PPP Presentation Questions/Answers

What have you/ want to learn/ed?  


I can't believe how quickly this year has gone but at the same time it feels like we've been here forever.  Throughout the year I've learned many new skills, mostly are computer aided as I'd never used InDesign or Illustrator in the past.  The Workshops I have enjoyed learning about the most are screen-print because I think it's an interesting process and you can produce some really diverse prints and completely simple prints but whatever, it usually looks good when screen-printed.  Another workshop I enjoyed was laser cutting.  Even though I'm really interested in print-based work, I think it's great to have a go at something else as it gives you completely different outcomes and effects.  Hahaha, for example my wooden potato fridge magnet, could have been better but I was just happy to experiment really.

What mistakes have you made?

One of the questions we had to answer was 'what mistakes have you made this year?' well I feel like I've made loads, but looking back over my work, the thing that sticks out the most to me was that mailshot brief.  I don't know what I was thinking, it was awful.

What are your strengths?

Something that I really feel that I've achieved from this year, you might agree with me, is the generation of idea's, which is something I tend to forget about now because it doesn't seem like a big deal.  I remember Fred saying 'Don't just sit and wait for inspiration to come.'  Also the sessions with Amber when we had to generate 50 different solutions or something helped greatly even though at the time it was a bit tedious.

Another thing that has improved this year is definitely my time management, it's definitely not great but its much better.  Back in foundation I never could get anything finished and I'm really happy I've left that behind.  This year has definitely taught me to just get on with it.  I've got a few of my sketchbooks here from foundation to show you the difference from then and now.  I used to constantly be doing sketchbooks, I really enjoyed it aswell, but somehow I seemed to confine my work to books only which was a bit of a dead end.  Through the use of design sheets and blogging my design process is much better and I've finally churned out some decent final outcomes.

I enjoy working on projects that have a longer time schedule.  I think I'm a designer who has to understand a lot about the given brief in order for it to be successful, and to get to know something well it takes time.  

A project I thoroughly enjoyed was the '100 things' project as I designed it all around something I really love - festivals and I'm really passionate about music too so that was really important for me to include that.  This is an area which I would absolutely love to work in when I'm graduated, designing things like festival line up posters, flyers, wristbands, t-shirts and maybe even websites.

Here is a picture of my friend Glen sporting a few of the designs from the 100 Things Project, kinda cheesy.

A picture of the poster I designed in my geeky graphicy bedroom:

The other brief I enjoyed was 'What is a line?' I think it's better when you're designing sets of things instead of just one product because they tend to look good together.

What I'm looking forward to:

I've heard that in the second year we're doing a motion graphics project or something along those lines.  I'm really interesting in animation, I've got a video to show you that spurred my interest within this area... I'll play you a small clip to show you what I mean, you might find that you're interested aswell.

Also one of the illustrators I keep banging on about to everyone, Julia Pott is an animator aswell and I find her work really interesting.

What did you want from first year?

5 things I want to learn while studying on the program:

1. On the course I really want to improve my knowledge of software that is available for us to use as mixing CAD with hand-made, I think looks great.
2. I want to know what's going on out in the real world, and be able to match the standard, if not better, the other graphic designers out there.
3. I'm looking forward to learning more about typography as it isn't one of my strongest points.
4. I'd love to become more eloquent when presenting work and even when writing.
5. I can't wait to learn more about screen printing and other techniques of printing that is offered to us.

I'd just like to end this presentation with my favourite picture from this year:

End of Module Self Evaluation// OUGD402

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


The Personal Professional Practice Module has helped me greatly with lots of things, for example time management issues, I can definitely plan my time more effectively now by using timetables and to-do lists, however there is still room for improvement.  I do feel that when I am working now, I use my time more effectively, avoiding distractions more easily.  This module with all it's tasks has helped my understanding of graphic design within a broader context.  I have discovered more about branding/identity/packaging/promotion and I have developed a real interest in packaging design.


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


For the 'Speaking From Experience' module, I was pleased that I finally used the laser cutter to create a wooden fridge magnet design.  I now feel confident that I could go and use it again and again without any problems therefore I will be able to produce alternative outcomes to just print-based work.

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

The 'Who Are You' brief was good because we were designing a spread for someone else and as it was to reflect their interests within graphic design it meant I had to branch out and design something a bit different from what I normally would.  I think the design I created reflects my partner's answers to the interview questions well.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?


I enjoyed the 'Speaking from Experience' brief from the beginning and couldn't wait to get started, however other modules took a higher priority which meant I didn't start the final designs in time to achieve the finished result I would have liked.  In the future I will consider the whole workload and not just the module that is due in first.
5. Identify 5 things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

• I will book print/laser slots in advance to avoid disappointment and this will also help me to have the final outcomes I desire.
• I will try designing more than one of my initial design idea's first to see what they look like before just going full steam ahead with one design idea.  This will hopefully result in more informed and developed designs.
• I will blog all tasks as I complete them, this will mean I'm not looking back to find images/tasks from months ago.
• After the summer I will be living with only one other designer and three music/film students from Leeds Met.  As their courses are not as demanding as ours I expect our house to be quite relaxed therefore I intend to complete all work at college and keep it away from home life.  This will help keep a balanced lifestyle.
• I will research more into area's that I am still not confident about for example retail and promotion design, this will help me become a more informed designer.

6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas:

Attendance: 4

Punctuality: 4

Motivation: 4

Commitment: 4

Quantity of work produced: 3

Quality of work produced: 3

Contribution to the group: 4

Speaking from Experience// Magnet in Context

The Laser-Cut Potato Magnet has a nice effect however in feedback from the crit, the design is a bit hard to read, apart from this it received good feedback.

Who Are You// Development

My original idea was to create shapes in the background which reflect Steph's interests however the design became too messy and just wasn't working.

I then moved on to make more simple shapes using the shape tool and the rotate tool.

This helped create a more crisp and simple design which I think (after looking more closely into her blog) Steph would appreciate this more.

On the left page I think I will have this design, if not something similar and then keep to the same simple design on the right hand page but will obviously include body copy.

I took influence from a design my partner created by using low opacity stripes, unfortunately I don't think it works behind the text but I would like to experiment further with this and see if I can make it work.

Who Are You// Designing the Title

Who Are You// Visual Research

Collecting a few images from my partner, Steph Pickards Blog to try and get a better understanding of her interests within in design and general interests.

No.  Zine, independant art zine.

I saw this design on Steph's PPP blog and I really like the layout of the spread, as it is simple yet still interesting.  There aren't loads of columns which give it a more modern look.

Speaking From Experience

Starting to design the vector based images needed for laser cutting.  I intend to laser cut the recipes into wood because it has a natural colour and feel to it.  Unfortunately I was supposed to be laser-cutting today but someone else was in there during my slot :S

Easy Bombay Potato Curry

INGREDIENTS

• 500g new potatoes halved
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 large onion sliced
• 1 tbsp medium curry powder
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp mango chutney

METHOD

1. Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until tender. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion for 3 minutes. Add the curry powder and fry for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, mango chutney and potatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Serve with white fish or chicken and a leaf salad.

Illustration// Liz Clements

As we are approaching summer and we will have more free time, I really want to work on my illustration.  I have discovered a real passion for it recently and could look through illustration blogs all day long.  Bit geeky.

Speaking from Experience// Visual Research - Recipes

Work by Bec Winnel.  I really like this style of illustration and the recipes look similar (but better) than the drawings I do in my sketchbooks.

Yaeko Abe// Toy Design Illustrator

Interesting Style of Illustration

Below are a few examples of the work of Hannah Davies.  I'm interested in the way she creates her work, the image of the owl below looks like black vectors places over patterns and gradients with a sort of watercolour effect in parts.  

I also find it interesting the way her illustrations have been applied to cushions, scarves, chairs and crockery.