PPD Presentation slides

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I was excited to start this year as last year it was very much tutor driven the products the group produced were very similar to each others as we all had the same brief which didn’t leave much of a creative gap to push your designs to be different or stand out from the rest. This year would be more self driven what we wanted to produce and how we wished to do that. The first module we came to was design for print, thought of as an obvious module yet so much more technical things which we learnt about print as a production. I had a brief which I rebranded Greggs i was impressed with the distributary factor of this brief as I created many products within a range I had good time management throughout which is a goal I had set myself from the previous year. This got me interested in creating range of products rather than one / selection of the same product. As part of this module we went to visit a print company in Leeds called Team this really made things real for me and I began getting interested in placements. By understanding what goes on in the print factor and getting a tour from initial quotes on jobs right down to putting booklets etc together by hand, you can quickly develop an understanding of what the print company would need from a designer in order to for-fill a project to its best potential. When it came to the digital module I was really interested in getting back into illustration which is something I really enjoyed on previous courses. I began by drawing out many of the characters for a title sequence which we were to put together. One major set back to my confidence was how long it actually had taken me to do all these illustrations and it was a week before deadline and  I had not used the software before luckily I was fine and managed to do all work set yet learnt time management may be slipping again. I used the simple techniques we had been taught in the workshops and i was impressed with my first attempt at using the program. During the module I felt as if i hated it and once it had finished and I had realised what I had actually achieved I have been intrigued to get back on it ever since! Most enjoyed module by far across both years has got to be Image with Amber it was really up my street! Mainly I loved how we would turn over briefs weekly and sometimes even produce three products within that time. Fast paced creative and diverse. Each brief set made you think about how to solve the problem in a different way also creating image in ways you wouldn't usually think of. We got the opportunity to create 10 books for the book fair this brief took the longest yet had more satisfaction at the end of it I was really impressed with what I had produced. Even going to the book fair got me thinking about me as a designer and I believe next year I want my own stall containing little books bookmarks posters. Our collaborative brief this year was a live one the brief which intrigued me was Ted Baker as i thought of this being something which I would be a sector of the industry I would most enjoy working for. I love window displays and how they present clothes on props etc really inspires me to be creative. I do like working with people as I think surely ideas from two are better than one! Yet we both have different opinions on graphics design and work differently this is the most difficult part to it. I would prefer the chance to work with someone from another discipline as there would be a need for each of our specialisms and its having trust in someone to make the work better as they have the knowledge which you haven't yet gained. Design practice two was the last module of the year and it had flown by! It was a self written brief so it was an opportunity to get a taster for the third year of the degree program I was excited to set myself a brief which I would hopefully really enjoy working on and have a good end to the year. I set myself quite a big task also pushed myself to wanting to try something new yet didn’t realise how long we had and how long it would take me to achieve what I wanted to so had to adapt the brief as I went on and admit this wasn’t really ideal so I really need to learn how long things do take to produce. I was a little upset as I really wanted to create scarves which would have my designs printed on them and the packaging that came with it etc I got advised not to do this. Coming to the end of this module I realised that my design work doesn’t have a definite style to it and this may need focusing on I want a style which I will be known for as well as being diverse in what I do. The enterprise module really took off this year and I began to really get a feel for owning my company one day there seemed to be many things which needed sorting out and were difficult to understand. The brief was to create a company with three other course members and research everything which we needed in order to start the company I believe this was quite a mammoth task especially when members of the group didn’t pull together more work had to be done Sometimes felt we were getting a business management degree as well as a graphics one!  our web design workshop was linked to this in many ways I wished it hadn’t have been I would have much preferred to design a website for myself as our company had no work to display and was more of a statics brief for enterprise made it more difficult to have things to feature on the website. Learnt great Dreamweaver skills as my website was lost the day before therefore had to re-do everything and quick! I did think I would struggle a lot more than I did. I mow feel comfortable enough to be able to design my own in third year. Everything seems now to be coming together for me to be a professional designer its daunting at the same time though. Throughout this year I have learnt many things about my design work and had changes in my life which have made me think about myself as a person. Decisions I have made about my practice are image is something which really drives how I think about solving problems set by a brief. Book making was something I really enjoyed and couldn’t put down once i had started therefore I would like to explore different ways to bind and paper fold in more depth next year. During the end of this year i’ve had a rough time will illness and its really taught me life goes on and I have battled through my design practice work sometimes with great difficulty but its made me strong and its not school now where things can just be forgotten I treat the course almost like I do my job serious and important to me. From this year I have gained many strengths and been able to highlight my weaknesses and noticed them now in order to change the what I did. Software skills have been improved dramatically from when I first started this course I have become so much more confident in using the adobe programs. Have began doing more illustrative work which really inspires me and what originally got me excited about graphic design having the software knowledge now I can digitise my work so it becomes more accessible and easy to apply to packaging etc. The way Im presenting my work is in a much more professional manner the use of the boards I think are such a good way to pitch ideas and mock ups of how a product will look. Some of the weaknesses outlined this year my time management has been up and down this due to juggling things round after going to hospital etc been difficult to keep on top of things. The drive to go and try new things within the colleges facilities I need to get myself back into the screen print room and use the knowledge I have to design in a different way and ultimately think big by knowing what can be achieved really expands your design concepts. What I want to achieve next year I wish to attend a placement a few days a week along side attending uni I wish to explore more into team printers as not only you learn pricing structure of orders your also seeing up and coming designs and ways to do things so learn a little design side and technical think it would be really interesting. I enjoyed doing work for the book fair at Leeds uni so want my own stall next year to sell one off prints books and cards. Im really excited to start next year as well as terrified as this years gone so fast I’ll soon be out in the industry am I ready? Not yet!