This module was definately more challenging for me than I expected. As a starting point, I feel that research has been my strength within this module; I tried to gather information from a range of appropriate sources for example on my ‘What is Good’ brief, when I was planning my questionnaire, I knew I didn’t just want to ask students on my course so I thought about where would be an appropriate environment to ask people and I chose to put them in a hair salon as I thought people who take pride in their hair, care about their appearance and braces obviously effect your appearance. Leading on from facts about braces, I looked at a variety of sources to inspire my packaging which definately benefit my development work.
However, I feel that I kind of lost track of the basis of module. specifically on the ‘What is Good?’ brief and I should have researched more into print processess; instead of just reading about them, I could have actually tried some of them but due to the obvious, poor time management, I didn’t give myself enough time. In terms of the 16 page booklet, although my research helped to produce a booklet I was pleased with and it came from a variety of sources i.e. books, internet and workshops, I don’t think it was as ‘in depth’ as it could have potentially been, one area that I would like to look at more is commercial costing, because I think this could really benefit my future practice.
The workshops that were undertaken within this module to show us how to prepare documents for print, choosing colours and ways of printing etc. have definately broadened my knowledge within this particular area. I now feel competent using design software and choosing spot colours; these skills will always be useful in my design practice and did actually help with my idea generation and design developent. In my opinion the one area that I feel lets me down here however, is my lack of confidence with using InDesign; the workshops showed me how to use it to prepare documents for print and choosing colours etc. however, I found that when it came to actually making my booklet, I only used InDesign for adding text to my pages, but I was still happy with my end product and i don’t think this effected it hugely.
The documentation of my work has always been a weak point in my design practice, but I definately felt I improved a great deal in this module and it proved to me how much documentation and organisation can benefit your work, it also helped with my idea generation because my research was accessible and easy to understand. Unfortunately, I’m not sure the presentation of my final work was as successful. On the ‘What is Good?’ brief, I was happy with my 5 concept boards but when it came to doing a PDF of the decisive moments within the project, I found it difficult to select what would be appropriate to go on it without putting every single piece of work on. When I completed the PDF, I didn’t think it gave justice to the amount of work that I had done but regardless of how many times I went back and added more too it, I still felt I was somewhat ‘selling myself short’.
In terms of my final products, I was very happy with them and I think they related to the brief quite well and showed my ‘style’ as a designer off as well. On the ‘What is Good?’ brief, as previously mentioned, I wish I had looked more into print processes appropriate to the design but overall I think it ‘packaged and informed’ about braces as a good thing quite successfully. On the ‘What is design for print?’ brief, with the 16 page booklet, I think the one thing that would have improved this would have been to demonstrate various processes, for example, instead of just explaining what a spot colour is, I could have showed how to find a spot colour on illustrator or photoshop as I do have this information I just chose not to put it in the booklet. Overall, I am happy with the work that I ultimately produced but feel that I could have ‘pushed it further’.
5 things that I will do different next time:
1 - Try more practical things.
2 - Prioritise / Organise time better - I should have spent more on the 16 page booklet in relation to the other brief.
3 - Visualise more ideas.
4 - Constantly refer back to the brief.
5 - At the end of the module, present my work better.
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