OUGD103 Evaluation

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

My project management skills have definitely kicked in for this module especially for the final brief, it might have been the fact that it was our last module, or most likely the fact that we didn't have any other work overlapping any current briefs, but I do feel like i've had more control with the way my work's developed and my working methods towards resolving a brief. For the first time this year, I wasn't one of the last ones to hand in my work! From managing my blog more effectively to being a lot more motivated to do my work and passionate about whatever brief I get I've gradually been able to work at a more progressive pace.

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

I think one of other key points that lead to the smooth work flow was the subject I was working on, as I was looking at student cooking, my main area to research directly into was food. Although I am not a good cook myself, I like to learn and travel to eat as much food as I can, therefore it made this brief so much more enjoyable. I started off my gathering some primary research, mainly off the course students as we are ultimately the target audience, being first year graphic design students ourselves. This helped me to determine the direction of my study, which lead me to refining what the actual problem is and what type of outcome I would be considering. Aswell as this, primary research gathered by emailed questionnaires allowed me to build a clearer understanding of student's understanding and ability to cook; from this I gathered that surprisingly most student's were quite good with cooking, but the main problem was time management along with the course, being inspired to actually make an effort and the problem of not having all the ingredients. I didn't really want to limit my research too much, therefore backed up my problem and idea by gathering secondary research, looking at recipes, case studies and other existing websites/ communities that target the student cooking problem. As a whole, the research processes throughout this module played quite a major role towards the development of my work, I feel like i'm finally getting used to the research process and can now understand the importance of research and knowledge that would eventually contribute towards a well informed resolution.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalize on these?
After the long thought process and the constant research/ analysis procedures I think the strenghts of my work especially the 'What to eat' pack of cards would be the fact that the idea would ideally work and would be of interest to the target audience. I think the pack of cards demonstrate a simple yet easy to understand design format while still carrying alot of information. One thing i'm not entirely happy with now is the visuals. As more a visualizer before I came to the course, I feel like I've been working totally different lately and have therefore substituted my visual flare for a more generic info graphic - like approach. This I intend to look into and will definitely spare more time experimenting and looking at in the 2nd year..... if I get there.

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?

Again as stated above, I personally don't really like the visual of my finals lately. It might be due to the restrictions of what i'm trying to communicate and the considerations of the target audience, but I feel like I need to work more on the visuals next time. Hopefully I'll achieve this by spending more time experimenting and contintue to improve on my project management skills.

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

- Generate more ideas and test a few out before going straight final idea
This will obviously allow me to test out the possibilities of potential ideas, somethings are best learnt by trial and improvement

- Challenge myself whenever I get to choose my own subject to study by picking something other than food!
I don't feel like I took any major risks for this module, I've stuck to the safe sides of my ideas and I think the visuals of the final is a reflection of this.

- Different format other than digital
Again back to the visual appeal of my final piece, I think I could have improved this easily by looking at more different stock materials, print methods etc. This would also enhance the interactive appeal of the design.

- Do some drawings + colour + textures?
My work's been pretty info like lately and I'd like a bit more colour in life.

- Take risks!