End of module self evaluation. OUGD102.

WHAT SKILLS HAVE YOU DEVELOPED THROUGH THIS MODULE AND HOW EFFECTIVELY DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE APPLIED THEM?
During this module, I have learnt a lot about information graphics and the application of research, especially quantitative such as facts & figures, into clear and informative graphics. I have also learnt about the processes involved in book making and was able to apply these to my collection 100 brief effectively. I used the skills gained in regards to research and information graphics fairly effectively during the two main briefed projects.

WHAT APPROACHES TO/METHODS OF RESEARCH HAVE YOU DEVELOPED AND HOW HAVE THEY INFORMED YOUR DESIGN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS?
I have made use of questionnaires more frequently than in any other brief to gain a good amount of primary qualitative feedback for both the 'what if?' and 'collection 100' briefs. This helped me to gain valuable information on peoples opinions which may otherwise be difficult to acquire. These proved a useful starting point for the collection 100 brief especially as one of the main topics whenever questioning anyone about hair, was celebrity hairstyles.

WHAT STRENGTHS CAN YOU IDENTIFY IN YOUR WORK AND HOW HAVE/WILL YOU CAPITALISE ON THESE?
I think my main strength in this module was consistency of visuals throughout briefs. Especially on digitally produced pieces, allowing me to gain a visually coherent & consistent body of work that I can easily build upon in up coming briefs.

WHAT WEAKNESSES CAN YOU IDENTIFY IN YOUR WORK AND HOW WILL YOU ADDRESS THESE MORE FULLY?
I think one of my main weaknesses up to this point, and something becoming rather more irritating is my willingness to make design decisions, usually regarding direction for a project. I need to work on gaining an idea more quickly, as even if I choose to move in a different direction, it will have provided me with a starting point for both concept and visuals. I also think I need to push briefs more and have the daring to create something really visually exciting...

IDENTIFY 5 THINGS THAT YOU WILL DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME AND WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO GAIN FROM DOING SO? 
-Keep up to date with blogger 
blogging quickly builds up, keeping up to date would allow me more time to work on product towards the end of briefs.
-Put all my ideas onto paper.
No matter how bad they are it will always help with quickly identifying a starting point for briefs.
-Work on my time management.
I have begun writing to do lists which have proved useful towards the end of the module and would like to continue the good habit. This will also allow me a better balance between work and everything else.
- Collect in depth research
Try to collect a comprehensive body of in depth research as it has proved useful in gaining direction in collection brief and will certainly help moving onwards.
-Use my research more effectively...
Use my research into digital media and product to inform designs, possibly to give a more interesting aesthetic & develop my skills as a designer. Get a bit of daring to push visuals aswell. 


5 - EXCELLENT - 1 - POOR



ATTENDANCE                                              4
PUNCTUALITY                                             4
MOTIVATION                                               3
COMMITMENT                                            3
QUANTITY OF WORK                                 2
QUALITY OF WORK                                   3
CONTRIBUTION TO THE GROUP            4

Final Cut Workshop.

Untitled from Max Gregory on Vimeo.

A simple video created using photographs taken in my visual language sessions. I like the random nature of the images however when I created the video I did think it went through them a little quicker.

Book Binding.

 Here are images of the books we made in the book binding induction, which would come in handy for my collection 100 brief, sticker book mock up. The first type of book binding is a Japanese book stitch. This was fairly simple but could take a bit of getting used to, for example getting the order and direction of stitching correct. The second was a very simple stitch bound book, made from three holes in the spine joined and tied with a needle and thread. The third type of binding above, and the one with the coloured covers was a concertina book. This book has no spine and was created using a technique of glue the edges of alternate pages to create a concertina when opened out. This is a type of book that I'd like to look at for my collection 100 brief, with the possibility of making a wall chart.

Photoshop final photos.

 

Here are a series of photographs of my final 10 photoshop postcards. Investigating the possibilities with the colour red using photoshop as an editing tool. I think these postcards are ok, but some are very abstract and some less so, and I think they could be a little more consistent in terms of colour and visuals. Although I do think that it is clear enough that these are based around the colour red, because of the amount used across the series. 

Photoshop Finals.

Here are jpegs of my ten final postcards and the last one is the back which goes onto all of the postcards.

Photoshop development.

 This was my very first experiment with the photoshop postcards, in which I took a simple photograph of a cutting mat and altered the hue & saturation to make it red instead of green. I then used a simple typographic layout over the top, placed as an overlay layer, giving a subtle and interesting finish. Above is the typographic layout I used.

 These images are further developments of my initial postcard, taking the image shown in the background of the green cutting mat and further manipulating it. The first 2 screens I think are almost a step backwards from the initial idea, but I was simply testing the changing of the layer properties for the type from overlay to colour burn and different light effects. The screen directly above is my favourite as I like the dark effect created by the blue overlay, which I set to colour burn with the bright and highly saturated red coming through in the lines of the cutting mat. From this I think it is clear enough that my colour is red. Also the type sits nicely over this dark backdrop.

 These are developments from another photo, again with the initial altered image, with adjusted levels and type, to the colour burn blue overlay which I think I will apply to all of my postcards. This overlay changed the band of colour across the bottom from orange to red, which I think again makes it clearer that my colour is red.

 Above are three developments of a much more abstract image, taken under red and blue studio lighting during visual language sessions. These needed much less colour editing, with the first of the three screens being pretty much the original image. Again I looked at type layer alterations and a blue overlay on the last. It is much more subtle in this image than the previous 2 due to the blue lighting already in the image.

 These were two possible ideas for the back of my postcard. Looking at a picture I took of one of the studio lights. I altered the hue from a slightly blue tungsten light to a bright red, and in he second applied a blue overlay, however it had little effect on this image because of the lack of difference in tone.

 Above are a few variations on another photograph, again taken under blue and magenta studio lighting. I though it would be an interesting touch to try and make the 'm' of the 'cmyk' in the corner be the least predominant in all the images, implying that it blends in to the postcard. I prefer the second from bottom here as it is most obvious that it is red.

 For this image I had some problems getting the blue letter in the middle to look less imposing. Because the studio lighting had almost highlighted this I had to mask this part of the image in a separate layer and dim down the levels to make it darker, blending more into the background of the image.

 Here is a one of the last postcards I produced, looking at highlighting the curve and colour of the red m which is already fairly imposing. Intensifying the colours gave a much redder finish as opposed to the orange of the original and the type stands quite nicely off the image.