OUGD503 - End of Module Evaluation

End of Module Evaluation 

OUG503 was the most stressful but also the most rewarding module of all. As this module required us to choose 1 significant brief and 2 smaller brief alongside a significant brief but as part of a group, it was difficult to manage them all at the same time. The module in general allowed me to further develop my drawing skills significantly. The briefs allowed me to be open-minded and choose the types of designs I am genuinely interested in. The module has given me multiple opportunities in which I can explore and see if I would like to specialise in that area of Graphic Design.

The 2 smaller briefs didn’t require as much time as they were more straight forward as they tell/give us an idea of what they want. 

I had chosen the Papyrus brief as it is for a good cause as Papyrus is a charity that helps to reduce suicide in young people. The brief allowed me to experiment with pattern design as well as line drawing. The design was quite simple as it was for a colouring book therefore didn’t require any colour decisions which made it easier to design. As the brief allows us to share and use our own experience when we’re stressed, it made the brief personal as it really made me think about what coping mechanisms I use and if it would genuinely help others. The final design did translate the idea I first had in mind and turned out better than I had expected at it has a lot of different areas to colour in as the ‘wave’ flows into itself.

I had chosen the The Stratford Literacy Festival Book Jacket competition since being an upcoming designer, I wanted to explore more areas of Graphic Design so I could experiment and see if it is something I am interested in doing more of in the future. The brief was more difficult than the Papyrus brief as I found it difficult coming up with ideas for the brief. While I did do some research, I knew the theme had to be based on Shakespeare as he is famous in Stratford-upon-Avon and it made even more since as it was a literacy festival. The final idea I came up with for the book jacket was conceptual but I’m not sure that others will understand it as it may be too ambiguous. I tried to used colours, appropriate typeface to make it seem medieval and relevant to The Stratford Literacy Festival. The final design of the book jacket appeared too simple and looked like something was missing. I think I could’ve done better with more research and knowledge. 

The 2 significant YCN briefs were the ones I were most proud of. The UK Greetings brief was chosen as I've always wanted to create some sort of stationary and the greetings collection allowed me to do so. The UK Greetings brief was very broad and so allowed me to design a greetings collection that was influenced by a real life issue and actually support a charity. Each design was inspired by a real life endangered wildlife creature so that people become aware of the issue and could potentially help to reduce the threat of their endangerment. The illustrative designs allowed me to experiment with different media and skills so that I could best represent the animals/insects and has helped me to further improve my illustration and drawing skills. As the greeting cards were made for everyday occasions, it really did make an impact of the serious nature of the issue. Creating all the physical designs were stressful, time consuming and infuriating as it was getting tedious repeating the same action again and again but at the end it was the most rewarding. Having seeing greetings collection as a set really made me feel positive and happy that I could produce a whole collection. The coming up with the collection name 'ENDangered (Wild)life’ was not difficult at all as I had obviously written and said the words a few times but adding in the capital letters and punctuations emphasises the whole meaning of the collection. This brief really showed me the power of design and how influential it can be and how it can impact on people.

The collaborative brief for The Grown Up Chocolate Company is also a brief that I had enjoyed as it was different and exciting to work with people with different specialisms. The reason why I had chosen the brief in the first place was because of my keen interest in packaging design and it also shown through with Hannah (Johns) and Siobhan (Spencer)’s interests too. We had different roles in the group and we timed it out perfectly we didn’t stress too much about someone not doing something, as we all knew we had to be responsible for a certain area and neither of us wanted to let the group down. The communications were easy – we were able to help each other, giving feedback and suggestions even though we had our own roles and tasks. My role was re-create the packaging design, create the layout of the design and create mock-ups for the design to go onto the packaging. Nothing of what I did was too difficult as I could ask either Hannah or Siobhan to help make some decisions. The final outcome of the whole packaging and homepage design was of professional standard. When we met for the last time to create our design boards, we said how proud and happy we were of the final design and that we wouldn’t mind working with each other again. The collaborative practice has really taught me to be more confident in working with others as the outcome can be really fulfilling.