OUGD303 Evaluation

Natalie Jackson

OUGD303

Evaluation

Throughout this module, I have found that organisation skills have been critical in order to get the work done on time and to a good quality. Although I have struggled to keep up with my own deadlines, I have managed to get my work done to a satisfactory standard.

I have found that all my briefs ran over the deadline I set myself, and as a consequence, I felt stressed and panicked when coming to finishing the briefs.

If I was doing this module again, I would make sure to set out  a week and day by day plan, so I know exactly where I am and what I am doing, as I found that I wasn’t giving a brief 100% of my attention, as I was mixing them about due to late starting and getting tired of a brief.

However, I have learnt a lot from the briefs I have set myself and thoroughly enjoyed the initial designing and concepts.

For my first brief, I was really excited to get started as I organised exactly what it was I was looking into, and set myself limitations, with a culture and a theme. The problem I had with this brief was not making my decisions quick enough, and the yearbook brief took over the majority of my time, which meant I didn’t completely finish this brief like I wanted. I learnt a lot with this brief, in regards to packaging and looking into japanese design. I liked the idea of mixing an english picnic with japanese food food packaging, as this really stands out in that culture.

I would have liked to produce a few more deliverables, such as bunting (for the event), cheese board, with the design cut into the wood, labels and a larger range of packaging, for children/men/women/different operas.

My second brief took me a while to get the ball rolling, as I struggled with illustration designs and staying clear of the original Beatrix Potter illustrations. I went down the line of using type as image, but decided that this type of design wouldn’t be of interest to children 5-8. I designed simple characters, and by using a water colour effect on the designs, I was able to keep a vintage feel, which is something I wanted to keep. I would like to perfect this brief more as there are still pieces missing from the project and areas that I want to develop.

The Madness revive albums started to become an exciting brief once I had come up with the illustrations for the covers, by using a song - from that particular album - as inspiration, whether it be a song lyric or the name. I should have done a range of albums using different colours and package design to make them a bit more exciting and ‘mad’. The fez was a later idea, as I wanted something that Madness fans would appreciate, and quite ‘out there’. I should have experimented and researched bespoke packaging more, as making the fez took a lot of time, and there might have been a better solution.

My one day brief is the project I am not happy about. I left it very late and I still had projects that were unfinished and it took a back seat. I had already designed the Burlesque poster, but I should have done much more research into burlesque dancers and events. I would like to develop the brief much more, designing the full burlesque party event.

Finally the yearbook. This was the brief that ran on throughout the module and was very time consuming. From the beginning of the brief to the end, we met up with the yearbook team at least once a week to make sure they were happy with the design and layout. Looking back, I think we met up far too often, and we spent far too much time trying to perfect the book too early on. We also had a member leave the group part way through, which put a bit of a strain on the group, however, we managed to keep enthusiastic in meetings and kept the fine art team on our side. I am very pleased with the overall book and flyers and how we worked as a team. I was also impressed with myself, as I was mainly presenting the work in front of the client and organising meetings and being the point of contact, which I didn’t think I would ever do.

Overall, I have found that my time management still needs improving and decision making, but I have also felt that I have learnt something different with each brief, which has developed my skills in design and myself as a designer.