A6 Evaluation

A6 Revert to Type
Evaluation

Time Planning
I feel it was much easier to manage my time for the timed tasks as it was only a very small part of the day. Perhaps it would benefit me to take this approach for other assignments; by compiling a weekly list of tasks, which need to be created in that particular week, and planning my time each day at a time. This will allow me to easily break down a task into smaller more manageable sections.

Typography
I am really enthusiastic with the knowledge I have gained regarding typography. I have found it a very interesting subject and have started to apply the things I have learnt into the work I have created since.

I never really knew how much ‘good’ typography affected not only the design industry but everything around us. When good typographical practice has been used there is an obvious strong point within the piece of work.

Typography is something, which is very rarely commented on and goes by un-noticed but when it is used incorrectly it becomes very obvious. From the very first lecture I have been noticing good typography in every day life.

My presentation on Roger Excoffon has enabled me to spend a significant amount of time researching different aspects of typography and has introduced me to several new typefaces.

Presentation
After much stress about the presentation I was relieved to when it was over. I didn’t think it went as bad as I imagined, but it was not perfect. After thinking I was going too fast I tried to add some information which wasn’t on the presentation slide, at which point I tripped up and paused for what felt an eternity. When I did recover I found it easier to continue with the presentation in a more confident way.

During my last presentation it was noted that I spoke much too quickly and finished much before my time allowance was up. Although on this occasion I did not need it, I had revised additional information, which has been added to my hand out to go onto in case I had time to spare.

I found it much easier to present in front of a small group rather than just one tutor. I think the size of the room has a large effect on how you treat the presentation. I like confined spaces, I feel large spaces have an intimidating effect on me.

I really enjoyed producing my presentation handout. I was able to design something which was a whole product and which can be seen in context, with the timed tasks the designs and layouts were only a very small piece of a whole range of designs – such as a newspaper.

Timed Tasks
Over the course of the assignment period it would seem the timed tasks have been getting slightly easier. I don’t think this is true; it could be seen as a justification of my learning curve. I have to say I am slightly disappointed that there were not more tasks like this. I feel they are an invaluable task to aid us in our development on the course also at the same time giving us somewhat of an insight into what the industry will be like.

Hokai
‘Hokai’ was an un-usual project to design for and was, in my opinion, the most difficult of the four preliminary tasks due to the scale of the design. I found it difficult to fit all the required information into the amount of space, which was available. I enjoyed working with only typographical elements and a single colour (plus black) It gave the design a very clean, pure appearance.

Jonathan Gee
By the time this task was set I had already produced 3 designs and was adjusted to the working pattern, which was needed. I felt I was able to use my time in a more efficient manner and was happy with the outcome. During the timed tasks Steve gave feedback, which was most useful. I believe the best way to lean is to make the mistakes and use feedback to learn from them.

If I could change one thing about the design, I would use a heavier typeface, perhaps a condensed typeface allowing me to use slightly larger text whilst still fitting the whole content in.

Vodafone
I decided to take the Vodafone design out of the submission, as it was very similar to the Jonathan Gee task. I deemed the Jonathan Gee article to be a stronger piece as it featured a more complex design having better ‘devices’ to display the information into a more aesthetically pleasing way.

Grid & Story
I was quite disappointed with the outcome of the last two timed tasks. I feel it has let the assignment down somewhat. Designing the grid was quite hard without knowing what the content was going to be. I don’t think the content fitted the grid I designed.

I one thing I overlooked was the gutter width. The gutter was set to 10mm, which looked fine before content was added. Perhaps as the text was justified the gutter size was emphasised by the very straight edge of the text.

Looking back on the task if I could change one thing – other than the gutter size – it would be the amount of columns I used. My grid had 3 columns, as I didn’t want it to look too crowded. When inserting the image I realised why it was good to have more columns. It gives you much more flexibility when fitting images and headlines into a confined space.

Goals
When collecting designs for my ‘A1’ sketchbooks I will use the knowledge and terminology I have gained in this assignment to evaluate and describe the work more accurately and fluently. I am taking particular care in identifying different uses of layout grids. This will enable me understand how layouts work and how I can implement similar grids into my own designs.

In future I need to be more diverse with the typefaces I select and appropriately match them to the designs I produce. I over the coming weeks I will collect and document different typefaces, which I feel, are strong in their design. This will enable me to use my sketchbook in a more involved role when designing.

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