DESIGN PRODUCTION//SELF EVALUATION//OUGD504

OUGD504 SELF EVALUATION

For me, I feel like this has been the most significant module so far in terms of developing new skills and gaining a better understand of graphic design as a subject.  I have achieved things in this module that I didn't think I would of been able to before starting 504, such as coding my own website.  For me this is something that, after having no experience or web design background, and now understanding the basics of Dreamweaver,  feel I can develop later on.  This module allowed me to go and experiment with new techniques and processes such as embossing, screen printing and laser cutting which I hadn't explored in the first year.  This has been encouraging in terms of my practice as I now feel more confident in those areas, also getting different results rather than purely digital print based design broadens my range of design work. 

methods:I think 'design for print' was a good way of allowing me to understand the print processes and areas of graphic design I knew hardly anything about.  In this brief I used inDesign to create my print manual, which I had never used properly before, and didn't like the idea of.  However, whilst creating my book I found myself picking it up quite easily and after binding my book and seeing it in printed format I now feel i have more confidence to use inDesign and other Adobe programmes rather than restricting myself to illustrator just because I am most comfortable with it.  I 

I feel in terms of my research I have broadened my sources, for 'A history of' I did a lot of primary research and used the library throughout the module to aid me through the research and development stages.  In this module I feel I have been put out of my comfort zone, which in hindsight has definitely been beneficial for my practice, in terms of presenting and trying new techniques.  I was pleased with the way my website came together, even though it seems quite basic in terms of skills, purely because I had never done something like that before.  Putting my stop motion I made for 'A history if' on it made me feel like it was something i'd put together myself.  With this module I found that choosing a brief you were interested in is definitely something worthwhile, especially if it is spread out over a number of weeks, this was the case for ISTD.  I'm glad I rewrote the brief to suit my interests as I was constantly engaged in the development and design and the progress crit really helped me extend my idea and explore further possibilities.

Reflecting on what I have achieved over this module, I would say I'm fairly happy with the final outcomes.  I recognise that there are some things I should of done differently and working on my time management skills is something that stands out.  I feel at the start of the module things felt considerably more relaxed than what I eventually realised, and so because of that I felt like I had a lot to do towards the end.  The Christmas holidays had an impact on my work load and so january felt like I had a lot of catching up to do.  I found that not only do I need to start the brief quicker but leaving it later shortens your time to experiment with processes and print successfully.  Another thing that I recognise I need to improve on are my presentation skills, I felt like this module has made me slightly more comfortable talking in front of people about my work, however, I still need to get comfortable with the idea of talking about my work to a large group of people.  I have found that with this module I have had more independent input with tutors which I feel has really developed my ideas and final outcomes, I need to be more confident in asking about specific design directions to ensure I get the best out of my final outcomes in the future.  Time management is something that definitely impacts on the quality of my final outcome, I hate having to rush things towards the end as I feel all the build up work towards it is wasted if the final outcome isn't as explored, developed and successfully resolved because of lack of time.  This is something I intend to resolve for the next module.  Overall I'm happy with the progress and transition I have made from the end of first year to the start of second year and feel I have tried and tested different processes, techniques and have improved my work ethic.

WHAT IS DESIGN FOR PRINT?//PHOTOGRAPHS OF FINAL BOOK//OUGD504

PRINTED AND BOUND PRINT MANUAL:

DESIGN FOR PRINT AND WEB//DESIGN BOARDS//OUGD504

DESIGN/PRESENTATION BOARDS:
I made some changes to my presentation boards after the final crit, these are the improved versions

DESIGNING FOR WEB//PRESENTATION BOARDS//OUGD504

PRESENTATION BOARDS FOR WEB DESIGN:

DESIGNING FOR WEB//FINAL WEBSITE SHOTS//OUGD504

FINAL WEBSITE:

These are the screen shots of the pages of my final website

HISTORY PAGE:

HOMEPAGE:

CULTURE PAGE:

TEA PAGE:

ROLLOVER IMAGE:

MAKING TEA PAGE:

WHAT IS DESIGN FOR PRINT?//BINDING//OUGD504

BINDING MY PRINT MANUAL:
I decided I wanted to bind my book japanese stab stitch binding, I thought this would look quite good with the size and style of my print manual.  I looked online for some tutorials that offered help with the process and followed the steps. 
To bind my book I used clips, a ruler and some card, a compass and a needle and thread:

I found it quite easy to get the hang of, the only real problem was I had quite a lot of pages so sometimes trying to thread the needle through more than half the book could be quite difficult.

 I think for a first attempt at binding it came out successfully. I feel like next time it'll be a lot quicker as I now know the process:

WHAT IS DESIGN FOR PRINT?//DESIGN BOARDS//OUGD504

PRINT MANUAL BOARDS
These are my boards for the print manual I created:

DESIGN FOR PRINT AND WEB//FINAL PRODUCTS//OUGD504

FINAL PRODUCTS DESIGNED:
These are the final products I created for rebranding London Sixties Week, these products included:

• posters
• key rings
• post cards
• business cards
• tee shirts
• bags
• clothing labels
• stickers and package wrapping

RESPONSIVE//UK GREETINGS//CARD DEVELOPMENT//OUGD503

DEVELOPMENT:

Logo:
As part of the brief we had to come up with a logo for our range of cards, after looking at some designs I've learnt that the simple ones work the best.  I thought a black and white logo could then be applied to a range of cards no matter what design or stock the card was.  In terms of design its quite simple but I feel this can then be applied to a range without disturbing the design of the card.  The basic card drawing dividing the word 'greetings' into two also allows it to be read as greet.  I think the serif font is appropriate for a card range as its seen as more classical.

VALENTINES RANGE:

After making the first set of Beatles Birthday cards I decided to keep it consistent with the musical influence and the Beatles by making a valentines range with the Beatles lyrics on the cards.  After looking around card shops such as Paperchase, a lot of cards focused on type and I think if you print on good quality stock, which is what most of the ones of higher end quality do it'll change the feel and quality of the card.

I decided to focus mainly on type for this range, with a hand drawn style heart illustration:

FINALS: