OUGD503 Responsive: Summative Evaluation

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN		LEVEL	05
Module Code	OUGD503
Module Title	Design Process

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME

Sam cook

1.     What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? I Feel as though I have developed a number of skills throughout this module and applied them in various different ways. A huge skill I have developed is having confidence when talking to clients, I feel I have managed to maintain a level head and developed a professional tone when dealing with more challenging clients. My time management skills have come on no end since the start of this module, I learned that when working on live brief in particular it is important to remain organised and punctual in order to fulfil the brief in the meet deadlines. It is all so important to remain organised and keep good time in order to make a good impression on clients. I found this out after finishing a brief for the Sheffield summer ball. The client gave me great feedback and said she would recommend me to others and use me again in the future. I have also developed in terms of practical terms, challenging my self to step out of my comfort zone and try new areas of design. This can be seen in my collaborative brief, I took on the challenge of designing packaging, which is something I didn’t have much experience in prior to the brief. I have developed skills of how to work with a collaborative partner efficiently and effectively. I have also learned valuable skills from watching my partner work and learned techniques such as time management and organisation through setting personal deadlines and organisation. The briefs with large amount of research are the strongest. This was a hard learning curve for me but I now feel more equipped to research topics thoroughly and develop decent art work based on this high level of research. This module has taught me a lot about my professional conduct as well as helping me figure out what kind of design I am most interested in. I have been able to pin point which briefs were most successful, this is almost entirely reflective of which briefs were also most enjoyable to me. I think I still have a long way to hone in on my chosen area of graphic design and discovering my self as a designer.
2.     What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? An area of design production that I feel has improved through out this module is my ability to think more conceptually and creating stronger and more considered concepts. This in turn has allowed me to try a number of different techniques and processes such as; paper marbling, vector-based imagery, photo manipulation and packaging design. I think my ability to create strong and well-developed concepts sets me in really good stead for the future. It allows me to create considered design rather than eye candy with strong concepts behind them. It all so makes the creative process run a lot smoother and helps shorten the time of the turn around of each brief. I have found it is really important to consider the reasons behind your design choices, making sure to self evaluate constantly throughout the briefs and module as a whole.
3.     What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? I think one strength in my work is my ability to adapt my skills depending on the brief at hand, this will help me in future briefs to create a wide range of varied design work. This is really important for the future allowing me to create a varied and diverse portfolio. Another strength in my work has been my finishing of the end resolutions, paying careful attention to things such as kerning, layout and image clarity. When working with clients it is important to remember that the work you produce for them will leave an impression, so making sure work is of a high standard is paramount. I will capitalise on this in future making sure end products are always perfect and something I would be happy to present to another person.
4.     What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? An area of weakness in my work is still time management however I feel it has improved since the start of the module. I think putting off certain briefs such as Purdey’s in order to devote my time to live briefs wasn’t a good decision. I need to learn how to separate my priorities evenly so that all briefs develop at a similar rate. Being able to devote my time evenly will allow me to make continuous progression throughout my work. Another area of weakness is my documentation skills, I feel that my blog doesn’t reflect the time and effort I put in to some briefs, this again links to time management. Setting aside time at regular periods to blog my progression would help me improve this in future. I also think I should view blogging as a positive thing rather than as a chore. My research skills were lacking at the start of the module and I feel in future I need to consider a wider range of research sources and methods.
5.     Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? ·       Firstly I would blog my progression as I went along, this is something that I started to do towards the end of the module but failed to do at the start. It left me playing catch up with my self and having to go back and blog areas of work that I had done but not recorded. ·       Secondly I would have undertaken more live briefs. I think that live briefs were the most beneficial for me throughout this module. I learned a number of different skills from design development skills, to personal conduct and professionalism skills. ·       I would be more forth right and assertive when it came to decision making in the collaborative brief. I feel at times that I could have spoken up more and took a leadership role. This comes down to not wanting to cause conflict among the group. I think we worked well as a pair in some aspects, but are completely different designers and think in different ways. ·       I would pick a collaborative partner that has a more similar work ethic to me. Although I think that both my partner and me have good work ethics we work in very different ways and very different paces. It was interesting to watch how Danielle conducted her work and what stages of the brief she deemed most important. ·       I would try and find more briefs that required me to do the print processes rather than creating work for clients to send to the printer. I would have loved to try more print processes and be more experimental when designing.
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.