OUGD504 - My Design Process - Evaluation

General Feelings

When I first read the brief I was really excited about the project because it gave me the opportunity to design something where I was the target audience, which hasn't really been the case on the course up to now. Looking back on it I shouldn't have thought that at all, because what I actually did was design something that reflects myself rather than something for myself, and I think that's a success in itself as I had to put thought into every decision rather than just doing something because I liked it.

Successes

I think the main successes in this brief have revolved around the problems, which is odd. Firstly I was struggling to find a creative method of folding the paper, which seemed like a bad thing at the time. Retrospectively this was a blessing in disguise as it encouraged me to stick to more traditional folding method, and that is reflective of my "no nonsense" sort of approach to me design. Secondly I was struggling to fold the paper because of it's thickness, and given that this module is about production, this was a big problem. I think that the stock I chose was the perfect choice for something that reflects myself and my process, and although that was what created the problem, the problem wouldn't have existed if I hadn't have chosen the stock so relevantly. Lastly I think that my inability to find suitable stock of either of the colours I wanted to try as a background worked in my favour, because when I did experiment with colour it made me realise how the design was against just the texture as a background, and by not using a coloured background the texture is only emphasised more.

Changes

If I was to do this project again I honestly don't think I'd change much at all, and I think this is testament to how much I took from the studio tasks relating to this brief, and to how solid my design process generally is, even if it's not the most creative system in the world. The only thing I would say about this project is that it took me by surprise how quickly we got back into work, and subsequently I made a very slow start to the project. Obviously this is completely my fault and shouldn't have been the case.

Going Forward

This is the first project that I’ve ever done that, looking back on, I feel I’ve used Photoshop and InDesign properly in conjunction with each other. I think this has made me realise just how far I’ve come as a designer, which has made me feel really positive about design again, as towards the end of last year I felt as if I was stuck in a bit of a rut. Hopefully this can be representative of everything I do this year, as I feel like a did a much more professional job of this brief than any of last years brief, and subsequently am much happier with the outcome. I look forward to carrying this attitude into this year.