When evaluating on this module, it’s important to look at both the successes and the issues that occurred within the module when producing and designing work. The most successful aspects of this module was producing real work and responding to live briefs. Firstly producing real work for real clients was eye opening and it was good to feel a sense of achievement when they liked and approved of your work, especially if it exceeded their expectations. For example when working for a client and producing branding for their events company, it was exactly what they were looking for and when all the work had been produced they couldn’t have been happier and were very grateful. It was also enriching to work alongside a client together, sharing ideas and analysing what works for them and what doesn’t.
Another aspect of responding to live briefs was working and doing work for real companies, such as the Grown Up Chocolate Company, researching into their existing branding and creating a strong identity which would fit alongside their current one.
I’ve learnt a lot about branding, the difference between branding, identity and a logo. Working with new forms of graphic design such as branding and packaging was enjoyable and interesting to have that opportunity. I also enjoyed having such a range of briefs to choose from and be able to have time to create commission work and work for other people, rather than responding to hypothetical briefs.
This module also came out with lots of added positives, firstly winning and being chosen for the Whitecote Banner Brief meant I earned money and also got the opportunity to go into the school and give a talk and also possibly having work experience. This alongside working with real people and companies made me appreciate my work more and recognise my talent much more than in other modules. The work I produced in this module has definitely been my favourite and personally I think it is my best work so far.
Overall the clients and collaborative partners I worked with were successful with only a few minor hiccups, which made the designing and the module go a lot smoother, it also meant that both sides were happy and it was good to work with different people and meet people from different courses.
I feel I managed my time well, with this brief more than ever. I managed to fit the briefs I planned to complete from the beginning on time and to my best ability. Leaving enough time for production and photography. It also helped to improve my time management by working to other people’s deadlines such as clients, live briefs and collaborative partners all at different times.
Some elements which could have been improved were working on one day briefs, it was extremely difficult to complete and be happy with a brief within just one day, therefore the designing nearly always went over a day and actually lasted two or more days. This is something that can be worked on, to help speed up my design process, whilst also creating meaningful designs.
Some aspects of client work was difficult and testing when they see something different to you, or they want specific aspects of the design changing which you, as the designer, don’t agree with. When this happens you have to learn to accept to listen to the client, but try and encourage them and give them your best advice, but sometimes they still don’t take it.
An aspect of collaborative work which was difficult was finding a collaborative partner in the first place, it was hard to find other students who had enough free time to work on a project. The illustrator was also short for time and therefore some of the aspects of the design, specifically the key visuals. In evaluation I would have preferred these to be more developed and individual to each visual, however I appreciate that the illustrator was busy with other projects.
Finally another aspect of the branding which could be improved was the limited resources available. It would have been better to have the business cards on thicker paper, however we printed them on the thickest paper available to us which was only 300gsm. If this was done again, we could have gone with an outside supplier instead.
In conclusion, this module was great for making me enjoy designing again, working on projects that I enjoy. It was really motivating to make work for clients and real people and for them to be happy with it. Also winning competitions was really encouraging and hopefully I can enter more and do more commission work. It was great working with an illustrator, where we were both able to bring something different to the table and I could focus more on the design work. It was a good way of becoming involved with the university more and meeting new students and people. It tested my time management skills and allowed me to get a grasp of what working freelance would be like. It was also a great chance to get yourself out there and enter well known student competitions. Overall I think this module went really well and was my favourite module so far.
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