Speaking from experience 16!

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

My skills and understanding of illustrator and InDesign have come on a huge amount, I now feel confident using the program's and feel I have developed a good amount of knowledge so far through exploration and experimentation. Design sheets and much quicker thinking is in my mind another 'skill' I have developed. I can now produce several concepts in the time it used to take me to develop one - this too me is another skill I have picked up.  I have also developed a skill of hand crafting through making leaflets, booklets and packaging designs in this module.

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

In this module, organization has been a huge part of being able to develop ideas and concepts quickly effectively.  I kept track of research and development through my blog as always, and recently started using folders and plastic wallets to separate the hard copies - where as on previous modules my portfolio would be mixed up, unprofessional and a general mess.

What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalize on this?

For me this module has been my strongest of the first year.  I found the way I developed ideas and concepts through design sheets made a massive difference to how my final resolution was produced.  Looking back at this modules work, I noticed my final resolutions the majority of the time were developed using photography and/or illustrator.  Although this has been a big strength, I do not wish to fall into a trap of not experimenting or using any other software.

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how do you wish to address this?

Although I feel I gather a good amount of research, I do not evaluate or annotate why I chose it, or what its useful for in my project.  It is the same story with my development work - I do not fully annotate it, although it is organized.  As said above, this module for me has been hugely based around illustrator - this COULD become a weakness in future modules if I get into a dirty habit of not experimenting. 

Identify 5 things you would do differently next time and what you wish to gain from doing this?

1. Do a daily blog - instead of doing 4 in a day

2. Design sheets - easier to look through and understand than a book

3. annotate my research especially - more marks?

4. Experiment with more media - although my final resolutions in this module were successful, next module (or summer project) I will experiment with more media

5. Visit galleries and look at more books - get inspired by others work

How would you grade yourself in the following areas:

5 = Excellent, 4 = Very good, 3 = Good, 2 = Average, 1 = Poor

Attendance - 5

Punctuality - 4

Motivation - 4

Commitment - 4

Quantity of work produced - 4

Quality of work produced - 4

Contribution to the group - 5

Speaking from experience 15!

So here it is ... the final product! The image below shows all of the items which are included in the pack which each student would potentially be given!  It includes a Leaflet (tips and tricks on a Student Budget) a single IOU booklet,  a poster (pictured A1 - now A3 ... see final evaluation to why) and a complimentary t-shirt ... enjoy! 

So thats it ... final evaluation will be posted within the next few days, until then, I would love to see and read any feedback which you may have, positive or negavtive ... its all about learning at the end of the day ... cheers!

Speaking from experience 14!

So ... the shirt HAS arrived, and even if I do say so myself, it looks great!  After a long an hard few days trying to decide what logo would be printed onto the shirt, I now feel i made the rite decision!  Below are some photos of when the product arrived, and then when it is being modeled ... enjoy!

Well there it is, as always feedback would be great! I really do hope you like this product, it did take a while haha! 

Speaking from experience 13!

Today, I finally had my poster printed.  It took a while to decide which design I was going to go with, however now, after seeing the real thing, im pleased with the result.  So here they are as promised ... a few pictures of Boysie revealing my final poster and displaying it for you, the viewers to see ... enjoy!

Again, any feedback would be great, hope you like the final resolution for the poster. 

Speaking from experience 12!

Alright, so the leaflet, and the IOU booklet has been produced.  So im getting on top of things just about and I have sorted out the T-Shirts prints (which are ready tomorrow, wednesday) and the poster prints which were made today.  I thought it would be good to put up the final designs which I chose to have produced for you to view until I photograph the final resolutions, enjoy ...

So thats them, the final designs which are being/have been produced.  Even though there is no choice in the matter now, any feedback would once again be much appreciated! 

Speaking from experience 11!

So as promised, here are a couple of pictures of the leaflet and IOU booklet which have been produced this weekend, these aare the final resolutions after fridays crit I have a couple of areas to address which included type faces and colour.  I experimented with the colour however I found that this leaflet/booklet combo worked best as originally designed, but then I addressed the typeface and found a much better, cleaner and more legible type in certain areas then I was previously using.  Anyway, enjoy ... 

Once again, any feedback would be appreciated! Hope you like the final resolution anyway!

Speaking from experience 10!

Ok, so been working on the leaflet for a while now and have finally produced what I feel will be THE final piece.  The leaflet was a very important element of my survival kit, it held the key to giving advice and held the whole concept together.  I decided to focus the leaflet more towards graphic design students by using the colours of CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) This is felt would work well with professional layouts and type.  I wanted the leaflet to look retro and resemble that of a club advertisement to engage to my audience.  Enjoy ... 

This is the leaflet as it is seen on Illustrator - I will put pictures up of the final resolution later on tonight or tomorrow.  Once again, any feedback would be great!

Speaking from experience 9!

Alright, so been developing my logo to work with the t-shirt.  I worked on the layout, but found where i wanted the logo placed immediately, so then it was down to  colour choice.  below are some of the designs I produced and a single copy of what maybe the final t-shirt.  Enjoy ...  

There maybe more to come yet on the t-shirt front, but while I had the idea I thought it would be good to develop it ... let me know what you think anyway!

Speaking from experience 8!

So since im now developing a T-Shirt to go in my Survival pack, I thought it would be a good idea to research current brands, logo's and designs.  I focused my research around shirts with type but no image to see popular colours, styles, type, layouts etc. 

Ok ... so towards the end of my research I started to start looking into the logo's and t-shirts with simple colour and layouts.  These have given me a few new ideas for my T-Shirt design ... the simpler the better!