Updating blogger header

Time for change. I've had my old blog header for a while now, and adapted it throughout my blogs, here is the new re-design headers for, Jane's Box and Summer 09 blog...

Before...



After...





The new designs follow the idea of clean simple character design, to allow personality from my blog but not to draw attention away from the latest posts, hence the larger margin between Header and posts.

Jamie Delaney

I like Jamie's work interests and i feel the work he produces such as his publication designs fit into where i want my work to head. They are attractive and well considered. I am overly keen on his typographic work :D ahhh my love for type is growing. I appreciate traditional type faces but when i want to unwind from a project i'm currently working on or just want a break to try something different i like nothing more than sitting down with a pen and creating a few letter forms. I tend then to get carried away and start producing on illustrator... but hey its fun :P

Design Junkie

Today i went to meet Jason Haigh the Creative director at DJ - Design Junkie.
I got to know about the studio and looked + talked about the work they produce and also got to show my portfolio and got some amazing advice from both Jonny Hotchkiss (the studio manager) and Jason. It was really nice to hear complements about my work outside of the university environment. It's a really nice environment to be in a cute studio and i could tell it was full of passion for design and lots of fun! Also sounds like hard work too :P but thats a good thing! I have to up my game now i feel. If anything this visit has just made me more excited for getting out into the industry and working alongside other designers to create awesome designs :)
I hope sometime in the future i get the chance to work in an environment like DJ offers, who knows hopefully they will consider me for a placement for the summer... fingers crossed thats for sure :D

New Camera :D

Just bought myself a new DSLR camera, used Jonathan's Canon 450d for the O2 brief and just had to get one for myself. No excuse for not photographing my work now. LOVE IT!

Evaluation

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

Module Code - OUGD201 Module Title DESIGN FOR PRINT

Level 02 Semester 01 Credit Value 20


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

I have developed my research skills and took a more independent approach to my work. I found this quite difficult at first but i am enjoying the challenge of organising my own time and trying to keep on top of projects. I have learned a lot of skills with regards to print and colour, and the workshops have helped me apply these skills. I have developed my practical skills using print, through trying screen print, letterpress and various technical aspects to do with print in software like Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator. These will become a key part to my future work and preparing myself and my work for industry.
Print is a really important part of design so all the skills i have learned are crucial. I know more about colour, like CMYK, RGB, Spot colour and using Pantone books, grayscale, duotone and monotone. My approach to using colour in my work will be improved because the knowledge and skills i have developed throughout this module will be a consideration in the future, so i will be able to produce more professional work and better quality designs.


2. What approaches to generating work and solutions to problems have you developed and how have they helped?

Being independent has become an important aspect for me to carry out my work, organising a visit to a print company with Jonathan really enhanced my research and i gained a lot of knowledge as a result. In future i will use my independence more readily to improve my design approach.
I have developed my idea generation, getting into the habit of drawing out designs and layouts before i start using the mac. I felt i had started to fall into the trap of reaching out for my computer because it was the "easiest" thing to do. It does not help generate the ideas for me though and testing out other possibilities finds interesting results to use in my work. I enjoyed the hands-on work i produced throughout the good brief like mock-ups and test pieces, like creating type with water. Although it didn't create a resolution for this project the technique was interesting and i plan to develop it further as a personal investigation.


3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

I think one of the strengths in my work were the different approaches to research. I took advantage of the resources available to me when finding out about print, going on a visit, Writing to print companies to get samples. Going that bit further with research helps my work to develop and enhances the final solutions. In the future i will capatalise on opportunities available to me to improve research and the design process. I think concept development and idea generation is quite strong in my work. It is a key part to the design process so i always try to have a broad range of research to develop a concept which will lead to strong designs and resolutions. I think without a strong concept i struggle to create solutions that resolve the problem being set. I also think the resolutions for design for print were quite strong, i liked the humor involved in the designs.


4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how could you exploit these more fully?

Again time management needs to be improved for me. At the beginning of this module i found it difficult to motivate myself and start working more independently on briefs being set. This lead to a mad rush the last few weeks of the module as i realised there was a lot i could have done and resolved a lot sooner. In future i will plan my time more to fit all the different modules in so i have sufficient time to complete them. Using action plans regularly will help me get to grips with what i have to complete, and i will set my own deadlines for completing aspects of briefs. I feel like some parts of my project could have been improved by better time management because some of my research throughout this module could have been documented better. Also some of the design sheets weren't as strong as others throughout the two briefs due to poor time management.



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

1. Action plans - keep a record of what i have to do and why i have to do it, this will help me keep on track when multiple briefs are underway. I will know what has to be a higher priority at different times.
2.Make sure the quality and quantity of my work is more consistent so the resolutions are justified and completed to a high standard, to the best of my ability.
3.Be more confident when it comes to independent learning, go out, look for different opportunities that can improve research and my designs.
4.Exploit tests and experiments more throughout my work to make more interesting design solutions.
5.Talk more about my work with peers and tutors, this will help push my designs forward and bring out new ideas, approaches and direction for my work.


6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas:


5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor


Attendance = 4
Punctuality = 4
Motivation = 4
Commitment = 4
Quantity of work produced = 4
Quality of work produced = 4
Contribution to the group = 4

The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

First things First Manifesto 2000

Motivation is the set of reasons that determines one to engage in a particular behaviour.

I'm feeling pretty un-organised and i'll be honest i can't seem to motivate myself, i know i have a lot of work to do but i seem to keep distancing myself from it, which of course is only making things worse.

THIS IS A WAKE UP CALL. WHEN YOU READ THIS BACK, JANE, YOU WILL START TO WORK START FROM THE TOP OF THE LIST AND WORK THROUGH IT DON'T BE A GOOFBALL IT NEEDS TO BE DONE!

I normally cry at the state of my desktop on my computer when one thing is out of place and the trash hasn't been emptied, well this is my desktop right now which kind of illustrates how i'm not feeling myself. i'll post back with a new improved Jane and desktop, now is the time to become motivated and organised!

Haha i love this, a little pep talk to myself, if anyone is reading this, i'm not quite crazy i just need to see it on screen and maybe it will be the kick up the backside i need ...

My year book...

Thanks to Jonathan - i nearly wet myself at the site of some of those hairstyles which are on his blog. I thought ide give the site a go...

The thanks you get these days...

Back from morocco, but i wish i was back in morocco, it's such a laid back country, it suited me so well as i tend to be a bit slow or as some people would say lazy. Anyway just a little reminder to myself of the the little present the cleaner left in our room, hehe the photo doesn't capture my shock as i tried to work out what she had left in our bathroom, "What the hell is that? is it a turd?" From further inspection it was in fact a croissant. This was left in our room after we had given the cleaner a nice tip for the week, we weren't even tight with our cash so i hope this present was a little joke or maybe she was hungry and forgot to eat her breakfast. It actually entertains me more not knowing why it was left there. Anyway enough ramble i must work...

Pooh

Got some nice little books the other day, I've picked out the best pages, the advice is pretty good, makes me reflect on things, and there are nice old school pooh illustrations, some are repeated in the other books in the series but i still think they are all nicely put together.

TGI Summer...

This is my 3rd "day off" I've read some books like i said i would in my evaluation, pat on the back for me, they were:




Went for the summer brief yesterday, Thankfully! Stop my brain from freezing over. I plan to do some of my own stuff this summer but its good having a brief for the 2nd year, makes me feel like i'm still working towards something. I don't think i've ever enjoyed a year in education as mush as this (yes you wrote this) I feel sad saying that but nevermind, it's probably because i've learned about what i'm interested in, and it hasn't felt like education, eugh i hate that word. Saw a clip of Tony Blair on the news other day when he blabbered on about education, education, education he turned the word sour.

Anyway enough of that rant...
I've also started reading



again, which is on our 2nd yr book list. I read it at the beginning of the 1st year but i must admit it makes more sense now than it did before.

As a final note to me, i plan to blog often over the summer to keep my head in the right place, so Jane when you read this back and you haven't done, blame yourself and feel ashamed, i should say IF you haven't done. Obviously i don't have much faith in me. who am i talking to? me? you? if there is a you? i confuse myself sometimes on here. Lets just say both.