Tuesday, 29 May 2012

Final Major Project Evaluation


At the being of this module I was worried I would make the same mistakes as last time I rushed in to a brief not thinking about the outcome, and not expanding briefs to make them have more deliverables and outcomes.
I thought long and hard about some of my briefs, how I could expand them and what I was trying to show and why I wanted to do them. I chose a range of briefs which I could set my own tone of voice for whether it being light hearted and fun to a more serious brief. This has paid off as I have throughly enjoyed and been excited about all my briefs (apart from one), meaning I have strengthened my projects as I have been able to enjoy exploring ways to improve them.
Improving from last term I really think I have understood what I am expected to show, a range of deliverables for one, which I think I have accomplished this term and a lot of development saying how I came to my conclusion why I have done what I've done an the process of getting there. I have enjoyed other parts of briefs which I normally settle for “that will do”, like picking the right typeface for my projects and creating logos which aren't hand drawn for a change has really opened my thought about what I am capable off.
My statement of intent was “a hand drawn investigation in to image and type with a focus on publication and merchandise for popular culture” which hasn't changed throughout the module, I think I could expand on “hand drawn” or even change the word to just “illustrated” and be more clear when using the words "popular culture". Other than that I have unintentionally stuck to my 1st draft for my statement of intent. In all briefs I have created publication or merchandise and they have all been illustrated. I have been able o research well in to my projects and other influences to.
In my Statement of Intent I mention using a wider range of materials and processes which has not been kept, I have managed to print on to fabric and I have drawn on to coconuts but thats only one brief, every other brief I have used digital print.
I would have really liked to have screen printed my owl t-shirts, which I would blame on my time management and that I found it quick and easier to iron on my designs without thinking about the quality. When really my work would have looked a lot better and my skills would have been broaden if I had screen printed.
I think my strongest project is brief 3- cocoaroma, my starting point was just the coconuts which I thought would be fun to decorate but I think the patterns I drew were my strong point, leaving me to want to do more and make anything I could out of them. I didn't rush anything in this brief, the packaging I created isn't up the the highest standard but only because the stock used wasn't correct, which I did experiment with, but I have developed my skills in designing packaging in this brief. In the real industry I think the packaging would have worked better. I have taken a new pleasure in designing logos which I used in Cocoaroma and Brief 1- Parliament. I spend a long time trying out typeface's and realise there is a typeface out there for everything you just need to find it and then adding to the typeface, whether it be my own illustrations or a pattern on photoshop, creating this properly an not hand drawing them has made my work more professional when applying it to other products. Although I should have been using indesign from 1st year I have only just really started this last term which isn't good as I have found I need to use it al the time, but this is a new skill I have to offer now.
I defiantly see an improvement to the way I work from last term. I have been making sure what I am doing is important and that I am not wasting time making something that isn't necessary, making a list of things to do has helped as after writing what you need to do down you never forget. A timetable has been used more than it ever has been which I can see is really beneficially now and has kept me on track by knowing how long I have left to do thing. I find setting myself tasks and not stopping until it is done has instead of coming back to it and then only half doing it properly, this is something I need to do in the future.
I believe my weakest brief was brief 4- fashion cards, I chose this after I had just found out I had a placement at hallmark cards, but they would like me to send them some work which "isn't so scary, and more suitable for Hallmark". However I rushed in to this brief and started aimlessly drawing some girls which I ended up hating and would be only be able to expand in one way which didn't interest me. After delaying it I finally had to get going, and after a lot of trial an error I ended up liking my work a lot better, it is defiantly not me and not what I want to be doing, but if in the future I get handed a brief that I dont like I will be able to manage or make myself like it. I guess this brief was valuable as I may need to expect this when going to Hallmark.
I have covered a range of subject in my briefs and used different styles in each one which is beneficial for my portfolio. I am pleased with all the outcomes and deliverables of each project even brief 4, I think a main part in this has to be thinking about each brief in depth before I start and making sure it is something I am interested in.

Monday, 28 May 2012

Brief 5- Frankly you're a bore boards


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I had the most fun doing brief 5 than the other briefs, I expanded it a lot more than I had planned because of the fact I was enjoying it so much. The used a different style of illustration than I normally do which was childlike and fun. I thought well about the song choice as I have illustrated a song before which I didn't think about enough before hand. I took these illustration which I 1st had planned to just make a notebook and mock a few other deliverable  but found I wanted to create loads, I can see these notebooks working in the real world, but would have to be updated as time goes on and stationary could be made out of a lot of the songs to keep the idea fresh.
I think the quality of my notebooks are to a high standard as I had them sent off to be printed at doxdirect although this was a more expensive option. The intention of this stationary set was for it to look childish but be for adults/ 16+ which I think I have pulled off.
I could see the sets being sold in the shops that I have researched in depth, urban outfitter, joy and magma so research really helped me with this brief.

Brief 4- Fashion Cards boards


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Fashion cards was my least favourite brief and I have had a lot of problems with it. It was mainly the fact that I didnt like the brief or my illustrations and seem like a rushed in to calling it a brief before I gave it some thought. However things did brighten up when I realised I had to get it finished. I'm glad I chose to use a pattern under the dresses and it make them more attractive instantly.
The background add a lot to an image, I created backgrounds which didnt work and eventually found ones that did which made me start to get in to my work and create the cards as best I could.
Another reason I didnt like the brief is that I new where it was going, there was only really one way to expand it and that was by making gift wrap, envelopes, tags etc. I normally would use the illustrations on all of my designs but I took an aspect of the cards and made that in to the main feature of everything else I made.
I have leant that I need to not rush in to picking brief but I also know that when given a brief I dont like you can find away to enjoy it which is a good point for the future.
An other improvement for this brief would be to think about stock. I thought I would go for lovely shinny glossy cards but when I made them i realised that cards and envelopes are notmall plain paper.

Brief 3- Cocoaroma boards


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Cocoaroma ended up being one my larger briefs and the one I enjoyed the most. I didn't expect to expand it as much as it was going to be a small brief.
I developed my drawing skills as I designed 3 patterns on to a coconut and a 2D images. I also improved on designing a logo and I am really pleased with the results as I spent time looking for fonts and using indesign to get it perfect.
I used my patten to create a tapestry which is 100cm by 140cm and got taught how to use the fabric printer where you have to upload a tiff file. The fabric came out bright red, which is not how I designed it. This looks great and I now think it works better than the darker red but it means my packaging does not match. However I did find using different types of paper did change the colours of my paper work so maybe it is bright red as it is on thin cotton.
I spent a lot of time on this brief and found things extremely hard, getting a coconut cut in half and then having to hollow it out with a spoon. I think this project show a different size to my style, it is bright and fun and a bit random.

Brief 2- Vogue illustrated boards


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I really enjoyed brief 2, I spent a lot of time and effort making sure I was very precise with my illustration and with the background images as I wanted it to look amazing. I found the whole of the brief interesting, I normally only really enjoy the drawing part but I really enjoyed taking photos and editing the colours and placing my illustrations in. 
I have made quite a few mistakes and trial and errors but I think this has helped me to create the best I could do.
However I wanted this magazine to be massive, with a different illustration on each page and have it the actually size of Vogue. I didn't realise just how long that would take, so I chose 3 designers and used the illustration I drew more that once in the magazine, making it 20 pages long. 
I think an area for improvement in my magazine is the front cover. I am happy with the colours, they did not come back different than what I expected. I am unhappy that I dont think the cover and the back page match the rest of the magazine. I think maybe a photograph would have worked better as that is how the rest of the magazine looks.
I hand drew my type which I think works as it matches the illustrated girls. However there is no other type throughout the magazine. I did say it was not about type and how I wanted it all to be illustrations and photos, I should have tried and see what i would have looked like, but I didn't know what information to put in as it wasnt about the designers, it was about me as an illustrator. 
Aswel as the magazine I created proposal for the next few issues and also mocked up advertisement and products you can buy. I would have liked to make something else which you could physically pick up. 

Brief 1- Parliament boards


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Parliament was a brief to get me to transfer images on to t-shirts. I succeeded in this by designing a range of illustration for a Clothes company I named Parliament. I wanted to expand the bief so I had to design a logo and a range of packaging and labels.
Through designing the logo I think I have developed skills in that area. I concentrated on the type, finding the right one to match the style and added my own tweak to it. I have improved my illustration skills as  I had to be aware of how the images would work on a t-shirt or garment and design accordingly.
I still think the main strength in this brief is the illustrations and logo, I could have experiment more with colours of in and colours of t-shirts. I think the type in this project is a strong point, I prefer how I havn't hand drawn the logo which I think in the past I would normally do. This makes the work look more believable and professional. If i had more time I would have liked to design more packaging. I have mocked things up, but I would have like to of picked my own stocks and see the real thing.