and the challenge was present something interactive in a 2D format.

I have realised that photographing work is sometimes as important as the physical work itself when presenting. I have tried to use photography and photograph every physical outcome I possibly could for this module and each tie I have tried to use a different approach to in the style of photography which is relevant to the outcomes.

I've also learnt the importance of fulfilling requirements of a brief as for the first time I have had to work on briefs with brand & style guidelines. I have also realised that my own opinion don't matter in particular when working with a client, the client is aways right.

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

Working and having a more logical design process is useful for working more efficiently on briefs. I have developed more of a conceptual way of working which has meant that I have learned to outline all the limitation of a brief and work around them. I have realised that clear thought processes and efficient research is fundamental to working quickly on a particular brief.

I have worked on a lot of digital based design for small competition brief and I have broadened my knowledge of creating artwork and illustrating in different design software.

From design and making a linoleum stamp (Pudsey Pickle Co.) to saddle stitch binding a catalogue together / building a wooden frame (British Council), from screen printing with metallic ink (Lara Lindsay) to applying labels onto glass (Pudsey Pickle Co. / Kings Weston Ale). I have greatly broadened my crafting skills and I have proved to myself that I can do craft lots of different together.

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

There are definite strengths within Branding coming to light this year. I feel confident when working with clients on their brand in order to give them something unique that will basically help them or their business succeed in their chosen area. I enjoy bringing a brand to life within different areas and across different platforms, both print and web. I think this is one area which I will pursue over the rest of this year and into the third year and hopefully work with bigger clients and with design agencies to help gain extra knowledge in this area. 

I also feel that I'm starting to think about concept much more towards the end of this year. I'm not just designing what already exists, particularly with the collaborative brief. We was able to come together come up with a stronger concept that is unique and create something that stands out and will leave a lasting impression. I will try to capitalise on this by thinking about the brand strategy and concept a lot more before diving into designing. It is definitely, without a doubt, the most important thing to consider. 

This has an important module for me in terms of my development as a designer and realising the type of work/brief I’m interested in. I have an even stronger appreciation for working on heavily conceptual work, branding & identity and Illustration. It’s also been a huge contributor to my future portfolio as I feel the briefs I have chosen to work on shows a wide variety. It’s also been significant in helping me realise importance of time management, communication and presentation. I think i work well with colour and produce eye-catching work which conveys and captures the emotion I want to convey.

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

Communicating with clients is something I probably could have done better in this responsive however my clients were friends and family so it as difficult to communicate with them in a professional manner. I realise that I need to display a professional manner when contacting clients.Looking back I’m disappointed at the work I produced for various competition brief, including Secret 7’ and Secret Solstice. I’m a very concept driven designer usually but i saw these brief as opportunities to create artwork and improve my technical illustration skills on various software. I strongly agree that if i had taken more time to work on more of a concept which people can identify easily then I think I would have had far more success with these competitions. This has proved to me though that I much prefer a brief which is restrictive as this as this forces me to solve problems.

I need to time manage myself better as I there have been a few times touring this module where my design boards for different briefs haven't been up to scratch for other people to identify the brief/concept/outcomes and this hasn't informed my work very well. I promise to treat crits as there own individual deadlines and I must be fully prepared with design boards which clearly and articulately present the brief/ my concept and my outcomes.

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

1. Time Management - I will make a clear diary to help organise what work needs to be done for what date, even less important dates such as interim crits and such. I think my time management skills have come on greatly since when we first started the course, but it gets difficult when balanced more than 5 or 6 briefs at one time. This is where a detailed plan has to be put into place when working. 

2. Photographing Work - I feel this is something else which I have really developed since firs starting the course. I'm stepping away from the classic 'hands holding up a poster' presentation. I think whatever brief I'm working on in the future, It's very important to get the setting of the products and the layout perfect and relevant to make the design stand out. I'd even say it's just as important, if not more important, as the design and concept being good. 

3. Choosing Briefs - I would invest time in finding slightly more industrial standard design briefs and clients to work forthis would mean i would have to communicate a lot better with my client. This will give me a much better sense of what it is like to go out into the real world and and work as a professional freelance graphic designer

4. Developing a Concept - This is another thing that is starting to progress more, particularly in the latter collaborative brief, but it still needs to be applied to every brief more consistently. I really wasn't happy with my concept in the end for the Bacardi Brief. I felt that, although it was executed well and got good feedback,  it came across quite generic. I feel that with the briefs following this and the ones in the future, I will put much more effort into the original concept, before delving into design. 

5. Collaborate, Often. - I plan on working collaboratively, especially for a quick turn around brief when it is efficient to. I'm starting to see the benefits, it's an advantage not a hinderance. Double the amount of people can mean twice the amount of ideas, twice the amount of experience and twice the amount of work.

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 = poor1 2 3 4 5

Attendance XPunctuality XMotivation XCommitment XQuantity of work produced XQuality of work produced XContribution to the group XThe 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.

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?I think the biggest skill set I have developed throughout the module is working professionally and learning to communicate effectively, whether that be with a client or another creative collaboratively. As the briefs have all been for real life clients or competitions, I think it's important to gain the knowledge and experience of working to specific guidelines or working closely with the client to help make sure you meet their desired needs.

A specific aspect of communication which I have ad to refine is the knack of presentation. Through studio sessions and crits I have learned to refine this and this has particularly helped me when it came to submitting boards for my Eastpak YCN brief. I chose to propose an app for this brief and the challenge was present something interactive in a 2D format.

I have realised that photographing work is sometimes as important as the physical work itself when presenting. I have tried to use photography and photograph every physical outcome I possibly could for this module and each tie I have tried to use a different approach to in the style of photography which is relevant to the outcomes.

I've also learnt the importance of fulfilling requirements of a brief as for the first time I have had to work on briefs with brand & style guidelines. I have also realised that my own opinion don't matter in particular when working with a client, the client is aways right.

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

Working and having a more logical design process is useful for working more efficiently on briefs. I have developed more of a conceptual way of working which has meant that I have learned to outline all the limitation of a brief and work around them. I have realised that clear thought processes and efficient research is fundamental to working quickly on a particular brief.

I have worked on a lot of digital based design for small competition brief and I have broadened my knowledge of creating artwork and illustrating in different design software.

From design and making a linoleum stamp (Pudsey Pickle Co.) to saddle stitch binding a catalogue together / building a wooden frame (British Council), from screen printing with metallic ink (Lara Lindsay) to applying labels onto glass (Pudsey Pickle Co. / Kings Weston Ale). I have greatly broadened my crafting skills and I have proved to myself that I can do craft lots of different together.

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

There are definite strengths within Branding coming to light this year. I feel confident when working with clients on their brand in order to give them something unique that will basically help them or their business succeed in their chosen area. I enjoy bringing a brand to life within different areas and across different platforms, both print and web. I think this is one area which I will pursue over the rest of this year and into the third year and hopefully work with bigger clients and with design agencies to help gain extra knowledge in this area. 

I also feel that I'm starting to think about concept much more towards the end of this year. I'm not just designing what already exists, particularly with the collaborative brief. We was able to come together come up with a stronger concept that is unique and create something that stands out and will leave a lasting impression. I will try to capitalise on this by thinking about the brand strategy and concept a lot more before diving into designing. It is definitely, without a doubt, the most important thing to consider. 

This has an important module for me in terms of my development as a designer and realising the type of work/brief I’m interested in. I have an even stronger appreciation for working on heavily conceptual work, branding & identity and Illustration. It’s also been a huge contributor to my future portfolio as I feel the briefs I have chosen to work on shows a wide variety. It’s also been significant in helping me realise importance of time management, communication and presentation. I think i work well with colour and produce eye-catching work which conveys and captures the emotion I want to convey.

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

Communicating with clients is something I probably could have done better in this responsive however my clients were friends and family so it as difficult to communicate with them in a professional manner. I realise that I need to display a professional manner when contacting clients.Looking back I’m disappointed at the work I produced for various competition brief, including Secret 7’ and Secret Solstice. I’m a very concept driven designer usually but i saw these brief as opportunities to create artwork and improve my technical illustration skills on various software. I strongly agree that if i had taken more time to work on more of a concept which people can identify easily then I think I would have had far more success with these competitions. This has proved to me though that I much prefer a brief which is restrictive as this as this forces me to solve problems.

I need to time manage myself better as I there have been a few times touring this module where my design boards for different briefs haven't been up to scratch for other people to identify the brief/concept/outcomes and this hasn't informed my work very well. I promise to treat crits as there own individual deadlines and I must be fully prepared with design boards which clearly and articulately present the brief/ my concept and my outcomes.

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

1. Time Management - I will make a clear diary to help organise what work needs to be done for what date, even less important dates such as interim crits and such. I think my time management skills have come on greatly since when we first started the course, but it gets difficult when balanced more than 5 or 6 briefs at one time. This is where a detailed plan has to be put into place when working. 

2. Photographing Work - I feel this is something else which I have really developed since firs starting the course. I'm stepping away from the classic 'hands holding up a poster' presentation. I think whatever brief I'm working on in the future, It's very important to get the setting of the products and the layout perfect and relevant to make the design stand out. I'd even say it's just as important, if not more important, as the design and concept being good. 

3. Choosing Briefs - I would invest time in finding slightly more industrial standard design briefs and clients to work forthis would mean i would have to communicate a lot better with my client. This will give me a much better sense of what it is like to go out into the real world and and work as a professional freelance graphic designer

4. Developing a Concept - This is another thing that is starting to progress more, particularly in the latter collaborative brief, but it still needs to be applied to every brief more consistently. I really wasn't happy with my concept in the end for the Bacardi Brief. I felt that, although it was executed well and got good feedback,  it came across quite generic. I feel that with the briefs following this and the ones in the future, I will put much more effort into the original concept, before delving into design. 

5. Collaborate, Often. - I plan on working collaboratively, especially for a quick turn around brief when it is efficient to. I'm starting to see the benefits, it's an advantage not a hinderance. Double the amount of people can mean twice the amount of ideas, twice the amount of experience and twice the amount of work.

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 = poor1 2 3 4 5

Attendance XPunctuality XMotivation XCommitment XQuantity of work produced XQuality of work produced XContribution to the group XThe 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.