OUGD404 - Module Evaluation

Throughout the year the OUGD404 module has helped progress all areas of my graphic design practice both conceptual and applied. It has inspired not only my design principles module but also informed a number of Personal & Professional Practice and Context of Practice blogs. I have been able to make clear connections between colour theory lectures and design principles learned on the module. I have attempted to refresh these principles as much as possible, talking about them in every module so far this year, it has also transferred into my personal life as there are various PPP blogs which have been completed to attempt to further train the knowledge of these design principles in my head. For example, blogs such as evaluating menu and magazine designs have been conducted on my PPP blogs which further train my understanding of design principles such as colour theory and grid systems. I personally found that the study tasks at the start of the project were extremely beneficial to the development of studio brief 1 & 2 and allowed me to consider more of my design decisions due to this new found knowledge on design principles. Especially in studio brief 2, every aspect and element of my design was informed by principles learned in lectures and study tasks. This has also enhanced my ability to critique and evaluate my own work and other students work within the class. Having a set of rules to follow can now justify most of my design decisions instead of just saying "I used this element because it looks nice". Having this understanding has also allowed me to challenge some of these rules when I see appropriate. For example, in my OUGD405 studio brief 2 leaflet module, I used my understanding of grid systems, legible line length and Vignelli's left alignment in order to apply the opposite desired principles to create an uncomfortable read for the viewer.

I have also had the opportunity to visit other studios within the college such as Woodwork, Metalwork, Fine Art , Bookbinding and Digital Print to further branch out my understanding of the colleges facilities and staff members. I have been able to broaden my skills with these new machines and made new relationships with staff members which will give me a larger range of possibilities for next years projects. This first year, I have been focusing on attempting to utilise as many facilities as I can before next year so that I can focus on developing my favourite facilities in the following two years. I feel as though I have effectively managed this and found that this year I have become much more manual and hands on than my previous years at college. For the last two years I have stuck to producing only digital designs and mock ups however, this year, in almost every project I have used manual printing, binding and sketching techniques. Some project have even been purely manual which I did not expect at the start of the year. I have also recognised that creating a range of distinct design ideas is a crucial part of graphic design as many of my projects have been developed and changed just by simple sketches. In this project for example, my whole studio brief 2 was changed half way through digital designs purely because of a simple sketch.

I am looking forward to learning more design principles in the next years module to build upon my english and essay writing skills. I have found that when writing an art essay it is completely different than an english essay, just having good language skills is not what is being assessed. A large range of theories, design principles, and artistic vocabulary has to be learned to further enhance my articulative skills. I am hoping to attempt to further expand my design principles knowledge over the summer in a series of PPP blogs to solidify and build upon information learned in this module.