End of Module Evaluation

At the start of the PPP sessions I wasn't too sure about how helpful they would be for me, however I really engaged with them and when I look back on past blog posts I realise how much I've learnt and matured as a designer in professional terms. One of the things I enjoyed most about the PPP sessions was when we had guest speakers as I found them a great inspiration, from individuals to design agencies it gave me a real insight into the work required and how you can get to that place. Another part of the module I enjoyed was creating the reflective practise poster as we were given total freedom in design, unlike the constraints we have in the other modules, I do appreciate these but it was fun to be able to write my own design rules. If I had more time I would definitely improve my self branding as it still needs a lot of work but I am okay with this as it was only my first try of level 4, I plan to work on it over summer and create a proper identity for myself. The only one thing I didn't enjoy on the course is how vague the deliverables were in terms of blogging I was never sure I had completed the tasks to the standard required.

Studio Brief 03 - Design Strategy Presentation

I was really nervous to present in front of a group of my peers and tutors for 7 minutes however once I got up there I was okay and able to talk through my presentation, I am glad that we were made to do it as with everything practise makes perfect and you aren't going to one day become good at it. I received feedback that I made a lot of good points however I could have done with a lot more visuals about the points I was discussing and some examples of my work and how I have developed. 

Studio Brief 02 - Applications

business card mockup

logo

business card

tumblr

instagram

Studio Brief 02 - Self Branding

My self branding presentation included the concept behind the branding, the pay off, the story so far, fonts and colours to be used as well as imagery and logo.

Studio Brief 01 - Reflective Practice

What I have learnt...

• getting feedback from peers is an essential part of the design process and seeing other peoples work is a great motivation
• research is a huge part of the project to ensure a piece of work has context, everything must be for a reason, not simply to look ‘good’

What has engaged me...

• inductions such as bookbinding, monoprinting and software inductions
• keeping a blog (not)

What I have NOT enjoyed...

• having to juggle so many projects at once whilst trying to have a life outside of uni, leading to a very messed up sleeping pattern
• having to continue with a project I had little interest in as there wasn’t time to start over

What  I aspire to...

• to discover my own creative direction
• to start working on a project as soon as it is briefed
• to work in house design team for a clothes, makeup or food/drinks company (favourite things)
• to travel the world

How I will approach this task...

I have discovered that the best way to start a brief that is very open ended in terms of the design aesthetic, is to give myself constraints:

• 5 colour palette from pantone
• sans serif typeface
• only 3 different text sizes
• use geometric shapes to add depth
• a2

I decided to use a modular grid for the design of my poster and went for a minimalistic approach, after hearing from Michael (Build) saying that as a designer you should either go all out detail or keep it very minimal, anything in between just looks like you're lacking confidence in your decisions. With this in mind I opted for a monospaced typeface - Andale mono as it has consistent stroke weights and spacing that won't draw attention or add unnecessary detail to the poster. The typeface is also very readable.

I reached a colour palette by using the Pantone app on a screenshot from my identity Instagram therefore the colours are from what I have recently uploaded. I think the colours accurately represent my ideas at the moment I have been using black, white and grey a lot with the occasional injection of a vibrant colours - a splash of colour to focus the eye (The graphic design idea book).

Whilst keeping to the rules I imposed on myself I did bend the rules with layering and opacity to create more interesting visuals. I also added in some photographs I had taken last year on holiday as one of my aspirations is to earn enough money to be comfortable and able to see the world. I edited the photographs slightly by adding noise to take away the harshness compared to the rest of the poster as it is quite plain and neat. 

DR ME Workshop

Today DR ME came in again but this time to deliver a workshop, I was excited for this as I have never really experimented with collage or animation as I haven't thought it was for me. However this workshop showed me that you can create some really interesting and exciting work with the right materials and tools. Everyone was put into pairs and given a word to create a number of collages with, which would later be animated. Our word was 'Cosmos' meaning 'the universe' and below is our finished result, we looked at things which people think are important in the world such as money, pets and shopping.