Module Evaluation

Overall I've enjoyed 502 over the year as it provided me the opportunity to work on areas of my practice that I can't develop within other modules such as networking through the creative report and presentation skills through Life's a Pitch and reflective practice. Furthermore this module has given me a place to explore client work outside on university as well as other opportunities that have been presented throughout the year such as working as part of a student exchange. I've found the creative report the most helpful brief within this module as it has built up my confidence when contacting professionals as before I was nervous about 'bothering' them or saying the wrong thing. However after talking to people within the industry I no longer feel as nervous as people are willing to talk to you especially if your asking about their practice and work as designers want people to be interesting in what they're doing. Furthermore this brief has given me the opportunity to research and explore the possibility of going freelance as this is something that has always interested me. However based on the advice given by Benjamin Craven and Hungry Sandwich Club I feel I need to develop my experience first within industry rather than going straight into freelance at the end of level 6. In response to this I've looked at getting work experience in small studios and bigger companies in order to see what works best for me.

In relation to Life's a Pitch I enjoyed working within my group as we all worked well together, delegating roles effectively whilst making decisions as a group. The only difficulty within this brief was managing our time as both myself and Emma had to take a week out before pitching as we took part in the Berlin trip within university. However due to effective time management we managed to get all designs finished early meaning the pitch could be put together once I returned as I was pitching with Fluer. Although as a group we focused too much on the design of the system rather than the concept and idea behind I personally think our final outcomes where simple and effective, providing the opportunity for easy navigation around the new building. However we needed to focus more on the idea as a pitch needs to get people on board with your idea rather than showcase a finished outcome. Despite this I feel the mistakes made within this brief have allowed me to learn the difference between a presentation and a pitch and the idea of really selling your idea. In relation to the actual pitch I felt this allowed me to develop my presentation skills further in preparation for reflective practice.

In addition the reflective practise presentation allowed me to focus my attention onto what I want to work on during summer leading into level 6. My main focus is work experience and improving my editorial and motion graphic skills as I want to improve the work I made in 504 as although I did well in relation to grades within this module I was personally unhappy with the work I created as I felt it wasn't good enough to be seen in a professional environment. This was the main focus of my presentation as this drove the rest of the work I created throughout the year as I didn't want to submit work I wasn't happy with again. Overall the actual pitch went well as the presentations I've done through out the year have allowed me to become more relaxed when presenting as I've become more and more used to the process and become more comfortable speaking in front of a group of people.

Overall 502 has allowed me to develop my communication skills within a professional environment in relation to the creative report as well as communication within a group and too a group in Life's a Pitch and reflective practice. These are key skills I wanted to improve upon after last year as I felt a lot more nervous when approaching people in industry and presenting.

Creative Report: ISSUU Presentation

Overall I've found the process surrounding the creative report very helpful as it has highlighted some thinking points surrounding setting up on my own/going freelance. As the main focus of my questions was setting up on your own and the issues faced, the advice gained has helped me consider if this is the right option for me. I’ve chosen to contact a number of people, with Hungry Sandwich Club and Benjamin Craven responding. I chose who to contact based on successful designers that I like who've successful set up on their own. I chosen Benjamin as I like how his practice leads him onto different projects and thats he's not confided to one medium as he makes prints, cushions, chairs and other interiors. Furthermore I chose Hungry Sandwich Club (Andy and Martin) as I like there distinct style and use of animation, and I've contacted them previously talking about one of there projects so already had a relationship to build off. The main aspects raised throughout both interviews was 'work out your day rate... £250 is a good place to start' as this is something I've always been unsure about as personally as a new designer I wasn't sure what was too much or too little to charge. In addition Andy and Martin raised the point of having to be highly self motivated and make sure you’re giving 100% every day, which is something I think I already do as I have a strong work ethic. However the main point both raise was having an image or a niche that will help you stand out from every other designer, as both Ben Craven and the Hungry Sandwich Club have a distinct style which has allowed them to be successful as clients come to them as they are known for producing high quality work in a specific style/area. Personally I don't have a style yet as I think my strengths lie in being able to apply my skills to the brief allowing research and idea generation to inform the aesthetic rather than my personal style. However this is sort of a niche but I don't think it's strong enough to standout against others if I where to go freelance straight out of university. Therefor the process of interviewing people has allowed me to realise that I would benefit from industry experience/working in industry in a studio with a similar approach to me such as Alphabet in order to gain more awareness as to where I would fit in and help refine my skills to an industry standard before considering trying freelance or setting up my own studio. The overall process of contacting different designers/studio has built my confidence in relation to contacting people in industry as before I was nervous/felt as though I’d be bothering them. However this process has shown me that people are willing to talk, you’ve just got to ask and be patient. Unfortunately some designer didn’t get back to me such as Ben Mottershead, Alphabet and Franklyn. Although this was disappointing I feel I’ve learnt a lot from talking to Ben Craven and Andy and Martin as I’ve learnt about setting up on your own, particularly the issues faced and what to expect if I was to do this further down the line. Furthermore it’s also been interesting to find out what made each of them want to work for themselves and what drives them to keep going through the difficult times, especially the first year, as Andy and Martin are now fully established in Leeds after working for 4 years to build up a client base and Ben who’s been working for himself for around 2 years after starting to sell prints in 2016. Talking to people at slightly different stages has been interesting to find out the different struggles they face during the day-to-day as well as over the years. 

Creative Report: Industry Advice

Based on the answers I received from Hungry Sandwich Club and Benjamin Craven I've decided to make a publication about setting up on your own as all the questions relate to this topic. Initially it was difficult to identify a layout (see figure 1) that balanced the long questions with some of the shorter answers therefore I chose to focus on splitting the question and answers between a double page spread (see figures 2-6) to allow the question stand out whilst not overpowering the answers. Throughout this layout I've used two typefaces, one for questions (GT Sectra Display ) and one for answers (circular std) as (see figure 3)GT Sectra Display is more of a display typeface allowing it to work well at a large size for the questions but be slightly illegible at a smaller size, leading to the use of circular standard for the body text due to its legibility. In relation to the cover design (see figure 1) it was difficult to decide what to call the publication and how to communicate the content. Initially I looked at taking points raised within the interviews (see figure 7) however it was difficult to balance the multiple adjectives on the cover. This lead to the idea of using the quote 'work out your day rate' from Ben Craven however this only related to his interview and not the Hungary Sandwich Club too. Therefore this lead to the use of the quote to introduce the book with 'Industry Advice' being used as it covers both interviews.  Furthermore I've taken colours from the work of each designer to feature on the questions in order to create a spilt between the two, showing that there different interviews (see figures 2-6). This was also aided through the use of creating a focal page on each designer to introduce each designer within the dialogue of the publication. Perfect binding has been used in order to achieve a professional finish to the publication. This is a binding method I hadn't previously experimented with, however the process was fairly simple and straight forward therefor I plan to use it more within my editorial designs in the future. 

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Work Experience: Very Confirmation

After talking to Mark the creative manager at Shop Direct (Very) my work experience has been confirmed however dates need to be finalised based on Marks availability. This is an interesting opportunity to see how a designer works within a large company and too see if I would prefer to work in a large company or a small studio.

Work Experience: Contacting more studios

In order to gain more work experience I've contacted Smiling Wolf and Coldlight in Liverpool to see if they have any work experience opportunities available as other studios haven't got back to me yet. I've chosen both of these studios as I admire the branding work they've done as well as the fact they are multidisciplinary studios which would allow me to gain experience in multiple areas as I'm unsure on a specialism within graphics current. I think gaining more work experience will allow me to decide which areas I would like to go into as I'm interested in print/editorial, screen/digital and branding. 

Smiling Wolf

Hi Andy,

I’m Neve a second year graphic design student at Leeds Arts University, working within both print and screen based design (see portfolio bellow). I’m currently looking to gain more experience working within a small studio and was wondering if you had any work placements available during summer. I particularly like the branding you created for The Merchant as I like the concept behind the designed, as your drew inspiration from the idea of a friendly neighbourhood pub. I understand that you are probably very busy so would appreciate any response or opportunities available. 

Kind Regards,

Neve Ball 

Coldlight 

Hello

I’m Neve a second year graphic design student at Leeds Arts University, working with both print and screen based design (see portfolio bellow). I’m currently looking to gain more experience working within the industry and was wondering if you had any placement opportunities available as I admire your work especially the branding created for Turncoat. I appreciate that your probably very busy so would appreciate any response or opportunities you may have. 

Kind Regards 

Neve Ball 

Reflective Practice: Presentation

Overall this year I've learnt a lot in regards to giving myself enough time in order to finish projects to an industry standard and a standard that I'm happy with. This was the result of not being satisfied with the work I produced within the first module, OUGD504 as I though I could of produced better outcomes if I'd had time to refine the publication and site design further. This became my main focus throughout the year which allowed me to address issues with screen based design within COP when I redesigned the football section of Adidas website, which I feel I completed to a high standard (see figure 1) however some improvement could be made in the presentation of the website if my animation skills where better. Therefor over summer I plan to work on my animation skills by redesigning the website I produced as part of 504, as well as the publication in order to improve my indesign/editorial experience. Furthermore additional inspiration throughout the year came from visiting studios such as Studio Pandan in Berlin, as they produce very considered and throughout work which is something I'm aiming towards. Furthermore their design of Publishing as Artistic Practise really inspired me due to the attention to detail made throughout the book, as they used typesetting to tell the story of the publication, setting the texts based on how they thought it could be read. Overall I feel i've developed massively as a designer this year with a greater focus on industry as I start to make my focus creating work that could exist within industry. In relation to this focus on industry I have work experience lined up at Very (just waiting for finalisation) and have also contacted a number of studios to see if I can gain experience there too. Personally I plan to build my online profile more over summer by creating a website to showcase my portfolio as well as build up my design Instagram as this was highlighted as a good way to get work during my creative report.

Reflective Practice: Presentation Feedback

Personally I felt my presentation went well as I clearly and concisely covered all points within the 7 minutes given. The main focus of the presentation was my focus on improving my work after the first module OUGD504 as I was unhappy with the work I created despite getting a good mark 70%. The main points of feedback given where to consider future jobs role more and where I see myself working within the graphic design industry, as this will help with finding more suitable work placements next year.  Furthermore another point was to further explore what inspires me more and how I fit within this as this will help inform and develop my practice further. As the feedback given was quite general I feel the presentation went well as I managed to calm my nerves and discuss with ease the points I wanted to cover. The number of presentations I've done this year, small and large have helped me develop my presentation skills further to the point where I only tend to get nervous just before I present however this goes away once I start to speak and find a focal point to talk too, usually the back of the room. The focus allows me to not notice the amount of people I'm speaking too with short breaks scanning the room making it appear as though I'm talking more directly to the people within the room. This tactic has been the main technique I've used when presenting which I feel is working well. 

Life's A Pitch: Reflection

Overall I feel this brief has gone well as we worked well as a group in relation to delegating roles but also when working together to create the designs. Individually each member of the group developed their own initial ideas based on key characteristics we established within the first meeting such as the use of super-graphics. Consequently we chose Emma's designs however we all met to help refine initial ideas to create the final outcome allowing each member to have a say and be involved within the creation of the wayfinding system. Overall the time management within the group was successful as each member completed tasks on time which allowed our designs and pitch to be finalised with enough time for both Fluer and I to run through the pitch before presenting. Both Fluer and I created the pitch based on the mock ups created by Emma, checking with the rest of the group that we had covered everything once we had finalised the pitch. In relation to the pitch itself, this gave me added experience when presenting which has allowed me to practise my presentation skills and also reduce nerves surrounding presenting as it's starting to become more and more common allowing me to become more comfortable. Due to this confidence both Fluer and myself managed to cover all aspects included within the presentation in a clear and concise manner allowing the concept and thinking behind the system to be clearly communicated with additional questions being successfully answered after the pitch. The additional questions at the end where fairly easy to navigate as we knew our system and designs well so could easily clear up additional questions. Personally I find this section the most difficult as I can prepare for the presentation by running through but the unknown of the questions increased my nerves when presenting.

Personally I feel this brief was largely successful as I enjoyed working within the group the only issue we came across was a lack of focus on the concept behind the branding as we focused more on designing the wayfinding itself rather than selling the concept as an ideas. However despite this a professional outcome was created as the designs where finished to a high standard and the pitch delivered in a professional and clear manner. Furthermore it has allowed me to develop and practice my presentation skills as one of my goals going into this year was to take opportunities to present and become more comfortable within this setting. I feel I still need to work on this as I'm not 100% confident or comfortable with presenting however I feel like I've come a lot more confident since last year. I think we could of sold our pitch more within the presentation to create more of an idea for people to get on boards with rather than simply explaining our concept and processes. However this experience has highlighted the difference between a presentation and a pitch as we as a group needed to focus on the idea of unity and community more rather then the design itself.

Creating Portfolio for Placements

In order to contact different studios to enquire about placements I started to organise my work to create a pdf portfolio that I can then develop further into a website during summer. One of the main difficulties when starting to order my work was identifying a sequence that would start and finish on some of my strongest work whilst having a structure throughout. Therefore I tired to order work based on disciplines having branding, editorial and campaign however some of my strongest work is branding which resulted in splitting the designs based on design for screen or print. Furthermore it was difficult to figure out how to introduce each brief as I originally had a photo and then rational on one page and then more photos on the following. However this didn't look very professional leading to the incorporation of company or competition logos where appropriate to introduce each brief. This allowed for a more professional introduction as the brief is explain first and then the designs shown. Furthermore I struggled with how to introduce my portfolio brainstorming different way to explain who I am as a design in a simple and concise manner which I think has been achieved through the use of 'creative focused on developing work that strikes the balance between concept and aesthetic' as these are key themes in my existing work and developing practice. In addition I plan to develop this tag line within my personal branding in order to help create a more define image in relation to my online presence as this was highlighted when talking to Benjamin Craven. Furthermore the colour and typeface used within this introduction have been inspired by type and colour used within my recent work so can interchange/ develop as my work does. However I plan to explore the use of the typeface (GT Sectra Display Trial) and colour within my personal branding over summer, as this introduction explains who I am as a designer enough whilst i'm applying for work placements. 

Olivia Joanne Personal Branding

I was contacted by a photography student who needed some branding completing in order to display at her end of year show and to send out to different photographers and agencies. Upon discussing what the client needed it was established that the designer needed to create a logo, business cards and postcard pack.

The client (Olivia) is focusing on architectural photography with a specific focus on brutalism which needed to be conveyed within the business cards. Furthermore Olivia wanted a clean cut, simple aesthetic to her branding providing some visuals of exiting branding that she liked. In addition the designer asked for examples of Olivia’s photography to see if this could inform the branding in order to make her branding more accurately represent her work.

Initial I chose to look at visual inspiration provided by Olivia, establishing different typefaces that she liked and thought would work well within her branding (see figure 1). This process of going through different typefaces with Olivia allowed me to identify key typefaces that I could experiment with in order to create more refine and appealing initial ideas. Once these typefaces had been established I started by creating a word mark logo (See figures 2-9) that could be easily adapted to different mediums and would work for both screen and print. Simplifying Olivia’s name to her initials allowed for a simple and refine logo to be created with different spacing being experimented with (see figures 6-9). When the experiments where present to the client she liked the logo (see figure 9) but also liked the idea of creating a surface pattern that could be used throughout the branding too, as this was something I had mentioned in our initial meeting. From this I looked at the photos that could be include within the postcard pack in order to identify patterns or lines within the photos that could be manipulated and used (see figures 10-14 ). This lead to different patterns being created with the design seen in figure 14 being the most successful. Furthermore the designer took colour inspiration (see figures 15-16) from the photos themselves which are featured within the branding, with Olivia preferring the grey as it reflected her focus on brutalism more appropriately.

In relation to the postcard pack, we chose to create individual cards featuring photo on one side and her contact details on the other, as a concertina book couldn’t be created due to time limitations surrounding printing as we couldn't get a printing slot in time. However Olivia preferred the use of individual cards as they where more interchangeable, allowing more variety to be printed meaning she could personalise each pack based on who would be receiving it. The collection of postcards could then be concealed within an opaque envelope allowing the photos to show through which would be sealed with a sticker featuring her logo (see figures 17-19). Overall all elements of the branding work well together and allow a cohesive aesthetic/brand to be created (see figures 17-21).  

Upon reflection of this brief I feel both Olivia and I worked well together, as she took my design considerations into account whilst communicating her want and needs clearly. This allowed for a good working relationship as communication was clear from the start. Furthermore the exploration of different avenues within the branding allowed for multiple options to be presented to the client. This meant few final alterations had to be made as I had developed both ideas effectively, to a standard where they could both be seen in a professional environment.  

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Competition Entry: Secret 7

In addition to submitting entries to Starpack Student Design Awards and Penguin, I also wanted to submit to Secret 7 as I had experimented with producing a sleeve design for a previous release before I found out it was running this year. My previous design (see figure 1) was one of the most enjoyable briefs I have worked on this year as I enjoyed the idea generation and research process as it was interesting to discover unknown facts about the artist and song. This lead to an interesting outcome based on the grief linked to Grounds to Divorce by Elbow as the quote featured is from Bryan Glancy, the man the song is based on 'seldom seen kid'. In relation to the 2018 release I chose to create a sleeve for Jeff Buckley's Lover You Should of Come Over. This was interesting to research as there was lots of different intersting facts about Buckley himself as well as the song itself. The final design looks at Buckley's performance style which focuses on his voice and his guitar which is communicated through the use of visualising the chords within the song based on there position on the fret board. In comparison I prefer the first sleeve I produced for Elbow as I think its more interesting due to the use of embossing to print the type rather than using ink where as the submitted sleeve (see figure 2) is slightly more basic however made more sense and was more appropriate for the chosen song.

 I haven't received any feedback or response after submission so it will be interesting to find out if my sleeve is chosen. Personally this is one of the most interesting competition as I really like the idea behind the competition as all the chosen sleeves are sold for £50 with the money going to a charity, for this year Mind was chosen with the buyers not finding out the musician/song until after they have purchased their sleeve.

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Competition Entry: Penguin Random House

Upon release of the Penguin Random House book covers for this year, I decided to create a cover for A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. I chose this book due to my existing interest in science/space and thought it would be interesting to research more into the book and Hawking himself. This lead to the use of the anecdote at the beginning of the boo in which a woman states the world it held up on the back of a giant turtle. I found this statement interesting as Hawking uses it to question why scientists think they know everything as well as using to it to set the tone of the book, as he discusses the scientific discoveries throughout the years, both right and wrong. Upon submission you had to provide a PDF which included the front cover on its own and then a full spread including the spine. Despite not being shortlisted I was very pleased with my entry as I think it comments on the content within the book well whilst targeting a new generation of readers and not alienating existing ones, which was a key aim within the brief.  Furthermore I feel like it captures the humour within the book as well as commenting on Hawking's humous personality.

In relation to the competition process I found it interesting to re-enter this year as I'm much happier with this years outcome as more thought and refinement has gone into the cover. The only downside to the this competition is that you only gain feedback if you get shortlisted which makes sense due to the amount of entries however it can be difficult to identify where you've gone wrong or what you can improve on in the future. However overall the competition process was helpful as it gave me the opportunity to put my work into the 'real world' in order to see how it would compete with others.

Competition Entry: Starpack

I recently entered the Student Starpack Design Awards after receiving goos feedback on my design for the coffee brand I created as part of Brief F. Initially I submitted A3 boards showcasing the design process, telling the story of the brand and how I arrived at my final outcome. The branding is based on the Serirra Madre region of Guatemala as this is know for high quality coffee. Throughout the branding I've looked at the scientific approach to coffee production through the incorporation of an equation based on the elevation and time the beans are grown for divided by the fermentation time, times the roast time. Personally I'm happy with this project as I feel the concept behind the branding is strong by focusing on the technical focus on production which makes Altitude a premium brand paired with professional aesthetic achieved, due to constant refinement. 

I recently found out I had been shortlisted for final judgement, meaning a physical pack had to be sent as well as physical boards. This was simple process as I had already produced submission boards an the physical packaging for my module submission. Overall I've enjoyed the competition process as it's interesting to get judgement outside of university and see how my works, works within industry and outside the confinements university.

Work Experience

In order to start planning for summer I've contacted some studios within Liverpool and Manchester looking for placements in order to further develop my design skills and knowledge of the industry. I'm particularly interested in working with Alphabet as their approach to design is very similar to my own as they look to balance aesthetics and concept design. I've also contacted a number of studios who have a focus on branding and editorial design as these area areas I want to develop and gain more experience working in to help choose a specialism I want to go into after University. 

Kalo: 

Hello

I’m Neve a second year graphic design student at Leeds Arts University, working with both print and screen based design (see portfolio bellow). I’m currently looking to gain more experience working within the industry and was wondering if you had any placement opportunities available as I really like your work, specially the brand identity created for Mowgli as the branding works for both print and screen which is something I’de like to explore more with my own personal practice. 

Kind Regards 

Neve Ball 

Black and Ginger :

Hello

I’m Neve a second year graphic design student at Leeds Arts University, with a focus on branding (see portfolio below). I’m currently looking to gain more experience working within the industry looking at branding and was wondering if you had any placement opportunities available as I admire your work and approach to design. I especially liked the branding created for Love thy Neighbour. I particularly like the use of illustration which creates an instantly recognisable aesthetic to the brand that works across all platforms, print and screen. 

I would appreciate any feedback or opportunities available and would be happy to explain any projects within my portfolio. 

Kind Regards,

Neve Ball 

Alphabet:

Hi Sam and Abbas

I’m Neve a second year graphic design student at Leeds Arts University, looking at branding, editorial and screen based design (see portfolio below). I’m currently looking to gain more experience working on branding and have admired your work and approach for a while, as I’m looking more and more at finding the balance between aesthetics and concept (good looks vs personality). I particularly like the branding created for ChaOlogy due to the clever use of Tatami Flooring System to inform the grid system and how this has been applied across the branding.

I would appreciate any feedback or opportunities available and would be happy to explain any projects within my portfolio. 

P.S John gave me your email

Kind Regards

Neve Ball 

In addition to emailing these studios I've been in contact with the Mark who works within the creative team at Shop Direct aka Very, who suggested I drop him an emailed in order to organise some work experience. 

OUGD501: Evaluation/Project Statement

Throughout this project I've explored how societies perception of gender influences branding and consumer perception of brands. Initial research involved content analysis by looking at how brands are perceived by consumers by looking at brand personality traits, a set of traits associated with a brand by the consumer. This links to gender as brands tend to have specific associations with masculinity and femininity, these associations are important as by targeting certain traits such as masculinity and femininity a brand has greater chance as they can help target a certain group of people as ‘greater the congruity between human characteristics that consistently and distinctively describe an individuals actual or ideal self and those described by the brand, the greater the preference’ (Aaker, J 1997). However due to developments in gender roles society no longer classes masculine products as exclusively for men and vice versa, as masculinity and femininity exists in varying degrees within most individual according to Bem (1974). This lead to the exploration of brand who have changed their brand personality traits to reflect the change in gender roles within society. Nike where one of the first sports brand to change their perception from an overtly masculine brand to one that speaks to women as well. This was difficult for Nike due to the masculine associations with there iconic the line "just do it" as it can be very difficult to change an existing brands associations as exiting traits are ingrained in the consumers perception of the brand. In contrast Adidias have had some difficulty in changing there brand associations over the years from there original connection with male professional footballers. Although there mainstream clothing/brand has successfully targeted men and women in recent years there masculine association with football has been difficult to change. This analysis of Adidas development over the years has influenced the practical element of this brief as the designer aimed to create a more gender neutral representation of football within Adidas's website. Once this had been established the designer looked at women in football in order to see how best to showcase their involvement within the sport in a bid to normalise women's football and reduce the separation between men and women in the sport. However once initial practical experiments had been completed I felt this avenue was limited by lack of availability to relevant imagery, leading me to focus on the products sold by Adidas to show they sell ranges for both men and women. This approach allows the design of the football section of the website to focus on the products rather than professionals, allowing for a more gender neutral aesthetic to be created. Furthermore the addition of at 'get involved' section allows part of the website to address the social issue of lack of opportunities for girls in football. This issue has been solved by showcasing training days for both boys and girls as well as a news section which includes news about male and female professionals on the same platform. Showcasing men and women next to each other throughout the whole section allows the split between the two to be reduced, normalising women's football whilst not alienating men from the website.  This outcome showcases the idea that men and women don't exclusively respond to masculinity or femininity but both which needs to be transferred to branding. The outcome also works to further Adidas progression to become more gender neutral as established within my written essay. 

Overall I found this brief interesting to explore due to my personal interest surrounding gender and identity. Furthermore this brief allowed me to explore design for screen further and develop my skills as this is an area of design I feel I need to work on as previous experiments with designing website haven't been as successful. Despite this I personally feel the website created as part of the practical element for this module has be finished to a high standards, but could do with a little refinement in relation to presentation as I found it difficult to showcase some of the elements within the website as I need to work on my animation skills more. 

OUGD505: Module Evaluation

Overall I've found this module very interesting as the both briefs have been challenging and forced me to find different ways to approach each brief in order to solve multiple problems throughout the development process. In relation to the research conducted I feel a good amount of research has been conducted in order to allow me to understand both topics throughly, with primary research being conducted where possible. The research focus aspect of this module has allowed me to gain a greater understand about both topics I was interested in but also aid in problem solving later on in development due to the in depth knowledge I had gained from conducting my research. In relation to studio brief one my main issues where identifying a way to comment on fan culture as a whole without getting too focused on football, as it was hard to remember that I was creating an object for the music genre rather than the sport due to the two being so closely linked. Furthermore this wasn't helped by the nature of football chants as each song is specific to different groups of fans making it difficult to find an aspect to focus on that relates to all fans of football chants. However once I'd conducted more research it was easier to focus on fans as a whole through the use of the Premier League as this was an identity they all came under. Once this issue had been solved I found the brief interesting and enjoyable with feedback from both peers and tutors helping the develop of the flag in the final stages.

In relation to studio brief two the in depth topic research conducted in the beginning created a basis to build my designs off. However the only issue with choosing fake news was the large nature of the topic making it difficult to narrow down a specific area at first as there was multiple ares to explore. This lead me to get a little lost at points during the research stage however once I had created initial ideas looking at authenticity and the fake news awards my research became more focused. This also applies to visual research as I initially looked to a wide nature of outcomes that tackle social issues in order to see what could be produced. Throughout the research process I conducted my own visual investigations to help explore the topic of fake news and post-truth politics more. I found this form of research very helpful and interesting as it was something I hadn't previously acknowledged within my practice. The only issue within this brief was the lack of foiling facilities meaning this processes couldn't be applied, resulting in a slight change in the final outcome. However this helped focus the final outcomes as the inclusion of foiling would of added authenticity whereas the final branding focuses on having small cues to show its in authenticity which would off been counteracted if foiling had been used. The production methods for both briefs where quite simple allowing alterations to be made when needed such as changing the text on the branding to white on green, allowing for a more professional finish to be gained. However this was manageable due to effective time management which left room for alterations to be made.

Overall I feel I have managed my time well across both brief with appropriate time being spent on each. However it was quite difficult to manage this module alongside others such as OUGD503 due to the workload required for each. However effective time management and organisation meant the difficulty was minimised.