OUGD505- Studio Brief 02 - Module evaluation

Module evaluation

This module was very a challenging one, the module was more about the research and the ideas side instead of the final product which was hard for me as I prefer to create designs instead of just researching designs.

When I originally saw this brief it was intriguing to me as I could tell it would be a challenge because analogue isn’t my forté however this brief was enjoyable as it had freedom for me to do whatever I want.  

This project was stimulating, looking into the history of the banknote informed my idea and really helped me understand what the story of the ‘banknote’ is all about, this aided me in creating my final design. Also going to the exhibition Moneybags at the White Cube really inspired me to create my design style, the exhibition was a large body of canvas work, the canvas’ were made out of straw money bags and this is what the artist used to paint on, this was inspiring as it gave me a chance to look at this brief in a whole new perspective, this also encouraged me to include the historical elements in my final design.

From looking at the research I tried to create something that portrayed nationality but my original design was too simple so decided to go down the route of using many of the tradition traits that the banknote has had for centuries, this really completed my design.  From my initial ideas I started to apply these original elements and used repetition, after doing this I could see my style coming together.  The reason for using repetition is because that’s what banknotes nowadays use, they have the repetition in the details and backgrounds for the designs but this is the reason for incorporating this element into my design.

I feel like the design is modest but it almost has a political message, the repetition of the traditional statements on my notes being clear to read is chosen on purpose, in normal banknotes you don’t really notice the statements because they are there legally included so are in the background details with a tiny font size, however in my design I wanted them clear and in the users face to make a point of the reason why banknotes are used, so again reminding the consumer of the historical reasons for the banknote.

I decided to use screen-printing as I had a lot of type and this would be the best way to present the design analogically, and this method is close enough to digital printing. Using a hand rendered method to produce this design, works perfectly with my research because historically banknotes were entirely hand written.

Overall I’m pleased with my design and it’s come out how I’d wanted it to, I feel that being so informed from my research helped me a lot with this brief, it help me create a legitimate design.  However with more time my design could probably have been improved by possibly using more than one printing technique.  I feel if I could have had the possibility to use digital printing methods I could have done a more detailed design too.  The hand rendered methods in this project made the outcome much more satisfying as there was a lot of work that went into them.

Studio brief two was an exciting brief to do as I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted and pick an issue that spoke to me, this would help me create a large body of work as it would be something I am more passionate about. I found this brief interesting and I enjoyed collecting a lot of research to inform my creation, I haven’t consciously chosen to be in depth in my research before designing before but this is definitely some thing I would do in the future as being so educated about my subject matter really helped my creative juices flow.  I knew in this brief that I wanted to include a level of photography so I decided to contact a photography student I’ve worked with before as working with her in the past has been very successful.

Collaborating with a photography student was a suitable choice as I have enjoyed photography as a hobby and in my work this year. As a pair we chose to focus our issue on Restrictive Photography, as this is an issue that affects artists all around the world, the freedom to photography should be a universal right. As Photography Restriction is such a broad subject we decided to focus this issue on the London Underground.  To photograph on the Underground you must have a permit and both Katie and I have known people that have been requested to stop taking photographs.  We researched into this so that we could be well informed for the work we would need to produce, I contacted officials in TFL and the cheapest permit started at £500 and the maximum permits given out last year were 120, this really isn’t a lot and shows that there is an issue with the regulations of photography on the underground.  From all our research I decided I wanted to produce a campaign with the collaboration of photography and graphics.

I think the reason why I have enjoyed this brief so much is the freedom to create anything I wanted and that made me more inspired. Collaborating is something I’m definitely going to continue doing next year,  I feel in the professional world you have to collaborate all the time to be successful so it’s something I will keep on-going for the rest of my career. Also collaborating with a photography student has helped me in my photography skills and I have learnt a lot from Katie, hopefully I could collaborate with her again next year.

The work that I produced for this campaign was a style I don’t really do in my general design, it was more corporate. It was a challenge to create a design like this, but the final outcome came out strong, clear and professional. The fake campaign has turn into something that looks realistic not only did I highlight an issue I also came up with solutions to the issues. This is something I am really proud of.  In this brief Katie and I went into such detail and thought of everything TFL could do for the film and photography permits. For the final outcome I managed to produce I number of final resolutions posters, flyers, leaflets, permits, zine, instagram, hashtag and much more this is possibly the most work I have produced in a project and I’m extremely pleased with the final results.

From this brief I have learnt a lot one of the main things is that the research can help a lot with your designs but only if you do a wide range of research using different mediums, primary, secondary, books, internet etc. This is something I want to continue doing in my projects.  Collaborating was really helpful having two creatives working on a project together, having two different perspectives gave the work some individuality and the ideas were always easier to create as both of us were inputting decisions.

In this brief I found it hard to keep on top of the blogging I found it hard due to the amount of work I was doing for this project, I solved this problem by planning to make sure I blog everything I do straight away at the end of the day so its fresh in my mind and it makes it easier to discuss. My time management for this brief has been really good I feel I have produced a lot of work in a short amount of time due to doing other projects but managed to print and create everything I wanted to do and more. Overall this project has helped me in developing my skills also learnt some new ones and helped me in creating professional outcome that could be used in the real world.   I feel after my last module mark my confidence was incredibly knocked and its taken the whole of Studio Brief 1 and 2 to overcome that hurdle, I’m back on track now with my confidence and am very proud of my work I’ve achieved.