OUGD 402// Self Evaluation

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN		LEVEL	04
Module Code	OUGD402
Module Title	Personal Professional Practice

END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME	Luke Rossiter

1.  What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
I have mainly gained a greater appreciation of how large the field of graphic design is, and how many branches and sub branches it has. For example, there is branding and identity design, then logo design or business card design as braches of this. The world of graphic design as a whole has really opened itself up to me. I have also found dozens of new designers and websites that I can follow and gain inspiration from in a variety of fields from poster design to information and wayfinding. I have also learnt the basics for Indesign, a superb program that has opened up publishing to me, something I have never really done before but have based many major project on this year.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
Having learnt some new skills in InDesign I have be producing many, many more publications. I have also improved my skills in Indesign to level where I can help others when they are stuck, especially when it comes to sending the files to print correctly and adjusting large amounts of text. With a greater knowledge of the different classifications of design I have been able to be more sure about what I want to produce, new areas of design that I had never considered before have become areas I have great interest in, for example alternative business card design.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
Once again I have gained strength in the technical aspect of design, I usually understand technology so I tend be fairly proficient with the new software I am introduced too. In the future I hope to move into a higher level of understanding in the three main design tools provided by Adobe, especially Photoshop with has un unbelievable learning curve.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
A weakness I have is lack or urgency or speed. I am fairly good at getting tasks completed on time but I always seem to spend twice as long and provide the same amount and quality of work as me peers. This was something I discovered during some of the study tasks when we were asked to evaluate ourselves as designers. I have also developed a messed up balance between my social, work and domestic life, some weeks I work too hard, other weeks I spend far too long socialising. The good news is that next year I will have a house full of graphic designers, so they will keep the same schedule as me instead of how things are at the moment; where I am persuaded away from my work by my friends on less intense courses.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? 1)    Live with graphic designers so my social life can be the same structure as them. This way we can all work on projects at home as well as at college and dedicate similar time slots to social and domestic activities. 2)    Spend a greater amount of time caring for my PPP blog, it has been neglected compared to my context and practice blogs. I feel that this will not happen next year as I believe PPP takes up a bigger chunk of our time table. 3)    Work at posting more work than is expected or set, I always realise that the more work I do the better I will become at design. And the greater understanding I will have into the principles of design. 4)    I will try to do more personal work and post it to the blog, this ability to generate your own work is something that the most respected designers practise so is something I should do too. 5)    I would like to develop a more personal style. At the moment I tend to find inspiration from book and the Internet but I really don’t want to always conform to safe design styles. If I can do this I believe that I will earn more respect as a designer and have more confidence in my own creativity.
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.