Tuesday 29 January 2013

OUGD405 - Evaluation

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

Throughout this module we have been taught a lot of new skills. I am now much more comfortable with using Illustrator and Indesign. I have learnt how to develop my time management even more than I had in the previous module, and this has allowed me to perform much more successfully when responding to briefs in a sense that I have been able to stay relaxed rather than worrying that the work isn't going to get done. I think that because the module has been so research based it has helped me improve my skills greatly. This is because I have been able to get much more inspiration from the research I have found but at the same time I have enjoyed discovering facts, figures and products out there linking to my research theme (labradors). I also learnt the value of primary research and constantly being aware of the brief in hand, allowing ideas to develop even when I am not directly completing a brief, for example when in shops and products or adverts are surrounding me, relating to my research theme. I also think that during our 'How to' group work, we worked really well and everyone made an effort to get involved and participate in helping the rest of the group. This made the workload much more manageable and fun. As a result, we were able to successfully apply our ideas to our design work and distribute the leaflets in time, before our presentation.

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

In order to fulfil the briefs I have been given I firstly start by researching the subject. I have done this by carrying out primary research, so producing questionnaires, watching documentaries, and also taking photographs. Secondary research has including researching online to find any useful resources. I then produce developmental drawings which allow me to then apply my drawings digitally and progress to a final idea. At the end of the process I always experiment with stock and sizing to ensure that my work is legible and to the highest standard I could possibly achieve.

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

I feel as though I have worked just as hard throughout this module as the previous one. I have developed skills where packaging is concerned and have really considered the most suitable nets, depending on what they are for. I have continued to blog alongside producing my practical work which has enabled me to stay on top of my work and not fall behind. I have also stepped out of my comfort zone and have used colour to produce my postcards, which I am really pleased with, as the pastel colours came out just as I had hoped. Similarly to the last module, I have surprised myself by using many of my own illustrations within my work as opposed to simply creating work using text and minimal design. I therefore feel even more confident in applying my drawings and look forward to developing them even further.

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

I could perhaps develop my typography skills in terms of developing my own typefaces to use within my work. I will consider this in the future when completing briefs. I would also like to become more confident in using the pen tool on Illustrator. However, I am glad that I didn't use it for my labrador packaging, as I wanted it to have an authentic feel to the drawings, rather than everything being produced digitally.

Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

  • I will perhaps use Indesign to create editorial/publishing if I get the chance to as I would like to develop these skills in order to decide the route I would like to take with this course.
  • I will continue to develop my primary research skills and make sure I use an even wider variety of sources to collect information.
  • I will apply what I am learning with Fred in the colour theory to the next module, this will allow me to gain knowledge and use colour more successfully.
  • I will develop my type skills and consider which fonts I should use for certain pieces of work in order to make them closely representative to the subject matter.
  • I will continue to read the books I have bought to gain more knowledge about every aspect of graphic design, this will allow me to produce stronger pieces of work.



Friday 25 January 2013

OUGD405 - Research, Collect, Communicate: Final Crit

Today we were given feedback on our final product. I found this crit extremely useful. It was a very honest, different crit to any we have had before, but this is the sort of process we need to get used to, as realistically this is what happens in the graphic design industry.

We had to leave our work for 45 minutes for Amber and Simon to have a look at, and I also left prototypes of boxes along with some of my printed sheets to show my process. They then wrote notes about our work ready to feed back to us.

I was really pleased with the feedback I received and it was exactly what I had hoped to hear. Having experimented lots and changed my idea along the way I feel that I managed to reach a strong final product idea and have produced it to the highest quality I could.

I was told that I had a perfect balance of infographics as the symbols portrayed the information well and at the same time remained subtle. I was also told that it was a different idea which would work well. A suggestion that was made was that I could perhaps try using ribbon and tissue paper to give it an added luxurious feel to it. I have already thought about both of these things and attempted creating my own tissue paper but it didn't work as the stock was too thin. I will however have another attempt at this as well as packaging for ribbon.

I also considered whilst I was sat in the crit, the idea of creating a barcode. However, this wasn't brought up as a change to make, and I like the effect the simple price has on the front of the box. If a barcode was needed (which it would be) I would have protective cellophane covering the box anyway to protect it.

Overall, one of the main points that was raised about the successful pieces of work was the fact that if you settle on an idea and really try and perfect it, it usually fulfils the brief and works well, rather than overcomplicating things and expecting to produce a larger workload than is necessary in the given time, as it won't be as good as it could have been.

Monday 14 January 2013

OUGD405 - Research, Collect, Communicate: Product Crit

The crit today was extremely helpful and informative. I found it the most helpful crit I have had so far. We all got into our groups which we were in to originally present our work exactly a week ago and spoke about the development of our ideas. Having changed my idea over the weekend I had to put my new idea forward and get initial feedback to start with.

The group agreed that the pet passport wouldn't necessarily be as successful as I had originally planned. I therefore had clarification that I had made the right decision with my work. I told them that I had decided to create a travel kit for dogs instead and asked for any feedback from the rest of the group.

I got the following responses:

  • A briefcase handle
The group gave me the idea to incorporate a handle into my box. This would make it more portable and would make it even more ideal to carry it around and transport it from one place to another.
  • Camping/same country
Another suggestion was to make it into a camping pack so that I wouldn't have to worry about liquids and food when considering flights. It would be a lot easier to create the pack based on the assumption that it would be used in the same country. I therefore need to consider this when thinking of my name to use when branding my product.
  • Belt/rope for bag
To make it easy to transport I could use a rope to tie on to bags/rucksacks or a belt to be worn around the waistline to clip each box onto. This would mean that the main container for all of the smaller boxes wouldn't have to be used to transport everything all of the time and you could just take the necessary objects out with you.
  • Name suggestions
I asked for name suggestions and one person came up with the idea of a pamper pack or anything including the work pack or canine. It needs to be eyecatching and appealing to as many people as possible.
  • Wooden box
One other thought was to use a wooden box to store all of the miniature boxes in. I don't think this would be very applicable to my idea however because it needs to be light enough to transport and a wooden box would make the product more expensive overall, whereas I would like it to be cost effective.
  • Happy Meal sized box
Another suggestion was to look at happy meal boxes from McDonalds because they have a handle incorporated in them. This may be something I should consider when I design my main box to store the smaller ones in. I could even make sure the smaller boxes have handles on too.
  • Main cardboard box
Rather than having to make a strong enough cardboard box I have asked whether it would be possible for me to alter an existing one and this is a possibility I am definitely going to experiment with.
  • Price and barcode
During the crit I had a thought about the pricing and barcode. Having found a barcode which incorporates the design of a bone in it I think it would be a fun concept to include in my own work. I need to research existing prices of storage packaging too to make sure that I come up with a reasonable price.