OUGD603 Module Evaluation

The last year has been an eye opening experience and has made me realise crucial elements that are key for my own design process. The most important process I learnt was the fact that it is absolutely crucial to create a concept to develop my work. I realised this as I found my work flow was a lot more productive and informed when there was research involved that lead me to that point. I also learnt the importance of blogging and making notes of ideas, as it made the final resolutions a lot easier to understand as I had step by step guides of idea generation; this was really useful for group critiques, and I believe it will definitely be useful in industry when explaining my ideas to work colleagues. 

My favourite brief that I completed this year was the poster zine based on MUNA’s album ‘About U’. The final outcome is so successful because it was informed through research for every step taken in the production. I also really enjoyed it as I hadn’t previously thought about combining my interest in music with my interest in graphic design.

My least favourite brief was the map that I designed for Chevin Forest. I really like the final outcomes for the project, but I struggled to find a concept for the work, which made me really struggle with the design process, as all I knew is that it had to be legible; this didn’t leave me with much to aspire to within the design and I believe the outcome isn’t very original. 

This year I have become aware that my critical awareness has vastly improved compared to other years; I have realised the importance of research prior to designing and how important it is to have my design decisions informed. This not only improved my design process, it also improved my cognitive skills. I find it a lot easier to discuss and reflect upon my work using the concepts created informed by research, compared to the work that I created in previous years that didn’t have an informed concept. I believe this set of skills will definitely be transferrable to industry as I will be able to discuss my ideas thoroughly and they will have meaning behind them.

A strength of this year has definitely been my research prior to designing; it is clear through-out every project that I have thoroughly researched each and every aspect, and every design decision has been informed. A weakness of this year has been my time management. The briefs I completed were all managed really well, however I didn’t realise how close the deadline was until it was too late, which made me a brief short of ten. This is disappointing, however I will make sure that I learn from this and always keep time management of all tasks in mind. 

Overall, this year has been really useful and I believe my portfolio is very strong and industry ready, and I believe that I am prepared for interviews as I can talk about my work confidently. 

OUGD603 Poster Zine - Design Boards - Self-initiated / Research Brief (Brief Seven)

OUGD603 Poster Zine - Evaluation - Self-initiated / Research Brief (Brief Seven)

This brief was inspired by the poster design I had created for MUNA’s song ‘If U Love Me Now’ (brief five), as I really enjoyed researching into colour psychology and matching the emotions of colours with the emotions of the song. I decided that I would create my own zine based on colour psychology for the whole album as another research brief, as I wanted to explore colour psychology in more depth. I then put each poster into a zine with a focus on layout and research. 

The concept for each poster design was informed by the research undertaken in brief five, however each design was developed with a lot more research into different colour psychologies. The layout of the poster zine was created with the concept of complimenting the poster designs and not subtracting from their affect. I believe the concept was already really successful and due to further research into colour psychology I discovered a lot more information, which enabled me to explore composition further and complete this brief to a very high standard.  Focusing on negative space for the layout allowed me to communicate another message; there is an importance for safe spaces, and MUNA gigs are now classed as a safe space for the LGBTQA+. 

I really enjoyed this brief as it was based on one of my favourite bands, who are currently becoming huge across America due to their stance on politics. It was really great to research into the band and the meaning behind their lyrics, and made me appreciate their songs and influence even more. The final resolutions for this brief are a lot different from my other work; I don’t often use a lot of colour within my work, however after researching into colour psychology this may change in my next briefs as I now believe I can base colour choices on research and not just personal preference. 

My time management for this brief was really well executed, as I decided to create a poster a day until I had produced a poster for each song. This has allowed me to work on other projects alongside, meaning I remained interested in each brief and it didn’t become dull. 

This project will look great in my portfolio due to the research that went into it; it will be a great talking point at interview as there is a lot to talk about for each page of the zine, and I’m really passionate about the final publication I produced. 

OUGD603 Poster Zine - Final Print - Self-initiated / Research Brief (Brief Seven)

Below is my final publication, printed and bound. I'm really happy with the final resolution; I designed the posters in CMYK knowing that I would eventually print it, so the colours are really bright - I actually prefer them printed to on screen. 

I also think the layout works really successfully. It doesn't take away from the poster designs, but it is still clear that it is there for a reason. I think making the colour psychology descriptions into grey was a really good choice as it makes the eyes focus on the poster design and not the text, which is what I was aiming for. 

The printing went really well; the only slight issue is that some of the poster designs come onto the white page once it was folded, however this couldn't be helped. 

OUGD603 Poster Zine - Print Method - Self-initiated / Research Brief (Brief Seven)

I am going to print the publication on thin stock; probably 120gsm. This will make the pages thick enough to keep its shape, however thin enough so that it will fold easily and work nicely as a publication without losing too much off each side.

I am going to bind the publication using staples. I have decided on this binding method as they are the easiest binding method to take out, and therefore if the reader wants to hang one or more of the poster designs up on their wall this would allow for this with minimal damage to the prints.

OUGD603 Poster Zine - Feedback - Self-initiated / Research Brief (Brief Seven)

I showed the publication to the rest of my table and they said that the publication was really different and original. They said that they really liked the concept and the research that went into creating the poster designs.

They did suggest, however, changing the front cover due to the fact that a white cover will get dirty very quickly. I have decided to stick with my cover design, however, as the publication wouldn't be as successful without it. I am, however, going to consider putting an acetate cover on it once it is printed to protect it from dirt and mucky fingers.

OUGD603 Poster Zine - Final Outcome - Self-initiated / Research Brief (Brief Seven)

Below is the final publication design. I decided to change the colour psychology descriptions to grey as it makes the eye focus more on the poster than the text. I also added a contents page and page numbers to each page so that it is a really easy publication to navigate. 

For the front cover, I decided to echo the theme of the poster designs; using rotated type. I think this is really interesting and shows the theme of the publication really well. It also adds another element of interactivity, which is always a bonus and will keep the reader interested. 

I decided to keep the front cover of the publication black and white, as it will make the poster designs really stand out and will be a surprise for the viewer.

OUGD603 Poster Zine - Feedback - Self-initiated / Research Brief (Brief Seven)

Having showed my layouts to some other designers, the feedback was that they liked both the poster zine that took inspiration from People of Print's poster zines, and also the last layout I had designed.

Having previously mentioned, I am personally not a fan of the poster zine as I don't have any more content to include on it, and the general consensus was that it would be really successful if there was more content. I don't want to take away from the concept of my poster zine - the colour psychology behind the lyrics. For this reason I am going to carry on developing the layout I personally like the most myself, as it is minimal and makes the poster design really stand out.