Written Summative Evaluation

In previous years for me PPP has kind of took the back burner. It was a module that was ticking along throughout the year and never excited me. However, this year it has quite possibly been the most important. I believe I have learnt a lot this year in PPP about who I am as an illustrator, the way I work, what I enjoy doing and where I see myself in the future. PPP has taught me to stop copycatting others around me and focus on my own individual practise, setting myself realistic targets and discovering personal things about the way I work. In comparison to last year, I feel my confidence has grown both in my work, contacting others and presenting myself as a brand.

The main success this year for me is that I have gone from not knowing whether I wanted to be an illustrator at all, to embracing my style of illustration and where it can be placed in the world. I have finally begun to give my work purpose through product. This has been through a constant battle however, both with my practice trying to be something I am not; and with other companies persistently trying to send out my work and not quite fitting in to their criteria. It was then that I discovered how different my work is, and that I should embrace that rather than squeezing myself into their categories. This was the turning point to which I decided to work for myself.

I feel Context of Practice and Extended Practice have beautifully informed PPP this year as they have allowed me to create work that could feature as part of my brand. Most of all they allowed for me to explore and have fun. It was during these modules that I noticed a consistancy in my tone of voice within my work and begun applying that to PPP through product designs.
Outside of university, as a module it has forced me to have a reality check about what I want to do in the future; I will now become self employed with my own studio space and selling products for a living. Looking back at the start of the year I was researching MA's and PGCE's because I was frightened to take such a leap; however my confidence has grown massively throughout the year and it has been an uphill climb to this point in time.

I now feel proud of my brand in comparison to last years promotional material; I feel that representing myself as something that is unknown, that isn't personal, is quite exciting because I don't have to answer to anyone, the work can speak for itself. I also love the idea of making work I enjoy making and people buying into it instead of working for someone else. My brand is fun, current and different to what you can expect to buy in a shop.

In conclusion, I am constantly learning, and my confidence is constantly growing. I believe I am now developing an attitude and not only does my humour come across in the work but is consistent through emails, delivery, marketing and PR. I have a lot of research to do into the industry and audience, which I am very excited to discover. I've gone from not knowing if I want to be on the degree course because my interests were different to those around me, to those people around me admiring what I do. I wish to become an expert at my field and PPP has been the starting point for that.