End of module evaluation - Visual Communication

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	04
OUIL406 Visual Communication	Credits	20
End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME	Adele Pierce

1.  What skills have you developed through this brief and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
Studio Brief 1 That’s Pants: I developed real team skills within this brief and the ability to be adaptable with other illustrator’s skills. This will benefit me in the future when collaborating with other illustrators and people from different fields e.g graphics. I learnt how to make a GIF, how to add fonts to these, as well as different methods of research and blogging development. I learnt how other people approach a brief with regards to time management and prioritising. Personally I developed the skill of organisation, managing my own time and being able to make decisions promptly. I learnt how to pin down ideas and direct the group’s decisions into one final decision. Studio Brief 2 Greeting’s from.. : In this brief I learnt a lot about Adobe Illustrator compared to my recent rather restricted knowledge from foundation. I had only really touched on illustrator before and methods of colouring in images that I had previously scanned. In the workshops I learnt how to use the layers in order to directly draw over an image. I learnt different methods of colouring my images and how I could use grids to create more structural buildings for example. I don’t think I applied these methods as well in my final piece because I was not focusing on skylines. If I had chose to look at the skylines of the cities this would have been more useful but because I was looking at character I was more focused on the actual colouring of the images rather than using straight lines and vectors. Studio Brief 3 Person’s of note: The main skills I have developed from this brief is how to work to different formats. Each deliverable was at a vastly different scale from stamps, to postcards to an A2 poster so creating work to suit all formats was quite difficult. I was trying to combine skills I had learnt from the Visual Language module about composition and frame into creating interesting final pieces. I think I maybe should have considered shape a little bit more with the stamps to keep them simple. When printed, they look a little bit too detailed.
2. What approaches to/methods of image making have you developed and how have they informed your concept development process?
Studio Brief 1 : I have learnt vast approaches in this brief and done hardly any drawing which was a challenge but also quite enjoyable. As a group we done a lot of making rather than drawing which shows illustration can be seen in different formats. We were playful with our approach, creating scenes, posters, brainstorming ideas, and creating a GIF. Conceptually it was a strong idea that I think may not have came across as well as a drawing, and works better as a photograph/gif. Studio Brief 2 : I have learnt how to use different software other than Photoshop or hand generated in order to create images that have a polished finish. I learnt how to create a postcard to the correct format and use that as my framework. I feel I have developed a sense of character within these pieces rather than realistic. Studio Brief 3 : I feel I have really focused on character within this brief and using symbols to represent someone rather than drawing them directly as I have seen others do. I feel I have developed my digital skills on Photoshop by working at such different formats and refining the tones of my pieces as well as considering colour palettes. I have considered frame and composition throughout to create more interesting scenes. I have relied less on reference imagery towards the end and more on developing my own character style through re-drawing my ideas.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
Studio Brief 1: Conceptually this was a really strong idea and was different to anything I have done before because it was playful and childish and so this was a strength to try out new media and a new process and running with it. Collaberating with others made me work harder and be more determined to succeed because everyone wanted to play their fair part and have their input. I learnt new skills from my peers such as different drawing techniques, fonts, digital skills on Photoshop or photography. I will use all of these skills in the future and capitalise on them to be more open with working collaboratively and asking for help from others, for more input and ideas. I will definitely work on my digital skills and typography in other briefs too. Studio Brief 2 : A sense of character development and a simple approach to image making to best sum up the concept. I also feel that my work in Illustrator was quite successful and unique compared to others. I will consider using Adobe Illustrator in the future when working with buildings or even creating work that needs to be in proportion and look neat; I often draw free hand and scan it in later so this would be a different way of working. Studio Brief 3 : I think working to different formats has been really interesting and made me reconsider how I could produce other work to different scales. I quite liked creating the stamps when they came out really detailed it was nice. I may produce work that is not an A format to mix things up a little bit and see how I could use frames differently. I have developed drawing characters which is definitely something I will work on in my next brief. I am slowly stepping away from using reference imagery and doing things more from my imagination which is nice.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
Studio Brief 1 : Photography skills need brushing up on especially when creating a GIF in the future I will need to consider how it will flow and the time scale to make it work. I don’t think the posters were much justice for our concept and I would like to play around with the idea of fake posters in the future. Studio Brief 2 : Weaknesses with this brief would just be a lack of interest in the subject I need to ensure that in future briefs I make the work my own and something I am going to enjoy. Losing interest in it means I did not put in as much effort into the final outcomes as I would in other briefs. I need to work on my Illustrator skills more and experiment more with vectors. I should have considered backgrounds more in some of the pieces and thumbnailed more ideas rather than running with the ones that I had. I could have looked into more ways of displaying stereotypes and exaggerated these more for more humorous outcomes. Studio Brief 3 : I need to experiment with other media rather than just fine liner to create my characters. I need to also experiment with the way that I colour some pieces. I think with the format’s being so different working digitally was successful but I could have developed initial ideas further with other media. I also need to consider how working at a larger scale makes things look different to what they are on screen – I picked up on a lot of errors but only after they had been digitally printed to scale. I really need to focus on colouring my work and spending more time on this. I spent too much time drawing out ideas and re drawing rather than the final colouring which I should have spent at least a week on doing; testing out different palettes, a foreground and background, value. I should have considered the composition of some of my pieces better too especially within the stamps there was a lot of free-floating space.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
·      Consider composition, frame and format more ·      Draw more, thumbnailing and developing ideas. ·      Experiment with different media and colour. Research into colour palettes of which work well together more ·      Push my work to another level by taking it outside – creating posters, putting them up and photographing them ·      Rely less on reference material and more on my own imagination when drawing to loosen up my line work and create more of a character
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.

A copy of your end of module self evaluation should be posted to your studio practice blog. This should be the last post before the submission of work and will provide the starting point for the assessment process. Post a copy of your evaluation to your PPP blog as evidence of your own on going evaluation.

Notes

End of module evaluation - Visual Language