End of Module Evaluation

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

During this module I have tried to use software a bit more in an attempt to give my work a more professional finish. Previously a large amount of my work has been handcrafted, photographed, slightly edited and printed out. This module however I have actually tried to create imagery within the software, with the ideas and designs taken from sketches. I feel slightly more comfortable using some of the software now, however my knowledge is very limited and due to this lack of confidence my work suffers. Conceptually, I consider my work to be quite strong but it is often let down by the resolution. 

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

In previous modules I have noticed that I have tended to identify very general, or difficult to convey, problems to solve. This has resulted in the design process becoming more difficult than it has needed to be. I have been determined this time to identify problems which are very precise and can be summed up in just a few words. By picking something very precise, I have found it easier to think around the problem; considering why the problem exists, how it effects people, similar problems that exist and how they have been approached. Research has driven a lot of my resolutions this module, being more informed about what peoples opinions are and studying effective design has undoubtedly strengthened my work. 

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

I believe that the concepts that have been driving my work more recently have been a lot stronger than previously. Understanding the problem and being able to explain it to others really helps when evaluating whether a solution is appropriate or not. A lot of my work has relied on interactivity from audiences to work. Using interactivity like this is quite interesting because it allows my design to change depending on the audience. This is a tactic that really interests me and I have been reading up on, in particular the thought process behind the audience and how emotions can effect how well the message is communicated. I find that this interactive sort of design is really difficult to design successfully, because you have to consider more than one outcome. Not only does the "start" design need to be visually engaging and persuade audiences to interact with it, it also needs to allow enough room for changes to be made and for the "changed" design to also be visually engaging. 

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

Although I have probably already mentioned it a few times, I feel my biggest weakness is not being comfortable with software. This is something I plan to address over summer, so that when I come back in September I will feel more confident within the programs and will hopefully be able to learn a lot more next year. I also believe that my work lacks impact. I don't think it manages to entice audiences very well, although the feedback has been good from crits, I think my work needs to be more visually engaging. The ideas seem to be there, but the execution tends to let them down a lot of the time. As an attempt to "sort this out" I am going to be looking at a lot more designs which do have a lot of impact. The designs I have been looking at so far, consist mainly of their illustrative qualities, ability to draw or craft, and the ideas behind it. I haven't been looking much at design that has immediate impact and how it works, so perhaps by looking at that sort of design I can start to understand it a lot more and use similar ideas in my work, if necessary.

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

1. While working on a brief, use the A3 folders to keep it organised and in an appropriate order. The last brief I have done this and it has helped me so much. I have been able to look back on previous ideas and refer to research a lot more easily. It also helps other people to understand the process I have come through to get to my final resolution.

2. Come in earlier. On days like Wednesdays where it is free studio time I tend to come in at about 11 and soon after starting to work I'll have lunch and before I know it I've probably lost 4 hours, which could be spent a lot better. 

3. Teach myself some basics in software. I just need to start off simply and do some tutorials so that next year if I want to be able to do something I won't be too daunted to not try it. I'm really annoyed with myself for not doing it this year and so summer will be my opportunity to rectify this.

4. Look more at pre-existing design. I already look at a lot of design but a lot of it is very similar. I would probably benefit from looking at a more varied selection so that I can learn about different approaches, other than just more examples of the same sort of work I like.

5. Bring food in with me. If I'm hungry I can't concentrate, and I resent doing work. I think by bringing some sort of snack in with me I can continue to work without having to leave college for the shops and I'll stay in a better mood to work. This is probably a really trivial bullet point, but I think it will genuinely benefit me. 

5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
1 2 3 4 5
Attendance 5
Punctuality 4
Motivation 4
Commitment 4
Quantity of work produced 4
Quality of work produced 4
Contribution to the group 4

In Context

Blu-Tack Boards

To encourage interactivity and the storage of Blu-Tack...









Images of boards in context to come once these have been printed...

Research: Interaction with the environment

One of the strongest examples I have seen of this in poster form, is a campaign from amnesty international. They directly use the environment to support their message, with an emphasis on changing the environment to shock audiences and attempt to make them understand the unjust happenings. Parts of the environment are also used as restrictions to the posters, acting as a metaphor. In particular, positioning the posters behind bars, so that the faces photographed appear to be imprisoned. This method for persuasion has a lot more effect on me than other campaigns which tells you how unfair things are. This is because I admire the thought that has gone into the work, its genuinely thought provoking and has immediate impact.

Here is one example of the series of posters. If you want to see more then click the link below.



To see more from the same campaign ---> http://www.adverbox.com/amnesty-international-5/

Interactive Poster Research

As a solution I will be creating interactive boards, this is pretty hard to research so I've been looking at other ways designers have tackled interaction in poster format. This video shows 3 examples which are brilliant. Definitely check it out.

The bane of my life.

I have made a few decisions in the direction I'm going for this "Blu Tack" issue. There are two solutions which are possibilities at the moment. One is a packaging solution which would make "Blu Tack" more portable, and if successful would make it more likely for people to carry it with them. This idea has had a lot of positive feedback in crits and I think it would work well, if presented as a sort of novelty - with the initial ideas being based around chewing gum packaging. 

The second solution would be to provide a specific area for "Blu Tack" to be returned to, ensuring people would know where the "Blu Tack" is and to deter people from keeping it on the walls. 

Although it was suggested I could look into other methods of sticking up work, it seems to be more product design related and promotion of a method which I'm not interested in doing. 

At the moment I'm favouring the idea of providing an area for "Blu Tack" to be returned to. To encourage Graphic Design students to use it, I need to make it visually appealing. Playing on this idea of interactivity is also essential. 

This is a good example of what I am trying to encourage. This designer put this poster up in an exhibition along with black tabs. The aim was to get audiences to stick the tabs to the poster, in effect altering the design. After the poster was created he then turned it into a book. Other than creating something visual there doesn't actually seem to be much purpose to it, but it does demonstrate well how to involve an audience. 

When it comes to the series of boards that I want to produce, I think it would be suitable to create something that can be visually changed. Ideas at the moment include ways of blanking out sections to create letters/words and forming/editing images. 

The magic of hindsight...

Our new brief "Speaking from experience" targets the new first years, due to start in September. It is our mission to pass on the knowledge we have learnt this year, identifying any problems we had, empathising with their position, help them out, entertain them or - if we're feeling particularly cruel - scare them. 

After a fair few hours spent reflecting on the year we've had so far, discussing low and high points we each settled on 5 problems. My 5 problems/pieces of advice were;

NEVER choose Gender Studies as an elective

How to cope without sleep/Guide to staying awake

The art of Multi-tasking

When looking for Blu Tack go low

Short cut to short cuts

Discussing this in groups of 5 I decided to go for the "Blu Tack" issue. Mainly because it's pretty specific and a genuine problem. The majority of the briefs I have handled so far this year have been extremely broad (due to my own fault) and I think I've caused myself more problems than necessary. By choosing something like this I can challenge myself and try and work in a different way than I have all year. So anyway my statement of intent goes a little like this;

What Problem?

When pinning up work Blu Tack is hard to come by.

What to do about it:

Make the new students aware of this problem, suggest a solution for it.

How?

Still haven't really decided on this. But possible ideas so far include:

Providing some sort of place where Blu Tack can be kept

Inform students where people usually hide their Blu Tack, through the method of mapping, or stickers on location

Produce something which helps explain why Blu Tack becomes dispersed, possibly using animation, storyboarding, film or photography

I'm still not too sure what I actually want to achieve with this brief, as to whether I want to entertain, inform, persuade the new first years, or whether to try and resolve the problem for them. 

I think once I have decided on this I can really start to think about how to solve this problem, at the moment there are too many possible ways of looking at the problem.