Software Skills.
I've not really used illustrator before to generate a typeface just because i didn't really have any education in that field. Everything i taught myself and created previously had been using photoshop. I'm really happy to be using illustrator now so i can broaden my skills for different areas of design rather than using photoshop for eveything. I am looking forward also to get a chance to develop my skills using other software, especially InDesign and Flash.
Time Keeping/Working to a brief.
I am really pleased with the structure of this module. I definitely prefer doing much shorter briefs as appose to really long ones. I have never really had so much work to do at one time, working on a number of briefs and i have really surprised myself that i can keep generating work efficiently for each brief. I am really happy to be developing these skills and working the way i am, as this is how i would work in a real life situation. I am glad to be constantly getting briefs as it proves to myself i can do this and also lets me generate fresh ideas all the time, rather than being stuck on the same brief, getting bored and running out of ideas.
2. What approaches to/methods of idea generation have you developed and how have the informed your design development process?
I am glad i have been introduced to working on design sheets and blogs. I believe that this is a much more better way for me to work than i used to previously. It gives me the best way to quickly generate ideas and also to document all of my work. I believe that switching from sketchbooks (which i used to hate) to notebooks, design sheets and blogs has really helped me in all aspects of design.
Also, a lot of the tasks and workshops have introduced me to a way of working that i have never done before, but i feel i will be doing from now on. For example, making quick sketches as an initial responses to a brief, with no research. Drawing pictograms, simple imagery and type that can be associated with the brief helps to give me a solid starting point which is something i have struggled with in previous years.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
From this module i am really proud of my type work. I have dabbled in creating a typeface before but not to the extent of this. I was scared at first as the thought of creating a full typeface with glyphs that worked together and looked nice but these are the briefs i ended up really enjoying. I also enjoyed working solely in illusrator which is something i wouldnt think i'd be doing this early on in the course.
The brief i feel that is most successful is Alphabet Soup - Typeface for a Partner. I enjoyed using the questions and Josh's personality as a starting point and also generating all of my ideas from his personality before creating my typeface. I have never created a hand drawn typeface and am really happy with the results.
I also enjoyed working on the proverbally yours briefs as i had chance to put my own style on these. However i still don't feel i have produced work to my full capabilities and i think that is just because of how specific the briefs are. I feel that my work serves the correct purpose for the brief, but i am looking forward for another chance where i can experiment more in my own style. However, i have really enjoyed working on these specific briefs as it is a good representation of work you could possibly receive in the real world and i have already learned so much in my time here.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
Proverbally Yours
for the mail shot, I wish i had more time to alter this brief after my final crit. Overall, i got really good feedback but the main weakness i feel was the typeface used for the body copy on the back of the leaflet. I used the same typeface that was brought through from the posters without really thinking about legibility. When it is dropped to size below 10Pt it starts to get really hard to read. I chose to go with this font because it looks really nice aesthetically but didn't really think about the legibility and size. When creating work like this in future, i will have to think about which fonts are really suitable for body copy and also how much information to include in the size of the space.
Alphabet Soup
Overall, i am happy with the two final a1 posters for this brief. However, for the illustrator brief, i wish i had tried to combine more elements of the word 'Stretch' into the typeface. I think overall, the typeface looks aesthetically pleasing but after looking back over my design sheets i wish i would have gone with a stretched font that has also been stretched three dimensionally, like the final typeface. 'for the typeface for a parntner' brief, i maybe could of included more traits of Josh's personality as again the final typeface is aesthetically pleasing but doesn't really say much about the person, other than he's got really long hair, unless you look deeper into it. This work has much deeper meanings running throughout but that isn't necessarily a good thing when creating design as it needs to be straight to the point.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
I want to get a chance to experiment more and put my own personal style on things. I am really proud of the work i have created so far in on this course and all the things i have learnt along the way but i still know i can do better in my heart. I want to push myself more in the next brief because i know i can do it!
I will definitely need to think more about the functional side of things depending on what the brief is as well as the aesthetics. Whatever i design and create needs to serve a purpose first and foremost because it just isn't good enough looking good! For example, using legible font for body copy etc.
I want to do more experimentation and design sheets with different ideas. For some of the briefs i have been sort of sticking with one idea and going down that route, mainly because i am not used to having briefs this short and i start to panic about not having enough time. When i get more used to the timekeeping and organising my time across a brief, i need to be generating more ideas originally and experimenting with a few different things before settling for an idea.
Contextual Research is also something i need to work on. I feel that i did just enough research for this brief, but if i had done more i could have influenced my work much more dramatically and had a better final outcome. Also, I have not used the library half as much as i could have for the last brief. This is something that i will be addressing in the next brief and making sure that i am sourced good, relevant research that helps structure and influence and generate my own ideas.
I believe i could have maybe experimented with laser cutting or screen printing. After seeing some other peoples results with these, it made me think i maybe could have included something like that in my work, rather than just creating everything digitally. Obviously, it depends on the brief but i hope i get chance to experiment in these different fields next time.
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