SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE - SELF EVALUATION

What problem did you identify?

I found two problems, firstly hints and tips to help manage your blog and the course and secondly making friends in that first week. People find it hard to make the initial contact and its very daunting walking into the classroom not knowing anyone, and this is the problem that i decided to take on.

What evidence did you find to support your decisions?

Once i came up with the idea, we had a mini crit in order to establish whether our ideas were strong enough, in this i got to talk to my year students about how they felt about the first week and making friends, whether they found it daunting/exciting etc. Everyone thought it was a good problem to tackle and liked the idea of already having a friend when you start that first week. Also i remember back to that first week and talking to everyone, and everyone saying how scared they were of meeting new people and thinking no one would like them.

What methods did you use to gather your evidence and what forms did it take?

I used a variety of different methods to research and develop my project, below shows the categories and what research i did within them.

Primary - For my primary research this involved talking to the students on my course a lot in order to gage their responses to certain designs i had done and information i needed for my content. For example i interviewed everyone about the first things they said or asked people in that first week, i.e 'Where did you come from'. It was important for me to do this because i needed to see the variety of questions that were asked by people in order for them to get to know someone better.

Secondary - A lot of my secondary research consisted of me taking pictures of packaging ideas that already existed, that tied to my idea. As well as looking thoroughly in to previous existing products, i.e cardboy. I also looked at character designs that i liked and the style of illustrations that i wanted to use for my project.

Quantitate - This came from looking at my primary research and evaluating the questionnaires that i had done in order to see what peoples over all views were. This was used when looking at the animals and eye designs that i did. As well as some others.

Qualitative - This was the questionnaires i designed for my fellow students and the illustrations i drew in order to gain their perspective. This turned out to be very useful with my project because it helped me focus on what my product would look like and consist of.

What methods of research did you find useful and why?

I think the most useful methods that i used would have to be the qualitative and the secondary research. This was because the secondary research i did on Cardboy really helped me develop and push my ideas, this was because it gave me areas that i could improve and fresh ideas to work with. I investigated the Cardboy product thoroughly in order to see where the weaknesses were and what could be improved in order to gain the best use out of the product. With the qualitative, this helped me because everyone i interviewed had already been through what the first years were going to go through, and although i didn't use some of the research it did help me work out what i needed to focus on and what would make my product more useful.

How did this inform your response to your problem?

By investigating a lot of different perspectives meant that i had a range of opinions and ideas to work with. It was interesting to see what people thought and how i could use their ideas to best work out my product. It also helped me gain some perspective on how successful my product could actually be which was important as my main aim with this project was not to go off on some random tangent.

What research could you have carried out that would have proved more useful?

I think it would have been very useful for me to get hold of some software to help link people together, because i had to scrap my idea due to not knowing how this worked. It would have been good to interview and look into industries that use it such as dating websites, and spoken to them.

List 5 things that you have learnt about the design process over the last five weeks

1. To always be organised and prepared, this helps to focus ideas and makes the decision time easier

2. To keep focused and not get distracted by possible ideas

3. Realise what you can do with the time allowance and allocate accordingly

4. Evaluate your developments continuously in order to gain a full perspective when looking back over ideas

5. Make sure you spend time on your final outcome in order to get the best out of your development and research.

List 5 things you would do different next time

1. I would try and work out software to link people effectively

2. Do the future developments that i planned

3. Develop a working website

4. Try and keep on top of my blog

5. Use more of the skills i'd learnt over the year i.e screen printing. Incorporating them into my designs.

Time management

TIME MANAGEMENT

Below is my typed up version of the time management notes I have been making while working threw this module. Its all in note form but clearly states what I have been doing. It also includes some evaluations.

Week 1

Monday

- Fred lecture

- Studio time – scotch egg

- Lunch

- Vogue ideas

Tuesday

- Studio time

- Vogue ideas/ development

- Vis lang – hot dog book idea

- What is a line

Wednesday

- info for book, illustrations and fisheye

Thursday

- Early print off posters

- crit with amber

- start designing book layout

Friday

- Crit for final Vouge

Sat

- Blog

Week 2.

Monday

- Indesign briefing – lecture

- Studio time – books – vis lang

Tuesday

- CTS seminar

- Vis lang

Wednesday

- Finish book designs at home, print mock ups

- Batch up on blog

Thursday

- In design workshop

- Print book design and fold

Friday

- Hand in books

Week 3

Monday

- Lecture

- Studio time

- Workshop on new brief

Tuesday

- Research

- Visual language – what is a line – get screen prints ready, i.e ideas

Wednesday

- Blogg – ppd, dc

Thursday

- “communication…”

- boards and info for the boards put together and mounted

Friday

- Studio time

- “communication…” research and idea gen.

- blog

Saturday

- Blog posts, update dc

Week 4

Monday

- Board presentations

- Evaluation after

- Prep screen for vis lang

Tuesday

- Vis lang

- Screen printing

Wednesday

- Blog it mate

Thursday

- in design workshop

- studio time

Friday

- Development “communication…”

Week 5

Monday

- Final crits and lecture

Tuesday

- CTS tutorials

- Vis lang – putting work together and trials etc, evaluate and blog

Wednesday

- Blog

Thursday

- Studio development

Friday

-BREAK UP FOR EASTER

- get all work ready for easter hols

EASTER HOLIDAYS

- finish all vis lang

- PPD – organise and evaluate, get ideas for what to talk about together etc

Week 6

Monday

- Module brief

- Studio time

Tuesday

- Hand in visual language

- Type and grid, session 1

Wednesday

- Working

Thursday

- Letterpress workshop

- Studio development

Friday

- Progress Crits

- “speaking from experience”

- blog – rationals etc

Week 7

Monday

- PPD session brief

- Studio development

Tuesday

- Type and grid 2

- Bring mags

Wednesday

- Finish all grid work

Thursday

- Studio development – research interviews

Friday

- progress crits “speaking”

- studio development and evaluations

Saturday

- Blog everything so far

Week 8

Monday

- Bank holiday

Tuesday

- PPD Sessions

- Type and grid – Mac suites

Wednesday

- Blogging.

Thursday

- Development in studio

- DC blog and research

- Boards

Friday

- progress crits

- studio development

Week 9

Monday

- Briefing/ Lecture

- Studio development

Tuesday

- Module feedback

Wednesday

- Print session and design

Thursday

- Studio development

- Mock ups

Friday

- Crit with John, robyn and robyn

- Evaluate Designs

Saturday

- blogging like mad

Week 10

Monday

- progress crits

- studio development

- make clouds

Tuesday

- briefing

Wednesday

- Studio development

- - re-prints

Thursday

- Blog and images of finals – splash pages

Friday

- Final crit

- Evaluation on blog

Week 11

Monday

- Assessment briefing, studio development

Tuesday

- Future development and in design, finish of folder.

- Put module folder together

Wednesday

- Self evaluation sheets

Thursday

- Module submission

END OF MODULE SELF EVALUATION

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN	LEVEL	04
Module Code	OUGD103
Module Title	DESIGN PRACTICE

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME Robyn Russell

BLOG. ADDRESS

http://r-russell0912.blogspot.com/

1. What practical skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? With this module my skills have developed both with my drawing and hand crafting. I used both skills to create my final product. I really pushed myself to develop a style that I was comfortable with and confident in using. I think they both worked effectively in creating my final product because I spent a lot of time research and developing both In order to get the best out of the experience. I have also pushed myself in organizing my time to utalises the weeks we’ve had effectively, and do as much as I can with them. This really helped me keep on top of my work, and develop my time management in a more effective way.
2. What approaches to/methods of problem solving have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
With the projects we have done I have really tried to focus my methods in the most effective way, pulling previous project styles I have done and felt were the most effective. The key was to get as many ideas and avenues to explore down, in that first week so it would give me a basis to work on from there. I have also used my Design Context blog a lot more effectively over the last few months in looking at styles of work that I find effective and other work which I think doesn’t. By looking as work I don’t like it has really helped me establish what I don’t want to do and focus more on looking at work I do like. I realize my work, at this time, won’t be up to the levels that professionals are but it gives me something to look at and aspire to be one day. Also, by looking at work I like it means I can pick it apart and find its weakness to improve on. This is a style I used heavily within my last project (SFE) because it meant I could gage what I wanted my product to be and how it would work.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? My strengths really come from my idea generation and development. I really try to develop my ideas as much as possible in order to fully gain the capacity and potential within my projects. The research side of my project is getting better, but there is still room for improvement. I also feel I am starting to get more comfortable with what skills I can produce successfully, which leads to my final outcomes becoming stronger and more professional. I think my evaluating skills are a strength as well because they really help me gage what’s working and what isn’t and help me keep focused at all times.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?
I think the weaknesses with the projects I have done are probably focusing a little too much on the development and not enough on the final product, I need to work that out in order to produce the best product that I can. My other weakness would probably be my research, as I mentioned before I am getting better but there is still room for improvement and I should use my blog to help me gain this skill.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
1. Spending time on research and blog 2. Delegate evenly throughout the whole project 3. Focus more on the final product and work faster 4. Try to get a balance between quanitity and quality 5. Utalise the skills I am more comfortable with in order to produce the best outcome
Are there any things we could have done differently that would have benefitted your progress? Work on developing my style, and pushing myself in the skills I think I am best at.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’) 5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance				X
Punctuality					X
Motivation			X
Commitment			X
Quantity of work produced				X
Quality of work produced				X
Contribution to the group				x
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self-evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.