End of Module Evalution 503

Learning Outcome	Evidenced where? Blog, Visual Journal, Roughs, Final Illustrations, Storyboards, Development Sheets etc.  (No more than 75 words)	Your grade Using words: > poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent
5A4:  Make appropriate use of a range of research methods to investigate a topic and produce work relating to the critical, cultural or social context of art and design. (Knowledge & Understanding - Research and Critical Awareness)	When asked to tackle book covers for example I read the books as to gain a greater understanding of the authors writing and the way I the reader reacted to the book. It also helps to highlight key themes and characters. I then did further background research into the societies of that time and for example In Cold Blood, I considered the killers and the Clutter family. I also conducted 1st hand research when going to see Jack Garret live and using research from that to inspire the album cover. And also looking into current practitioners and products that are already in industry and critically analyzed them.	Very Good.
5B3: Generate ideas, concepts, proposals, solutions and/or arguments using the language, materials, processes and techniques of a designated discipline. (Cognitive Skills - Problem Analysis, Problem Solving)	I have used several methods in which to generate ideas including using roughs to get basic ideas down and then experimented further using other mediums and software such as test prints and Photoshop. I have also had to adapt the way I work in which to meet the brief requirements for example changing my technique to work with type as a starting point with which forcing myself to think about the design first and the image second.	Excellent.
5C3: Respond to set briefs or proposals in a professional context. (Practical Skills - Visual Quality and Conceptual Development)	To give my images a high-quality finish I decide to screen print the vast majority of my outcome. The reason because mainly of contextual and aesthetical reasons but also it is a technique that before this module I had confidence in but, through developing this technique I have start use several different colour separations. This has brought my practice forward and is improving. Also with the In Cold Blood cover I feel like my typography and design skills are improving.	Excellent.
5D3: Exercise self-management skills in managing their workloads and meeting deadlines/apply interpersonal and social skills to interact with others. (Key Transferable Skills, Organisation, Communication and Evaluation)	I have met all of the deadlines on time and finished the work to a professional standard. In the beginning I did get struggle with sticking to the action plans I had made in the initial week. This was due to other modules that where running alongside with this. In order to tackle this problem, I set myself day where I would just focus on responsive and set myself strict mini deadlines to make sure the work was done in advance before the deadline so before submission I had time to make small amendments. Working in collaboration I found positive experience. I gained a better understanding of how our individual skill sets work together and how we produced work that if we would be working individually I know I would struggle with and it would take a lot more time and may not be up to the same quality.	Excellent.

Summative Evaluation (See Evaluation Guidance on next page for more information)

You are required to write a 750 word Summative Evaluation of this module.

Please type up your Summative Evaluation in the box below. Make a PDF of the document and post the PDF as your final post on your OUIL503 blog. Also, please cut and paste the text from this box into the final page(s) of your OUIL503 Project Report.

I was initially very daunted by the thought of having to create work for live briefs. It was something that I have never really done before and I had pre fears of accidentally missing deadlines, struggling to understand the briefs and not meeting the requirements. However, I never missed a deadline but in some of the briefs for example YCN – Royal Opera House, and the Moby mini brief set by Newstateman I did struggle to understand exactly what they are asking for. I think to tackle this problem in the future I need to really analyze the brief, maybe rewrite it in a way that I understand and simplify it. This will hopefully limit confusion and pin point exactly what I am aiming for. I felt like my organization at the beginning of this module was lacking slightly in that I didn’t stick to my original action plan due to  other modules where running alongside this. As a result responsive got lost a bit. However, in order to catch up on time I set one day aside each week for me to tackle responsive. I also started to set myself strict mini deadlines to make sure the work was done in advance before the deadline so before submission I had time to make small amendments. This helped me to ensure that all the work was done. I feel like the work was also completed to a high standard and I think that this was largely helped by the process I chose to use.  Screen and Lino printing became my main methods of image making. I have a lot of confidence in these areas and knew that this was an aesthetic that worked, but in addition it also was appropriate for most of the briefs I chose to address. It was really good as well to apply these methods to lots of different outcomes. It made me realize that you can still apply your own way of image making, you don’t have to amend it much. Although, due to time constrains I had to re-use imagery, but just re-appropriating and adjusting it slightly enabled me to save time and still have an appropriate outcome. So for the future it would be useful to build up a back catalogue of lino prints and print textures. I did cut out the whole alphabet out of lino, which was initially very time consuming but is useful because I now have a type I can use for other briefs and is easily emendable. Aesthetically during this module, I have started to incorporate colour into my practice. Before I just tended to make black and white images but now I have gained a much stronger understanding of how the correct colour pallet can really enhance an image it context. I have started to rarely used black and white now, and colour has started to become an integral part of my illustrations. The one image that gave me confidence in perusing colour more was the bird print I did for the Batsford Prize. From the feedback from both tutors and peers it made me see how my work could greatly be improved by the addition of colour and how it made it much more appealing to the viewer as well as reflecting on my blog and looking back at previous work. Typography was something else that I had to tackle in order to meet with the penguin brief specifications for both the adult fiction and non-fiction book covers. ‘Strong us of typography’. In the past type has been a big weakness of mine and it was something I needed to grasp in order to meet these requirements. I decided to approach this in an illustrative way, taking my skills of printing and applying them to type. I initially wanted to use letter press but wasn’t able to so decide to cut the letters out of lino. I was then able to use my own type across the two book covers. I think the strongest design was for In Cold Blood. I surprised myself in how well the design went because I had incorporated both type, colours and, once screen printed I was happy with the outcome. Collaboration was another part of this module that I was initially worried about but once I had dived into it, it was fine. And I found it an extremely beneficial process and positive experience. It is something I would definitely consider in the future. From collaborating with someone from graphic design I gained a better understanding of how our individual skill sets work together and how we produced work that if we would be working individually I know I would struggle with and it would take a lot more time. Given that there was just two of us as well enabled effective communication, it was easier to bounce ideas around and take in each other’s thoughts. It was easier to organize weekly or twice weekly meetings. However, given that we were such a small group that did mean that the work load was more but we were both hard workers and came up with an outcome we were both happy with and that met the brief specification.   Confidence I think has been the main problem for me throughout this module, was really lacking at the start but am gaining more. But once I started handing in the briefs I started to gain some. However, I have become much more confident in other aspects of my practice. I am pleased that I have started to use colour more and have gained more confidence in elements such as composition and type. I still feel in some areas such as context behind my images still needs improving, but this is where understanding the briefs better and not overthinking the outcome comes into it. This module has also helped me to identify the types of briefs we are likely to get and where I may fit into the industry.