Evaluation — OUGD505

OUGD505 Evaluation

Having just completed a COP module, I felt that this module was going to be much similar focusing on a large amount of conceptual research as well as design. The result seems that way, informing the design decisions on subjects outside of design has opened me up to some new idea generation techniques and ways of thinking.

Studio brief 01 was a good warmup to the second brief of this module. Basing the banknotes heavily on conceptual idea’s meant that the design stage was to be informed by the journey rather than any visual influences. Having been stuck at an early stage to think of something that would be interesting for me was the only problems faced throughout this brief. Opting to create a currency for Mars was a great opportunity to inform myself of something I am interested in; astronomy. Figuring out what to base the notes on was the main aspect of the design, choosing the mountainous landscapes of the Martian terrain was due to the sheer scale of them in comparison to Earth’s. When this was brought up in a crit, people liked that the design had been more informed by the conceptual approach rather than design.

Using analogue methods allowed me to step away from the computer and get my hands dirty. This brief was a massive benefit for me in terms of gaining confidence in the screen print room, to which led me to textile printing in studio brief 02.

The first aspect of the second brief was to gather many different sources of conceptual research that relates to the chosen area of study. So, just like COP, this brief was a 50/50 conceptual/design approach. This was good news for me after receiving feedback for my Responsive module, I fail to explore research outside of the design field and this is reflected in the work. However, with this module I feel I have cracked the conceptual approach of research in terms of informing the design more effectively.

The early stages of this brief were a slight struggle in terms of establishing a solid idea to base the work on. This seems to be some sort of a creative block that I need to figure out how to surpass in a reasonable amount of time ready for Level 6, enabling me to spend more time on the aspects of the project that really matter. Initially opting to explore issues within 21st century copyright quickly shown itself to be a poor choice as idea generation for this subject was far too slow. It was clear that a change was needed, so I began looking to collaborate, this is because the content of the outcomes did not have to be generated by ourselves, so collaborating with someone who had the content addressed this issue. This idea also came about due to wanting to gain better communication skills in terms of interdisciplinary collaboration. Understanding what it takes to work with people outside of my own course seemed a vital aspect of my growth for the future and is knowledge that will no doubt be required in the working world.

Due to this brief being called ‘Product, Range & Distribution’, it was clear that many different outcomes needed to be produced, this is to supply a successful message and also allows for the identifying of issues that can arise when multiple media approaches are considered for a conceptually project such as this. Due to this, I wanted to avoid using a computer to ‘mock-up’ final outcomes unless it was completely necessary. This allowed me to better gauge what may be considered as restrictions if the products were to go into production, however, keeping the products fairly simple to reproduce using other means of production such as lithography for the zine and a more streamlined fabric screen printing set-up.

Overall, this module has really helped me get to grips with designing for with the conceptual aspect of the idea in mind rather than using solely, visual means of inspiration. Informing my design in the future will always follow a similar pattern to this module, it has helped the outcomes be produced with the target audience and recognise where restrictions may arise when producing outcomes.