1. Which practical skills and methodologies have you developed within this module and how effectively do you think you are employing them within your own practice?
Within this module i feel that i have developed my screen printing skills. Previously I have had little experience screen printing and struggled to remember the process. I found our induction highly useful, and was able to incorporate these newly found skills when creating our hotdog books; I feel that i can now comfortably do the process on my own. Although I have not used screen printing since, it is a process that i would very much like to incorporate into future briefs
How to produce a book. Not specifically one area - but the entire process really. I was really pleased with the overall professional quality and standard of our books; due to the inductions and guidance we had.
The indesign workshops were hugely helpful in informing us how to set up of pages. - although missing a session, I caught up in my own time. - Now I have learnt how to arrange a book on indesign, it seems so simple! i will definitely be using it again in the future; the process is a lot more professional than what i have used in the past.
In this module i feel that i really pushed my self out of my comfort zone. i steered away from media that i have previously used, and experimented with different techniques and methods of working. Exhaustively testing media resulted in me really liking texture. after refining my skills, i decided that i would be creating the visuals of my book using shape and texture. - after some struggling in the beginning of the experimenting stage, i continued to explore the media, testing and developing my skills - problem solving until i found a style i was happy with - one that i was happy to develop into final illustrations.
During this module, I have found taking photographs to be very valuable. I feel that because i had so many ideas of where to visit, i needed a method of documentation that was practical; taking images allowed me to capture moments quickly. When needing to look back at research for reference, I found that images were a useful, clear representation of the location. - it was easy for me to remember my feelings for the place. - got a sense of atmosphere.
I went slightly overboard on the note writing, but felt that carrying out a thorough investigation into my chosen locations through facts was a good way for me to compare, and evaluate my research.- good to narrow down possible locations by exhausting the options - where could this develop? potential for a book? I found myself being more critical, than i had in our previous module; asking questions, and responding to these initial notes and ideas - this was then easy to refer to further down the line. I could look back and remember certain ideas for possible direction.
I have also found it was also useful to visualise my ideas. - although i feel i could have done this more, when i did, it helped me to have a clearer understanding of my thought process, - as i was able to see what physically worked and what didn't.
Within this brief i have pushed my abilities. I have been brave in trying something new, and although not succeeding successfully at first - i stuck with it and refined my skills.
I think my use of texture and shape has been really successful. As a new approach, i was unsure on how successful the out come would be, but i am pleased with the final result. From our final crit feedback, I received some really positive comments about the textures i had created. I think in future i would love to continue to explore working with texture.
I think I tackled the brief effectively, investing a lot of time into the project, particularly the production process. from creating each individual piece, to the scanning and editing. but i think this time was well spent - in refining my illustrations. The photoshop editing went well.
- have have some experience with photoshop, but never really relied on it as much as i needed to for this brief. - I think that i used photoshop effectively to compile and arrange my whole collection of images, as well as blending and refining.
Think that i have produced a good response to the brief ‘Tell an untold story’; an interesting and informative final book, that communicates what i set out to achieve.
I think that i used my research well to inform the outcome of my book - constantly referring to my initial documentation, and feedback throughout the designing process - wether that be for facts, or visuals. I feel that my final outcome is still heavily informed by that initial research, and i am pleased that i spent some much time fact finding and developing this research. - think my book is more successful for this.
4. What areas for further development can you identify within your submission and how will you address these in the future?
Time planning towards the end of the project became less structured. i got caught up in the production process, which took me a lot longer than expected. In future, I will try to plan more time around new processes as it is difficult to judge how long these will take.
- The text on my final book. Although considered in my roughs, - the text was something that i didn't really plan a lot of time to do. I prioritised the visuals which i feel i was right to do, but in future would have planned more time to consider the text. - i released if not done to a good standard, it can bring down the quality of the visuals. - adding the text towards the end of the week interfered with my timetable. - i thought it would take no time, but in the end i had to rearrange some of my images in order for the writing to work.
- In one specific image the writing is slightly difficult to read over the textures background. - if i had more time, i would improve this.
- The whole book process was a learning curve really, but i thoroughly enjoyed it. - in future, i know how long each process takes and the time needed to invest in order to create a successful book.
Going back to the research - I really wish i had planned more time to document my findings through drawing. - although working from images later on, i would have liked to have done some observational drawing location. - In future briefs, i would try to perhaps focus down my research options before heading to that location. I found that i had so may possible ideas, but not enough time to draw, I needed to move quickly to gather all the information i wanted.
5. How effectively are you making decisions about the development of your work?
What informs these decisions? What problems have you identified and how have you solved them?
I find speaking to peers, and group crits have been really helpful in making decisions about the development of my work. - it gives me confidence that my work is heading in a good direction. Getting feedback from others often provided me with new ideas and possible directions. - or looking at my work in a different way.
- In producing a book - it is important that the visuals are communicating the message clearly. - having others view my book was a really good way to see how well my illustrations were communicating the message i was trying to convey. - after receiving some feedback on one of my initial story boards - that it was slightly boring, - i began to rethink and re evaluate the intent of the book. - looked back over my facts and initial research which helped me find a tone of voice. I decided that the book would be informative and factual aimed at a young audience.
When developing my work I often found myself referring back to the initial research ideas like this, and feedback from crits. - i found this useful to see if my work was still on track, - that i was still taking my book in the right direction.
Another problem I faced was the layout of my pages. - Compositionally I wanted the ammonite to be in the same positioning on each page - to give more focus and structure to the book. - however i didn't know how to achieve this without altering/loosing some content. - how would it still be clear? Through exhausting more roughs, I had the ideas of displaying each illustration across a double page, which i feel has been a successful decision.
At times i did become slightly behind on my personal deadlines, but it sometimes couldn't be helped - unexpected time consuming processes. I think that because i was experimenting with new techniques it was difficult to judge how long some tasks would take to complete. - in future perhaps just plan around new approaches? - leave a longer amount of time.
- due to these unexpected delays, i did become slightly rushed towards the end of the project, and made some unnecessary mistakes that took up a lot of time.
- I also feel that i have been more motivated in this project - really enjoying what i
overall i am happy with the improvement - as I'm managed to meet the deadline with time to spare. I feel that i have been a lot more motivated in this project - really enjoying the work I'm producing, unlike previous projects achieving a successful final out come that has had a lot of time invested into producing, and doesn't feel rushed.
No comments :
Post a Comment