End of Module Evaluation

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN – END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION


Level 2 – Design for Print and Colour Processes



1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

This module for me has been a huge learning curve and brought me into year 2 with a bit of a shock - but as a result know I know what is standard is expected of me and the level which I now should be able to achieve.

The module in particular has encouraged me to look outside the box when researching and to carry out much more in depth research by crossing a variety of mediums and by not always opting for the most obvious. In this project alone, I think I have done more in depth research than I ever did last year. I started off by actually visiting places to get first hand primary research on pricing and then this leading to doing two questionnaires based on the research that I had found. However I feel I could of found much more primary research when documenting my colour for print work, instead of opting for the obvious and simply photocopying books from the library and from at home. With this I should of collected more examples of the different print processes and explain each process in far more depth than I have covered.
I feel like I started out my research confidently & with good intentions but it slid back after a period, resulting into poor research into the print processes and stock.

Despite this, I feel though I have still learnt a great deal about print production, the processes and the consideration you need to make when designing for print. As I knew nothing about print before – and I simply though a printer was a printer and that’s all what print involved, so this was a huge eye opening in understanding how colour worked.

The workshops which we had were very beneficial, as a result I feel much more confident in using different departments and machinery on my own- it has encourage me to broaden my methods of printing compared to last year when I only ever printed on a scale of A3 paper.

Using screen-printing as one of print processes in this brief, also allowed me to explore it and as a result I now will always be able to use it as a print method. It has been something which I have always wanted to do and has encourage me to print my own t-shirt etc with my designs as side projects – as it is so simple and easy to do.

2. What approaches to generating work and solutions to problems have you developed and how have they helped?
For me this is realising that if I want to get work done productively I should use the facilities at college as much as I can. For the past 2-3 weeks I have been staying late at college to work on the ‘GOOD’ brief, after doing this I have seen how much more work I can produce in this environment compared to when I am working from home.

A big problem, which I encountered, was wasting my money in digital print. I have a tendency to rush into work without pre planning and reassuring that everything is in place before finally printing. This occurred when printing my final packaging cover and A2 design boards in full colour not realising that they were not aligned right or there were spelling mistakes. I learnt form this to always print off my work to scale to check its proportions and proof read it, to try and find spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.

I know also know that when I get a new brief to not leave it for a few days, but to get straight into it and start researching – as you can never have too much research, and I have also found that some of the best ideas simply come through this development and playing around with all the research which you have found.


3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I am very pleased with my final lads mag style packaging and the inside information. I feel the colours work well together with the overall layout – creating the busy, jam packed, bold font, crude lads mag vibe. A few people have even come up to me and asked if it was an actual magazine, which I had found which I found very promising. I also feel that my illustrator skills have progressed enormously compared to the level, which I was ask last year, I’m constantly picking up on new skills and am ever growing more confident in it.
Similarly with In design, I was new to this last year and hadn’t touched it since. My skills are still slowly growing in this programme but I found myself finding it much more easier when discovering the relevant shortcuts to use in it & the grids to line my text and imagery up.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how could you exploit these more fully?
Time management and organisation has been my biggest weakness in this project. I feel very let down by the overall presentation and research into this project. I started out with good intentions and by the end of this module; I was rushing to complete it all in time. As a result I know that some of the standard of work within it is not my best, and I am capable of much better and I should have dealt with these areas before rushing at the deadline.
I do not think that my work shows a clear development of my ideas as my pack developed, what was going where, why and how? I rushed into these ideas with some of them not writing them down or recording them effectively.
To hep solve this, I am going to on the new module and further projects make weekly target plans in which I will stick in what I need to do by the end of each week. Instead of putting off work until there is pressure, I will start ahead when it is actually set and carry on from there. By the end of this project my bedroom at home was a mess, and you could not even see the floor – this obviously didn’t help me at all in try to start work and keeping my work organized and together. This is a problem that I really need to work on as it is making me behind.

5. Identify five things that you will do different next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
Plan ahead, and produce weekly targets to meet resulting in better time management & more work getting done without rushing.
Research fully, produce radical research and exploit it fully, leading to better concepts and information/understanding about my product or audience etc.
Proof read everything that I need to print for final pieces to spot spelling mistakes.
Use the college opening and closing hours more, as I now know that I get more work done here.
Start the project when it is given to us, don’t just leave it until a few weeks in.


1)Attendance - 3
2)Punctuality - 3
3)Motivation - 2
4)Commitment - 3
5)Quanity of work prodcueed 3
6)Quality of work 2
contribution to the group -3