OUGD103 Evaluation.

This has definately been my best module. I've thoroughly enjoyed all the projects and I'm actually happy with my work. I'm more involved with my work now, and graphic design in general. I now find myself looking through books, websites and blogs at designers work just because I find it enjoyable, not because I'm looking for research. This has definately helped me a lot through this module.

What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

In the 'How to' brief, I got the chance to develop my drawing skills. This had been pushed asside this year and my work had been completely computer based. I've had a graphics tablet for a few years now and had been wanting to find a reason to use it and that project gave me the oppertunity to. This was completely out of my comfort zone but I was happy with my illustrations and they were still digital so I was able to develop them on the computer. These weren't the only illustrations I did during this project, I did a childrens version in illustrator which again I was very happy with and felt they communicated the instructions well. I even developed my bookbinding skills within this project, and descovered new ways to bind.

I've also experimented with illustration in the 'pure' poster for the Don't Panic competition. Again, this was completely out of my comfort zone and if I'm honest I really enjoyed it and loved my final outcome. This is something I would like to continue to experiment with in the second year and possibly over the summer holidays.

Type and grid almost forced me into developing my skills for InDesign. This was a program that I was very uncomfortable with using, but can now say I can use it effectively and even used it to put together my book for my Photography elective.

What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

Throughout this module I have been constantly looking through blogs and websites at design, even if it's not any help to the current project, it's always helpful for future projects as I can refer back to it. This is also widening my knowledge of how I can approach a project, the methods I could use.

What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

I think my main strength is definately my blog. I've used it pretty much everyday, recording ideas, thoughts, inspiration and my progress throughout each project. Not only has it helped me organise my work, but also been helpful with the feedback I've recieved on my posts. It's also nice to be able to look back at the work I've done through this module. I will definately be carrying this strength through into future projects.

I do feel as though my final resolutions always look professional. I don't really know whether this is because it's digitally produced but it's something people have been telling me, especially in the last project. This is definately something I'm happy about and will continue to develop in future projects.

Organising my work is definatly a strength of mine, I tend to work in a specific order, even in my sketchbook. This can also be quite restricting though. I have improved in this last module however, as I have been working more on design sheets and not limiting myself to my sketchbook.

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?

My primary research has definately been a weekness in this module and throughout the year. My secondary research is brilliant and ongoing through all projects, however I really struggle with collecting primary research. I did a few questionnaires in the 'Speaking from Experience' project which definately helped determine the direction of the project, so I know collecting more will benifit me. This is definately one of the main issues I have and will work on resolving this in the next module.

Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
1. Although it has improved, my time management still isn't as good as what it should be. I didn't stick to the time management sheets I set myself. This is something I intend to address quickly as I know I could produce a lot more work in the time available, which will then benefit my final resolution.

2. Don't jump into a final idea so quickly. I need the research to back me up and development work to see what works and what doesn't. This could possible make my final resolutions more interesting.

3. Step out of my comfort zone more. I like to go with the resolution I feel most comfortable with so I don't end up getting it wrong. Maybe this is something I can do in the second year as it's more relaxed. There are quite a few methods I would like to experiment with.

4. Screen print! This is one thing I've been wanting to do for a very long time. I wanted my final resolution for the 'Speaking from Experience' brief to be screen printed but I would need an A1 screen and they were all in use. I will make sure I get to do this in the near future. I may even screen print my calendar for personal reasons.

5. Collect more primary research. As I mentioned earlier, my projects lack primary research and I know I will benefit by collecting more.

How would you grade yourself on the following areas:
5= exellent, 4= very good, 3= good, 2= average, 1= poor
Attendance: 3
Punctuality: 4
Motivation: 5
Commitment: 5
Quantity of work produced: 4
Quality of work produced: 5
Contribution to the group: 3

Final page spreads.

In context.

Packaging.

As for the stickers, they're rolled up with the calendar. 

Stickers.

It's printed.

Really happy with it. Looks really good on the satin/glossy paper.

Sun Calendar.

Designed by Sven Ellingen.

Love this. It's a calendar which depicts how much sun there will be on that day depending on the size of the circle. It's quite similar to mine in terms of the shapes. 

Was screen printed too.

Final Planner.

My final design for my year planner. I think it's the final anyway, will probably make a few more adjustments before friday.

Kind of changed my format completely. I couldn't get the design I wanted with the previous format. I wanted it to be off set a little, but because of the stickers it filled the whole page and I had no space to play with. I'm happy with how it is now though, even though it's not the format I origininally wanted it to be. It's just A1 now.

I would of liked to of added in more information and make it as informative as the google calendar, however, as the timetable for next year has yet to be done, I was unable to do this. It has been a bit of a guess for the module deadlines, i've done it depending on the dates of deadlines this year, and on what day of that week it was on.

I'm actually hoping to print out a blank one for me to use next year, can then see if it helps me.

Now, on to the stickers.

Progress.

I've added in lines to show where the stickers should go, and had to rearrange everything so that it would fit. I've even had to change my format just so that I could get on all the information that I wanted. I've basically re-done the whole calendar and it's took me ages. I've tried my hardest to stick to that 'long' format, but I've had to make a few sacrifices to do so.

I'm beginning to get a little worried as to whether it's getting too confusing. I think it's getting hard to understand what information is with what date. I've tried adding in lines to separate them into boxes, but it was too much.

I've got more information to add on yet, so hopefully it will make sense.

Characterising dates.

I wanted the calendar to stay strictly about the course, not including any other irrelevant information, for example, holidays. However, I wanted to include something a little more subtle to point out important dates, and also to add a little more character to my calendar. So, I've characterised some dates to suite their holiday. I'm only doing the important ones such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Valentines Day etc.

Here's some I've done.

Easter Sunday - Bunny Ears
Valentines Day - Holding hands
Christmas Day - Baubles
Halloween - Witches hat
New Years Day - Firework

This is all that there will be. There won't be any text or anything to explain what it is, I don't really think it needs it. The dates are well known so it should be obvious.

I really like how it's really subtle and probably won't be noticed straight away.

Christiaan Postma.

Again, thanks to Becca.

Just like this because of the scale. I really wanted my calendar to be bigger than what it was but I had to take into account the student accommodation and whether it would fit.

Not entirely keen on the design, though. In my opinion, it doesn't seem to be very visually interesting. Could of added a little colour.

http://www.christiaanpostma.nl/index.htm

Finally going digital.

General experimentation into layouts and the general design. I think I've decided on a colour, blue, it just seems more relaxing which it needs to be as it will include stressful dates. I really have no idea what I like best, I'm still experimenting and will continue to experiment until I reach a design I am happy with.

This is the general layout of the dates, I'm not going to change this as it seems the most appropriate. It's also the only way I can do it so the stickers will fit.

I've made the weekends blue so they sit back a bit more as it's an academic calendar the week days are the most important.

Not entirely sure about this at the moment as I need to consider where my stickers are going to go, and whether they will fit. 

When researching into calendars, there was a lot of designs I liked where there were geometric shapes involved and have been wanting to incorporate this into my designs. I have experimented a little with the header/title, but I would like to further include these in the dates. When in the last crit, Lauren said to try and make it so it isn't just a big long list of numbers as it can seem quite daunting, I think this takes the edge off it a little. Here's my attempt.

Again, nothing final, but I quite like the circles. I'm going to see whats said about them in my crit tomorrow, hopefully I will get some helpful feedback.

Things to do:

Characterise specific days, i.e, valentines day

Have another look at the space, will the stickers still fit and where will they go in relation to the text

Print off a mock up to scale (if I can get in the print room, if not then just to scale on A4)

Look into more sticker designs and begin sticker layouts

Add in more dates

Questionnaire - where in the year did people most struggle with time management - use these results to add in reminders on the calendar

Sticker designs.

More calendar research.

Just looking at layouts/scale, and different ways I could present the information.

I like this because of the scale, and the fact it becomes more of an art piece rather than a calendar.

To do tattoo.

When doing questionnaires, I asked how people remember dates and important information, some said they write it on their hand. I was in paperchase the other day, saw this and just had to buy it.

It's a to do list tattoo, genius!

You even get a skin-safe ink pen with it!

It's designed by Andy Ward, take a look at his website.

Student lead crit.

Went really well. Got some really good feedback and suggestions.

Things to look at/consider:

How can I print? Could I look into lino, woodblock

What dates will definitely be the same next year?

Look into sticker design

How can you make it your own style? Hand drawn/vector?

Colour coding? How can this help? - different months/days/events

Is there a way to make stickers part of calendar design? Have the on the back of the calendar? How can this interact with the calendar?

Size of stickers? - Do they cover the whole day? Have their own space? - Could they be reusable?

How can you emphasise the bad time management?

Scratch card calendar.

Thanks to Becca.

Design direction board.

Crit went really well. Although it was about the design boards, everyone seemed to like my idea.

Crispin Finn.

Plan ahead.

I love this. It's not so much the design I like, but how it's folded into something that can be carried around, and the packaging. Also, I really like the different patterns for weekends and dates, this is definitely something I would like to consider for this brief.

Found at Creative review.

Stephen Turbek.

Bubble wrap calendar

A bubble to pop every day of the year.

You can even buy it at http://www.bubblecalendar.com/2009p-int.htm

Proposal crit.

I went to this crit basically having a solid idea of what I wanted to do. After presenting my ideas, I soon realised I shouldn't be at that stage, and that I hadn't done enough research to say that this would be the best solution. I guess I'm a bit too used to them 1 week crits and got ahead of myself a little.

Anyway, I still got some good feedback and a few suggestions as to what I could look into:

Memory - Long term and short term - ways to help improve it

How do people manage their time now?

Practicality - Scale - Could it have something that can be ripped out and taken with them

Pentagram.

I remember seeing this in the September 2008 issue of Grafik.

I really love that delicate feel its got, and how the text is very limited and stays in the exact same place throughout all double page spreads. I just like how it makes the images seem more important.