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

Throughout the course of this module I have developed skills within Adobe InDesign and Illustrator as we experienced workshops that linked to each of these programmes. For Speaking from Experience I developed a range of organisation skills, as there was such a large quantity of work to be produced I had to prioritise what tasks were more important than others and whether aesthetics were key over content and what I had to include within the designs. 

I have also developed my own time management skills over the course of the module which was why I decided to base my 'Speaking from Experience' brief on this. I managed to complete the majority of tasks as we were given them, this has really helped me towards the end of the module as it has allowed me to focus more heavily on the greater quantity of work that needed to be produced for my design based brief 'Speaking from Experience'. 

I have then further developed my communication skills with the 'Who are you?' brief based on Emily James. I had to communicate her illustrative style effectively without drawing attention away from the text and her own work whilst also making it clear that she is a young and professional designer. I feel that I achieved this well with this brief.

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

I have followed a standard design process to help me develop my solutions conducting a range of research before refining some hand drawn design sheets that will aid my final designs and revised solutions. My design sheets have helped me to find solutions that are appropriate for both my target audience and appropriate printing methods, available stocks and time constraints. 

Developing idea's was key as it allowed me to stay focused on the requirements of the brief. I have also undertaken a range of research into my select topics and key elements that relate to my briefs, this has helped me to focus my design production in the right direction and meet the requirements of set briefs.

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

I have really enjoyed producing both of the design briefs within this module "Who are You?" based on Emily James and "Speaking from Experience" aimed at the new first years. I have time managed myself better with this module, not leaving things until the last minute. I have produced a large quantity of work for the Speaking from Experience Brief because of my time management skills being improved. This has allowed me to excel myself and get the most of the time given for each brief and module.

I have also strengthens my InDesign skills after the workshop in the mac suite a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to explore these skills with the "Who are You?" Brief based on Emily James within the OUGD402 PPP Module. Another skill that I have strengthens is my use of "less is more" I kept my designs for "Speaking from Experience" Simple and this has benefitted me as the quantity of work was very excessive. It also gives the designs a very professional appearance which is important for the target audience as you need to have a professional attitude towards the course and your studies. 

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

My main weakness throughout the duration of the OUGD402 PPP Module is my efforts to evaluate and annotate my designs as I progress through. I need to focus on this in second year as I feel it will allow me to re-evaluate my work and see where I am at at each stage before progressing and improving my designs further to make them more appropriate to a set brief.

My quality of final prints could also be improved, because of the quantity of work I have produced and also the time of year that this brief has occurred, this has become a problem and I would have preferred a more professional finish to my designs, however this is obviously something that could be easily changed or altered.

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

1. I would make better use of drop in and the printing facilities at an earlier stage as it has suddenly become very busy and printing is difficult to get done in such a short period of time for drop ins. I was organised and pre-booked slots, however these have come in useful but because of the large quantity of work I have struggled to get everything printed to a high standard for the deadline.

2. I would experiment more within the "Speaking from Experience" brief, possibly producing less but being more effective and experimental with my prints looking into foiling and more intricate design processes that could benefit my style. I think I could have use amy time effectively to learn new skills that benefit my designs in second year.

3. Keep up with blogging, I have managed well keeping up with my tasks and blogging appropriately throughout the module for set briefs and tasks. However I would have liked to blog more personal study work, things that I find myself whilst researching for various other briefs or external work. I feel this would benefit my working process as well as my blog content as I could then refer back to this for future reference.

4. Continuously self evaluate rather than just evaluated at set crit sessions that are programmed into the time table. I feel that continuous self evaluations will benefit my working processes as above as it would allow me to sit and think about my designs and refocus my thoughts if necessary. 

5. Finally, I would like to produce more primary research, questionnaires etc. I find this really difficult as I struggle with confidence issues, and don't have the confidence to email people with questionnaires as I know how annoying it can be getting a mailbox filled with tasks like this, however I also realise how this is so beneficial to my designs and allows me to focus my target audience better, and produce more directed designs.

5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance					x
Punctuality					x
Motivation					x
Commitment					x
Quantity of work produced				x
Quality of work produced				x
Contribution to the group				x

Here is the final double page spread that I produced based on Emily James and her working progress as a student designer. I am really pleased with the outcome and the works well as the text stands out against the reversed background and the subtle colour draws attention to her work as the focal point of the spread.

My refined development of Emily's double page spread was saved in an unusual format and would no longer open and so I have had to rework this and develop my idea further. Here are some screen shots oft he new solution. I tried to keep in minimal and therefore any colour would be focused on Emily's work and and text would also be about her. This has worked well and I feel my outcome is eye catching and professional.

I decided to use three columns as a basic layout for my double page spread, this was simple and worked effectively.

I then began to structure the basic body copy that I had previously written based on Emily and her life after I conducted an interview with her. I was really pleased with the simple design as it looked professional giving Emily herself a professional appearance.

I decided to give a really modernist feel to the design keeping my colour scheme simple with purely black and white, to give a high contrast style. This work really well and the text stands out against the black background.

I have chosen images of Emily's work that represent her try illustrative approach to represent her style to my readers / audience. This has worked well as they have become the clear focal point of the publication with simple use of negative space and the colour against the high contrast black and white everywhere else really stands out.

Here are some sheets that I have produced from the crit feedback sessions with Fred and Amber. I found these really useful as it helped me to develop and refine my idea further.

Here are some images of my finished designs before print, one for each day of the year. 

I have taken this current first year timetable as a basis for my calendar design and I have colour coded (using information graphics) as a basis for time management before deadlines to help new students cope with the scary approach of module submissions. 

I have used famous design quotes as inspiration in and around these other aspects of my calendar to inspire students to keep motivated at the weekends and throughout the christmas, easter and summer breaks.

I have now completed all 365 basic page layouts, plus a title page. I now need to go through and add specific details to key dates that relate to the course. Here is a screen shot of my front cover page... I  still need to construct a plan for a the box that the cards will come in. I original wanted a tear-away style of calendar however, to get this ringed it would be too difficult and I have learnt from previous briefs that it is very important to consider the printing options available to you before beginning any designs.

Here is the basic design that I will be using for each page of my 365 page course calendar. It is smart and simple, will hopefully appeal to design students with the strong use of contrast and negative space combined to give this contemporary appearance. I will now be working on adding key dates from the course calendar once I have completed the basic layout for each page.