Design Practice: April 2014

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

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME	Samuel Horbury

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

Throughout the module I have tried to challenge myself and produce work to a higher standard than I have previously. With the briefs all being competitions or live briefs, I have felt that there is much more pressure to complete the work within the time frame given and to a high standard in order to avoid letting down clients or entering work that I do not want others to see. This has forced me to develop my project management skills much more than within previous modules, especially during the collaborative project. However, I do feel as though I could have worked much harder on this module and completed a lot more briefs if I had managed my overall time more efficiently. During both the individual and collaborative projects, I spent a lot of time working just on that single brief which meant I had little time to find and complete the additional briefs needed. I have also developed my branding and identity skills through this module, the area of graphic design that I am most interested in. This is an area that still intrigues me and will be something I shall continue to explore further.

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

During the collaborative project, we planned our time very effectively at the beginning of the brief, which allowed us to go through all of the necessary stages of development and thus resulting in a more considered and successful final outcome. By taking the time to work through the early stages of the production, such as drawing out each letter by hand, we were able to explore various different alternatives and eventually choose the most effective. On the other hand I feel as though if I had managed my time more efficiently towards the end of the module I could have explored many more design processes and pushed briefs a lot further. Due to running out of time, I was forced to end most of my briefs without further exploring and pushing my ideas and designs.

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

I still feel as though my main strengths lie within branding and identity and this is still the area that currently interests me the most. However, I have challenged myself within to module to produce things that I would normally have tried to avoid, such as a desk calendar and posters. By doing so, I have realised that when I put my mind to it, I am capable of much more than I had originally thought. Knowing this now will enable me to continue to challenge myself and work on much more difficult and rewarding briefs.

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

Time management is my main weakness and is something I have struggled with for a long time. In the future I will plan my time much more efficiently from start to finish, making detailed plans to ensure that I am working to the standard that I need to in order to complete the brief successfully within the time frame.

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

1. Next time I will manage my time much more efficiently allowing me to produce the work to a much higher standard.

2. I would look for briefs from a wider range of sources, as opposed to just family friends.

3. I would focus on more than one brief at a time, allowing me to complete more work.

4. I would explore a wider range of briefs, instead of just focusing on the area of graphic design that I am currently most interested in.

5. I would also like to work on more collaborations as I find these can be very challenging but at the same time help improve many skills such as teamwork and time management.

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

Attendance

Punctuality

Motivation

Commitment

Quantity of work produced

Quality of work produced

Contribution to the group

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.

For this brief, I was asked by a friend of the family to create a logo for her cake making business. She is only a small business who works from home and so needs something that is fun and suitable to be used across a few printed outcomes. I chose this brief as I felt it would allow me to have a bit of fun and do something different to my usual work. My initial thoughts are to use colours and shapes to create the logo, representing the various things that come on cakes such as sprinkles etc.

I then thought maybe I could somehow incorporate this idea into lettering. As she is called Emma, and her business is simply 'Emma's', I decided to try making an E.

As this didn't really work aesthetically, I decided to try a simple shape instead. However these also don't look very appealing or that interesting.

I then thought back to the idea of creating something to do with lettering, as well as the idea of a cake. From this thought, I had the idea to create a simple cake shape that also resembles an e. I started with a rough drawing before gradually refining it:

However, this doesn't really look very professional or well made. It looks very cheap and clip-art like. I decided to continue thinking about ideas. I thought about creating something based around a cake that has been cut, revealing this sort of shape:

As I made this shape smaller, I started to realise that it has become in the shape of an uppercase 'E'. I liked this and thought maybe I could get something out of it. I started to develop it and gradually altered it and changed it, as seen below:

I didn't like the colours and decided to see which combination of colours worked best:

After having created various different outcomes that all differ slightly, including black and white version, I decided that I really don't like this idea any more. I feel that it wouldn't work very well and the 'E' is too subtle to be noticed. After having struggled with imagery now for some time, I thought about typography again.

I realised that more hand-rendered type would work better, as shown below (very rough):

I really like this idea, based around old American diner typography to represent the retro and almost vintage style cakes she makes, and want to refine it. I began trying to write it digitally but didn't get anywhere:

I then realised that the only way to get this right would be to draw it by hand and scan it. So I did, and placed circles over areas that I wanted to be round. I then drew over it on Illustrator and got this:

I really like this outcome and thought it was much more refined and representative of her. I then just tweaked little parts of it that I felt needed altering: