Evaluation

1. Briefly describe the final outcome of your project and the progress you have made, and if applicable how it differs from your original Project Proposal:

My final outcome is a book that aids the design process between the client and designer. It helps to achieve a better relationship between the two. I have also created a website and a poster to show this. I also produced another two posters; one being to promote the website and the other to promote the App side to the website. They all link to helping the client / designer relationship. Although I am proud of the outcomes I have produced it was not without problems and even a dramatic change in plan. I was originally going to create posters and leaflets but completely change this idea to a book and app after research had taken place. This again got changed when I learnt that it was too hard for me to produce and App and I decided to make a website which is something I new how to do. I feel that I have progressed in this project as making books and websites isn’t something I tend to do in my style of work and I wanted to push myself further in the sense of the App. However, I found that it was harder than expected and had to take a step back to actually assess what I could potentially do in this time limit. I feel that my ideas are stronger than my skill and I would benefit from more teamwork-based work.

2. What methods have you used to show how your learning has effected your project eg FMP Blog/ FMP Plan/ sketchbooks etc, and how has this helped with development of your work:

My sketchbook has developed a lot of my learning and just by writing things down has abled me to go back to basics and start ideas from scratch rather than doing everything on the computer. I did have a tendancy to go straight to the computer but with a sketchbook I tried to start my own patterns and draw them out prior to using any software. As well as this, researching into different websites and writing down my thoughts has enabled me not only to lesrn about the client / designer relationship but to change my idea into something that will help benefit them more in the long run rather than a few posters. I do feel that my blog lacked enthusiasm but when it was completed it felt like another achievement and helped push my work through reflecting on the week. The only problem was that time was pushed and I was rushing a lot of the blog posts, which meant I couldn’t reflect as much as I would have liked.

3. List the targets met (from the original FMP Plan and any that were added later):

My targets were completely lost in the beginning of the project as I didn’t finish research until week 3 rather than 2 but after this they were met by switching around the things I was creating. The target of developing designs by week 5 was met as well as finishing the project in week 7.

4. Reflecting on your overall final major project, please discuss any developments which have contributed to the final outcome:

My project was so successful because of the use of research as it enhanced and shaped a lot of what I ended up achieving. I wanted to create something that helped clients see how much designers do but rather than patronising them I found that the decision making was the problem and took this on board within creating something to aid this process.

5. Please state what advice you received from others during your FMP, and discuss what you found particularly useful: you should refer to group reviews, one-to-one tutorials and feedback from evaluation groups

I got a lot of advice throughout the 7 weeks and this was through both one to one and group discussions. I felt that the group reviews where we swapped groups and people wrote feedback about each other’s work was the best advice as it really pushed me to do better. I feel that by seeing others work it gave you an insight on how much they had done and pushed you do as much as they had. As well as this you got feedback from someone who hadn’t seen your project from the beginning and this made it harder for you to explain your idea in your sketchbook pages, which is something the examiner will have to do. I knew that I hadn’t done enough at this point in time and it was a real eye opener to see what people thought of your work so far. As well as groups it was nice to have one to one talks which helped me to come to decisions on certain things and even inspired me to make ones I didn’t even know I needed to make. The tutors gave a new light on my project and so did hearing the views of my peers as they gave a truthful insight into what worked well and didn’t as well as potential new ideas.

6. Key points to take away – things to change about my approach (give at least 2) eg improve time management, what skills you have developed and how this will affect your future course/career and things to continue doing and to build on (give at least 2). What are you going to do next year? (NOTE – you may find it useful to refer to this document at the beginning of your next self managed project.)

The things that I would take away from this project are being able to manage time correctly. Although I did not run over time during my project I feel that I did spend too much time in research and I could have improved my final outcomes just by making a simple decision to get out of this research zone. In my future self managed projects I will be more aware of this and try to make a decision prior to the project start making it easier in the long run. As well as time, I would say that it is good to set your standards high to begin with rather than lowering them and improving them. I sense that if I didn’t push my self to do things I haven’t achieved before then I would never learn and I have learnt a lot more about Adobe After effects now than what I did at the start of the project aiding me in my future. I have now learnt how to make 3D objects in this software, the next step is to learn how to move them. I am going onto do Graphic Design at Ravensbourne next year and I feel that this project has benefited me greatly as I have improved a lot of my skills both in Photoshop and moving software. It also gave me the opportunity to experience the amount of work I would expect both in the real world and the course I am going into. This sets me up for my future in Graphic Design and helps time management feel a lot easier than if I had not of done this project.

Book pages

FMP Week 7

Being the last week the stress was piled on down to the very last possible day. I had planned this week to finish the poster and app design however there were problems with the finishing touches of the book as well. I was meant to hole punch the front and back cover of the book using the same machine as the pages were however it turned out that the card it was mounted on was too thick meaning that it would not go into the machine to be hole punched. This was down to lack of resources and if I had more of the card I would have tried it out prior to the last day. I then realised that I would have to do it again using thinner card and after redoing this, the problem was solved and I could finish the rest of the project.

The website was completed on Monday and this meant that I could make the posters link with it. I took the logo idea and kept this at the top of the page making it the same as the website. I also decided to use the same pattern as the website rather than the book because that was the digital side and meant that the audience was sure on what the QR code would link to. Talking about the QR code, I wanted the audience in the show to be able to view the hard work I had put into the website and this meant that I was wither to print the entire website pages or make them able to view it somehow. I then realised that during my A level work I used a QR code and this inspired me to also do the same in this case. When scanned the QR code links to the home page of my website. They can then go onto each page and view how it works grasping a better understanding of what I wanted to do. 

Knowing what I was going to do on the top of the poster I was unsure of what I was going to put at the bottom and was thinking about the ways in which I could grab people’s attention but also keeping the link. I tried out a few ideas but came up with having the CA in the bottom right corner and a question which got people thinking. “Got a client from hell?” This was directed to the designer because it would be them buying the book or going to the website to use the resources available in their studio space. I then felt that this was all that was needed and put the QR code in the centre of the page which draws a lot of attention by being the main purpose of the poster.

I then went back to the app idea and by now I knew I was seriously running out of time and I had to do something fast. I came up with the idea of having another poster but for the style of an App. This meant that the poster would feature the phone rather than a generalised viewing of the website. I wanted to use the website pages but in the format on a phone. This made it look like an app but it was actually a website in the format of an app. It sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is but it helped me achieve what I wanted to do in limited time. I took screenshots of the website on my phone and placed them into a vector of an iPhone. I then wanted to make sure that everything once again linked and placed the quote and CA back at the bottom of the poster. At first I thought the phones were too big but was reassured by the people I asked.

The book was finished, the two posters were finished and the website had been completed but I wanted to make sure that people viewed at least some of the website and this lead me onto creating another print. This one being of the website. I was unsure of what I could make happen but played about with ideas again and came up with the idea of a mac screen showing the website home page, I then wanted to add a few more pages and added them to the top of the page. It was so simple yet effective. Once again I added the CA just to keep the link and I was happy with the overall look. As well as the print, I thought it would be a good idea to get people even more to look at the website but making little business card like things which meant people could take them and scan at home or give to other people who may even use the website.

 

Overall I am glad I have finished this project and although it was stressful I am proud of what I have produced in the seven weeks.