Brief Congratulations on completing the first semester of the programme. At this mid-way point of the year we are asking you to reflect on the last few months of your studies and evaluate what you have learned about yourself, how you learn, the content that you have been introduced to and your growing awareness of Graphic Design.Your task is to review your blogs, your research, your work and your experiences to date. Having done this you are asked to identify: - 10 things that you have learned about yourself as an individual and as learner. These should reflect your personal development and individual journey since the start of the programme. - 10 things that you have learned about yourself as a designer. These should reflect your growing awareness of your own interests within graphic design as a subject, discipline and profession. 20 reflective statements; Individual / As a learner - I have become more confident as an individual; I think this has some reflection on the course as I will willingly speak in front of a group of people about both my own work and the work of others. However, I think in many ways this is down to living away from home. We have to make new friends and social groups and not rely on parents to speak for us. This had been key to me growing up over the past few months. - I have become more organised and efficient; whilst i've always had aspects of OCD, living on my own has made me realise the importance of living in an tidy environment. It makes you feel happier to wake up in a tidy room than one that is messy and disorganised. - I have become cleaner; seeing how some students live makes me realise how easy a life you have growing up with people to clean for you. I find it quite disgusting how some people live and I think seeing this had made me grow up a little bit and see the importance of cleaning, this aspect relates to my point above of living in a tidy environment, I think the two tie in very well together - That I will never move back to Preston, as much as it might be my home town, I prefer city living and feel that for my career to be successful the city is the best place for me to be. However, I am still unsure as to whether I will stay in Leeds or not. - I have become more responsible; having to manage aspects of my life like money etc has been key over the past few months. Although, living in student accommodation I don't have to worry about bills etc. as it's all included in one payment, I do have to consider food and other essentials for living, as well as having money for clothes and social activities. - University Life isn't as I expected; this is the only course I know of, that is timetabled in 5 days a week. We work more thoroughly and harder than anyone I know. I save socialising for the weekend, and during the week concentrate on my studies. I always was a hard worker through my GCSE's and A-levels and now I see that to be on a course like this you really have to be. - I am certainly not as homesick as I thought I might have been. Having young parents and being an only child has meant that the three of us are really close and I get on really well with both my mum and dad, however (probably down to skype), I haven't missed home half as much as I thought I would. I love life in Leeds, and find it more effort to go home than I do to stay in Leeds. - I have no time for anything. I am usually a really organised person and manage my time well and whilst I am coping okay with the work load this doesn't mean I don't have lots of late nights and early mornings to keep on top of it all. I would like to become less stressed over the next few months and manage my time better creating a balance between socialising and working. - I like company; whilst I enjoy being on my own and having my own space, as an only child I've always liked the company of other people. Living in halls I find there is usually always somebody there which is nice. However, when there isn't it does feel very lonely. - I am unbelievably lazy. I complain about my 10 minute walk to university when I know for a fact some people walk for at least 30minutes. I have had a gym in my halls since september and only ever been twice. However I will get fit soon, and start going more often. Graphic Designer / Professional - I actually find the history of Graphic Design quite interesting. Since leaving college I have really missed the essay writing and note taking, however the Context of Practice lectures have allowed me to maintain this. I really enjoy taking lecture notes and writing them up and find the sessions educational and interesting; especially modernism and postmodernism. - I am capable of working on more than on brief at once. When I was completing my A-levels, we were always given two projects throughout the academic year that ran for about 14 weeks each. Since starting the course in September we've had many different briefs running alongside each other at the same time. This has really helped me to develop my time management skills, organisation and working style. - I am capable of producing a vast body of work in a short period of time. Looking back on all the work that we have produced since september I had forgotten about how much I have achieved and how far I have come. I hope in the coming months I can improve my standard and quality of work and produce a greater quantity of work as well. - The importance of design sheets. I have never really appreciated design sheets for what they are intended to be used as. However over the past few months I have understood the importance of how they can help us to develop our idea's to create the best outcomes. - I see and analyse design everywhere. At the weekend I visited London for a shopping trip with one of my flatmates and found myself constantly commenting on the design of advertisements on the underground. I am constantly critiquing and looking at design by others. - My confidence is continually growing. I've always considered myself as a shy and timid person, but I have now realised that I will willingly speak up in front of others and voice my opinion. In group tasks, I am happy to take charge and organise the group rather than take a back seat, and I never realised I had this characteristic in me before now. - I am excited to learn and develop new techniques within design. I am yet to take full advantage of the facilities that Leeds College of Art has to offer. I hope to expand my screen print techniques in the second semester and learn how to use letterpress and experiment further with paper craft and other new techniques. - I am much more honest about others designs. I have realised that the best way to crit work is to be completely honest; to point out both the positive and negative aspects in order to make a design better. In recent crit session I have received feedback that isn't necessarily beneficial and doesn't always help me move forward with my design process. I would much prefer to receive useful crit feedback even if they don't always like the work you have produced. I now realise how important this is. - I really enjoy typography and the mathematical aspects behind it. The sessions looking at type, grid and format with Lorenzo were really interesting and opened my eyes to layout and format; which is something that I hope to use in future briefs and designs. - My designs are constantly improving. When I look back to work I produced in the first few weeks on the course I realise I am now much more selective within my working process. I now think subconsciously about layout and format, type and colour and other elements. I hope over the coming months my designs will continually improve and I can find my own defined style within the industry. Photographs My Individual Progress so far                                 |
Study Task 4; Interim Self Evaluation
