Evaluation

This module without a doubt has been my favourite. The projects have really allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and produce outcomes I never thought I was capable of. Each project I have tried to take risks and think outside the box when it comes to generating ideas and concepts.

I learnt so much throughout, like creating gifs, using vectors on illustrator and even creating a lino print. Mono printing was an induction I was particularly drawn to – it allowed me to be really experimental with shapes and layering creating real abstract compositions. What I have really learnt throughout is to move away from the literal response to briefs – I have acknowledged that the most successful pieces of art are the ones in which at first, are a struggle to understand, but at a closer examination things start to become more recognizable.

My gifs were probably my strongest outcome because I invested so much time in creating and perfecting them. I think it was a great idea to try something new with my 3D idea by actually dressing up as my character. I enjoyed creating a completely new perspective. I thought my stickers reflected something deeper than just ‘an act of kindness’ – I felt like my concept was so relevant and actually quite a serious concept which everyone can relate to and be inspired by. With my Maya Angelou project, I really enjoyed the progression of my ideas from start to finish. I like how my initial idea changed so much throughout my ‘journey’ through tutorials, group crits and constant reflection on my work. I completely moved away from the literal sense and started to include some metaphorical ways of working. After my mono print session, I felt so motivated and inspired to create further prints because they turned out so successful. I decided to really experiment with this project, using all the skills I have learnt in the previous modules from illustrator to lino print to collage experiments. The introduction to gif making made me incredibly inspired as I didn’t know how easy it was to create. I may have got a bit carried away with this project in producing gif after gif, but I just felt so energized and had so many ideas.

I used a range of artists to help with my inspiration. I used the internet but also some books from the library and an illustrator book I have at home which I occasionally look through. Analyzing shape driven artists really helped me in terms of composition and selecting colour palette. I have learnt so much about composition and the selection of colours through contextual research.

For future modules I aim to be much more conceptual with my ideas – be more metaphorical in my approaches and less literal. I aim to use more workshops, to widen my visual vocabulary and again try things I wouldn’t normally. Perhaps for future projects I could spend more time in the early stages producing roughs and playing around with more ideas, not just developing one design.