DESIGN PROCESS. SELF-EVALUATION

1.  What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? I have learned screen-printing which to me is quite exiting, because I’ve never done it. I found out new ways to look at the whole design process. I improved my Photoshop skills, learned some things on Photoshop that I never knew before and I cannot wait to use some of the features later on. I realised that research doesn’t stop throughout the whole creative process. That there are no boundaries to develop any project further. I learned how to set up a clock movement :> I also improved a lot on my illustrator skills and finally it became a habit and I feel more confident now using the software than I felt at the start of the course. I also did some drawings with a pen tablet which is a really useful tool for imagery.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process? I learned that research is a really important thing, that it’s a cycle. I learned that if You want to improve on things - You have to come back to the steps you already taken and revisit them, change them. I learned that doing surveys or questioners helps to get to know your specific audience more. We had a lot of workshops that helped us brainstorm and organise our research. We also did a lot of feedback crits. Knowing other peoples opinions really helps to develop your work. I learned what is the difference between quantitative and qualitative  research.  We learned a lot of  about where to start the research and hot to make a theme a specific subject. I tried different materials and approaches to design. Used a lot of design sheets to develop ideas.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? I think the fact that all of the pieces are interactive and their actually are helping You to solve the time management problem is the strength of this module.  I really enjoyed doing something that is more innovative – in the future I will try to make more designs that are interactive and innovative. I started to develop the ideas more in depth, rather than just making ‘pretty’ design. This is the one thing I always lacked concentrating on – it seems as if my mind has opened up. I already feel the advantages of this course. Also I learned a lot about research; it has to be a 25/7 thing. It’s an on-going process. You can find interesting pieces of research in the most unexpected places or time. It’s a also good to start building up a recourse source which I finally started doing. I think after this module I realised how important the context and the content is. I also developed on organising and categorising information. As well, I experimented a lot and tried different techniques which is always a good thing to do.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? I think my work works like separate series rather than like a one solid outcome. I would probably find the same colour theme and keep it throughout the whole 10 pieces. Though that is quite a hard task if You’re printing something digitally and screen-printing something because you have to mix up your own colours but I guess that comes with practise. If I had more time I would have created an identity. Only when I was finishing my pieces I realised that I could have created a brand of “Nation of Procrastination” and that would tie all the products together.  In the future if I’ll screen-print, I’ll know more about it and won’t make the same mistakes. In the future I will also know that if You buy clock movement you should check do the arrows really fit on.  I also think that this brief my time-management wasn’t too good – it’s quite bizarre  because I am doing a project about time management, at least I now know what was I doing wrong.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? I would leave more time for screen-printing and possibly book the sessions rather than go into he drop-in.  Because the drop-ins are late in the evening, if it’s busy you do less.  I will already have an induction and will know how to screen-print so I’ll save time by doing prints and knowing what I’m doing. I would choose one colour to go throughout the entire series and create an identity. Because I think visually it works better to have the same theme throughout products. I would leave more time for the designing of the final outcomes. Than I could actually develop the design further and make it more consistent and clear. I would blog more often because it helps You develop ideas and get your head around what you’re doing. I probably wouldn’t go back to Lithuania while having such a big project because I get distracted. For the next big project I would not go back home because I just cannot work there; too many discretions.  I think that would have helped my research more.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance					X
Punctuality					X
Motivation				X
Commitment					X
Quantity of work produced			X
Quality of work produced			X
Contribution to the group				X
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.