Module Evaluation - OUGD603

Module Evaluation OUGD603

Over the three years at university my skills have grown within my practice. I have managed to become more proficient in areas of design and learn techniques I had never even attempted before. Digital design was my go to before university. I mainly worked on my computer using the Adobe Suite and taking inspiration from online sources. Since my time at university I have managed to expand on all of this; taking my skills within traditional methods to create final pieces, researching through books and online articles and finally printing and photographing my work so it is professional in look and can be displayed on my portfolio. All of this has helped to to produce this module. 

You can see the progression over the years and how this year I have continued to improve throughout. I incorporated my traditional methods with my digital work to create stronger outcomes and made sure all my briefs were backed up with research, ideas generations and links to my target audience. I feel this years work has been my strongest proving I can now produce constantly strong projects while still continuing to learn and grow within the design world.

My projects this year have a much more professional finish to them as many of them have been printed and photographed or simply completed to a higher standard. I have used mockups to see concepts for my work but have always tried to create the physical pieces where possible to make sure it works in the context it is supposed to rather than an idea. 

Although I have improved on combining both traditional and digital methods I have also improved my skills within the digital software I use. I use the Adobe Suite mostly to create my work but also have experimented using software outside of this. This includes, photo editing/image generation, 3D design, vector designs, video editing, sound editing and animating. Alongside this I have improved my photography skills to make sure all the outcomes I produce are just as strong as one another. 

This year I have worked with more clients and on more life briefs than ever before. In doing so I have been able to learn; new networking and interaction skills as, how to create invoices, how to weigh up costs and how best to produce an outcome. 

My time management this year has improved dramatically. With the help of time plans and posting events or information on my phones calendar I have been able to get deadlines done on time and produce really strong outcomes. Without this I feel my work would not have improved as much as it has. 

At the start of the year everything I have discussed above is what I wanted to achieve. I feel proud of this year and I am pleased with all the outcomes. I now do feel ready to share my work and apply for jobs within the industry. Before this year I did not feel ready for any of that, I feel this was down to lacking in, time management, confidence within my work and the standard of my work. This year has been tremendous success for me and I hope to carry on improving throughout my future career in the creative industry.

Digital Business Card, Evaluation - OUGD603

Though this brief did take slightly longer than other briefs it was still relatively easy to produce and keep ideas flowing. The time plan was adjusted slightly to make way for added details and other projects. We still managed to stay on task and complete the brief in time for our deadline. This was due to the amount of research and feedback we had accumulated throughout it. Working on this project as a collaboration definitely helped to push the whole process further and make sure we didn't stray off track from the original brief. Our design styles differ but we do agree on most aesthetic choices which may have made this easier. It could be argued that differing opinions could be helpful to gain multiple decisions. We managed to gain a lot of feedback through surveys and online posts that helped push the designs enough. It was helpful to have a like-minded designer on this project to make sure we could stay on the same page. We managed to stick to the initial brief throughout the design and use the information we collected to create a final piece that fit to our criteria. The workload was shared from the research to the designing, we would always work on the project together and the only time we spend apart was whilst Harrison was on placement. We did still keep in contact through skype and through Facebook to give each other constant updates on the brief.
The design is user friendly, easy to navigate and looks visually pleasing. It works as a digital alternative to printed business cards an saves on paper costs and environmental damages. Which, can be backed up through our research.
I was able to use a whole range of digital skills throughout this project that I have not used in conjunction with each other for a few years. The software used is as follows; Adobe Illustrator, Adobe XD, Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe After Effects and Apple's Logic Pro X. I do not have much experience working with Adobe XD but it works similarly as other programs in the Adobe Suite. Using software like this to step a bit outside my comfort zone helps to further my skill as a designer and creative.
Although I do usually prefer to work with print I still believe that this is something that needs to be tackled. Not all print is necessary and with simple solutions such as this app we are able to save the environment. A business card is something so small we wouldn't consider it to effect the environment too drastically but the amount that are discarded per week is phenomenal. I myself have printed my own business cards through a company (Moo) because I cannot find a service such as this app. As we have stated throughout the production of this piece I still believe business cards are necessary but there is no way or easy and user friendly way to make them digitally. My business cards are printed on 100% recycled stock made from cotton tee-shirts this would be a way to get around environmental issues but is still held back by many other issues.
This project has shown me how necessary research is to create something so commercial and something that could have a huge impact on the way we network. If I were to take this project further I would like to approach app developers to help create it as a fully functioning design and not something that would just be seen as a design project. It should be stated that other apps of this nature do exist but none feature the connectivity our design offers and ease of use. We are looking to implement this straight into the phones wallet or contacts and use the inbuilt NFC technology to transfer the data quickly and with ease. Overall this project has opened me up to a whole new range of ideas and has helped me hone in on some digital skills within UI I have not tapped into before. Working collaboratively was helpful and made sure the project was a success.

Digital Business Card, In Context - OUGD603

This video helps to explain the idea behind the app and how the app will navigate. Once again it can be seen that the app is kept simple and produces an answer to the problem stated in the brief. This would help to produce a simple digital solution for business cards and bring them into the digital age. Making cards easier to organise and sort through, it will save time on sharing information with professionals and personal contacts. Business cards still play an important role in society but print is starting to fade out and is slowly having a huge impact on the environment. This app will keep business cards relevant for years to come and help produce a solution to unnecessary print costs and wasted paper.

The editing of the video and audio was done using Adobe After Effects, Adobe XD, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and Logic Pro. A script was written out for me to read out so there was audio to go along with the video. Then the video was edited using the Adobe software stated above. After Effects was used to produce the bulk of the video and add in effects. Illustrator was used to create the vector imagery to add visuals alongside the type and audio, this was to keep viewers entertained. XD was used to show the navigation throughout the App itself and then added into an Iphone Mockup created in Photoshop. Logic was used to record the audio and edit it before placing it into the finished video. Creating the audio helped create the keyframes in After Effects so I knew when the visuals would appear in time.



Expand App from Joshua Storey on Vimeo.