I have learnt to organise my thinking better through diagrams and other visual methods that make it easier for me to interpret. Time management is another skill that is still developing, I wouldn't say it is perfect, but it is certainly much better than at the start of the course, which I already knew was one of my flaws, but I expect this will continue to improve as I become more used to the pace. I also think I have learnt the skill of producing designs in a short amount of time, as usually, there would be a time period of weeks/months to develop ideas, but this module has forced me to think and design much quicker, but still to a good quality.
My initial idea development has developed a lot more, as instead of racing to a computer with a few rough sketches the minute I get a brief, I draw until I can look at an idea and think yes. If there is any doubt at all I carry on sketching until I reach the potential final, I have done this at the initial stages of my briefs and you can see how my thinking works, and it helps me progress.
What approaches to/methods of problem solving have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
One of my main methods of solving the problems, is through mind maps, I use them to break down the idea, and organise information. For example, in the How to... brief to go into detail in a visual way, and in the Alphabet Soup: Visual Thinking brief, I used a thesaurus to help me come up with a variety of words, set out in a mind map to help me start thinking visually, which proved to be very helpful towards the design process. In the No News Is Good News Research brief, I wrote 20 words, and 20 images in order to kick start the process of visual thinking.
My response to a brief has developed as well, when I receive a brief now, like Irma Boom once said, 'I try to answer the commisioners request by raising a new question', for example, with the Alphabet Soup: Visual Thinking brief, when I received it I began asking, What is exaggeration? How much or how little of a change is exaggeration? How can i test exaggeration to the limit? How can this be represented on paper? I always raise questions now with a new brief which help me to look at different perspectives of tackling the problem.
What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
From what peers have said during crits, I do a lot of research into what my brief is on to really make sure I fully understand what I am doing in order to attempt to successfully communicate the message, especially with the No News Is Good News brief, as I researched a lot into the Stephen Gately story, which lead me on to investigate heart conditions, which lead on to looking at Diabetes, so this made my work look better as I could discuss everything I had done into fine detail.
What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?
One thing I do notice when looking at my work, is that my work does not appear adventurous enough, now for some briefs it would not be appropriate to do something avant-garde and radical, however for some briefs I look and think, maybe I could have pushed myself further, for example my Alphabet Soup: Visual Thinking, I could have done something that really pushed the boundaries, afterall my word was Exaggerate. Therefore, I need to build up confidence to do this, and the way I gain confidence is in group crits.
A weakness i noticed in my Alphabet Soup: Illustrator brief, is again, the lack of excitement, mainly due to the program being quite alien to me, I will address this through experience and use of the program, as i have never been taught how to use Photoshop but over the past 4 years I have picked bits up as I go along.
Identify things you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
1. Working directly into my sketchbook - I work into a rough book then organise my thinking and designing in my actual sketchbook which is neater in terms of interpretting, as at the start of a brief I doodle and write odd bits down that make sense to me but not to anyone else, this will not waste as much time if I work straight into the book.
2. I will trial ideas better before I assemble my final piece, this mainly applies to Illustrator, as I didn't experiment much before I produced my final A1 trace, which didn't look as good as it could have done, from this i may get a better standard of finish for my final resolution.
3. Book earlier for printing, it was incredibly hectic in the print department, and again, this could have bought me extra time if I had booked more than a week in advance.
4. Evaluate my work better as I go along, some of my evaluations are too brief, which may inhibit how I continue to develop my ideas, this will be addressed by taking more time with each design idea.
5. Blog my work as I go along, to begin with, my blog was always updated, but as the work load got heavier, i stopped doing it as much, which has meant i have not remembered things as clearly as I would like, so the blogs aren't quite as detailed as I would like.
5= excellent 4= very good 3=good 2=average 1=poor
Attendance: 5
Punctuality: 4
Motivation: 5
Commitment: 5
Quantity of work produced: 3/4
Quality of work produced: 3/4
Contribution to the group: 5
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