Module Evaluation

Module Evaluation.

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

There are many different skills I have developed during this module, mainly time management, as I was able to get my work done to a standard I am happy with. In the past I have let my design work suffer due to lack of time management, this is something I didn’t want to happen during this module. It is not only the design work I let suffer, but my essay too, this is something that I have been successful in during this module as I am really proud of my essay and the design that is synthesised with it. I have always been interested in illustrations and this is something I wanted to develop during this module, I think that I have effectively developed my skills digitally drawing illustrations. My writing skills have developed through doing the different tasks that have been set leading up to the essay; this has helped me to develop my writing skills. I think that my ability to structure essays has grown since last year, and I found that being really interested in my subject allowed me to research into the subject more, which informed my knowledge and writing skills.

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

I decided to try different approaches to create my illustrations to what I would usually do; I started with hand drawn illustrations, then making them digital, although I don’t think that this approach worked very well. I then experimented with a Wacom. I think that this could be a very good way to make illustrations, although due to the time scale, I decided to stick with what I know, as I didn’t have any skills or knowledge in using a Wacom. Although I think that it would be a very useful skill to have therefore I will purchase a Wacom and learn when I have more spare time. Looking further into different binding methods I found ways to bind that would be appropriate for my target audience and the purpose of the publication. This is something that I have developed as previously I would just stick to the standard saddle stitch binding, even if its not appropriate.

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

During this module I found that my skills using Illustrator and InDesign and developed and I am a lot more confident using these programs. Although I know that I need to work on my Photoshop skills. I have looked into different methods of binding and found that the most effective way bind is very crafty and fiddly; this is a strength of mine. I have the patience to deal with tedious things, and craft well so that it doesn’t look like an amateur design. Illustrating the publication and the posters is something that I really enjoyed doing and although it took a long time I think that it effectively connects with my target audience. This is something that I will capitalise on in the future.

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

One of the weaknesses I have in my work is the writing, although I have found that researching into the subject matter thoroughly before starting any of the written content, allows me to have a better understanding of my subject which makes my writing better and flow more. Before this module I would have said that time management is a major weakness, and it is still something that I need to work on, but I have developed it a lot during this module. Organisation is something that I need to get better at, as I have lost a lot of time due to not being organised for printing. If I had booked more print slots in advance, I wouldn’t have had as much stress during assembling of the practical design aspect of this module. The layout of the design itself is also something that I need to work on and do more research into, as it is something that I am not confident in.

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

If I were to do this module again I would have done all of the tasks that were set, when they were set, rather than leaving it a few weeks and getting behind. Throughout the module I have developed my time management skills so that I could get everything done on time.

I would thoroughly check through my work for spelling mistakes before I print, as have seen a spelling mistake after I have printed and it is something that I can’t change. Although the mistake isn’t on my main piece of design, I still feel like I would have been better if I re printed the poster.

I under estimated the amount of time that it would take to do my illustrations. I planned on having 10 Dinsey Princesses and I only came out with 7. This is also due to the binding method I used; I could either have 8 double page spreads or 16. Therefore I decided that it would be highly unlikely that I would be able to achieve 15 illustrations. Next time I would find my binding before I started to design so I had a better idea of how to organise the pages.

I would have done more primary research, asking children what they would want to see in a fairy tale rather than just going what I think. This will inform my design further, as it will relate to the children, rather than simply looking at secondary research.

If I were to do this module again I would have also booked more print slots earlier as I had to go to drop in to get all of my work printed which was very stressful and risky. Also having a print slot gives you a deadline to work to that isn’t the final deadline, so that if something goes wrong I will be able to fix it for the main deadline.

6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  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