OUGD102 Self Evaluation

What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
I have tried alot of new things in this module but I have also learnt how to manage my time effectively and also how to work well in a group. New methods which I have tried this module have included graffitti and stop motion animation. I have really enjoyed all of the new methods I have tried an think that the time management skills I have developed will help me throughout my course and in my future career. Time management was a point which was frequently at the front of my mind as the last few weeks were so filled with work I really had to think about what to do when to be as effective and productive as possible.

What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
I have used alot of primary research in this module and feel I have developed this quite well. Questionnaries have been my main use of primary research and has helped me with my design development quite a bit. The questionnaire I created for the "What If..." brief was very informative and helped my group understand the extent of the problem of homelessness.

What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
Colour theory has come into play in this module, especially in the "What If..." brief where my group thought about the colours of our graffiti information graphics in order to aid our communication. This is also prominent in the Photoshop brief where I cropped into images so that the object itself is unidentifiable and colour really becomes the subject. I hope to develop and carry on using these skills I have learnt in the next module.

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?
I feel my blogs have suffered in this module and I have got more used to commenting on my work throughout my sketchbooks rather than posting my work. This may be sue to the majority of my work this module has not been primarily computer based but has seen more of a hands on practical approach. In the "Collection 100" brief where I made my stop motion animation, I had to produce 1000 frames, all of which had to be photographed and different. I quite enjoyed the attention to detail and the new skill I learnt. Also during this "Collection 100" brief I concentrated on the product, until the last week where I really thought about the packaging. I think I need to work on some of my priorities and if things have the same weighting, I should spend equal time on both.

Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

1. Who I am aiming my piece at is something I think I can work on and get better at.
   
2. Look thoroughly into my research as this can really help the design decisions I make.
   
3. Think about the stock when printing.
4. Blog more!
5. Stick to an idea and develop it more, rather than changing my initial brief.
   

100 Marbles Design Direction Feedback

Issues raised

No research into stop motion animations and no design of packaging yet.

Action to be taken

Think about design of packaging and research stop motion animations.

• Michelle Geoundry
• Dorritos Advert
• Wes Anderson

General feedback

Good design sheet and my idea fits with my target audience as kids would find it appealing.

100 Marbles Rationale

Brief

I intend to solve the problem the the interest in marbles is decreasing by using product and packaging in the form of a stop motion animation on a DVD in an appropriately designed sleeve.

Who needs to know?

I will aim my piece towards Primary School children (5-11 years).

What do they need to know?

To know that (or be advised/persuaded) that marbles are interesting and fun toys which can also be collectable.

Why do they need to know?

To buy marbles from stores and increase their popularity.

What will they respond to?

I will use stop motion animation to grab their attention and use different coloured/sized marbles and animate them in an interesting and exciting way.

What research is required?

Primary Collect 100 marbles and experiment with stop motion.

Secondary Research stop motion.

Collection 100 Presentation

Subject matter

Childrens toys from different times and for different ages.

Themes of research

Board games, figures, stuffed toys.

Themes to be developed

Plastic, wooden, gender.

General feedback from presentation

Interesting facts and good pictures.

Methods of categories

• Boys/Girls toys
• Plastic/Wooden
• Modern/Old
• Colour
• Scale
• Timeline

Additional research required

Primary Get more general opinions, car boot sales, charity shops.

Secondary Look into how toys were advertised compared to now. 

Issues raised

Narrow research down and get more opinions

Action to be taken

Re-do questionnaire which does not include leading questions and look into more specific categories such as transport, board gams and playground toys.

Collection 100 Research Proposal

My subject matter is:
Childrens toys, particularly traditional and established toys

Possible categories will include:
Material, colour, audience, educational

Research processed will include:
Primary: Questionnaire, survey and interview towards parents, different age groups and  toy shop owners to find out what toys are established/trusted and remembered and why. Secondary: Museum, internet and library research to find out about different types of toys.

What If... Self Evaluation

What problem did you identify?
Rough sleepers lack awareness of where they can obtain health/medical care.

What evidence did you find to support your decisions?
I found out that 60.7% of people questioned thought Homelessness was a problem in their city of residence and when questioned, the general public assume drug and alcohol issues are a primary cause of homelessness. My questionnaire also told me that 80.8% of people walk on by when they see a homeless person and many have negative feelings such as sad and sorry for them. This research was all towards finding out if homelessness was a problem and not specifically targeted at the heath care. I found out a centre where rough sleepers can receive heath/medical care in Leeds from the internet.


What methods did you use to gather your evidence and what forms did it take?
I created a Questionnaire (linked on a Facebook page) which gave the group qualitative and quantitative primary research. This was achieved by using both open and closed questions and gave us statistics and opinions.


I also bought a few newspapers to gather any news on the subject which gave us qualitative secondary research.

I also carried out some internet research, collecting statistics and facts, a form of secondary quantitative research.

What methods of research did you find useful and why?
I think all methods of research were useful at collecting different types of information. Primary research is good as you can direct it in the way most useful to your study. Secondary is often quicker, but often I found the information was older and so things may have changed. Qualitative and quantitative worked well together in our research. Our qualitative often backed up our quantitative and we could use them both equally to inform our final resolution.

How did these inform your response to your problem?
The qualitative research gave us the knowledge that our problem was in fact a problem in Leeds, and our quantitative research gave us the facts and figures in order for us to tackle it.

What methods did you encounter as problematic?
Aiming the final resolution was problematic as it was a new audience that none of us had tackled before. We didn't want to sound patronising with our language or simple design, but we did want to make something which would be to the point and be clear it was aimed at the homeless.

How did you overcome this?
We discussed how we could best make the design more suitable for the audience and decided to keep it simple as our message was a simple one. We didn't need to add any unimportant information. We used a green cross in place of a letterform to represent "doctor" and used only 2 colours. We also decided upon a graffiti stencil approach for our design instead of a poster/mailshot etc... I thought that posters are normally a tool used to promote or advertise something to a consumer audience, completely different to our audience. Something real and permanent in their environment would be more effective and we even thought about location and positioning of the graffiti stencil to maximise opportunity of it being seen and taken note of by rough sleepers.

What research could you have carried out that would have proved more useful?
It would have been really useful if we could of spoke to a homeless person or rough sleeper and got their insight into the problem. Maybe there was a bigger issue in the minefield of homelessness that only they truely know about?

Five things you have learnt about the design process over the last two weeks...

1. Research is great. It can make or break your design and brief. Knowing the importance of the different types of research helped us develop our design. If we only had quantitative, we would of got nowhere and vice versa.
2. Posters are not the answer to everything. They may look pretty (sometimes)... but do they really work?
3. Design is not just about something looking pretty. We used it to try and tackle a real life problem and feel like we did alright. 
4. Communication can often be less is more. We knew what we needed to communicate and why... nothing more needed.
5. It is a 26 minute walk to Leeds PCT from the underpass near Woodhouse Lane Carpark.

Five things you would do differently next time.

1. Contribute more to the final design. I don't feel like I created enough initial designs.
2. Stay in College if I have work to do... instead of going home with the intention of doing it but then watching Shameless and eating biscuits.
3. Let others take the lead. I feel like I took a main role in the decision making again and would really like to know if that helped or hindered the project. 
4. Refine my presentation skills.
5. Save InDesign files!