Self Evaluation

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN		LEVEL	04
Module Code	OUGD403
Module Title	DESIGN SKILLS

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME	Vanessa Cain

1.     What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? ·       I now know how to screen print in two-colour screen print. I have also experimented with different paints , for example I made metallic gold paint for Studio Brief 4 (speaking from experience) it all helped me understand the whole process much better. Overall, it made me realise how screen-printing can be so visually pleasing. I also know a lot more about of different paper stocks that I can use both in digital print and in screen print.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? As mentioned before, the strongest design production method I have developed is screen-printing. But I’ve also learnt how to work within a group and plan tasks for individuals, which has lead to a Typography blog… typeandeye.wordpress
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? I think my ‘speaking from experience’ outcome is my best and strongest outcome. As it was the last brief of the year, I wanted to try and incorporate all the things I have learnt over the year. I used screen print, book binding, InDesign skills, pagination, type skills. I have capitalised these by my outcome, which is a printed publication.  I can also say my strengths are time management, which has vastly improved over the year. Also I am not as stressed about giving myself a lot of work to do and try to complete it as best as I can, it’s amazing what you can accomplish within a week by focusing and committing fully.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? I think my weakness is my two colour Bruce Willis screen-print as I felt rushed it towards the end, because of busy printing slots. To address this I would re-visit and improve my old work and probably book printing slots well in advance. Also, still my biggest weaknesses would be confidence in my own work, which also affects my fear in presenting it.  I always want to improve my design work, as I never feel like it’s really finished, nor am I happy with what I produce!
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? Blog – Keeping up to date with uploading tasks and proof-reading my work Time Management – generally keeping up to date with briefs, balancing my time, not leaving things to the last minute! However, I do seem to work better under pressure. Be more confident - I will be more confident about my work, which will help me present it in crits better. Reflective over work – be more critical/self evaluative, ask for help, and try and try again. Be more experimental – experiment more and use different methods.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance					X
Punctuality					X
Motivation				X
Commitment				X
Quantity of work produced				X
Quality of work produced			X
Contribution to the group			X
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

Final Crit

Final Crit 

Today, I presented my final outcome in a group of 12 and Simon. I received positive feedback on my outcome. They liked the choice of stock and felt the gold screen-print gave it 'added luxury' which was the intended effect. Also, the choice of note and graph paper. Also, Simon suggested that I produce a couple of posters which fold up within the publication, which I will do. Everybody thought the, 'If in doubt, play table tennis. Come back in ten minutes would make a good poster. So I think I'll run with that idea. I left the crit feeling pretty happy with myself.. ha.

OUGD401: Content For My Publication

I began by researching women living in the 1960s. The aim of my book is to inform readers about women living during the 1960s. Below is my book content, some of which has been re-written. I will first begin with an introduction, followed by a small paragraph on 'The single Girl' (an independent women) followed by an example of a 'single girl' , Twiggy. Then I will go on into the fashion trends, mini-skirts and women wearing trousers. Finally I will finish on the greater freedom for women, which is good to conclude on.

Introduction

The 1960s featured a number of diverse trends. It was a decade that broke many fashion traditions, mirroring social movements during the time. In the middle of the decade, culottes, go-go boots, box-shaped PVC dresses and other PVC clothes were popular. The widely popular bikini came into fashion in 1963. Mary Quant invented the mini-skirt, and Jackie Kennedy introduced the pillbox hat, both becoming extremely popular. False eyelashes were worn by women throughout the 1960s, and their hairstyles were a variety of lengths and styles. 

The Single Girl

Fashion photography in the 1960s represented a new feminine ideal for women: the Single Girl. The Single Girl represented ‘movement’. She was young, single, active, and economically self-sufficient. Although the Single Girl was economically and socially self-sufficient, the ideal body form; that of the adolescent was difficult for many to achieve. Therefore, women were constrained by diet restrictions that seemed to contradict the sense of the empowered 1960s Single Girl. To the left is Jean Shrimpton a model who embodied the ‘single girl’.

Twiggy

Lesley Lawson widely known by the nickname Twiggy, is an English model, actress and singer. In the mid-1960s she became a prominent British teenage model of swinging sixties London. Twiggy was initially known for her thin build (thus her nickname) and her androgynous look consisting of large eyes, long eyelashes, and short hair. In 1966, she was named “The Face of 1966” by the Daily Express and voted British Woman of the Year. By 1967, Twiggy had modelled in France, Japan, and the U.S., and landed on the covers of Vogue and Tatler.  Her fame had spread worldwide.

Mini-Skirt

Mary Quant is a fashion designer and British fashion icon. She became an instrumental figure in the 1960s London-based Mod and youth fashion movements. The miniskirt, described as one of the defining fashions of the 1960s, is one of the garments most widely associated with Quant. 

Quant later said “It was the girls on the King’s Road who invented the mini. I was making easy, youthful, simple clothes, in which you could move, in which you could run and jump and we would make them the length the customer wanted. I wore them very short and the customers would say, ‘Shorter, shorter.’” She gave the miniskirt its name, naming it after her favourite make of car, the Mini. 

Rise of Pants for Women

The 1960s were an age for new fashion innovation for women. With it came the rise of women’s pants. Traditionally, pants had been viewed by western society as masculine. However, by the 1960s, it became acceptable for women to wear pants as well. Women loved pants because of their practicality, comfort and versatility. Women wore pants with tunics, shawls, and jackets. The women’s pants came in a variety of styles: narrow, wide, below the knee, above the ankle, and eventually mid thigh. These mid-thigh cut pants evolved around 1969, and became the modern shorts. By adapting men’s style and wearing pants, women voiced their equality to men.

Mods

Mod is a British youth subculture of the early to mid-1960s, focused on music and fashion, the subculture has its roots in a small group of London-based stylish young men in the late 1950s who were termed modernists because they listened to modern jazz.

Significant elements of the mod subculture include fashion (often tailor-made suits); music, and motor scooters (usually a Vespa) the original mod scene was associated with amphetamine-fuelled all-night dancing at clubs.  Female mods dressed androgynously, with short haircuts, men’s trousers or shirts, flat shoes, and little makeup — often just pale foundation, brown eye shadow, white or pale lipstick and false eyelashes.

Greater Freedom for Women 

The life of a woman before the 1960s, her life trapped in the home her entire life and discriminated against in the workplace. Then, the 1960s came along with it, the thought that women could have a say in their government, that they could perhaps leave the home without feeling guilty about leaving their children alone, and that they could receive a job and earn wages like men. 

The 1960s women gained new freedoms and advertisers began to recognise them as a target market as a result. The economic boom of the 1960s,  gave young women the opportunity to build up career if they so wished. Also a rise of women entering higher education, broadened their horizons and eventually evolved into the Women’s Liberation Movement

Speaking from Experience Brief

Speaking from Experience

Brief

Starting the Graphic Design course at LCA can be daunting. The fast past schedule, and multiple briefs can be tough, and many students struggle with their time management. The task is to design and produce a publication that will inform and educate the first years about time management and hints and tips on Graphic Design at LCA.

Mandatory requirements

·      Digitally printed publication.

·      Informing the reader with the correct tone of voice.

·      Deliverables

·      Thumbnails

·      Design sheets

·      Final publication

Speaking from Experience/Content

Book Content

Below is all my book content for my 'speaking from experience' publication on how to build a rock-solid routine, a list of blogs, definitions of our blogs, what is a crit? as well as a graphic design glossary.

Building a rock-solid routine

Great work before everything else

 Do your most meaningful creative work at the beginning of your day, and leave ‘reactive work’ – like responding to emails, blogging for later on in the day.

Jump-start your creativity 

Establish ‘associative triggers’ – such as listening to the same music or arranging your desk in a certain way- that tell your mind it’s time to get down to work.

Feel the frequency

 Commit to working on your project at consistent intervals – ideally everyday- to build creative muscle and momentum over time.

Pulse and pause 

Move rhythmically between spending and renewing your energy by working in ninety-minute bursts and then taking a break.

Get Lonely 

Make a point of spending some time alone each day. It’s a way to observe unproductive habits and thought processes, and to calm your mind.

Don't wait for moods 

Show up, whether you feel inspired or not.

Useful Blogs

Aisle One                                                   www.aisleone.net

Behance                                                    www.behance.net

Creative Bloq                                      www.creativebloq.com

Creative Review                              www.creativereview.co.uk

Designspiration                                 www.designspiration.net

Design Milk                                           www.designmilk.com

Experimental Jetset                      www.experimentaljetset.net

Font Smith                                                www.fontsmith.com

It’s Nice That                                          www.itsnicethat.com

I Love Typography                         www.ilovetypography.com

Infographics                                  www.loveinfographics.com

Information is beautiful            www.informationisbeautiful.net

Typography Served                    www.typographyserved.com

Typographica                                     www.typographica.org

Our blogs

PPP

PPP is everything to do with your Personal and Professional Practice, which is everything from PPP tasks through to module and project evaluations, exhibitions visits, networking, work experience etc.

Design Context Blog

Design Context is any/all the research you do for a brief. This is the place to post other designers work to analyse. It is also where you blog your lecture notes and Context of Practice tasks.

Design Practice Blog

This blog is dedicated entirely to your own work and group work. Anything you have produced or is your own goes onto this blog.

What is a crit? 

A crit is where you present your work to your group in order to receive helpful feedback, and any suggestions on improving your design work. There are two types of crit:

Interim Crit

An interim crit is halfway between briefing and the deadline. You don’t need a final idea or outcome. Just bring along thumbnail sketches and perhaps a rough mock-up of your idea. The interim crit allows you to present current thoughts and ideas, and receive helpful feedback on which idea to go with.

Final Crit

The final crit is where you present your finished outcome, so make sure your prepared! It is absolutely essential to bring your final outcome with you and that it fits in the guidelines of the brief. Unlike the interim crit, you will be receiving feedback on your final outcome and the  development behind it.

Glossary

Alignment

A term used to refer to the proper positioning of all typefaces and size variations along an imaginary reference line.

Ascender

The part of a lowercase letter, which rises above the main body, as in the letters “b”, “d”, “h”, and “k”.

Baseline

An invisible horizontal line on which the feet of all characters on a line of type are set, used for proper alignment of type.

Bleed

A printed image that extends beyond one or more of the finished page margins and is later trimmed so that the image “bleeds” off the edge of the sheet.

Body Text

The main portion of a book or other document, excluding front matter and back matter

Cap-Height

In typography, the distance from the baseline to the top of the capital letters.

Character

Any letter, figure, punctuation, symbol or space.

Colour swatch

A sample of a specific colour, either printed or stored digitally, used to describe a particular printing ink or combination of printing ink colours.

Crop-Marks

Lines drawn or printed on a photograph, overlay, or printed product to indicate the proper cropping of the image or print in question.

Font

In typography, a set of all characters in a typeface.

Gutter

In typography, the term refers to the space between columns of type,  usually determined by the number and width of columns and the overall width of the area to be filled.

Kerning

In typography, the reduction of letter-spacing between certain character combinations in order to reduce the space between them, performed for aesthetic reasons.

Negative Space

In design, the space not occupied by the text or images.

Palette

The collection of colours or shades available or used in a project, graphic system, or program.

Pantone

A brand-name for a popular colour matching system, or series of printed colour swatches used to match, specify, identify, and display specific colours or coloured ink,

ombinations

Pixel

Shorthand term for picture element, or the smallest point or dot on a computer monitor.

Sans-serif

In typography, characters (or typefaces) without serifs, which are lines crossing the free end of the stroke. “Sans serif” means “without serif”.

Serif

In typography, an all-inclusive term for characters that have a line crossing the free end of a stroke. The term serif refers to both that finishing line and to characters and typefaces that have them.

Tracking

In typography, the adjusting of the letter-spacing throughout a piece of typeset copy.

Typeface

In typography, a specific variation within a type family, such as roman, italic, bold, etc.

Weight

In typography, the lightness or darkness in print of a particular typeface, based upon its design and thickness of line.