1st Year
Aims for 1st Year:
- Gain a sense of independence from moving out
- Confidence in myself and in my work
- Be experimental with my design work
- Explore a range of materials
- Take advantage of facilities available at uni
What I Learnt:
- To do things for myself, manage my money etc.
- Collection and application of research
- Basic knowledge of digital and traditional methods of production
- Principles of Graphic Design (type, colour and layout)
2nd Year
Aims for 2nd Year:
- Better idea of my practice and ambitions for the future
- Find a focus in the design industry
- Develop skills in the hand rendered techniques
- Develop a professional online presence
- Professional finish to design outcomes
What I Learnt:
- I am interested in branding / identity and promotion / advertising
- I hate design for web, coding etc.
- Working to live / competition briefs is exciting and purposeful
- Screen Printing independently for a brief
- To produce work I'm proud to put in my portfolio
- Get a visit / placement
- To improve my online presence / branding
- To improve the quality of my final outcomes
Before I began the course I was quite a shy individual, although I had completed an a-level equivalent in Graphic Design and had a very basic knowledge of the subject I was not very confident in my self or my design work. When I came to Leeds it was the first time I'd ever moved house, and I was the first out of my brother and sister to move away from home. I never really wanted to move away from Liverpool however looking back I now know it was the best decision for me in terms of gaining some independence and self confidence.
My final outcome for the 'Promotional Pack' brief for PPP1 sums up my first year. I came to the course with an interest in hand-rendered media, it informed what I was looking and the way I worked. Although I had been introduced to adobe software on my college course I wasn't very confident in it and spent most of my time in first year looking for alternative methods of production, the promotional pack for example was produced using Lino Print. Looking at it now I liked the concept of promoting myself as a new product however, I don't think the execution is great.
The way in which I presented my work in first year wasn't very professional either as I mostly just photographed pieces on my desk in my university halls. Improving the professional quality of my work was something I went into second year wanting to achieve.
Following the Print and Web brief we undertook as part of the Design Production module, I gained a keen interest in the branding and identity aspect of Graphic Design. As a result I the design work I was looking at not only became more focussed and the the way in which I found work more professional (as opposed to just using google image search!)
I became more and more interested in Branding and Identity over the course of second year resulting in me creating a whole new visual identity for myself from scratch and branding myself as "Glass Half Full" for the PPP2 module.
Compared to the work I was producing when I began the course and throughout first year I think there is a large improvement and development in my design work even the way in which I photographed my work became a lot more clean and professional which was partly down to the setting up of my online portfolio on Behance.
The work in which I have been producing so far on the third year still reflects my preference for hand rendered medias and techniques which I have had long before joining the course however I think the finish is a lot more refined and professional especially compared to that first piece produced in response to the PPP module.
My aims for the remainder of this year are to produce a body of work that I am proud to put in my portfolio, gain experience in a professional environment and ultimately do a gain a job within a design studio (not too big, not too small) and be happy.
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