RESPONSIVE : Summative Evaluation

I think this module was completely different from the other modules in Illustration because I was to choose the briefs and the clients and, although I thought I had not done anything for OUIL503,  when I did my project report, I realised that I had done 14 or more live briefs which is a lot. These briefs enabled me to experiment with all sorts of art pathways and methods from pattern, packaging, fabric print to typography.

This module was also quite challenging because it was really open and it was up to the individual to decided how many briefs they wanted to work on at a time. This module taught me to be more independent and tested my time management skills. It taught me to be independent because everyone was answering different briefs and  I  could only get answers by interacting with the clients and the brief and I could not ask tutors because they had not designed the brief. Interacting with clients can be extremely challenging especially if they live far away from me or there are two clients (partners) in one project but they live far from each other and keep missing communication among themselves and blame me for designing wrongly even when I was following the idea of one of them.

After I completed my project report, I realised that I had made a lot of patterns and posters. I experimented with a lot of typography and repeated pattens. I enjoy making patterns for WrappedCo, Tiger Print and Unmasking The Truth etc but I found it was difficult to please myself as well as them. I think this is due to the fact that  I am not specialised in patterns. I am not very keen on typography but my live briefs involved this a lot. I do not know if I have improved on using time in design but I know that I have become more patient and aware of discipline in typography. 

I did not finish off my YCN, Yorkshire Tea (individual practice) because I found it was hard and it did not appeal to me. At first I thought it would be fun but I was wrong. I think this is due to the lack of research and encouragement from peers and tutors and also I am not interested in packaging. For me, Yorkshire Tea was the most unsuccessful of the briefs. This is ashamed because I really like Yorkshire Tea. If I had more time I would love to restart my individual practice (YCN/D&AD) by reading briefs properly before making a decision. In contrast, I really enjoyed the collaborative project D&AD, Pantone brief with William. We managed to get everything done a few weeks before the deadline; I think this is because I had someone to push me to do design work which is good. We also set our mini deadlines and set our meeting times so we could get the design work finished on time. Sometimes we had to change our meeting times because of our personal matters and timetable. 

I had to create a to do list most of the time as this module was overlapping with other modules. I really did have to plan my holiday especially during the Easter break as the deadlines for all the modules were approaching; the to do list technique and deactivating my Facebook did help me a lot. When I did my to do list, I realised that I was leaving all the blogging to the last minute, for example I did a live brief in November, and I still did not blog about it until Easter which is bad because I had probably already forgotten some of the experiences that I felt during the live brief.

At first OUIL503 was my least favourite module but as time passed by, I really enjoyed the module as I start to pick live briefs/competition that suited my interests rather than picking a live brief/competition just for the sake of it.