503 Module Evaluation

This has been the most challenging module I have completed so far on the course, saying this it has also been one of the most enjoyable. This is for a few reasons but primarily the fact that we could choose what briefs we would like to respond to giving me the freedom to build my portfolio in areas I am most interested in having a career, such as: packaging design, pattern design and artwork. The early stages of this module involved searching all of the usual sites for the competitions such as D&AD, YCN and Student Starpack designs, I then selected which ones I thought would be relevant to my development as a designer and also decided which ones would be suitable to be day, week or major briefs. In the end I settled on the luxury range of tea being my substantial brief as I am highly interested in packaging design, a big tea drinker and felt I could really experiment with layout and illustration within the brief. This brief didn't involve as much research as some of the others as I believe different types of design require more depth, whereas others are more about the end product being aesthetically pleasing; in contrast the secret 7 inch involved a lot of research and context to develop a conceptual piece, with this I learnt that research is really essential for getting started on some briefs, getting creative block is normal and sometimes it takes a few days of researching to start to get an idea, with this knowledge I know in the future I have to allow contingency time. This module also gave me more confidence in posting my work onto my design Instagram account, this was the only way to enter the Papergang competition and the hashtag allowed me to connect with other designers that have the same interests and styles. Time management was a big part of this module, I am slowly getting better and I found it easiest to work on one brief at a time, sticking with it until final outcome before moving onto the next brief, trying to juggle is confusing and you end up forgetting stages or ideas you had. I felt I handled the work load quite well, allowing myself enough time to be happy with the outcome for all the briefs and being proud of how much I had achieved in comparison to the result of previous modules. One thing I am eager to build on is stepping out of my comfort zone and I did this with the collaborative, however with all of the other briefs, whilst building my portfolio and answering briefs I was interested I stayed within my strengths, for the next module I would like to push myself to design in different ways and styles, the last thing I will comment on is my lack of engagement in critiques, compared to last year I was active and had a lot of feedback which I found really useful I haven't received as much this year, for the next brief I will make sure I get as much as I can at the different steps of the process.

Time spent on briefs:

Secret 7 inch - 2 weeks

27  Club - 2 days

Penguin Books - 2 weeks

Tea - 1 month

Papergang box - 1 week

Collaborative LFW Street Style Look Book - 1 month