OUGD404// Self Evaluation

1.  What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?


I now understand colour theory in greater depth and it has helped me when designing to pick colours that look good together.  I feel that my knowledge of typography has developed greatly since the beginning of the module aswell, before I knew much about using type mixed with image I tended to shy away from it because it was foreign to me.  


2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?


The type and grid tasks were really interesting, as we were shown how to measure type, scale down layouts and re-design layouts.  I'm happy with my final layout as it was produced on inDesign, something I have barely used in the past so I feel that I have gained a new skill from this.  When we were given the opportunity to use the photography studios, I really enjoyed it however the photo's I took in the time we were there weren't great, I was experimenting with aperture, exposure and lighting, things that I would never have thought to do without instruction.


3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?


I am pleased with the overall collection from my 'What is a line' project, I think this is because I produced a few different items and in a range of colours so it looks more realistic and professional.  In future I will consider this when designing and try to design more than one thing as a range of things tends to look better.  


4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?


I feel that I could have done more research into the anatomy of type but I intend to carry on learning about these things that we were taught in seminars.  I'm disappointed that in the end I didn't design very much imagery for my 'What is a line?' project, but I tried to keep all the designs simple and linked to each other, the same goes for my Hot-dog design.  In the future I want to design more initial imagery and then have more to choose from.  I think that recently I have gotten better at managing my time but at the beginning of the year I was awful at it and I intend to carry on addressing this with the full and busy weeks to come.


5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

• Next time I will complete tasks when given them and this will help the information process better and also will avoid any last-minute stress.
• Do more design sheets at the beginning of the brief - this will help to generate more idea's and give me more to work with.
• Take better more detailed notes in seminars to help my understanding of what is being taught.
• Experiment with different stock, this will change the look of my outcomes and perhaps make them look more professional.
• Book print slots in advance to avoid last minute printing in the mac suite and generally organise myself better.