END OF MODULE SELF EVALUATION

 

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN		LEVEL	04
Module Code	OUGD404
Module Title	DESIGN PRINCIPLES

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME	EWAN NORTH

1.  What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
Though out this module I have learned a number of different skills, such as how to use type in an effective manner, when and where to use it and how a number of different things effect the readability and legibility of text and they ways in which to go about countering these. How to go about creating my own typeface, and the anatomy of type. I then learned a number of things about to do with colour, like where it comes from, what colours work together and how it is perceived. I feel I have applied both of these very well using them constantly across different modules, they helped me to make the correct choices when it came to creating my work. Another thing I have learned is creating grids, these have helped me to create layouts that provide perfect ratios and layouts that look aesthetically pleasing.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? Approach’s to design I have learned are creating grids to make aesthetic and well proportioned designs. Using grids helped me a lot when it came to making the 10 things, they let me create a well proportioned layout. Also when it comes to using colour I can see what works and what doesn’t, so putting 2 different colours together becomes an easier process and has a better aesthetic. One of the most important methods of design I have learned is using typography, this has helped me to develop graphic design that has the correct type on it and that works with whatever is being branded/advertised/promoted ect.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
Some strengths in my work are layout and grids, I will capitalise this by trying to produce more editorial design and will use grids not only for publications but also to create layouts that work for things like posters or packaging ect. Another strength is choice of colour, I will capitalise on this by trying to use colour when appropriate in most of my deigns.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? Some weaknesses I have had in my work is that it may look rushed in some cases, such as the colour theory, to counter this I will organise my time more effectively so that im not rushed last minute. There could also be more analysis on my work, this will be addressed by constantly reviewing my work and posting blog posts about it.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? 1.     Organise my time more, this will allow me to not be rushed at the end and have a well defined produced end outcome. 2.     More analysis, this then gives me self evaluation on my work and I can look back and edit it to improve it, it also allows me to sit back and view my own work rather than critiquing others 3.     Blog as I go, this will allow me to have more time on my work and ill then be able to produce a stronger outcome. 4.     Get straight down to doing the work, again this is another form of organisation and will mean I wont be rushed near then end of the module. 5.     More experimentation, experimenting more will give a vast amount of work that I can look at and will have different ally’s I could head down with my work.
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
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

10 things...

 10 things you need to know about Graphic Design.

Thumbnails for the pages.

Testing the layouts 

 1. Typography 

first layout

2.Grids and divine proportions

3.Readability and readability 

4. CMYK and RGB

5. COLOUR THEORY

6.ANATOMY OF TYPE 

7. SEMIOTICS

8. A TYPEFACE OR A FONT

9. PANTONE COLOUR GUIDE

10. RODS AND CONES
 

FINAL OUTCOME

Secret 7

Brief 

To create a 7 inch vinyl album sleeve for a music artist, without using the artists name or song title.
The choice of artists are:

Public Enemy
Elton John
Naz
Jessie Ware
Hiam
Laura Marling
Nick Drake


Guidelines

Participants may submit artwork or a photograph

Entries must not include text relating to the host artist nor song title
Create the front of the 7" sleeve, only this will be visible in the gallery
Dimensions should be 184mm x 184mm with a 3mm bleed, so in total 190mm x 190mm. The bleed will not show on the front of the sleeve so please don't design anything in this area that you want to be visible. 
 Original submisions should be produced in CMYK 300dpi and either TIFF, JPEGS or EPS file formats. 
Work must be original not using third party pre existing copyright materials.  



Initial ideas 

I firstly started off drawing different types of strange creatures that had features that wouldn't normally be associated with them. These would then relate to 'a beast' referring to the song title but not using the name of the song or name of the artist.  

 

 

I then created some thumbnails of more ideas trying to take into account the composition of the vinyl cover and ways i could use the square to create an interesting layout that draws the attention of the viewer in.  

 

 After looking at these thumbnails i thought the best ones were the wolf sat on the rock, the one with the face right up close and the wolf that is almost climbing out the square.

Next i then started to looking at different ways of drawing the wolf sat on the rock.

With this drawing above i came up with the idea of putting somebody in the rock so it was like they were 'sleeping with the beast'. This composition is far too close though. 
 

IDEAS FOR THE BACKGROUND

i thought the best one would of been the mountain range to create a gloomy place in the middle of nowhere.


Creating the background

To start i drew mountain shapes and gave them all gradients so it looked like they weren't flat. I also made the colours lighter as it went backwards so it created the look of distance.

This is the finished background, i changed the height of the mountain at the front.

Creating the person 

To create the person at the bottom of the rock i took pictures of my flat mate in a curled up position so they looked scared and in a confined space.  

  
I next started to draw around my flat mate. 

 

I tried to create tension in the hands to emphasize the confined space and how scared.

After creating the person i used the same process to draw the wolf from a photo. This was also done when creating the wings, i then placed them all together, when colouring the wolf in black it didn't go to plan but the outcome looked very interesting with parts of the animal looking strange and some parts missing, making it more beast looking. 



These are the different colours i selected which i could then select my favorite one to send in. 
 

 

i thought the strongest one was the bottom one, where i used the graphic pen effect on illustrator, i really like the contrast and how the shadow has been portrayed on the mountains. This adds a lot more depth than just the flat colours on the other designs. 



FINAL DESIGN