Module Evaluation

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN		LEVEL	04
Module Code	OUGD403
Module Title	DESIGN SKILLS

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME	Daisy Sunshine Conway

1.  What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
One of the skills, which I have learnt throughout this module is, how to keep time management. By having shorter, week long briefs, I found that time management was essential as I have other tasks and assignments to do simultaneously with OUGD403. Therefore organising my time was curtail, and I think throughout this module I have increased this skill, as I was able to get my work in to an certain standard on time. Another skill, which has got better, is my ability to use digital methods such as illustrator. Having an illustrator workshop helped me, and from then I could apply this knowledge to my work to make it more effective, and as I learnt lots of short cuts and smarter ways in which to do things I found it took a lot less time, which helped me with keeping time management. Recognition of using different fonts and typefaces to connect to different audiences, and the difference it can make to a piece of design by changing the typeface, I applied this in my mail shot brief in message and delivery, as I realised I wasn’t connecting to the audience, and simply by changing the font, it then became clearer and appealing to my target audience.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
Throughout this module I have used and learnt many new methods of production such as monoprinting, lino printing, letterpress, screen printing, digital methods (illustrator) and hand rendering. Although I have only applied some of these methods to my briefs such as illustrator and hand rendering, I haven’t had much opportunity to use screen printing, although I would really like to. Digital productions have influence my design the most as this process is cleaner and very clear, it shows precision and accuracy, something which is a lot more difficult to do by hand. Therefore this process ultimately made my designs look better, for example in Alphabet Soup I found that my hand rendered letterforms of ‘pop’ weren’t as effective or as clean as the same letters which I produced for the illustrator brief, which shows the difference between the two methods, and shows my skills using them.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
The strengths which I have in my work could also been seen as a hindrance as I like perfection, for example in the message and delivery brief, whilst producing my mailshot double sided, I couldn’t settle with it being close to lined up, I had to produce it many time to get it perfect. This shows that in my work and designs I like to have things looking the best I can make them, so that it Is the most effective it can be. I think that I am getting stronger in using illustrator and more digital methods of producing work, which will only get even stronger. I will capitalise on this as it is a good skill to have, as it produces the cleanest and most accurate work, in my opinion.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
One of the weaknesses I have is seeking approvement from my peers, even when I have chosen which idea or design I think is effective, I like to ask friends to see what their opinion is, and whether they think that idea would be most effective. I also think I could improve my hand crafting skills, as a lot of my work through this brief which has been hand rendered isn’t to the best quality, for example in the message and delivery brief my mailshots, at one point when I tried to stick them back to back, looked really badly crafter, not aesthetically pleasing and didn’t function well. Therefore in the future I will address trying to improve my crafting skills, so that they are at an acceptable level.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
I would do more research into different ideas, and don’t just stay with one of the first ideas which I like. This is because I think after I find an idea which I like, I should do development on that, where I should be doing more so that I can find the best idea possible, therefore in the future I will do more initial ideas. I would take the audience into consideration more throughout the design process, rather than thinking  about whether I would like the design and connect with it, my target audience should be the priority. Although I am designing something, it doesn’t mean I necessarily have to like it, as long as it connects with my target audience, it will work effectively, and this is something I need to remember that I won’t always like what I have to design. Next time I will use and experiment with more colours as most of the briefs in this module has had colours restrictions such as only black and white for the Alphabet Soup brief. This is something I had no choice in, but for next time I will find a minimal colour pallet which I enjoy to use. I would also work on my crafting skills as in this module I found that it is not as accurate as it should be, this will help me in future briefs as when I next get a hand render brief I can make it more effective and aesthetically pleasing rather than the bare minimum quality. Next time I will produce more quality development work, as it is sometimes hard for me to see what my idea was through my development, as even though I want to have more in quantity, I don’t want it to jeopardise the quality of my work, this will help to communicate where my ideas have come from better.
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.