Olivia Greaves: May 2009

Module Title:Design Practice 2
Module Code: OUGD203

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

Time management has always been a battle and I feel that knowing I had three briefs on all at the same time and all for the same deadline made me very much more aware of the fact that time had to be managed. Deciding how long to spend upon each brief was the hardest. I didn't focus upon them for the time allocated for each at first and struggled a little to get all projects back on track. I feel I have got a better understanding of researching through this module and really researched thoroughly in the time I had. This is a skill I feel lax with at times and have always wanted to work upon. I also feel I am more focused with where I want my work to go and that I am still enjoying working illustratively. However, saying that I did try my hand at using type in my Street Talk Brief, how successfully it came out on the other hand is left to the viewer...

2. What approaches to generating work and solutions to problems have you developed and how have they helped?

I have learnt with my Don't panic Brief to work faster and be less precious about my work. I did get good feedback from my crits on how I could improve upon my resolution but felt that it was best to utilize the time I had left to try and resolve the Street Talk Brief the best I could and tie up any loose end on my Sainsbury's brief. I found myself trying and testing my illustrations and layout more in my Sainsbury's brief and really trying to develop my ideas. I experimented with stokes, colour out with text and reversing my illustrations. Perhaps i spent a little too much time on doing this however as I found it difficult to make a decision on the final one after all that! I definitely need to work upon sketching out my ideas and visuals quicker though, like I did better in my last Feel Good collaborative brief.

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

I feel my strengths lie in image making, illustration and layout. I will capitalise on these by focusing my work practice on these skills in future projects. I will carry on working in an illustrative and image way and try to develop the strengths of my illustrations. I would also like to develop a style that is recognisably my own. I felt that the resolution for the Sainsbury's brief worked reasonably well. I have kept my canvas digital print and need to go back and steam it, however I would like to mock it up into a bag for life eventually and try to incorporate that into my portfolio. I would also like to try and develop it further and perhaps try screen printing the design onto canvas. The canvas I used for the print was as near to a real canvas material that I could find and i felt the final one used worked really well. The size that the illustration came out on the required canvas size looked ok too as the strokes looked strong and didn't get lost into the bag as I originally felt they would. Making the stroke of all the animals varied and bolder worked far better than had I left them all the same weight. That was through experimenting with my illustrations and good feedback in crits!

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

I need to address how well I work to a timescale and become more focused in my way of working. I also feel that I need to practice my illustration skills. I don't draw enough outside of projects and modules in my spare time and would like to begin a notebook of my own illustrations and sketches.
My development work needs to be organised better and I also should continually evaluate my work as I progress. I don't do enough of this and will start to put more work on my blog showing my development and how my resolution takes shape.

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

1. Try and stick better to my time organisation for each brief. I found I didn't stick well to the time I had allocated to each brief.
2. Motivate myself better at the start of each brief and steadily work through each to start them off rather than neglect one or two and find I've lost interest.
3. Try screen printing or other print processes.
4. Don't spend too much time on researching and distracting myself from getting ideas down.
5. Be more experimental with my illustrations and not too precious about them. Show development of them and explore stroke, layout, tints etc.

6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas:

Attendance - 4
Punctuality - 4
Motivation - 3
Commitment -4
Quantity Of Work Produced - 3
Quality Of Work Produced - 3
Contribution To The Group - 3