Throughout this module I feel my research skills have developed considerably as both of the major projects during this period have required comprehensive, appropriate investigation into the subject in order to inform my viewpoint before answering the brief.
The group brief involved researching into local transport around Leeds city centre, more specifically cycling, which was something nobody in our team had any in depth knowledge of and so we learnt how to analyse what we had collected and subsequently identify a problem which we then set about solving.
In contrast, for the Collection 100 brief, we were given freedom in terms of selecting the direction for the project. As it was a lengthy six-week brief we were advised to select a theme that would hold our interest for the duration, I chose travel and began by asking people for their favourite places. I immediately had ideas about what I wanted to produce but I was also conscious of making sure that my product was different to previous design work that was related to travel. As a result all research that I collected was carefully considered and constantly shaped the design process and I feel this is evident in terms of what I have produced.
As my Photoshop and Illustrator skills have advanced, they have allowed me to create quick visual variations on my products, which has helped me to develop and refine my project throughout the six weeks. This has particularly helped as we were required to produce one hundred final pieces or one hundred parts to a final piece.
2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
I feel I have gained a much better understanding of what real research is and how it is meant to be used. If the research can properly inform you about a subject then it will give you a much better chance of being able to develop a solution to a problem.
The process of accumulating research and then processing and categorising it in different ways really helped me to break down subjects and identify specific problems that I could address through my designs.
For my research into world cities I had to try and make sure that the information I collected on issues such as population and time zones for example was as accurate as possible because in terms of internet research there would be multiple answers in return for one search. As a result most of my factual statistics that I gathered were from detailed, comprehensive atlas’ as this ensured all data was coming from one consistent source even though the book itself may be two years old. In terms of population specifically, it is almost impossible to get accurate figures from every country as some have many more records than others in relation to how developed the country is. One of the most successful parts of my collection 100 was the co-ordinates of the cities that I was researching into. I feel this is because they are very accurate as they give a precise figure for a specific location, which gave a very pleasing visual consistency. Furthermore those numbers gave points that could be plotted and patterns that could be developed for example which helped to further my design work.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
The strengths of my work across this module include my visual consistency and attention to detail as well as the simplicity of my products.
I feel that the design consistency and quality of the collection 100 postcards has been successful and I finished with a well-researched and well-rounded product. I enjoy trying to establish a visual consistency to my work so that it communicates clearly and effectively with the intended target audience which I had identified through my research.
I always aim to ensure that each detail is well informed and carefully considered at every stage of the designing process as to give a quality feel to my work. A more concentrated effort on areas such as layout and stock choice have helped develop my work further than before as these can be fairly subtle changes that end up making a large difference to the look and feel of a product.
Another strength I think I have developed more is that of communicating a message to an audience whilst retaining a good simplicity to my work. For example in my collection 100 brief, once I had decided on what I wanted to communicate and how, I set about creating a template or production method which I could then apply to all one hundred cities and then I used hue changes and slight layout alterations to the typography to break up the designs slightly.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?
In terms of a main weakness, I think sometimes I don’t step back enough from my work and attempt to view it from the intended audiences perspective. When developing a project such as the collection 100 over a period of six weeks it is very easy to get absorbed in your work and not realise that your product would not make sense too someone unless you explained it. To address this I believe I would benefit from just asking different people in the class on a daily basis what they think of my work and seeing if they can make sense of it by themselves.
I am also conscious of my work becoming a little clinical. I feel that due to the nature of the briefs in this module it has been difficult to undertake more labour intensive manual processes such as hand drawn illustration or printmaking for example. In response, for the next module I intend to try and incorporate such techniques more often to challenge my creative capabilities further even if work is required to be produced on a larger scale.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
Next time I must ensure that I document and present all of the research I undertake as sometimes I feel this doesn’t come across at the end of the project. Often small pieces of information that build up throughout the project aren’t kept together properly and so may not show the effort actually undertaken.
I will try to apply more manually labour intensive techniques back into my work as I feel I have recently relied on the digital side of my skills a little too much - even though this has been appropriate for the briefs, I would like to get back to some hand drawn design work.
I also need to make sure it is obvious where my designs are coming from and where key decisions have been made during each project as when it comes to submission I think my sketchbook for example doesn't clearly show my thoughts and decision processes.
I intend to build further on the researching skills developed in this module so that I get into the habit of thoroughly informing myself upon every brief that I work on, continuing the process of collecting, categorising and communicating.
Finally I also need to push myself to be clearer on the intended audience for my products earlier on in the briefs as I tend to be a little vague as I try to decide what to do and who to target. In the long run this should help me gain a clearer direction for my work earlier in the project.
6.
Attendance:5
Punctuation:5
Motivation:4
Commitment:4
Quantity of work:3
Quality of work:4
Contribution to the group:4
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