OUGD102 ....End of Module Self Evaluation.

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

Time management has been my biggest and most obvious realisation from this project. In comparison to the short briefs we have previous been tackling, having 5 weeks to complete the ‘Collection 100’ project has truly made me realise the importance of time management. I tried to think of it as five 1 weeks briefs; considering the amount of work I was able produce in a week gave me an idea as to how much work I should be producing in the time available to us. I feel I coped reasonably well managing my time, although I did find it difficult in the first few weeks to grasp what I should be doing in realtion to the full amount of time we had available to us; still researching or initiating designs. Trying and testing as many ideas as possible was an aspect of the design process which I tried to embrace. However, I soon found that i’d be in the midst of executing one idea when I then wanted to begin another. I also realised that giving my work a purpose in order for it to meet the brief was vital with in this project; this was an aspect of my design that I had to address at the end.

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

I have learnt to research all/any area of the topic in hand; no matter how irrelevant it may seem initially, it could lead you to something of great interest and relevance. I have also learnt that it is important to have a broard range of research; primary/secondary and quantiative/qualitative to allow for idea generation. All of this will aid the development of informed designs which adhere to the brief in hand

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

Our group worked extremely well on the ‘What if’ brief; we distributed the responsibilities equally within the group. This allowed our project to be fully informed and successfully tackle the brief on a live basis. Taking into consideration the amount of work we had to tackle in this project, I feel I coped quite well in distributing my time between workshops, elective work, studio briefs, contextual theoretcial studies and visual language. 

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

I need to ensure I fully adhere to the brief and my work has a purpose; not just looking good. To do this I will revisit the brief regualrily in relation to the work I am producing. 

Make effective use of the time available to me during a brief. To do this I will draft a plan of how my time will be distibuted throughout the duration of the brief

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

1. Refer back to the brief throughout the duration of the brief to ensure the work I am producing is on brief.
2. Fully utilise the time available to me to the best of my ability by producing a timeplan; this will ensure I do not waste time, especially in the studio.
3. Make use of the workshops available to me (video, printmaking, bookbinding) this will give my work more bredth. 
4. Identify the target audience for my designs well in advance, again to ensure it is on brief. 
5. Explore alternative medias for my outcome rather than simply producing 2D work as this will give my work more depth and scope for idea generation.

6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: 

Attendance -5

Punctuality -5

Motivation -4

Commitment -4

Quantity of Work Produced -3

Quality of Work Produced -3

Contribution to the group -3

Collection 100 ...final resolution.

Will my product answer the brief?

After fridays crit and deciding to produce a book as my final resolution, I wanted to ensure my new product would meet the brief's criteria:

Considerations:

• Content: Star profiles
• Categories: Chocolate only rather than sweets in general
• Organisation: Alphabetically
• Media: Digitally prins
• Form: Book- each page = profile & datablocks 

Who is the audience and how can you engage with them?

• Chocolate lovers
• People concerned with health who want to be "Treatwise"!!!
• Anyone with an interest in graphics!

How will they interact with your product?

• Decode the datablocks to find out which chocolate bar info is related to
• Use acetate sheet to overlay & expose true values

What are you trying to achieve?

• Entertain whilst conveying info about chocolate

What is the function of your product?

• Educate
• Inform
• Entertain

As I have been able to answer all the questions posed to us on the brief, I feel my book will fully meet the requirements.

Final Crit.

Issues Raised:

• consider purpose of product
• what context should designs be in

Actions to be taken:

• read brief again -make sure it answers it fully!
• consider the work I have and how it could work in a different context to answer the brief: function, content, audience and context

Post Crit.

Following my crit on Friday I found I had a lot to consider with regards to my work. This crit uncovered some truths about my work and made me realise that simply manipulating my designs into posters was not going to be substantial. Admittedly,  I had not produced the 'catalogue' to compliment my work and provide an explanation to the logic behind my designs when it was critted, so the logic behind my work was unclear as we were not present to explain. Nevertheless, other issues were raised which has led me to rethink the context of my designs; I need to produce a product with a clear purpose and target audience amongst other considerations. One issue raised was that I needed to read the brief again, so this is what I did. I noted all the considerations in relation to my existing posters and found it was very vague in meeting these requirements. Therefore, I decided to take action and consider an alternative outcome for this project which will utilise the work I have produced.

I have consequently decided to produce a book based on the nutritional content of 20 chocolate bars in the form of infographics which can be decoded. In doing this, I am meeting the requirements of the brief whilst maintaining the notion of my project and giving it a purpose.