Typography Elective Evaluation

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

I think I have a gained a real understanding and appreciation of type. I feel that I look at typefaces and the way type is set with completely new eyes as a result of this module and consequently the way I approach the setting of type in a specific project has been dramatically improved. 

I am much more knowledgeable in the more technical aspects of type such as column width, point size and leading and the effects they have on legibility. I think I have been able to apply these new skills effectively in all the exercises we have done in the lessons but also this knowledge has informed my general graphic design practice outside of the typography module a huge amount.

I think I have gained a much greater understanding of the more creative and experimental aspects of typography. I like to think I have applied this knowledge well and can effectively communicate an mood or image through type.

Before I started this module I wasn’t certain that I wanted to do the typography elective, but now I am very glad I did do it. I think it has confirmed to me where my interests lay within graphic design and also where and how I want to specialise my skills and the way I work in the future.

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

Using letterforms to create patterns was a way of generating images that I had never really considered before, it has a huge amount of creative potential and I have started to use it in some of my projects.  

I have always known that things like capitals, bold type, italics, serif and sans serif typefaces communicate a certain style or mood but now I feel as though I really understand why these communicate in different ways and as a result I have much more control over them and am able to use them to communicate in a much more precise manner.

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

I think I have a good eye for layout. I think I am quite knowledgeable about typefaces and good at identifying them. I like to think I that I carefully consider things like point size, leading, typeface, column width and words per line etc. and use them appropriately when setting type for a particular project.

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

Sometimes it is hard to remember every aspect of typography that we have learnt about when setting type and I will realise that I have put too many words on a line or set the leading too tight, I like to think that I am getting faster and better at noticing these mistakes.

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

Be slightly more experimental with my work. Now that I more confident with the technical aspects of typography I think I could afford to be a little more experimental and creative.

Time manage slightly better so I don’t have so much to do at the end of the project.

Experiment further with the exercises we do in lessons.

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

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

Attendance   4

Punctuality   5

Motivation  4

Commitment   5

Quantity of work produced   3

Quality of work produced   4

Contribution to the group   4

New Blog

I set up a new blog for the Professional Practice Module >>>>> CLICK HERE

Music in Mountains

This is my final outcome for the Music in the mountains 1 day brief. I am fairly pleased with how it turned out, I am happy that I didn't use cheesy cliches like musical notes or mountains to communicate "music in the mountains". I think the coloured tiles give the vibrant and fun feel I was going for however I don't know if the logo is "musical" enough.

I am happy with how the type itself has turned out as this was my first attempt at making a typeface from scratch.

Typographic poster

I made 2 typographic posters for my typography elective one for Calisto MT and one for Garamond. I had to analyse the typefaces in relation to number of different criteria and pick out one of their unique or defining characters.

Media Blog

I have set up a blog for the design for digital media module. It will be where I am posting over the next few weeks. Click HERE.

Sticks and Stones

Sticks and Stones Magazine was produced my a friend of mine Robert Loeber. Normally I'm really reluctant to read any of these online "zines" mainly because I waste too much time on the internet anyway. But once I started reading this I didn't stop until I'd finnished it. It has interviews with Yokoland and Alex Bec amongst other features. I checked out some of Alex Becs other work and was really impressed, I did his hand lettering style.

Module Evaluation

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
I have improved my skills on Illustrator in this module and I think I applied them to fairly good effect on my poster designs, although I think I could have pushed myself to use Illustrator in a slightly more creative way. I have really improved my skills with Indesign in this module, using it to layout my A2 boards for the “what is good” project and my A3 spreads for the Colour 4 print brief, I have grown to really like the program and I think I can use it quite effectively. In a way I think I have stayed within my comfort zone a bit too much during this module, sticking to things I already know. For my next module I want to move away from Illustrator and relying on my computer so much.

2. What approaches to methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
I really treated the summer brief as a research project which I really enjoyed, it allowed my to take loads of photos using my film camera which I learnt a great deal from. I also did things like recording all the songs I played over summer and documenting typography from all around my house. Unfortunately we weren’t able to use a great deal of this research to inform the development of our designs as we moved on so quickly. I also carried out questionnaires to gage people’s views on politics for my “good” brief. I made a lot maquettes to research and inform the development of my point of sale. I spent a great deal of time reading and researching different print methods, colour models and the costs of printing. That was really useful and informed the development of many of my designs especially in terms of the use of colour.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I think that I am good at using type but I have definitely further improved my skills in this area during this module. I think I am also quite good at dealing with fairly complex issues and ideas that other people might shy away from in their projects, such as political policies and creating a questionnaire to help people learn more about politics, that was quite difficult. I think I am fairly good at identifying my target audience and being able to make work appropriate to them.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?
It is very easy to stick to what you know and do best, which I think I may have done to a certain extent during this module. In the next module I intend to move away from the computer screen a bit and use a lot more photography and things like that, I want to push myself to experiment with new methods and techniques. I can be a bit indecisive when it comes to making important decisions about the direction of my project, which I think can slow the progress of my work down a lot. Towards the end of this module I had become better at quickly making good decisions about which direction to take my work in, I hope to keep this up in the next module.

5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
1. Not use Illustrator vector graphics so much, I don’t think I am especially talented at using vector graphics but I always seem to come back to them because they are easy and usually look pretty good. However things like photography and typography may offer a more appropriate and visually effective solution.
2. Be more committed from the beginning of the module, so I don’t have to rush so much to get it all together at the end.
3. Try to time manage better so that if two deadlines clash again I will be more aware of it and more prepared.
4. Be more effective with my decision making so that I don’t waste so much time wondering if I am doing the right thing, I would be more effective with my time and get more work done.
5. Work harder, although I have worked very hard this module I think there is room for me to more constantly put in the hours.