Evaluation - OUGD403

During the last 8 weeks, I have tackled 4 studio briefs, all of which have opened me up to some new techniques and development processes that have previously been unused. I will admit my time keeping hasn’t been up to scratch to keep up with workload, this is something I have to adjust to in future projects to ensure I do not fall behind and create backlogs of work.

Throughout studio brief 01, ‘Alphabet Soup’, I got to test my lettering skills and develop my idea’s in much more of a conceptual fashion. To receive feedback in the interim crit was the most valuable aspect of this brief; as it gave me valuable insights of what path I should take in developing my ideas further, I liked how I could gather the opinions of others and incorporate it into future drawings. If I were to improve on anything in this brief it would be to apply more time into research than jumping straight into the deep end.

Moving onto studio brief 02 made me realize just how versatile you have to be with developing thoughts into solid ideas. This was my favorite aspect of this module, as it gave me the chance to work in something which I feel strongest in, Adobe Illustrator. Although I feel confident in Illustrator, I still feel I have a hell of a lot to learn when it comes to reducing rendering time, such as keyboard shortcuts and features, which speed up workload. However, this is something that is picked up over time and doesn’t happen over night. I will continue to expand my digital design techniques as I progress on the course.

When I was briefed on message & delivery, I thought it was a strange subject to have to work towards, but then it became clear to me that as a designer, I must stay up to date with current public affairs and what is occurring around the world. Staying well informed will simply help me keep my work up to scratch and relevant.

The delivery aspect of this project wasn’t as easy for me, having picked quite a low-key story (Russell Brand BBC Newsnight Interview) I found myself struggling to find information relating to it. So I ventured further than the story itself. Looking into Brand’s current book ‘Revolution’ which is what the interview was supposed to be about, gave me an extensive insight into what Russell wanted to convey from the beginning of the interview before it was distorted by the question about 9/11. The word revolution set me off into a train of thought, so I decided to watch ‘V For Vendetta’ a movie from 2005 which is all about government corruption and revolution. Watching this helped me gather symbols of revolution that I could illustrate to use in my posters. In this case, it was the famous Guy Fawkes mask, also linked to the Anonymous ‘hacktivist’ group. I chose this because Brand is often pictured wearing one of these masks, more recently in a protest in the streets of greater London; called the ‘Million mask march’ this happened to be in fact a worldwide ritual. This is why I was prompted to use the Guy Fawkes mask in my designs.

To sum up, my time during this module has been interesting to say the least. Having such a wide palette of briefs and such little time to explore them has made me learn how fast passed the design process has to be. If I were to change anything I have done during this module it would be to spend more time researching, to ensure my final outcomes have substantial evidence to back them up, something in which I can work towards in future modules.

My outright favorite part of this project was having the chance to create my own typeface that can actually be applied into my own pieces of design. This gave me huge satisfaction to see the finished product printed and presented in a professional manor.