OUIL503 end of module evaluation

This module has been a difficult one because of the huge differences in briefs involved. I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, before we started I was dreading the idea of having to enter competitions as I hadn’t done so before and I didn’t like the thought of having to do really quick briefs with not much research or development involved, but I am really happy with some of the work I managed to create. It was a challenge because it pushed me to take on briefs I would never have considered – like ‘Propercorn’. That was an especially hard brief to get in to because I have never applied my work to commercial situations before, or done such in depth analysis of who the audience is, but it has definitely taught me to take more time to consider all these other elements before creating the work.

Working collaboratively was also something I was dreading slightly as I’ve never done it before and I am so used to just getting on with my own work, but it worked out really well. Me and Emanuel were a good team, we had equal roles within the collaboration, both kept to our responsibilities and I feel like our differences in our process of working complimented each other while also pushed us both to doing better work. After this positive experience it has made me much more open to working with other practitioners. 

My submission for ‘FilmDoo’ was one of my favourite submissions, because I had so much fun making it, as well as it being one of my favourite films. Creating a film poster was also something I had never considered doing before but I really enjoyed it, and I feel like it communicates my new direction, or style, that I seem to be developing. I was also happy with my submission for ‘Penguin Books’; it was probably the most relevant brief to my interest within illustration, but it was also the first time I managed to turn out a brief so quickly – I managed it in a couple of days, which I am proud of. Again I loved the process of that brief, the combination of digital and handmade textures is something I’m really enjoying and this module has allowed me to apply it to such a wide range of projects.

The ‘Secret 7’ brief was a fun project; it was so open that it allowed me to really experiment with loads of different processes. I actually managed to get 3 of my designs through which was really encouraging and definitely made me more confident about the work I have been creating. It was exciting going to see it exhibited at Somerset House amongst so many great album cover designs, it has made me much more eager to enter competitions, with a much more positive attitude. Also, seeing all the work in context gave it more of a purpose, as before it was just 5 random designs, so I now know to think more about where I want my work to be seen while I’m making it.

Although I am pleased with a lot of my outcomes, I feel like the concept behind a few of them have been quite weak e.g. ‘Propercorn’. I quite liked the final designs I had but I feel like they were rushed because I was running out of time and hadn’t come up with anything better. It was the project I enjoyed the least, mainly because I dragged it out for so long instead of just finishing it, but also because I spent so long figuring out what the brief was asking for and didn’t spend much time deciding on the final design. I feel like I did answer the brief by creating designs, which could be viewed in places relevant to the audience, but when I compare the designs to the fun, handcrafted pack designs I think my designs fall short a bit. I think my ‘Penguin Books’ submission had a similar problem, although I loved making it and think it aesthetically looks good, I feel like I couldn’t bring out any major themes within the book because I hadn’t read it before and just based the image on my vague knowledge of the setting.

This module has been so different to all the others, especially as I won’t be submitting my sketchbook I’ve been working in, I find it odd that all it really comes down to with the competitions is the final piece and not any of the research or development work, which is were a lot of my strengths are. So it definitely becomes a challenge to make sure the end product is up to standards to make complete sense without any of the background information. Although there have been some bits I’ve found hard – mainly at the beginning, I got in to it and was enjoying it by the end. I will be making more of an effort to enter competitions and get my work out there, but I have taken a lot of skills from this module to apply to my practise such as, consideration of audiences, context and whether my work will work when put into certain situations and also applying my illustration style to much more commercial briefs which don’t necessarily relate to illustration.