OUGD502 - PPP2 - Module Evaluation

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

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME	SARAH HEAL

1.  What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? Throughout this module the main thing I have gained is confidence. Confidence in my work, in my professionalism and in my career path. Starting with attending web design socials with Danielle Harrison and getting to chat to people about things I pretended to know about gave me a lot of confidence.  Just jumping into networking events (the lack of knowledge on the subject helped a lot, I now feel like I can start a conversation about anything) and talking to strangers helped me learn how to approach people in a social manner with business intent and successful results. At these events I wasn’t particularly interested in getting a placement or an internship as I am not interested in web design but I saw that Danielle, in the same situation was able to give out many different business cards and made many great connections. This gave me the confidence to jump online and I began making digital connections through Twitter. I have managed to make many ‘friends’ in and around Orlando that are creative in the Themed entertainment industry. Discovering that my place as a graphic designer is very welcome in that industry has definitely given me a lot more confidence in my work. I have made many plans to meet and network with people on my trip and can’t wait to get started. It’s kept me persistent in my career path and now I’m confident I can see my end goal whereas in first year I loved graphic design but didn’t really know where I could fit into my dream career of a ride/ attraction designer.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? In my promotional pack I have learnt to prepare things for print in an industry setting, since my dad was able to help me out with the print process.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? I have learnt a lot more about my design style and learnt more methods of how to achieve different effects. My strengths in my work would be that it successfully represented ‘me’, when shown to my peers that was their first comment! I will continue to grow and evolve my style but for now I don’t think there was anything I would change about my outcomes.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? The fact that the stocks I printed on were different and so the products were all of different qualities. I prioritised the business cards and postcards as I knew for definite that I would be handing these out on my trip around the USA, consequently forfeiting the quality of my other works. I also didn’t include a letterhead, envelope, invoice or anything particularly professional. To be honest, it didn’t cross my mind to include these kinds of things until I saw everyone else’s outcomes. But, this is probably a reflection on my current intentions to not work freelance/ invoice/ be businessy until at least 3rd year. I am using 2nd year and this summer to develop myself more and by the 3rd year will hopefully be confident enough to be able to have an internship with real jobs and real clients.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? Be more efficient with my time management – maybe I could have had more stuff printed up! Be more professional – I will be making more ‘pro’ items for my self branding next year. Be more inventive – next year I intend to make my promo pack even better and more creative than this year with the full intention to send it out to studios and potential clients. Be more persistent – next year I will be actively seeking out clients and work Be more crafty – I want my finish on my items overall to be well crafted and not just on certain items – they’re all important elements!
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
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance					x
Punctuality					x
Motivation					x
Commitment					x
Quantity of work produced			x
Quality of work produced				x
Contribution to the group					x
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.

OUGD502 - PPP2 - Studio Brief 2 - A design presence - Research 1

A design presence - Research 1

What could represent brand 'me'?

Research into different self branding projects:

Apex Branding

The main thing that I found useful from looking at this design, is the mass range of different products felt necessary to brand to convey their message. 

Letterhead

Business card(s)

Pencils

App

Wax stamp (?!)

Self Promotion

I really like the illustrative and script style conveyed in this branding. The colour scheme appeals to me too. This design caught my eye by the folder that holds the business card is the CV itself. The informal language is best suited to my style of design, too.

Self Promotion by Zelmari Falch

What I like most about this design is the use of images to show her skills, although this may have gone a bit overboard in this case. I think because we are visual workers, why not show what would be large amounts of text in imagery.

I also like the idea of packaging a promotional product, as one of my main interests in design is packaging.

Self Promotion by Gary Corr

Why not package food?!

Black Margin Promotion cards

I really like the hand drawn element in this design.

Bukvarius. Coloribus by Brandiziac

The interactivity in mini games and colouring pages in this branding book would convey my 'fun' aspect of design that I am most interested in, it would makes sense to include something like this in my self branding, but got to make sure it IS fun and not silly.

Mind mapping - initial ideas:

My main concern for me is my USP, as at this point in time I don't feel like it's my design work that makes me stand out amongst every other designer on the internet! I know that I need a USP to perhaps make people laugh, or simply grab their attention.

My intention for this self branding is to have lots of 'fun' ephemera as at the moment I just want to network and don't really have any desire to do any freelance work. I just want people to get to know me and make some really good connections whilst showcasing my work online.

As you can see here, I really want something strong and memorable. Because I know I will be taking whatever I choose to design to America with me, I want to gently theme it around the idea of travel / holidaying. Here you can see I am thinking about 'passports' and postcards and even an in flight meal.

My intention is to take whatever I design to the USA with me this summer to promote myself, so I have decided that my USP is the fact that I'm English!
It's a bit cheesy but its a conversation starter and something that may make me stand out in a room full of Americans. It's also a jump to assume but assume I will!

Here, I am determining who I am as an individual. As a  person, I know I love food, travel and vintage clothes. As a designer, I love to design things in the style of the 1950's and 60's and things that are bright and exciting. Perhaps childish but hopefully appealing to a mass audience anyway.

I don't just want to connect with design agencies or graphic designers but creatives of all types, particularly in the Themed entertainment industry. I need something that's fun, loveable and memorable.

I have decided to start of with a list that will obviously change throughout the project but as a starting point: 

• Business card
• Creative CV
• Mini portfolio - maybe can be incorporated into some sort of passport / travel related item?
• Email footer
• Illustration of myself / clear photo of myself
• Pattern (?)
• postcard - the idea of this will be that I will give these out instead of business cards in many cases so that it's not imposing as a business intention but also around the theme of visiting or travelling to a place. In this case I am visiting the USA from the UK. I have also decided that I want to include some truly English slang phrases as greetings on the postcards to perhaps get a few laughs. I asked a few of my friends for ideas:

I didn't end up using any of these as they were funny but not realistic. I have listed a few I really think will work:

• Fancy a brew?
• Fancy a Cuppa?
• Hiya!
• Let's have a chin wag
• I'm chuffed to bits to meet you
• ' Chuffed to see you

That's it for now, will post more development soon!

PPP2 - Task 1

PPP2 - Task 1 - reflecting over the past year

Answer the following questions in relation to reflecting over the past year:

•  Reflecting on your Summer what is your most memorable event and why?

My most memorable event would be visiting St Peter's Basilica in Rome, as it was really inspirational and a brand new experience for me, it took my breath away!

•  Have you made any contacts over the Summer that you feel could be helpful over the coming year or so and what outcomes did you feel you achieved?

I thought I had made a worthwhile investment in making a new friend of a family member - and got a week long placement out of it. However, upon arrival I realised that the work environment was not suited to me at all and was almost unbearable to work in. However, through endless researching I have managed to enter and get through to the final stages of the Disney International program, which I am hoping will help me  steer my career towards Disney Imagineering.

• How did you meet/contact these contacts (methods used or how it happened)

The first contact was a friend of my uncle's, of whom I met at a family party. The second I got through talking to an old college friend who had done the program, and researching online for where I can participate.

• If you didn’t make any contacts, why? too busy working? holiday? commitments?

Although I made a few contacts, I regret trying more and branching out. I didn't persue as much as I'd hoped to because I got a new job, went on holiday etc.

• What methods of contacting creatives can you think of and what would you ask? 

At first, I think the best way is to email someone, to get a quick response and to gauge how busy they are. If I wanted to know a lot more about them, I'd ask to contact them over Skype  as it would be friendlier and not as long winded as sending emails or letters. However, receiving a letter is a nice, more thoughtful alternative to the email. I would ask them to tell me a little bit about their work (mentioning some pieces I've learnt about beforehand), the design process they go through to start/ finish a project, and any hints or tips they've learnt over the years about designing, contacting, networking - anything!

OUGD504 - PPP2 - Reflecting on Successes of First Year

1st October 2013

In teams of 8, we discussed and reviewed our first year by what we considered to be our successes.

10 Things that went successfully in first year:

1. Successfully learnt how to screen print.
2. Successfully learnt to work well in groups.
3. Successfully started to recognise my own style.
4. Felt that the project; 'A Brief History Of..' was our most successful and showed what we are capable of as designers.
5. Successfully gained confidence in public speaking.
6. Successfully improved work ethic and consistency in drive.
7. Successfully gained confidence in giving and receiving critique.
8. Started successfully applying learned theories.
9. Successfully learnt more software skills.
10. Successfully gained the ability to generate ideas/ resolutions quicker and kept the pace going.

Top 10 successful achievements of the first year as agreed by the whole class:

1. Successfully gained lots of new skills in practical workshops.
2. Successfully improved presentation skills.
3. Successfully imroved on giving and taking critique.
4. Successfully learning to be more independent and work more independently.
5. Successfully improved research and development skills.
6. Successfully started to improve time management.
7. Can successfully work in and with groups/ specialisms.
8. Successfully improved confidence and therefore motivation.
9. Successfully improved theory/ context knowledge.
10. Successfully recognising our own styles.

What do I want to succeed in this year?

1. I want to learn how to code and get more into web design.
2. I want to be more successful in my time management and motivation, even more so.
3. I want to broaden my skills in print even further.
4. I want to experiment and strengthen my design style.
5. I want to learn more about different new media such as 3D printing and Augmented Reality.
6. I want to be more successful as a designer independent from just uni work and be more freelance.
7. I want to be more involved in industry and get more engaged with designers and studios.
8. I want to be more successful in using type, grid and layout as it was one of my weak areas last year.
9. I want to be more successful in big projects and improve my work ethic.
10. I want to be more successful in social networking and set up a Behance, LinkedIn etc.