Module Evaluation

What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
I have developed my time management skills extensivelly, being able to work on several briefs at a time and managing my dissertation work and ppd work alongside was something i thought i'd struggle with. However, I now work at a faster pace, making descisions more frequently and not lulling over problems i may come across, i feel this is something which has greatly improverd my design practice.

What approaches to generating work and solutions to problems have you developed and how have they helped?
I now research graphic design much more at the start of a brief, looking at books and keeping up to date with design magazines, this gives me inspiration to get started with the brief and i often have lots of ideas to get down onto paper as a result. I also seek the advice of my course mates much more, even if its just a quick question on a particular part of my design they are willing to help, as do i, returning the advice. This is very valuable to my practice.

What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I feel i can design at a faster pace now, from coming up with initial ideas to producing the outcome, this will put me at a more professional level as a designer and will be a valuable trait when seeking a job at the end of the year. Also, I feel my ideas themselves have improved, the concepts behind them are stronger over this module as opposed to last year, I think this is a result of practice, and i now have so much passion for my work to put everything behind it and hopefully continue it as a career.

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how could you exploit these more fully?
I recently had a chat with a senior designer at Dig For Fire, Sheffield. His advice was to explore more into web/screen based design as this is a vastly growing market for graphic designers. I wouldn't say this area was a weakness of mine but definitely an area i need to devote more time towards, i plan to include more web/screen based design in the coming modules to improve my experience and portfolio over a wider range of media.


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

Attendance = 4
Punctuality = 5
Motivation = 5
Quantity of work produced = 4
Quality of work produced = 4
Contribution to the group =4

Skype - Finals

Here's the context of which my final Skype cards will work in. They are received in the mail and the user can hold them up to any view, the di-cut card shows the view through it, this delivers the message 'Skype gives you more'. Also with the other cards, holding different images: phones, people, buildings, they give the same message but in different areas like being able to see more people, see more vies and see more on the move. I have used royalty free images for the context shots as impressive images are required to give the cards their best look.

Leeds Public Art - Context

I photographed the Leeds Public Arts Publication in the best context: Leeds! Capturing not only the publication itself but the lively background of Leeds too as the Leeds community is the target audience and content of the publication. I particularly admire the table shots, showing the publication can be read over lunch with work colleagues.

Tag: Pac - Xmas Cards

Tag: Pac - Xmas Cards Finals

Here are my xmas cards, re-designed to a smaller scale than previously to relate to the 'mini-jest' of the statements on the cards themselves.
I think the cards work well at this scale, they are different to the rest and this is appropriate for my audience.

After gaining feedback on theses cards, it was apparent that they may be a bit too small and difficult to read.. therefore i have enlarged them slightly but maintained the quirkiness of small cards.

Tag: Pac - Xmas Cards Context

The target audience for my christmas cards are designers, those who may well have to work through the Christmas period..therefore i have photographed the cards in a busy designers working environment.

Seven Deadly Typefaces - Context

I took my poster down to vernon St. print rooms, here i could photograph it in context; a working environment focused in typography with a hint of history.
Some of the photographs are great for my final boards, the top 3 will be used.
I played around with layout and angles in the print room, i wanted a shot with the huge gold/black printing press but the thing was just too big and out-shined my poster!

Seven Deadly Typefaces - Final

Here is my printed 'Seven Deadly Typefaces' Poster.
I chose to print onto an off-white cartridge paper to add to the historic style, the poster is narrower than an A2 but of the same height relating to historic manuscripts. For the type on the poster, I chose to use Baskerville as this is appropriate, being a historically used typeface, also the colours red and black are largely paired throughout historic documents. Keeping the layout simple and focusing on the content, the seven deadly typefaces are clearly presented with the use of point size, spacing and colour separation.

Headline Poster - Final

here is the final Headline poster i have screen-printed.
Things didn't go quite so smoothly as I made an error in the screen-printing process...I didn't 'white-out' the text when printing black, therefore i was printing green directly on top of black which instantly darkened the colour. Due to a tight deadline and considering how long it takes to prepare another screen, i didn't have time to re-print the poster.
However, I'm still pleased with my outcome, the text is still visible and after some photoshopping it doesn't look quite so bad!
Over the course of this brief i have determined that screen-printing isn't an area i'd like to re-visit.

P&O Ferries - Final Booklet

Here are shots of my final booklet.
I have improved the type, changing it from Ultra Light Helvetica to Light Helvetica and increasing the size of the cover title.
I have printed on matte stock, however i would have specified a double-sided gloss paper to add to P&O's image of quality and consideration to it's image.
For context shots i have photographed the booklet in hands to show scale, and in pocket to show the handy nature of the booklet.

P&O Ferries - Prototype

Here's an initial print of the P&O booklet.
There is an apparent problem throughout the booklet, the text has 'drowned' in the blue ink, Ultra Light Helvetica is just too light for this printer/stock.
However, the format, scale, colours and pagination of the booklet are spot on, only the type will be amended for the final booklet.

P&O - Finalizing the Design

I have made some alterations to the design of the booklet. I decided to remove some of the vector line work, the illustrations, and keep the design largley type orientated. I think the use of typography to emphasise the statements is more subtle and clever as opposed to the blatetly obvious illustrations.

This example still includes the suitcases but is adapted to incorporate the type more.

I have used a very subtle type edit for this statement, the S and C are linked to represent a chain or handcuffs. This works much better as opposed to my previous metal detector line work illustration which didn't incorporate the type at all.

Similarly I have replaced the champagne glass on the 'U' and only edited the small ferry icon at the bottom of the page for the statement 'Endless Fun'.

For the front cover I have maintained the divide between P&O Ferry and Plane.Asking a question for the title shows that the booklet shows you which one is best. Very clean and simple design, nothing to clutter and confuse, or lose people's interest and make them not want to read it. 

For the back cover I have included a map of P&O travel routes. This gives the booklet more solid information like the accompanying paragraphs under each statement throughout the booklet. And of course the vital phone number and web address, as the booklet's purpose is not only to improve people's views of P&O, but to get them to travel with P&O.