Indesign.

This is the final layout for my indesign project. I feel its successful because theres balance on either side and the page looks full and exciting. The colours work really well together but aren't too overpowering. I feel that I did take some aspects of what we learnt with Lorenzo into this brief in terms of how my imagery is placed. The border looks quite good because it frames my layout. If I were to do this brief again I could however, be a little bit more experimental with the whole layout in general. 

End of module self-evaluation.

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

I feel i've developed more skills when it comes to group work because I have become a bit more tolerant of other people. I've never really liked group work but I feel in this module i've warmed to it a little bit more as the results are pleasing when you get a good team of people to work with. I've also developed skills in type and grid because i've learnt that neat and simple isn't always the way forward and theres always so much more you can do with a layout if you think outside the box. Using a grid with eight columns is also generally better than just three because it gives you more to work with and the end results are more exciting. With speaking from experience i've been able to reflect on all the skills i've learnt in general but when it comes to my work I feel i've learnt the consider which outcomes best suit which brief as before I'd go for the 'practical' poster. Through this brief i've learnt that grids are actually really helpful because they mean you can experiment with the layout and make sure all the elements line up suitably and they also give you an overall neater finish. Finally i've learnt that discussions with other people in the class when it comes to certain briefs are always really useful because they may be able to point you in a direction that you hadn't really considered. 

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

Questionnaires have been really useful throughout this module because i've been able to get the information i've needed straight away and i've got honest opinions from people. They've also meant that I could make sure my idea which actually solving a problem and they've acted as proof of a problem I have created or thought about. Generally i've learnt to aim these questionnaires at specific people to suit the information i'm trying to find out. I've also looked at existing campaigns/information to inform my own ideas and to make sure I steer away from something that's already been done. 

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

My development work is still coming out on top because I tend to experiment with a range of different layouts/fonts and colours before deciding which one I think is best. I can expand on this by experimenting with other things too such as stock and sizing of whatever it is i'm trying to create so i've looked at a wider range of final outcomes and i'm not limiting myself. The fact I write my thoughts and ideas down when they come to me is also a strength because not only does it mean I won't forgot but it helps me clarify what would work and what wouldn't. 

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

I'm still sat far too comfortably in my comfort zone because I sometimes think i'm afraid to take a risk and make mistakes as I feel this is letting myself down. Due to this, all my work seems very safe and I haven't experimented much with different process' or ways of presenting my work. I feel i'm just going to have to push myself to try new things as some process' I have tried as a workshop but just not in my work, so I know i'm capable of doing different things. Also using my free time to go to new workshops will benefit me because it will broaden my practise. I need to take more risks because at the end of the day i'll only learn more from them.

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

1. Experiment with different types of stock. 

Some of my work may be more suited to one stock more than another and it may make my final outcomes look more professional and considered. 

2. Use my 'free time' to come into uni more. 

I've done this a lot more throughout this project as i've needed the software etc. but I feel a lot more productive through doing so and I think my projects benefit from this. 

3. Explore outside my comfort zone. 

My practise will become more varied and i'll be able to show I have a wide range of skills. If I make any mistakes i'll learn a lot from them. 

4. Blogging. 

I let it slip quite a lot throughout this module and through doing so sometimes I forget why i've done something or what I was thinking when i've done something. So it makes more sense to keep on top of it. 

5. Use the library more. 
I tend to use online resources a lot of the time for my research but if I use books they are more reliable and I may find something I haven't come across. 

Speaking from experience; final crit.

I feel the feedback from this crit was useful because my work was marked by my peers on the course so they are my target audience. Some of the feedback such as 'show more evidence of the opinions of others' wouldn't have been given if my blog was available to look at during the crit as this information can be found there. I do feel that I concentrated maybe a little too much on the booklet when I could have created a wider range of graphic outcomes, although the booklet was an important part of this project and my concept. I did experiment with typefaces and layout to a certain extent but this could have been a lot better. Overall I think the additional comments are relevant to my practice in general because throughout most of this year I have stuck to my comfort zone and need to try and break out of this. The reason I have spoken in the first person in a section of my booklet is because this project is about speaking from experience and I thought that if I included personal experiences then it would make it more believable. I also don't find it necessary to change the style of my book because its purpose in being how it currently is, is it could be stuck on the wall once folded out as possible a reminder for the student who has a copy. I've enjoyed this project because reflecting on the year has made me realise just how much i've experienced. 

Speaking from experience.

For my final piece I designed my three booklets each containing different information that is relevant to being a first year on the graphic design course. I feel overall that my final pieces are successful because they are simplistic and get my idea across with no confusion. Each book has it's own bellyband to indicate what it is and then I made a final larger one for the set of books as a student would receive them together. I think the fact they are pocket size works really successfully because then they can be kept in a students wallet or even just in their pocket. I've used the fact my topic was money to my advantage because the books look like a pile of money when they are together (as seen above). 

This was the facebook page I created so people could go and post their own tips and experiences. I added everyone in the current graphic design first year as there comments were likely to be more relevant  with the project being based around the course. This wasn't as successful as it possibly could have been because only one person commented on the page. I do feel that if this was left longer more people may contribute and the concept itself was pretty clear. I also think that it may have been more successful if I got others to spread the word. 

Speaking from experience; crit two.

For the second crit I had a mock up of a book i'd created with creative ways to save money whilst at university and i'd printed this onto various different types of stock. I also had a range of design sheets so people in my crit could see where my ideas had come from. 

- The idea still needs to focus more on the graphic design course. 
- A smaller book is more personal and can be kept in your wallet. 
- The book itself looks like a pile of money so is there some way in which I could work with this?
- Consider creating another book so I have one for in university and one for out of university. 


From this crit I was able to create a list of things I needed to do to take my idea a step further.
- Create a second book.
- Create more illustrations.
- Experiment with borders.
- I could create a 3rd book of essentials.
- Set the facebook group going to get responses.

Speaking from experience; first crit.

- Ideas need to be more focused.

- Concentrate on creative ways to save money eg. using other peoples milk and topping it back up with water. 

- Speak to other people about their experiences.

- Definitely keep it light hearted and funny as this would suit the target audience. 

- How much can I relate it to Graphic Design? because as it stands this idea could refer to any course in any country. 

I feel that this crit has given me some clarity because I was worried that the idea had too much scope and wasn't sure which direction to take my concept in. Im going to stick with a similar concept but focus it down, as advised. Im considering something like 'how to survive on a student budget...creatively' and making it quite funny because money generally, tends to be quite a boring subject. To move on I also need to speak more to people on the course as the brief states that this piece of graphic design is for people beginning this course in September. I feel confident enough to begin moving toward a final resolution. 

Communication is a virus; response to face2face day.

When we did the communication is a virus group brief we set up an email address for our face2face day so that people could send their responses to the day and let us know what they had done for it. After the project had finished Chris just happened to check the email and we had a reponse! (see email at top of post) Although this was just one person it was great that someone responded to the campaign, it proves it worked in some way. The photos above are the ones that were emailed to us because on face2face day Will went out and did some photography instead of going on facebook. 

Interim self evaluation.

List 5 practical skills that you have developed. When have they proved useful? 
1. Illustrator - when designing posters, leaflets and so on for various different briefs we have been given.
2. Screen printing - when wanting to create a particular style of work and wanting to experiment with different media. 
3. Cooking - when trying to have a healthy and exciting diet. 
4. Book making - when choosing to create a book as a final piece or generally as part of a project. 
5. Cleaning - when tidying my flat to live in a clean environment. 


List 5 transferable skills that you have developed. What have you used them for? 
1. Presenting - showing my work at crits and presenting my ideas for various projects.
2. Team work - group briefs.
3. Communication - to get information from staff if I need help, group work and also to make new friends.
4. Time management - to make sure everything is done in good time and to suit the deadlines. 
5. Organisation - to get ready for submission so I know all the work i'm supposed to be submitting is there. Also when arranging the work load in group briefs. 


List 5 things that you have achieved. How have they helped you progress? 
1. Learning new techniques - this has given my work more variety and expanded my knowledge. 
2. I've gained confidence - this has helped me in presentations and crits.
3. Cooking - I've learnt how to cook new things which means my diet is more varied and exciting. 
4. Getting into uni - this has taken me a step closer to becoming a graphic designer.
5. Moving out of the family home - this has taught me to be more independent and also how to manage my finances. 


List 5 problems that you have had to face. How have you over come them? 
1. Disliking group work - just got on with the task in hand and made as much of a contribution as possible. 
2. Lack of money - think ahead when it comes to things like printing final pieces and also budgeted. 
3. Disliking a certain brief - tried my best to really get into the subject and come out with a successful final piece. 
4. Being unable to find a job - budgeted with the money I do have and worked back home when given the chance in breaks. 
5. Forgetting to do certain tasks - I now make a 'to do' list for everything I do. 


List 5 facts that you have learned. When have they been useful? 
1. Which potatoes are best to roast and to boil them first before roasting them - when cooking.
2. Purple is NOT a colour - when researching and in colour theory. 
3. Travelling at peak time on a train I won't get a seat - when travelling home.
4. TGI fridays do the best cocktails - when wanting to kick back and relax. 
5. To do lists are the key to organisation - when organising tasks. 


List 5 things that you will never do again. Why?
1. Put blogging off - it gets on top of you and fast. 
2. Video elective - I didn't enjoy it as much as I though I would and it became such a chore. 
3. Choose one of the most expensive places to live - it means you have to budget so much more. 
4. Sleep on just my bedroom floor - its so uncomfortable. 
5. Eat super noodles - they really aren't a substantial meal. 


Which of these words describes the way you work as part of a group?
Decisive 
Determined 
Tolerant 
Considerate


Which of these qualities do you most appreciate about yourself?
Honesty
Creative
Responsible 
Punctuality
Organised


Which of these attitudes best describes the way you worked at the start of the group brief?
Organised 
Focused
Committed


Which of these attitudes best describes the way you work now?
Organised 
Critical 
Committed

Group 8 feedback from final crit.

We had to give feedback to another group after having the crit on friday so here is the response we have given group 8. 


- posters could be more motivational and hard hitting to get people to take notice of what they are about.
- are the ideas too feminine? I felt they communicated to me and worked for me but the guys in the group disagreed.
- the final outcomes could have been put out into the public eye so that the effectiveness of posters and such could have been seen.
- the style of the posters may need to be revised. 
- the idea of using quotes works quite successfully.
- the original chosen topic to work with was 'give more' but would 'try something new' have been closer to the final outcomes as fitness etc was promoted in the posters and t-shirts. 
- an idea was clearly identified but could have possibly been executed in a different way to give the ideas their full potential. 


overall we thought this project was a good response to the brief but as with most peoples work there is odd things that could be looked at again and the project could be pushed further. 

Communication is a virus; final crit.

Feedback;

- good concept.

- the project seems to have taken a bit of a backward route with the approach to the work.

- the posters link too closely to facebook in terms of colour and style so a different approach to these factors may have been better.

- the response to the day wasn't massive with it being mainly our friends that took part.

- the posters could have been more visually engaging.

- we could play around the colours a lot more and move away from the facebook related colours.

- theres definitely scope to expand our ideas if we were to continue this project.

- the concept however, is pretty strong.

- an event may have been useful for this project because then people would actually have face to face contact. 

Communication is a virus; crit two.

There was a number of issues raised at the crit based on the 'final' resolutions we presented, although these issues were not going to put us totally off track and can be resolved in the time remaining on this project. 

things to resolve; 

- use a facebook status instead of face to face conversational quotes on the posters. 

- make the posters clearer. 

- remove the 'facebook' logo as our pieces look too much like a product of facebook. 

- a website is not appropriate for the message we are trying to send as its too close to the idea of being online and social networking, use more physical ways of advertising/presenting an idea. 

- change the date to make it more memorable eg. WEDNESDAY 23rd not just 23.3.2011

- make sure all the text on posters and flyers is in lower case as this is less harsh. 

- change 'face 2 face' possibly using the facebook logo for the 'face' part. 

- a leaflet would be more successful than the website. 

Communication is a virus; first crit.

After having our crit it was brought to our attention that our original idea had too many unanswered questions and needed more a purpose to persuade people to try all these new activities. Why would someone want to go to the yorkshire dales? for example, how would this benefit them? The other problem was doing more than 20 ideas would be aiming a bit too high and the whole idea in general has been done so many times before. The idea needs to be more original and exciting. However, the fact our design boards were clear and neat was appreciated. We are in a decent place after having this crit because we can use a lot of the information we have already found out to come up with a better idea.  

Design is about doing; refined idea.

The one problem with my designs previously was that although the idea was there my posters didn't communicate anything in particular. So that I could communicate to an audience I came up with a name for a fake music website called 'love music' and added the website to the poster in hope that people would see this and visit the website. Although this is not a drastic change the posters now communicate something and have a purpose. 

Although this project was finished in time, the final pieces were not submitted to the competition they were created for. 

Design is about doing.

Crit feedback: when I presented this work in the crit one of the main things pointed out to me was the fact that my posters need a purpose, something to communicate so this is something that needs looking into. Someone also mentioned the fact I could represent the opposite through the text such as, using the 'rock' font but on the classical poster. Can I also make the images fit in with the typography more?