Extended Practice

Thursday, 22 May 2014

OUGD603 End of Module Evaluation

The OUGD603 module has been the best module for me throughout the three years at LCA. Being able to write our own briefs and really get stuck into designing things which we are really interested in or really care about shines through in the design outcomes. In the second year I felt a bit lost on the course as I felt that the way I work was really quite different from other people on the course. Throughout third year I decided to stop comparing myself to other people and do what I was interested in. Doing this and a mixture of more experience designing has helped my work progress and I now feel ready to start putting my portfolio together. I do intend to create more work for my portfolio throughout the summer so that I am really happy and feel comfortable showing it to people. I would like to apply for LCA fellowship which would mean that I could use the facilities when I leave. The laser cutter has been my all time favourite process as I love the effect it creates and I really want to carry on working in this way as it suits my design style.

My main focus throughout the year has been producing items for print and producing crafts using processes like the laser cutter and mixed media illustrations. The Save the Bees project was one of my favourite briefs as I truely cared about the cause. This has led me to considering doing more projects like this in the future, covering issues like deforestation due to things like palm oil and deforestation to create space for farmland to make cheap meat in South America. I would like to utilise my skills to raise awareness of causes like this. The save the bees project was a step in the right direction and I would still like to push that project further to make it more real and try and get some form of funding to make it happen.

Working on collaborations throughout the year was also really good. The one with Emily Ball especially went well (DIY Crafts Brief) as we both enjoy doing similar things but both have different skills to utilise and we are totally on the same wavelength when it comes to this brief. We are both really happy with the outcomes from this brief and have planned to carry on the zine series through summer and beyond. My other collaboration with Lisa did not go as well as this one, this was due to us both having very busy schedules that just did not really match up. What I produced from this brief however is a good starting point for development in the future.

All in all, it was a good year. In the beginning I was a bit slow to start which put me behind, but the COP3 module was a big focus for me as my written skills were not quite up to scratch and I really wanted to give that module my all. I was very happy to receive 58% for this module which is a real achievement for me. I did manage to catch up and gain momentum for extended practice and feel that I submitted some good work and some with room for development, but overall generally happy with the submission.

DIY // Photographing the Frames // Upcycle Zine Proposal

DIY // Evaluation

This collaboration project has been running all year with slow progress to begin with when we had a different final outcome in mind. After a tutorial with Brian and some really constructive feedback we changed direction slightly from design the one how to, step by step manual to creating a series of inspirational zines with a target audience of students, crafters and non crafters alike. After this change in direction the momentum picked up and we dived into making more and more crafts and eventually we were ready for designing. Emily and I took different roles in order to get the brief completed. We both made crafts while Emily took more of the design role, designing the layout while I focused more on the crafts and illustration for the publications. We encountered a couple of problems mainly surrounding the photography of items and when it came to sending it off to print we encountered a few more errors, communicating with the printers we managed to finally get them printed and arrived just in time before the deadline. We approached the photography for this brief from a few different ways, indoor photography with poor lighting, to the photography studio which just looked to clean and fresh for the style and nature of the publications. As it came into spring it meant that we could start photographing outside which complimented the crafts much more. My photography skills have seriously improved since the beginning of this brief, thanks to lots of practice and the help of Emily and the photography department.

We have proposed to carry on with the zine collection throughout summer and into the future because we have both really enjoyed the brief. We would ideally like to start distributing the zines at places like the Village Bookstore in Leeds.