OUGD301 evaluation

OUGD301 Module Self-Evaluation

Michael Mooney

As far as they go, this module has been an interesting one to say the least. In many ways I would go as far to say it was some sort of success, but not for the reasons originally intended at the beginning of the module. Of course on the other hand there were many issues that need resolving in time for the next module/FMP.

At the beginning of the module the task was handed to us to write a number of briefs, several of which we would go on to complete over the forthcoming weeks. I feel that this part of the module was the beginning many issues that would follow – creating many briefs from scratch was a daunting process which left me a little confused as to what I wanted to achieve. Partially however, in general I was unaware of the type of work I wanted/needed to carry out to progress myself as a designer, which is something I slowly came to realise throughout the module, more of which I will talk about later.

The briefs I had originally chosen to undertake largely did not end up being the briefs I would end up presenting at this point in time. To start with, I had decided to do the gardening/building company branding briefs, plus two collaborations with Mitchell and Eddie. Due to practical reasons and a change in both mine and Mitchell's priorities, we had to postpone our sign-painting project until the next possible chance. Mine and Eddie's collaboration also fell through as we could not see eye-to-eye when we initially sat down to begin the brief, although later on in the module we would end up collaborating on a competition brief which ran far more smoothly.

The briefs I ended up completing included the two visual identity projects, plus another collaboration with a local photographer and the competition brief with Eddie. As far as they go I am fairly happy with the outcomes of these, especially as a few of them have the potential to become live pieces of work which would be seen regularly in my hometown. There are certain aspects of each brief that in hindsight I should have spent much more time on, such as the print process side of things, but I think this is where I realised where my true interests lie as a designer – I have come to realise I am a little less interested in the print process than the actual process of designing, and perhaps I am more suited to concept development and design for screen. This aside, I am fairly satisfied with the work as a whole, and I did enjoy developing my visual identity skills, as this is something I have not really touched upon until now.

There were a number of problems encountered throughout this module, a few of which have – as mentioned previously – left me more sure than ever of the type of work I should be doing. To begin with, the process of creating my own briefs from scratch and then structuring these in some kind of detailed plan was something that threw me off from the start, as although I have had similar experiences before it was a struggle the manage a number of briefs simultaneously. This was perhaps the reason it took me a little while to get the ball rolling, alongside the natural tendency to postpone important tasks – though now I have done it once I feel more than ready for this aspect of project management in the next module.

Another issue I encountered along the way was losing the ability to stay focussed on one particular plan or idea, although this potentially applies to anyone attempting to manage multiple briefs. Perhaps this combined with the difficulties of structuring four briefs was one of the main reasons as to why my plans altered a considerable number of times, which left me with less time to actually continue with the design process. On the other hand, perhaps the fact that I was making work that I am not massively interested in continuing with was another factor from which I will have to learn from.

From this module I have identified a few main points I can bear in mind for the future:

• As of next module I will ensure that when I select a brief (especially if it is one written from scratch) I will dedicate myself to seeing an idea through to the end. I should aim to choose a brief that I am genuinely interested in – I feel that in future this will be geared far more towards screen-based design (animation, web graphics etc) rather than design that relies on continuous experimentation into print processes. If I am not overly interested in the subject matter, I should at least make sure I am fully engaged with the design process and that I enjoy some aspect of this.
• In the future I will have to start much sooner. Spending as much time as I did trying to plan the overall course of this module ended up being a detriment to the actual design process, and I have found that if I create a much more loose schedule then it gives me more time to get involved and alter the plan accordingly. I also feel this would give me more space to get fully interested in the subject matter, something which I have not realised the importance of until now.
• I must find someone who I can collaborate with very effectively. The experience I have had with regards to the collaborative brief that unfortunately did not move anywhere was not a good one and did not leave me motivated to create good work, although this is an important lesson learnt. Of course the collaboration depends on both the people and the project, as when Eddie and myself later worked on another brief it went a lot more efficiently and productively. Unfortunately the first attempt at collaborating was another issue that led to a severe loss of time during this module.

Overall in some ways I feel as though I have let myself down slightly with this module. Due to certain factors combined with a lack of organisation on my behalf, I was left with far less time than what I had hoped to make use of. On top of this, I found myself working on projects in an area of graphic design that I do not have a great amount of interest in – though despite this I am happy with the outcomes. Of course if I was to re-do this module there would be an endless number of aspects that I would approach differently, although these are all things I can take into account for next term.