Evaluation - OUGD502

Overall this year has been incredible it has had ups and downs but I think I have really managed to find myself within it and find where I would like to push my practice towards. New skills have been learnt, new directions taken and a lot of experimentation has occurred, my confidence has been boosted making it easier to talk to people within the community and to ask for help on collaborating and feedback as well as present to large groups. I plan to continue with all of these new found areas of myself to become stronger and more well rounded. I have even got back into self initiated work over this year using more new skills, since my post about new skills learnt over the year I have been practicing with even more methods such as Cinema 4D. Over and over I have come to realise that PPP is one of the most important modules I will ever do and within that branching out and pushing myself to do more, become better will inevitably let me immerse myself into the world of work and design quite comfortably without it being a mad struggle at the end. In my pastoral tutorial I spoke about looking over my PPP blog worrying that I may not have done the work or may not have enough but because it has become second nature to organise and plan this year my blogs have appeared throughout being a pleasant surprise at the end. Looking back I have had one amazing year of design and cannot wait to continue onto 3rd year to see what else I can discover about myself and my practice everything has become exciting within my work and I am up for challenging myself more or doing something that scares me to see what the outcome could be. Next year I hope to carry on with traditional means of working and carry on experimenting and getting in touch with professionals to help further my work. I plan on showcasing my work much more and maybe even getting some of it sold at fairs or online. My PPP blog will continue to be filled with new experiences and inspirations and I will continue to get out more and push myself.

Examples of some self initiated work:

OUGD505 Self Evaluation, So Far - OUGD502

505 was a module I at first didn't really know how to approach but after research and development I have been able to come up with some strong ideas. The first brief was quite interesting to look into as it meant looking into the history of the city I am currently studying in, giving me an insight into my surroundings. I wanted to start off not by going straight for a big music event but after some consideration I realised that music is a big influence in my life and keeps me who I am so it was actually the best option. The Who played quite famously in Leeds recording the album of the generation there so naturally I chose to look into them whilst gaining some new musical history knowledge of other acts. I screen printed the poster and had to go back to try another method which in the end worked out to look much better. I have said multiple times that I much prefer traditional print methods and so this project was from the offset a great one for me. The second brief was a bit more open which meant that I could find an issue I wanted to tackle in the world that may be close to me. I am looking into mental health and social media, looking at the side effects that the internet can have on an individual and what can we do to change this and use social media in a positive light. Since starting this year I have gained a lot of confidence when getting in contact with people so I email 4 charities from the get go receiving amazing replies back from them. I plan on contacted social media stars and started up an online campaign to help tackle the issue. I think this project may really help to define my practice and may even set a path to a career within charity work for myself. In the future I think this project will be one I look back on fondly so I hope to put my all into it to create a really strong outcome.

Practical Response - OUGD502

Above are the final pieces chosen after feedback and own judgement. I only printed onto gray stock and red stock influenced by the design within Mignola's work and within the character Hellboy. I used red acrylic for the same reasons and white to make sure that the red stood out. The white then lended a hand int becoming a highlight channel for the print giving a new layer to the design and the slight misalignment of the print gave a look of a 3 colour print using both highlights and shadows. The rustic look gives this feeling that a digital print just never would, if a screen print goes slightly wrong it then become unique and actually gives a lovely aesthetic to the piece. I plan to continue using this method and may even create some more just for Mignola within this series, I wasn't able to print anymore within the time frame but this piece I think links together well. Unfortunately my screen ripped whilst screen printing but this meant that I had a new experience within the print method and could show the cons of using it. Luckily a friend had space on his screen so I didn't waste much time and could get the design finished. Overall I think that this design shows off both my way of working and elements of Mike Mignola's practice, I am happy with the outcome and hopefully so will Mike if he receives it.

Practical Response Final Feedback - OUGD502

After showing the pieces around the design on the right was the final chosen for the poster. I also asked about how the interview could be transcribed, if it would be okay to put it all on the back of the poster or would it be best to include it in some sort of booklet. My tutor suggested creating a foldable poster zine to include the interview but I didn't think that the design of the poster would work folded down small so instead suggested creating a small publication to go alongside the posters. This seemed to be the best method to include the poster clearly whilst still linking it with the interview. The design on the left was the design chosen for the publication and will been screen printed onto the cover. I was worried about printing the content of the book but everyone said that plain white laserjet paper from a laserjet printer would work with the screen printed cover and stitched together. The publication also fits in with the fact that Mike Mignola is known for his writing. The entire design was based heavily on influences from Hellboy using bold block pieces and the typeface was taken directly from Hellboy. The kerning and highlights were added into the type but otherwise stayed authentic to the original.

New Skills to Improve Practice - OUGD502

As I have spoken about throughout these blog posts I have been able to incorporate a lot of new skills as well as some almost forgotten skills into my practice. I plan on using these skills to further improve my work and push me forward as a designer. Hopefully I can continue to gain feedback on my work to help me improve. Over the year I seem to have gone towards a more traditional method of printing and design which seems to suit me better giving new life to my work and something that just didn't seem to be there before. Digital design will still be strong within my work but I think traditional methods will quite often be the best for final outcomes.

Illustration:

Photography:

Screen Print:

Book binding:

Animation:

Mock-Up Soundtrack App, Advert from Joshua Storey on Vimeo.

Collaboration:

Making new contacts:

Getting out of the city - OUGD502

Since I brought my car up this year I decided it best to leave the city every week or so to refresh my mind and not be stuck in the same old place day after day. I have noticed that since doing this my designs work has improved and I have managed to clear my mind up quite a lot so that I am able to focus on the future and new methods of design or pushing my practice further. Even just a little trip 20 minutes down the road to IKEA is enough to clear things out and gain new inspiration. I have traveled to Roundhay Park, The Hepworth Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, IKEA, York, Liverpool, Manchester, Berlin,  Wales and been for multiple walks to the countryside. Not that I had to have a car or any of this but I think without it would have been a lot harder, even just discovering new places within Leeds has helped me gain new inspirations. My tutor told me at the start of the year that if I was becoming bored of the briefs then maybe it wasn't the brief but in fact me meaning that finding new inspirations could really help to change my perspective on the brief and make them more enjoyable. This has definitely shown within my work and I feel if I keep this up along with all the other changes I have made to my practice I will be able to keep going further and further to become so much stronger within design.