OUIL501 Context of Practice 2 Summative Evaluation

I think my research skills have developed during this module, I feel more confident reading and understanding texts and picking out information. I feel I have adopted a more sophisticated approach to how I interpret texts but I still need to work on my analysis of relevancy to my topic. I often found myself with a really interesting point that I wanted to write about but it just wasn't working towards answering my question. 

I think my final publication has been a success, personally I am really pleased with the outcome as I feel it does its job of making the reader ask questions about what it means to be British and challenges preconceptions people may have. I think the concept of it looking like a passport works well with the idea of challenging perceptions and making people question what it presented to them. Although the survey I did was only small, it had a really strong impact on the content of my publication. The publication felt much more informed and valid knowing that the information inside had stemmed from real people’s responses. I feel that my sketchbook work that I had done alongside writing my essay sort of got left behind in the process of making my publication, this is one regret I have. I could have worked harder to embed the concept deeper into the making of my book through more subtle imagery alongside the current content. 

Time management has been an issue for me during this module, also organisation. I should have realised a lot earlier on that being organised with the work I bring to sessions and crits directly impacts the quality of feedback I get. I did find the sessions challenging and interesting and I feel I contributed well to them. 

I think my major downfall during the module was my confidence in my own ideas. I found myself constantly seeking approval that I was on the right track and not being able to trust my own instincts. Analysing texts and writing is not something I am overly confident with but it was primarily the publication concept that I found myself struggling with. I was not trusting myself to go ahead with an idea meaning that I had numerous idea changes and rethinks which consequently hindered the progress and flow of the project. However, having to battle with the process of choosing an idea for my publication resulted in me landing on something I am really happy with and I feel the whole process has been well informed by my continual research which ran parallel between my visual and written work. 

I am happy with the standard of my essay, especially the improvements made since the interim submission. I did lose my enthusiasm for the subject quite early on in the module and I think this shows in my writing. I concluded that the overall answer to the question would differ on an individual  basis but because of this, it sounds like my conclusion is lacking any real resolution. The structure was something I struggled with and my feedback from the interim submission suggested that it needed reordering. I worked hard to get the paragraphs to flow and for the argument to make sense. I feel this has worked and the exploration of the topic is clearer to understand now. 

I must admit my motivation for this module had its peaks and troughs. Even when my motivation was at its lowest, I still completed the tasks and lecture notes in order to not fall behind. It was definitely the pressure of the deadline that drove me to increase my productivity which led to me being quite last minute with making my publication and adding the final touches to my essay. My attitude to the module has not been the best and I aim to improve this for next year. I am hoping to find a research question that I can maintain an interest in throughout the module, I think this will be the key to making it a success for me. 

Looking ahead to my dissertation, it will be crucial for me to get a lot of research done over the summer. I do enjoy the research process once I get going with it but I need to try and force myself to be efficient with it and not get sidetracked by other interesting topics outside my area of research. Next year I am going to aim to have clear questions to ask at crits and tutorials, I think it is the best way to get the most out of them. I am also going to remember to blog all of the information I looked at so I don’t forget where quotes have come from or where I have read certain things. I realised during when writing my essay that I had been making notes about concepts and potential arguments but not writing down where I had read the information that sparked the ideas. 

OUIL503 Responsive Summative Evaluation

I have learnt some new skills in this module and also developed some existing skills. For the Christmas card brief and the Illustration Friday brief, I tried to build on my digital skills, choosing to design the card entirely digitally and editing most of my weekly images on Photoshop. I also used a Wacom tablet properly for the first time which was not a successful experience in my eyes, the coordination required for this and the unusual way the pen contacts the board just wasn’t working for me. I like to feel a physical drawing tool in my hand and seeing directly what it does to the paper. Digital media is growing on me but I still prefer analogue at heart. 

In addition to this, I have worked with pattern briefly for Illustration Friday and a lot more in my substantial brief for Fever Tree. This something I really enjoyed and want to use more in my personal practice. I have learnt some new processes for this even in the short time after completing these briefs so I am definitely keen to continue with it. 

Preparing presentation boards for the submission of this module and submission to YCN is quite new to me. It is hard to be make decisions about what should be included and what shouldn’t. Also, preparing them to be A2 scale but working on a Macbook screen is difficult when it comes to choosing text sizes and how big or small the images will be, I feel the contents of my boards would be of an appropriate size if printed full scale. For the pdf submitted to YCN, I aimed to keep things minimal and to the point, choosing a simple theme and keeping my visuals big and text at a minimum. I felt this looked quite professional in the end. 

Colour is something I have tried to embrace in this module. I am very comfortable working in black and white media and felt I needed to push myself out of my comfort zone and try something different. My initial ideas for Fever Tree were in monochrome and this is what I envisaged my final outcomes to look like, however they ended up being very bright and colourful. A lot of my Illustration Friday responses were in full colour too. Part of this is down to rediscovering gouache paints. I use them very similarly to how I use ink and I am becoming more comfortable with them as a colourful medium to work with. I think I still have a lot to learn about colour, I feel I have the technical knowledge but am lacking the confidence to execute it in a strong way. I suppose its a case of being brave and not being afraid for it to all go wrong. 

I feel I have been successful in experimenting with a range of media, from pencil crayons, pens, gouache and inks, to digital media, photography and stop motion animation. I think it has done me good to have numerous projects going on at the same time, although this has been very stressful at times, it has taught me that I need to get used to switching between working styles and also helped me understand what I like and dislike.

After completing my designs for secret seven I was unsure whether the project was a success or not. However, after looking back at this with fresh eyes I can see that this has been a success for me. I worked with a style and brief very much out of my comfort zone but I think I tackled it well. It was a risk but I feel it paid off in the sense that it has helped me understand my practice more, but maybe not in the sense of actually succeeding in the competition. 

I think the main thing that went wrong with this module was time management. This is something I am usually really good at and I always strive to keep myself organised but I feel this fell apart in this module. After the stresses of the process and production module, I felt I needed a change of approach considering how much pressure I put on myself. This is probably why I started this brief with quite a laid back attitude but this soon wore off, its just not how I work. 

I had good intentions with my time plans and lists of things to do but I didn’t utilise these very well because I didn’t stick to them. I think this was a fundamental downfall for me in this module because it led me to feel like I wasn’t succeeding and I wasn’t capable of completing these briefs which I can now see is nonsense, but at the time it was demoralising and caused my to lose motivation. This also led to a lack of enjoyment of the module, when really I should have capitalised on being allowed to choose my own briefs and having fun with them. 

I think most of my brief choices were appropriate to my practice, secret seven was something a bit different and in hindsight, I think the Orchard Pig brief probably wasn’t right for me. I have learnt that choosing the right briefs is key to the enjoyment and learning experience you get from it. 

I feel I lacked professionalism in parts of this module. In my individual briefs I was disappointed that I was lacking the motivation to treat these briefs as a real job. Looking back at my experience, it has made me want to treat other modules more like a job and adopt a more formal approach to being in the studio and working. I think I conducted myself most professionally in the collaborative brief, turning up to every meeting (except when ill), delivering work on time and encouraging the group to keep organised by planning ahead. I feel my attitude became less professional when I started to become a bit impatient with this brief, mainly towards the end. Working in a group is hard especially as I know that I work better alone, although I did try really hard to make compromises and be a team player. 

All in all, I don’t feel I have made the most of this module. I don’t have any confidence that any of my final outcomes have the potential to win anything. It hasn’t been a negative experience although my evaluation may make it seem that way, for me, this module has been a learning curve and I have learnt more about the way I work and what kind of briefs I like responding to. It has given me an insight into my own future practice which is an achievement in my opinion. 

Studio Mama Wolf - Big Heads

Sandra Deichmann, Laura Hughes and Jill Tytherleigh. 

These three illustrators sharing a studio space that they also use as a shop to sell their work. They are all working individually to work on their own practice and commissions. They said that they aren't always mixing with each other as they tend to just get on with their own work, but they do benefit from sharing a studio. It is good to have people around to bounce ideas off, it doesn't really matter that they don't all work in the same way. They find that using the space as a shop is a good way to connect with people. Their illustration work becomes more accessible and approachable if they have a shop rather than only existing online. 

They managed to fund this space through a kickstarter campaign. They said you have to make opportunities for yourself, nobody is going to make it easy for you so you need to work hard for it. Try your best to get notices, people start paying attention to you when you are always busy with work, it shows you are in demand. Start off with experimental projects that you find fun and enjoyable, they will soon become viable. 

It was nice to listen to what these illustrators had to say and it was interesting to see how they managed to work in the same space, all doing their own thing. I think that doing things yourself is really good advice because nobody is going to roll out the carpet for you, you need to make opportunities for yourself.