As our Tutor is always telling us we will make mistakes, and this is how we learn. Well I consider this module to be my mistake. I made two very significant mistakes this term that spiralled and enveloped the whole module. My main mistakes were organisation and direction. Both of which I would normally mark as my strengths, this term were my main concerns.
At the beginning of term my motivation for the course was very low, I believe this was due to working a relatively normal office job over the summer which reduced my working week from 55hours to just 36hours. Returning to a 55 hours week became difficult for me.
It took me a number of weeks to gain momentum and drive on my first projects, one of which I discontinued completely as the work I was producing for it was well below Parr and adding to my unmotivated state.
It also took me a few weeks to realise what a valuable tool my blog would be. I use the internet a lot, especially as the majority of my design work is design for screen, however I never added my findings to the blog to evaluate or to explain my influences to others.
After asking for help (an enormous step for me) my work rate dramatically increased and I worked endlessly on my projects, and my blog started to take shape. However the work I aimed to produce was a rather outside of my comfort zone so even spending huge amounts of hours on it my work was still moving at a slow pace.
I really enjoyed the workshops I attended (which included After Effects, Dreamweaver, Flash, Quark, and Final Cut) as this was one of my main aims this term, to gain further software knowledge. I thoroughly enjoyed applying some of my new found skills to my work and this will be something I continue over the coming weeks. Had my organisation and motivation been better at the beginning of the projects I may have had time to apply much more knowledge to my projects.
This is where my organisation let me down. Despite increasing my work rate I still lacked direction and prioritised tasks in the wrong order, this meant that my finished projects still didn’t have the professional finish or attention to detail that I need to have at this stage in the course.
Towards the end of the module I was working endlessly and that is something I relished in. I really loved being busy, I may not have been producing the right work at the right time but I was producing work and lots of it. For my next project I hope to return to my usual organised self, and prioritise work correctly, and teamed with my new ability to work through the night I hope to produce a much higher standard of work.
victoria beckham
wow, check out how classy victoria beckhams website is. I don't care much for the clothes but the site and animations on it are lovely! really nice and simple but effective.
Special thanks to Emma for introducing me to the site!
jonathan barnbrook
Jonathan Barnbrook has been recommended to me as a designer i might appreciate, and they were right.
I really like this sequence of typography. I don't like the colours or the soundtrack, but i love the use of loads of different rather 'clashing' fonts and the amount of different movement techniques used. I hope to find more work by barnbrook, but for now i might just borrow a few ideas to help influence my work.
I really like this sequence of typography. I don't like the colours or the soundtrack, but i love the use of loads of different rather 'clashing' fonts and the amount of different movement techniques used. I hope to find more work by barnbrook, but for now i might just borrow a few ideas to help influence my work.
my kids website
Here are some mock ups of the childrens website that i am designing.
it will be an educational site full of fun and games to help children learn web and computer skills.
it will be an educational site full of fun and games to help children learn web and computer skills.
Work Experience Evaluation
Over the summer i completed two work placements, travelled and started to compile a photography portfolio.
My first placement was for a small company in Wakefield. I spent 2 weeks with the design team helping to create so of the designs for various clients. The company specialise in design for the motor industry with many clients being car dealers or related fields. I was able to assist with a number of layout tasks, updating and redesigning advertisements for local news papers. I enjoyed my time in the office, however it was a small space with only 5 people so the atmosphere was not as lively as i am used to. I believe i work more productively with a large team or lively studio space.
The second placement was for my existing employer first direct, simply within their internal communication department. i volunteered for a week unpaid experience. I was able to redesign a selection of existing internal adds and sections within our intranet. I also offered a few possible options for a new calender for next year which hopefully will be in production in december. Again I really enjoyed the placement, the work was fun and familiar and the team and atmosphere was lively and energetic. However the projects were still relatively small scale which could become repetitive and boring quite quickly. The projects and work i completed there were well received and many of the projects are now in use. I would happily return to this department as a stepping stone for further job opportunities. I learnt from these experiences about the type of design and environment i would like to work in. I would prefer to be in a larger office or design team as i thrive on the atmosphere and energy it creates. I am happier creating design for a digital production rather than print based.
This year i am going to be concentrating on increasing my skills base within adobe creative suite. I would like to evolve my animation and flash skills, along with dreamweaver, illustrator and photoshop. I love typography and layout so i hope to engage with projects that enhance these skills increasing my indesign and quark knowledge as i go. My photography is a hobby that i don't intend to be my main source of income but may develop into a lucrative sideline, it will definitely help with projects this year as a good documenting skill and a possible method of animation (stop frame)
I am sure this year will be very busy so it will test my organisation skills, but it should provide me with a lot of quality projects for my portfolio and a large skills base that i may take to next year and hopefully a fun and rewarding job.
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