dp

Evaluation
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When I see the progression of my proposal form the consistent intentions seem to be concerning my portfolio.  My main objective of this module was to produce work which represents what I want to do and what relates to the people I am addressing it to.  Changing and tuning my briefs to cater for this was a fantastic learning curve.


A talk with Fred in around the third week jolted my design brain for the best.  He highlighted the fact that I was going into briefs using the image I wanted to produce as the solution to the problem in the brief.  I needed to realise and sharpish that this cannot be.  The image should be a bonus to the solution or the way I translate my solution as a designer. I needed to stop going to briefs with a resolution in my head already.  I was forming briefs out of 'I want to make some watches' or 'I want to draw this and that'.  I needed to stand back and work out what I didn't want to produce first as well as putting the content before the aesthetic.


Brief one moved from Olympic watches to glittery wallpaper.  I found out dangerously late that I had been lying to myself about what I wanted out of the brief.  It moved from Olympic merchandise to a book of ideas to a complete content change to designing a range of wallpaper for Habitat.  This was a good decision and I am happy with the way I grabbed the bull by the horns and reacted quickly.  What was bad was that it took me too many weeks to realise this.  I feel like I will be able to recognise and avoid this a lot better in my FMP.  The work I ended up producing for that brief came out well considering what I wanted to achieve. 

The brief was set to experiment with image making processes and to produce a chunk of work for my portfolio to fill a much needed gap for potential employers.  There is always something more I could have done or another ay of trying something but I had to draw a line and set myself small deadlines to make sure I didn't produce a lump of rushed wallpaper and no attempt of making a product out of it with the way it was packaged.  I think that this was another positive step for me.  I spent time considering in a deeper level the way I wanted to package the wallpaper.  I am never normally I fan of packaging and don't have much confidence in it.  However, I think that the resolution I proposed had some potential in it and I would like to revisit it in my own professional development as a freelancer.


Brief three, National Trust's Silly Walks was another learning curve for me.  During the same talk with Fred I was shown how to completely strip something down and stop bashing out work with no focus to it.  I came out fairly happy with the skills I had developed and the new perspective I had on image.  I produced designs where the content was put first and the image was customised to the content rather than the content to the image.  I was designing the image with the context in mind, ie. developing the image making process to make it applicable to the brief itself.  My drawing moved from twee to a more useable and applicable style.


Brief two, Brownies Centenary was probably the hardest of my briefs.  I found deliverables very hard to allocate at first.  I had the same problem as before of already having a deliverable in mind and ignoring questioning it's relevance.  I lost a lot of time in this and it was damaging my stamina and work morale.  However, I tried to make a bigger effort with research and surprised myself with actually finding a potential problem or gap in their organisation.  I allocated a centenary day plan and brain stormed along side their morals and objectives as a group to find deliverables for that.  I think that this worked well and I felt satisfied that I was producing something for a real reason.


However, a talk with Lorenzo threw me back over the edge a bit as issues were raised which should have been raised a long time ago.  I had forgotten about producing a product instead of a 'group of stuff'.  I had to produce some packaging in a few hours and didn't do the best I could have done if I had tackled this earlier.  Another point was bought up which made me question my whole design direction.  I was told to 'make sure there is still design in there'.  I had used a large illustration turned into felt as part of the packaging but I don't think that this was considered all around as design.  I began to question everything I had made for this module and still now feel a little unsettled as to the meaning of design and the 'ticking of the boxes' of this course.  


Smaller briefs such as Dickens and Penguin showed me how much I enjoy both quick turnarounds as well as the versatility of my designing.  It taught me not to restrict myself too much with the work I produce when I leave.  It encouraged me to think about freelancing and showed me how much I would love to win the Penguin competition.  It has slightly panicked me of my plan when I leave university as I now know that I enjoy more things than pattern design.  I feel as though I have taken a step backwards as to knowing where I could go when I leave as I don't want to restrict myself too much and feel uninformed of possible places to go that would include or benefit from my work.


However, I feel happy with the level of work I have put in.  I can say with confidence that I don't think I could have worked too much harder.  I feel as though I have worked consistantly too. I think that I started working well in the way that I hit the ground running and was bashing out work since day one (despite blips and wobbles).  Yes, I felt rushed at the end at some points but it was in a way of more suggestions cropping up in my head rather than covering things I had left to the last minute. 


I think that this module has set me up really well for my FMP.  I think that it will be easier to spot potential problems in chosen briefs and I will be able to analyse my time management with more awareness.  I also feel as though I have a few portfolio pieces and am looking forward to having them judged my professionals shortly.