End of module evaluation: Visual Communication

There have been three very different projects in this module so i've learnt lots of new skills during it. 

In brief 1 the most challenging thing was working in a group, we struggled to agree on ideas and finding times for us all to come in was a struggle. I think that brief 1 went relatively well although I think we should have spent more time on the poster; after all the ideas going back and forth we didn't plan for a poster until last minute. Working with 3D was fun and it also presented it's own challenges. The paper we used was thick and unwilling to bend to the shape we wanted so we had to stick it down as best we could then go back and paste tissue paper on top to achieve the texture we wanted. In this instance it was clear the strength of a group; team work. With us all working on a large 3D piece it was done in a fraction of the time if it had been assigned to one person. Not to say individual tasks weren't important, we set ourselves little jobs and research pieces to do each time we met up so that we had new stuff to work with next time. The research side is a lot easier in a group too because even if everyone only spends an hour or so on it on a night, we'll still have a decent amount of stuff to work with the next day. 

In the second brief the main objective was just to understand and use adobe illustrator. This is not a programme i have had much luck with in the past and i struggled with this brief. In retrospect i should have spent more time learning skills on illustrator before i started because my designs seemed simple in comparison to others during the crit. 

The final brief i feel went best for me. Even though i encountered some drastic timing problems in the end which caused me to change my process. But for the first time i feel that the colour scheme worked, colour isn't my strong point and i think that the reason it worked for me this time is that i had a reason to pick the colours i did. I think the concept part of this project went well, i decided quite early on that i wouldn't be drawing an actual portrait of Douglas Adams because his face just isn't that well known but his characters are timeless. I watched the series back again and then the new movie for comparison, this helped me to pick out the important parts. My poster was more about how it made you feel, the escape into fiction and the world he creates with his words.

My main weaknesses in this module:
1. Organisation; learn from the screen printing incident
2. Not setting strict guidelines and certain elements falling through.
3. Not speaking up about my ideas and being confident in a group.
4. Blogging. I think i should try a form of video blogging maybe because the writing side and explanations can be daunting.

All together this module has taught me several new skills:

1. Pick colour pallets with a purpose in mind, not random selection.

2. Group work can be hard but rewarding, co-operating and communicating is key.

3. Composition and the balance of negative space makes a piece more aesthetically pleasing.

4. Organise time properly by finding out what each task consists of and how long it will take.

5. Research is important. The subject is aimed at an audience who enjoys it, so you have to know your stuff.