End of Module Self Evaluation

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

I have learnt how to create a moving image, something which I enjoyed greatly as I have never done anything like this before. I haven't put this new skill to full use, as I decided not to make a moving video for my Collection 100 product, but would like to create a video in a future module.

Through the photo shop workshop, as well as through my own experimentation which followed, I have learnt a lot about photo shop. Previously, the processes I had been using to edit my images had been destructive, meaning that I couldn't go back to the original image if I needed. This workshop has been useful, as I created all of the dinosaur pages in photo shop, so I had the opportunity to apply the new things I learnt to my Collection 100 work.

I have learnt about different book folds and binding. This practical research process inspired me to create a concertina book for my Collection 100 final piece. The prospect of creating a book previously had always seem daunting, so I had always stuck to flat pieces. By doing something different to what I would usually do I feel much happier with my final piece. 

I learnt how I can translate data into graphics through the task of plotting life events into a graph, as well as researching info graphics in the What is Graphic Design for Screen brief. I haven't applied this new skill to my work for Collection 100 as I didn't think info-graphics were relevant for my target audience, although in hindsight, simplifying the information I gathered may have been possible with the use of info-graphics.

2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

In this module I have learnt a lot about research, from why it is important to different types of research. I have done a lot more of it, and made sure that it is relevant. Previously the only research I really did was secondary research of images. For this module there has been both primary and secondary research, as well as qualitative and quantitative research. I have used the internet and books, as well as other approaches, such as setting up facebook groups, questionnaires and actually testing out my product.

In particular, in the What If group brief we did a lot of research, not only of graphic design, but with our audience to make sure there was actually a place for our idea. Through this research I have learnt that what I think is needed or is a good idea may not actually be the best idea, the only way to know which idea would work the best is to find out what the target audience are looking for and to test the idea. Therefore, I think the primary qualitative research which I gained through methods such as questionnaires and responses to a facebook group has been the most informative to help with my design process.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

I have realised that when things don't go right this is not a weakness, in fact, mistakes and wrong decisions are useful, and that is what this module has been all about. Unlike in the previous module, in this module I haven't just gone with my first idea, no matter how good I think it may be. Instead, I have thought of many ideas, tried out different things, as well as letting my ideas develop and change because of things that have inspired me, things that have gone wrong, as well as comments I have received in crits. 

Learning about type and grid in a visual language session has made me ensure that there is a visual consistency with the grids of all my products. This was especially important when creating a book with over 100 pages. Previously I wouldn't have made sure my measurements or layout were exact. 

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?

Despite a lot of progress, I haven't improved on all the things I wanted to in the last module. I think the quality of presentation is still a weakness in my work. I haven't really experimented with different stocks and paper sizes as I had wanted to. I think creating stickers to go with my book for Collection 100 could have made it more exciting. 

A weakness is not making sure that my product is understandable earlier on. Through this module, I have learnt that the ideas and thoughts in my head may not be what other people see. Especially if a product has to do the talking for itself, its important that I regularly ask for feedback from tutors as well as asking the opinions of others, in particular the target audience. 

I think I should have thought more about the content of my Collection 100 book before starting to actually create the pages. I did initially plan to make cards, so when I decided to make a book instead I should have thought more about the content, instead of straight away turning my ideas for the cards in to a book. I created 100 dinosaur colouring pages as well as activity pages and introductory pages. If my idea had been 100 pages instead of 100 dinosaurs, I think I would have had more time to concentrate on improving the quality of each page. Also, I could have included more activities and this range would have been a better way to keep the readers attention. 

With a book you have to consider how the pages work with each other when placed next to each other on a double page spread, but as I had initially planned to create cards, I hadn't put much thought in to this. There were some pages I had to re-design after not considering this until later on in the project, and there are still some pages I am unhappy with. If I was creating the book again, I would create more mock-ups before making the final piece, so I could ensure that all of the parts of the pages were where I wanted them.

5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

In the next module I would like to learn how to use different software, as I feel that there could be a better programme to edit book pages on, instead of photo shop, which is more useful for the manipulation of photographs, as can be seen through the postcards I created for the photoshop brief. I think if I knew of a better way to arrange the pages on the computer before printing, I would be happier with the layout of the final piece.

Next time I think I will create more mock-ups of my product, and print these on different stocks and at different sizes. This is a similar to how in the previous module I wanted to ensure that in future I was not rushing in with my first design idea. I need to not just choose the simplest stock or size, or the first one I think of, but to experiment. I think I will be able to create much more exciting, eye-catching pieces if I was to do this differently next time. 

I think since the last module the way in which I work has improved, as the PPD time management sessions made me realise the amount of time I spent doing things. However, I am still not managing my time as effectively as I could be, especially during stressful times. There were a lot of things going on at once at the same time as this module, such as the critical studies essay and visual language work, and at times I have struggled with completing my work. If next time I kept more up to date with to-do lists, and planned ahead about what needed doing, I wouldn't need to rush to complete anything but could ensure every piece of work was the quality I intended it to be.

I think I need to consider what is the most important part of the module. I realise I have spent quite a while on the photo shop brief as I found it the most enjoyable and because I found I was learning a lot through my experimentation. Yet, due to the time I spent on this, my Collection 100 work suffered slightly.

Next time I will consider the cost of the product I am making before I start to make it. I was aware that the costs would affect the product, and I feel like I have limited my designs because of this. In future, if I can plan ahead for what I will need to print, I could have the best quality printing and good stock instead of choosing the cheapest stock in the end as I had so much to print. With about 30 a3 sheets for my Collection 100 book, this would have been quite expensive to all print in the digital print room.

6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas
(5= excellent 4=very good 3=good 2=average 1=poor)
Attendance = 4
Punctuality = 5
Motivation = 3
Commitment = 3
Quantity of work produced = 3
Quality of work produced = 3
Contribution to the group = 4

Collection 100: Dinosaurs - Final Piece

Front Cover

Introductory Pages

Back Cover

100 Dinosaur Cards

Photographs of Final Book

Packaging

Primary Qualitative Research

I decided to collect some primary research on whether or not my product actually works and makes sense for the intended audience of 7-8 year old girls and boys. I gave a few children a sample of a few colouring pages, and the responses I received were positive. The comments I received were about the illustrations, which were described as 'cool'. By actually showing my product to the intended audience I feel a lot more confident about my product.

The Anatomy of a Book

Today I have learnt about the anatomy of a book. Book design incorporates content, format, design and sequence into a coherent whole.

Leaves - Individual sheets

Pages - Leaves have a front and a back which are referred to as pages

Page spread - When bound together the left and right page are centered on a gutter where they are bound together at the spine

Types of binding

Imposition - precise arrangement of multiple pages on a large sheet

Pagination - process of diving and numbering documents in to pages

We created a mini book by folding an A2 piece of paper and then cutting it. I have created these diagrams to show where/how each page would be laid out. The scissors show where has to be cut.

Book Making Workshop

I later attended a book making workshop, creating these three books. The first one has holes drilled in the middle, and has been fasted with sewing. The second book features a japenese sewing bind. The third book is a concentina book with a hardback cover.

Moving Image Workshop

Week One

In this workshop we learnt how to create a video from photography stills. I prepared the images ready for the video by resizing them on photoshop to the PAL UK video standard size of 720 x 576 pixels. Instead of editing each photographs size individually, we learnt how to record actions on photoshop.

- Create new action - record - change image size - save as (new folder) - close image - stop

To apply this action to one other image, I could open the other image and select the action and the change would be made. Or, to apply it to all of the stills, I would select file - automate - batch - choose folder with stills in - ok.

I used Quicktime player 7 to create this video. I opened the image sequence and changed the frame rate to 12 frames per second, resulting in a 6 second video. I then exported this movie, changing the frame rate to 25fps as this is the PAL standard.

I then edited the still photographs by creating an action to change things such as the hue/saturation, which I applied to all photographs at once as I had done previously. 

This is my edited video, which I uploaded to Vimeo.

Week Two
This week in the moving image workshop I have made a video from my own drawings, so my piece is relevant to my current work. There are only 8 images, meaning the final video lasts for only just over a second. Instead of using quicktime player, I have used final cut. Just a few advantages of using final cut are that you can have audio and text in your video, you have more control over your images, you can have gaps in the video, and the images can last for different durations.

 


I started by importing my images, and then dropping them into the timeline. The length of the image block determines the time it will be on screen, so I shrunk the blocks, as with a flick book, each image only needs to be seen for a very short amount of time.

This screenshot shows how I added text to the video in the viewer window. In the end, instead of having the text as a separate slide, I decided the text would be underneath for the duration of the video. I did this by overlaying this block.

By creating a new sequence, and then dragging my old sequence into the new one, all the slides will work as one, as if it was a video now. If I wanted to, I could place the sequence more than once.

To save my file, I exported it using quick time conversion, and saved it with h.264 compression.