OUGD504 - End of Module Evaluation

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN		LEVEL	05
Module Code	OUGD504
Module Title	Design Production

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME	Joe Leadbeater

1.  What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? I have learnt how to screen print – something I haven’t even done before. I felt I have gained complete confidence in not just the process of screen printing, but also a huge variety of finishing methods. Learning how to code a website – Again, something I hadn’t even touched before this module. I feel that I now have a new found confidence in create a fixed website. I have learnt much more about layout and grid, and feel that the use of a baseline grid system has allowed me to line my work up perfectly.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? As mentioned above, screen printing, with it’s different finishing methods. Vinyl stickers – These were used in my Design For Print & Web. I’ve found these to be quite difficult to work with, due to my design. I now know in the future that vinyl stickers can be hard to apply perfectly, unless you are just cutting out one piece. During my research stages, I learnt how to lino cut and lino print. Although I did not use this with my finalised designs, I’m still happy I learnt how to do it. I learnt how to perfect bind – As the most common form of binding, I am happy to have learnt to do this. I also learnt how to take pack shots of my finished products – This will help with presenting my work for assessment, and also to create a more polished portfolio.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? I feel I am now able to construct an appropriate and vivid identity. I also feel that I have learnt a lot about mocking up different products, which I think will help hugely in the future. My use of layout and grid has vastly improved, as well as my approach to applying typography. I have learnt much more about how type should be kerned or tracked, as well as ways choices about different point sizes. I have also realised that screen printing is much less intimidating than I first imagined, and think that it is now a strong point of mine. Now I am much more confident with the entire process, it means I can produce work much quicker. I feel that I am much more confident in print in general. Both vinyl and screen printing have been new to me, and I feel that I have learnt from plenty of mistakes, of how they could be applied. I am also extremely impressed with the amount of work I produced for ‘Design For Print & Web’. I only spent 2 weeks of designing on the project, and produced a huge variety of products that fitted my brand. Branding was something I had very little experience in before this project, and I definitely think I have much more confidence and ability in branding. Adjusting to 2nd year – I think the way in which the year has been set up, with longer briefs, was initially a challenge. I feel that I have learnt how to cope with this, and learnt to produce an appropriate amount of work.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? Time management – My ‘Design For Print’ book did not arrive for assessment. Although the delivery was meant to come in time by 3 or 4 days, and I was unlucky, I feel this still could have been avoided. If I finalised and sent the book off a few weeks before hand, I would not have had this issue. I have also learnt that it may be better to not use ‘Peecho’ in the future, and stick to other sources. Organisation – As I am not used to projects being so long, I think I have lost quite a few design sheets, which had to be re-done. In the future, I intend to organise my work into folders at the time, and keep them in a safe place. Craft Skills – Something which will get better with time. The binding for my Design For Print Reference book wasn’t as perfect as I wanted. Not producing enough design sheets – I think that at the early stages of my briefs I often jump into working digitally. Although my drawing skills are much to desire, I think it would be better in the future to produce further design sheets.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? Organise my work – Keep my work all in the same place, and make sure it’s kept in a good state. Produce more initial design sheets – This will help me gain strong concepts, as I would have more ideas to evaluate before developing. Manage my time better – Prepare work for print with much more margin for error. This will stop me getting so stressed. Book print slots earlier on – I had to use drop in, which I was lucky with. In the future I will book print slots, allowing more time for error. Photograph all my projects well – After seeing how my Design For Print & Web photos came out, I think I will definitely take good photos of my work. If I have spent a long time working hard on my work, it’s vital to show it off with high resolution and well produced photos.
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.