End of module self-evaluation.

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

I have developed greater knowledge of typography by creating my own font. I've also picked up on the relationship between text and imagery and how sometimes it so easy to get this wrong. My main skill i have developed is Illustrator because i'd never used this before and its going to play a big part in the rest of my design work. I think i've applied all these skills quite effectively but theres also always room for improvement. 


What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? 
I've gone out and collected physical evidence such as newspapers. I've also used work from previous projects to aid another if i feel the two things link. My main source tends to be the internet. All these things give me ideas for my own design work and sometimes form the basis for a project im doing. 


What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
My imagery tends to be hand drawn which i then manipulate using photoshop. In the future I can look at using illustrator to develop my skills on that programme. The design process i use is also a strength because this helps me come up with positive final solutions. 


What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully? 
I could look at doing more research on project topics im not too familiar with. My work is also very independent and i need to begin getting regular feedback from other people, such as tutors. 


Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? 
- More research on certain topics; this will give me greater understanding and possibly better final resolutions. 
- Have more conversation with tutors; this will give me reassurance when it comes to my work and could improve it with regular feedback.
- Use illustrator more; this will build my skills. 
- Spend more time re-working final pieces; it will give me more resolved outcomes.
- Look at my blogs on a regular basis so that keeping on top of them does not become a problem. 

No news is good news; message and delivery.

Illustrator.

26 variations of the letter 'R'. Final piece. 

No news is good news; message and delivery.

Interim crit: 

- the imagery used is too literal and could be thought about more cleverly. 

- there should only be six to eight letters on a line of text.

- the text is harder to read when in capitals. 

- the fact could be changed because its not so reliable with being a child's opinion. 

- the font could also link more to television (pixelated) 

action to be taken; 

- address all above issues raised. 

- re work until a satisfactory idea is reached in time for final crit. 

This is the final idea i created after taking all the above things into account that were said about my initial ideas. I feel the idea has benefitted really well overall from the interim crit. 

No news is good news final crit.

For this particular crit one DP group marked the other DP groups work. These are the comments I got back and from this I can re-visit my work to improve it. 

No news is good news.

Initial final piece.

Re-worked final piece. 

Alphabet soup two final crit.

Final Piece. 

Issues raised: 

From a distance the letters look as though they have a wood grain effect.

The counters don't really needed to be coloured in. 

It almost looks a bit cartoony although this was not purposely.

How would it look in lower case? 

Action to be taken: 

Try the font in upper and lower case. 

Actually break it up to get rid of this 'wooden' effect. 

Make the outlines less bold. 

Try using a ruler to make the overall outcome look less cartoony. 

Name badge. 

Refined final piece after taking crit comments into consideration. 

Alphabet soup two evaluation.

Which personality traits did you choose to respond to and apply to the type face?
Insecure and loud. 


What are the reasons behind the design decisions you have made for the typeface? 
I gave it a bold outline to represent the 'loud' personality trait and hide the insecurity. I made the inside of the letters 'broken' so that this could represent the insecurity in the correct way. I also made my whole type face capital so it looked bold and also represented the 'loud' side of my partners personality and showed he's quite a bold character. 


In what ways are the results effective? 
They represent my partner successfully and show his personality traits that I chose in a simplistic and understandable manner. He also understood how it represented him as soon as it was shown to him. 

Alphabet soup two; progress crit.

Issues raised: 
The serif fonts I have been looking at don't work with all of the words I have chosen for my partner. 
The favourite idea looks too plain alone with a thick black outline. 
I need to use this white space on my favourite idea to my advantage. 
I also need to test the font with 10 different letters of the alphabet so I can be sure it works for all letters. 


Action to be taken: 
Take into consideration all the things listed above and apply this to my work to then be able to finalise my ideas. 

How to; problem analysis.

Group members: 
Kirsty F, Kirsty H, Kirsty A, James and Frankie. 


The problem: 
new students need things to be able to cope with Leeds weather but on a student budget. 


The edvidence: 
so far most students have had problems coping with the weather in Leeds. 


We aim to: 
create posters to inform and instruct Leeds students how to tolerate the weather. Posters are easy information, simple, cost effective and easy to distribute. 

Alphabet soup two; problem analysis.

Brief: (What is the problem you intend to solve?) 
Design an alphabet to visually represent my partner. 


Who needs to know? (Who is your audience?) 
Simon Cherry 


What do they need to know? 
That the typeface represents them and how it does. 


Why do they need to know? 
so I know that I have answered the brief.


What will they respond to? (How will they understand the outcome?) 
The final alphabet I create and they will understand it through a clear and simplistic idea. 


What primary research is required? 
Questionnaire about my partner, artist research, looking back at my own summer brief. 


What secondary research is required? 
typography (internet) and word meanings. 

Alphabet soup.

What is being communicated and how? 
Vanish is being communicated by taking sections of the letter away gradually over ten frames. 


How well does this answer the brief? 
This answers the brief well because I have represented the word successfully and produced the amount of work the brief asked for. 


How well has the idea been visually explored? 
I could have considered looking at more research for this project. My sketchbook work however has helped a lot because I explored a range of ideas before deciding on a final one. 


What are the strengths of the resolution? 
The strengths of my resolution include not just going with the first idea I chose and the whole idea has been kept simplistic throughout the design process. 


How could it be improved? 
One way it could be improved is by drawing one 'R' and photocopying this then erasing sections via photoshop. This would be more successful because the hand rendered final piece has slight differences with each 'R' in the series. 


General comments...
I have enjoyed this project because experimenting with typography is something I find interesting. 

Alphabet soup.

This is my final idea for the brief. I chose the letter 'R' because this was one of the most decorative of the particular font so it gave me more to work with. I feel overall the idea was quite successful because I kept it simplistic. 

How to...

What roles did you take on in the group? 
I designed one of the four posters and also presented this poster to the rest of the class when we did our group presentation. 


How well do you think you preformed in the roles? 
Pretty well because the work was produced within the time frame and I shared my ideas. 


How well do you think you worked as a group? 
Really well because we all shared ideas and communicated throughout the whole design process. 


What were the positives of working in a group? 
There was a range of styles and ideas. I also spoke to new people which created friendships. 


What were the negatives of working in a group? 
sometimes ideas clashed slightly but there was never any major disagreements. 


What will you do differently next time? 
I'll have more confidence when contributing to group discussions. 


Where could you have improved your resolution? 
We could have asked for ideas from a variety of other students.


What were the strengths of your presentation? 
It wasn't too serious which made it more interesting. We had an example of a product. We all said something as part of the presentation. 

How to...

This is the final piece that i designed for the group brief 'HOW TO...'

Our four final ideas included, yoghurt aftersun, pac-a-mac, ice lollies and mansize kleenex. The basic information found on the poster is the steps in which to use the product or make it and a little bit about the product. 

These are the four final ideas. They work really well together because of things like the similarity in colours and the simplicity. We made them easy to read and to look at because they are aimed at a student audience. Overall i think this is a good solution to our problem we began with.