Sarah Pritchard - PPD: November 2010

Blog Address - s-pritchard1013.blogspot.com

What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
The main skill that I have developed through this module definitely has to be my Illustrator skills. I couldn't really use it properly before we started, and I managed to pick up what we learnt quickly and easily from the inductions we had, and now I can do things that I never thought I would have been able to do. Also, my time management skills have improved because of the fast pace that we are required to work at. It has taught me the importance of making decisions as quickly as needed and to just get on with things rather than stewing on something for a while before going with what I originally thought.

What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
The approach that I quickly got into the routine of throughout this module was to as soon as we received a brief, to go and look at related designs and images to what the brief requires. As well as writing/sketching down any of the initial ideas that come to mind before I got onto the idea generation stage; so that if there is any really good ones then I don't forget them and possibly miss out on producing something really good.

What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
A strength that really stands out for me from this module was my ability to pick up the fast pace of working we had to do in order to keep on top of everything and not fall behind. Also, I found myself for each of the studio briefs considering every little aspect of what I was doing so that when it came to the crits, and discussing my work I knew exactly what I was talking about, and could explain my intentions thoroughly. Another little thing that I find myself doing most of the time with anything that I am designing is trying to produce something to as much of a professional quality as I can, and I imagine how it would work/where it would fit if it was to be used out in the 'real world'. I think this shows within my final outcomes for the briefs, and I will ensure that I continue this, and the other things throughout the next module, and the remainder of the 3 years on this course.

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these?
Often I found myself, towards the end of a brief coming up to a studio deadline looking back and reflecting over the work that I have produced and thinking to myself how I could have maybe put more effort into coming up with more variety of initial ideas to then go on to explore. I often come up with a good few ideas, and experiment with a couple, then to go on to develop one into my final idea. I think I should try and spend a little more time in the initial stage of a brief, just to give myself more of a choice when it comes to making any decisions. Also, I found that in the group brief that we had at the beginning of the module I really struggled to cope with this. I am not a very confident person and it just completely blew over my head. As much as I had all intentions to jump straight into it and be confident, I just found myself being pushed to the back, and almost felt to the point a little left out because I just didn't have the confidence to push myself more. I think also within my group there was some really strong characters, that were determined for things to go their way, so this also really didn't help because that just isn't the kind of person I am. Even so, I definitely see this as an issue for myself, and will be something I will concentrate a lot on to improve over the duration of the course.

Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
The first thing that I will address for this will be my group working skills, as explained in the previous answer. I understand that group work is an important factor to working within Graphic Design, so I will benefit a lot by concentrating on improving these skills, if not just for the remainder of this course, but also for what ever I will be doing once I finish.

I found myself towards the end of the module slacking off from keeping on top of updating my blogs which I found slowed me down quite a bit with everything else I was doing, and I found myself having to play catch up with it in this week coming up to the deadline. This is definitely not something that should be an issue in ensuring full preparation for a deadline, and I have definitely learnt my lesson from this. Updating my blogs will be more of a priority throughout the next modules, especially more towards the end of them so that I can keep my focus on other more important things that are going on.

A not so good thing that I did (without actually intending to) was I put the Alphabet Soup Illustrator brief we received on the back seat throughout this module, and neglected working on it until the deadline was looming. This resulted me in not being fully satisfied with my outcome for this brief, and do think I could have responded to it a lot better than I have. I will make sure that I make time for any other briefs we receive similar to this where we don't have any scheduled studio time for them to make sure it doesn't happen again.

I do think that throughout this module I have stayed pretty close to my comfort zone, which isn't really what the first year on this course is about, so with future briefs I will make sure that I push myself more to trying out new things I haven't done, and experiment with new medias and materials.

An important factor to surviving in Graphic Design, and making yourself as good as you can be, has to be listening to feedback and taking on board anything anyone has to say about what you have produced, whether it is good or bad. So within the next module, I will purposely seek more feedback from both my peers and tutors to try push myself to be a better designer. I won't just do the typical thing of asking if something looks ok, I will ask questions such as how do you think I could improve this? As advised from visiting professional Mark Howe. As well as trying to give better feedback for anyone who asks me something about what they are working on, rather than just saying 'yeah I like it, it's good'.

How would you grade yourself on the following areas:
5 - excellent, 4 - very good, 3 - good, 2 - average, 1 - poor.

Attendance: 4
Punctuality: 4
Motivation: 4
Commitment: 3
Quantity of work produced: 3
Quality of work produced: 3
Contribution to the group: 2

Overall, I think out of all the briefs I have done for this module this one has to be my weakest one. I think because it was the one where apart from the inductions we had, we didn't really have and studio time scheduled for it, so I let it slip into the back seat and didn't work on it as much as I should have. My final piece did turn out quite well though considering, I just think I could have got a lot more experimentation done for it, which could have made the brief as a whole a lot stronger. I have definately learnt from this experience, and won't put anything to the back of my mind again.

Even so, I have really learnt a lot with this brief because before the inductions we had for Illustrator, I couldn't really use it at all - I liked to pretend I did, but now I know how to use it (and use it effectively!). I have managed to achieve things I never thought I would be able to do, like the Stella bottle for example. So overall it has definately been beneficial on my part.