Evaluation

Evaluation

The first area we looked at in the pathway stage was graphic design. This
was obviously a good result for me as graphics was something I was
interested in going into pathway stage with. We spent time going over
basic graphic design ideas including typography and colour. Our next
exploratory stage was fashion; we spent time working on mannequins
creating different outfits. We also worked with natural tools like twigs
and leaves, which we combined with acrylic pain to make a piece of art. I
would say that fashion was probably my least favourite stage, although I
enjoyed some of the aspects but not the actually making process, because
I found it extremely hard! We then went on to complete a week in the
media branch, which I found very unchallenging, however we got the
chance to pay a visit to London's brick lane, which was an experience I
enjoyed.

I feel that the pathway went well in terms of developing my ideas
for future projects. I feel that I expanded my knowledge of different
styles of working. I feel that I have broadened my knowledge of things
that I would not usually have thought of. I feel that as I continued
throughout the project it became apparent that my skills in a varied
workspace were becoming much more proficient. The first project that I
completed was the 'Life brief.' I felt that this brief was very helpful, as I
have always been interesting in 'Blogging' and the culture that comes
with it. I felt that it was a good way of communicating my ideas with
other members of the class. I like the fact that we could see other people's
progression also, in terms of their photography and post production skills.
It was also nice to see the various quotes that people had used for their
work, and then compare them to mine. The fact that people could changes
things like templates, colours, fonts and photos made the process quite
exciting.

For our secondary project we were asked to create a magazine
cover and a double page spread for a mock up magazine. This was also an
enjoyable task because I have always had a strong interest in editorial and
print design so the project was right up my street. I created two magazine
covers, because I started making two and couldn't decide which one I
liked best. In the end I chose one with a much more illustrative feel to it,
however I was also happy with my other design so I mounted it on Al
also. I like the idea of magazine design, and it seems I spent too long on
my actual front cover for the issue, and not enough time on the double
page spread, because on first glance the cover was a much stronger piece
than the double page spread. If I was to do the brief again I would certainly take a longer amount of time creating the double page spread so
that the imagery is at least on par with the cover.

In our third brief we were asked to create a flip book of images that
we had taken photos of. For my flipbook I created different letters to
make up the word 'Order.' My idea for this came from brainstorming
something that I could incorporate into a flipbook, I felt that 'Order' .
would be a good word to use because I could create the animation of the
letters to form a word, and then break up again all in the space of a few
seconds. I enjoyed this brief because I had never done something like this
before, however I found it quite difficult. When it comes to designing and
making books I fmd that it is a very delicate and complex procedure, one
that I do not have the patience for! However, I persevered through the
process and ended up with a somewhat decent flipbook including my
images and a cover. If I was to do this brief again I would probably make
sure I spend more time on the flip book itself so that I would have a better
finished product. For our next brief, 'Headline Deadline,' we were asked
to 'hijack' a brand and make it our own. To do this, we had to fmd logos
of famous brands from over the years and edit them / merge them with
another existing brand or recognizable font. For example taking the world
famous Nike tick and adding a completely different slogan from the usual
'Just do it.' A few of my brand 'hijacks' included the playboy bunny
being re-arranged and a new look and feel for the London Underground
logo. I also took this a step further by using many different logos on the
web and taking them into illustrator to make them my own. For example I
changed the 'Marks & Spencer' logo into' Andrew & Spencer,' using the
same font and colour scheme as before. I found this brief to be one of the
brief that came quite naturally to me, I found that coming up with ideas
for different logos and typefaces quite enjoyable and it is something I
would definitely include again.

The next brief was not like any other; we spent time doing multiple
observational drawings to broaden our skills in life drawing. I found this
very helpful because previously I was not much of a drawer, I at first I
found it very difficult, but after a few sessions I found that my skills were
improving to a point where my drawing were of a standard to scan in and
blow up to mount on A1. I would say that this brief was probably the
most useful one I have done because it taught me skills that I did not
previously have. We spent time doing drawing with our left hand to try
and improve the way that we look at objects. We also spent time doing
continuous line drawing, where you don't lift up your hand throughout
the duration of the drawing. This is to try and change the way most
novice drawers will tend to draw lines back and forward as a sign of
hesitation. We learnt an array of basic shading to try and give some depth to our images, which I felt was useful, as I never used to shade my
drawings.

Our final project before the final major project was a project that
focuses on bookbinding. We were shown how to design and make both
soft and hardback books, which is something I had never done properly
before. I found the process of making a book quite hard, because I found
it very fiddly, however I persevered through and managed to create a
hardback, soft back and constantia book. I felt that this project was a very
successful learning curve for me as I was never able to design, make and
sew my own book before this project. The first book we done was a
mock-up book to get the basics of book design. Everything went quite
well until the end of the book where I then had to sew it. Sewing is
defiantly not one of my strong points so I didn't make a very good job of
it, however after a couple of attempts I managed to get the sewing to a
reasonable standard. The second book we made was a hardback book
which was a much more complex process because we had to measure and
cut the card to make the hard-back book. We then covered the book in
black card which makes it look much more respectable.
I felt that the pathway stage was an extremely helpful process in m
learning process. However if I were to go back and redo the process, I
would probably spend more time on analysis and sketchbook work,
because after the assessment period it became apparent that I did not have
enough material.