Module Evaluation

Strengths and weaknesses of the brief

A strength of the brief was having limited book choices - had we been asked to redesign a cover for any book we wanted to, I think I would have probably stayed within my comfort zone. By being forced to choose a book I didn't really have much interest in, I was forced to think more creatively to come up with a solution. It's also good practice for working post uni - in reality, as a graphic designer I will probably be given countless briefs I'm not super passionate about, however that is no excuse for not putting in 100% and producing the best work I can.

What Strategies and ideas used in creating imagery can you use in the future? What do you think are important considerations when creating imagery?

Although it was unsuccessful for this brief, my idea of appropriating imagery from school textbooks could work well in the future - not necessarily textbooks, but by showing a viewer something which is recognisable to them in a different context, this is a good was to pique interest.

Another technique is 'a smile in the mind'. I don't think I was able to achieve this in any of the work I created for this brief, however in the future it is something I will always consider when creating work.

What have you done differently? Have you taken enough risks in this project?

What stage in the design process do you find the easiest/hardest? Why?

I think I find the easiest stage to be researching other designers and analysing their work - I like figuring out what the designer was thinking when they made a piece, how they did it, and how I can apply similar process to my work.

I think the most difficult part of the process for this particular brief was coming up with a concept for the book cover - although I had loads of ideas at the start, none of them were particularly original and it took me a while to come up with a concept I was happy with.

Do you feel you have achieved your potential in this module? How can you improve? What has prevented you from doing your best? How can I address this in future modules?

It is always difficult for me to assess whether or not I have done my best as I am extremely harsh on myself. I am certainly proud of the work I have produced in this module, even though a lot of it is pretty ugly I was able to persevere despite feeling lost several times.

Have you used the facilities available to you?

Yes, although most of my work for this module was digital, I have used different paper stocks, scanners and many random objects found in our room such as string, plastic spoons etc.

Feedback

This module was difficult as it challenged my creative thinking more than my physical skills. It is fairly easy to create a piece of work which is trendy and aesthetically pleasing, but having a fully realised concept takes a lot of time, research and brain-storming. However, I enjoy being pushed to work harder and I think this module succeeded in doing this.

Workload

The workload was manageable for me, I just needed to accept that a lot of the process was going to be time consuming and plan accordingly. I think because I have already completed 2 modules this year, I now know what format they follow and know what to expect.