OUGD203 Evaluation

Over the course of this module I feel I have discovered a great deal about myself as a graphic designer and also obtained a much clearer view of what I wish to achieve looking towards the final year of my degree. After the preceding digital module, I was keen to get back to more hand rendered methods of working yet I was conscious of striking a balance between this aspect and digital methods. I also wanted to get back to designing mainly for print which I can now say more firmly is my main focus. I love putting together quality pieces of print, from publications to poster art, particularly paying attention to detail in typography, editorial and layout and combining it with my skills in image-making.

With regards to the YCN brief, It seemed to come just at the right time during the year for me as I was genuinely looking forward to working collaboratively again on a brief. Myself and Sarah had a great working relationship from the start and this was cemented by the fact we both had similar interests in terms of selecting a brief as well as the direction in which we wanted to take it. From previous collaborations I had learnt it's important to work closely with your partner but you can't stand over each other whilst designing. It's essential to have space and freedom to get on with the job in hand but then to maintain a constant stream of consultation of decisions that need to be made. This was evident in the manner in which we worked, as for the Fedrigoni brief we created a two part solution - a direct mail piece and a paper website - and Sarah worked mainly on the former and myself on the latter. I really enjoyed the brief overall and actually found myself pushing for a more experimental approach through the paper installation which was then turned into the paper website. This was something that was traditionally more outside of my comfort zone but I was very pleased with the resolved outcome.

The Product/Range/Distribution brief was quite a strange period in the module for me. It tended to be very stop-start with most things seeming to be a real struggle which hindered my progress early on. I think this was mainly due to this being the first brief that was more self directed and I was probably nervous of trying to hard to get it right first time. After my progress tutorial I realised I needed to work out much more specifically the direction I wanted to take the project, although not achieving that up until that point wasn't due to a lack of effort. In the remaining weeks I feel I managed a strong finish to the brief which resulted in me creating a range of resolutions that I felt proud of and did reflect some of what I wanted to achieve when writing the brief itself.

Looking ahead to the summer and into the third and final year, after completing OUGD203 I think I have a much better understanding of how to write and tackle my own briefs and also how to direct myself in such a way as to make sure I produce that reflects me and my personality as a designer which will subsequently boost my portfolio. I am also able to describe what type of designer I am and what I enjoy much more clearly which will help me to pitch myself when it comes to working collaboratively again in the future. Finally, I feel progress has been made with regards to me very regularly seeking opinions and feedback on my work from my peers outside of crits and my documentation and design development capabilities have been pushed much more all of which I hope will enable me to take on the final year and be successful.

Attendance: 5
Punctuality: 5
Motivation: 4
Commitment: 5
Quantity of work: 3
Quality of work: 4

Contribution to the group: 5

Urban Oasis - Final Boards

Open publication - Free publishing - More boards

Im really pleased with the final presentation boards. Im always nervous of not showing off what I've produced to the best that it can be but I think these look quite professional and clearly show the brief and resolutions.

Ad shell vector for poster work

With time fast running out as the deadline is coming up, I hadn't as yet been able to get any photos of my posters in context so I've done the next best thing. I pictured my poster series being placed in advertising shells in bus and train stations as well as ones dotted around the city centre. Below I took a snap of one in a bus shelter which I've then vectorised down and placed my poster design into it.

I'm really pleased with the vector as I don't usually mock things up in this way but it gives a really clean image which should look good on the presentation boards.

Urban Oasis - Photographing of Passholder and Map

In order to show off the smaller products in my range to their best on the final presentation boards, I borrowed an SLR camera from the Photography department and asked Hazel to help out by holding the products.

I'm actually really pleased with the results, I think in particular the map looks great when the detail in the duotone images and the type is picked out in focus.

Urban Oasis - Final Passholder and Map production

I've now printed out everything for my final pass-holder and informative map - just need to get them made up and photographed, ready to put onto the final presentation boards. To give consistency with the posters, I have also printed these products on newsprint stock and the ink seems to lay really well upon it. Im pleasantly surprised by how good the duotone images look on the fold-out map.

Urban Oasis - Map/Info Fold-Out Final Artwork

Finished designs for the front and back of my informative, fold-out map. I've restricted the colour palette to the green, grey and black that has been used on everything else so far to maintain a consistency to keep the products looking like they belong to the same range.

Urban Oasis - Directional Stickers

To supplement the poster series that would be placed around Leeds, I have developed some simple, directional stickers that could be stuck to lampposts, flyposting walls, bins and railings etc to help guide the audience to the Urban Oasis locations. They follow the same colourscheme of grey, green and black so that they are easily identifiable to people who are familiar to the project whilst they are simple enough to understand for those that aren't. 

They follow the same colourscheme of grey, green and black so that they are easily identifiable to people who are familiar to the project whilst they are simple enough to understand for those that aren't.

Urban Oasis - Map/Info Fold-Out Reverse Development

I'm applying the poster artwork to the reverse of the map as it keeps consistency and is another chance to use it seeing as the hand rendered type was something that took me quite a while to develop.

Urban Oasis - Map/Info Fold-Out Development

I figured out the format and folds of this info map a while ago but it has taken me a while to get around to applying the actual design to it. I want it to be able to work as a stand alone piece that can explain the concept of the project to somebody who is interacting with it for the first time. It therefore needs to be clear and concise, logically laid out and presented in an appropriate format.