Look How Far We’ve Come My Baby

I never thought I’d be writing this so soon. I am flabbergasted with how long this year has passed by. It has almost passed me by it was that fast. I must admit there have been tears, sweat and blood shed over the last 30 or so weeks.

Looking back at the year there have been regrets but I wouldn’t change a thing. As well as being mistakes they are also learning curves and something to build upon.

Looking back to the work which was produced in earlier in the course there is an obvious improvement in every aspect of my work. I am reasonably happy with the grades received this year. I will use the second year to improve on these grades with the hopes to be receiving high merits and distinctions. This year has purely been to learn and gain experience and I have certainly done that.

A1
There has been an enormous amount of pressure in the back of my mind over the year regarding assignment one. The fact is I know there is more I could have done to improve it and make better use of my sketchbook towards the beginning of the course. I am please that the uses have come a long way since then and have learnt to use it slightly better. This would need to be taken forward to the second year also in order to explore with ideas more.

I have found it a very useful tool which I would have really struggled without. It was one of the first ports of call for ideas and inspiration. The journals are probably equally if not more important as they hold our thoughts, emotions and past. It is a record of 9 months of our lives and our experiences on the course. The journal is a great place to refer back to when producing evaluations, like this. It is also a way to receive help and gain an understanding how our predecessors were feeling when they were undertaking the same task.

A2
What a shock. The second week of the course when we got our first assignment, That’s the Plan, I sank in my chair and wanted it all to go away. I was so uncomfortable with the whole situation. It was the first academic assignment had had completed in years. It just seemed like there was so much work to get through.

Once I got through the first few weeks I found it quite easy and was already learning. I really enjoyed designing a website for a purpose. Looking back at the designs now I think they are reasonably nice to say it was a first attempt.

To have passed the assignment first time was quite a welcoming feeling. My first success on the course which was hopefully on the road for the same.

A3
Back to BASIC was more focused at building on the knowledge and experience which was picked up from A2. After the fist web plan had been created it was a very simple task to re-create a similar document was I was able to finish it in a relatively short period of time. One of the hardest parts were research for content. It was not hard but quite time consuming.

Towards the end of the assignment I was very eager to continue and jump straight into the building process.

A4
Image Rights was a rather difficult assignment as it was running along side the second web plan which was much more information. Unfortunately I allowed it to take a large percentage of my time which left me struggling slightly towards the end to get the work completed.

The Image restoration wasn’t the most exciting task in the world but over the course of those few weeks I had learnt so many skills in Photoshop. It was more of a systematic, time consuming task rather than a difficult one. I was amazed by the results though. I never thought I would be able to produce something like that.

I found the image compression essay the most difficult as there was a lot of accuracy needed with figures and statistics. I was disheartened by this task as I didn’t not very much confidence in things like maths.

A5
What we have all been waiting for. I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment. Building the website I had previously designed. I learnt a lot over this assignment. Over the course of the building process I uncounted several problems with the coding which where quite frustrating at first but then they became a challenge.

A6
I would have to say I feel that this unit was the most enjoyable out of them all. It showed me that there is more to design than just “pretty images”. It showed me that the simple designs are often the most pleasing and appropriate.

Typography is something which since then I have enjoyed to look at. It has made me more aware of how layouts should work.

Studying the notable typographer Roger Excoffon I have found a range of new typefaces which have the same meaning but are totally different. After the first presentation I was not looking forward to the second, on the notable typographer. It was, I found much easier than the first because I knew what to expect. This did not however stop my nerves getting the better of me. But I think I was more relaxed and confident when at the front.

I think I am now ready to do presentations more regularly in preparation for the final presentation in exactly a years time.

A7
This assignment was really a means of summing up the year in terms of what we had learnt. Some way or another all the knowledge and experience we had gained throughout the year had some part to play in the montage of tasks covered in this unit.

As said in my A7 Evaluation, the most stressful section of the unit was the redesign of the emit logo. I found it so hard to get away from the same ideas. I needed to be much wider with my design ideas and not have this tunnel version effect I am so prone to.

In summary
It has been a very stressful 9 months but it has been worth it so much. The experience I have gained in irreplaceable and invaluable. Over the course of the summer I wish to practice my abilities in many of the areas which have been covered in the first year. This will enable me to keep the knowledge and ideas racing round for use in the second year.

It is amazing how someone’s life can change so much in just two thirds of a year, their aims, desires and experience.

My aims for next the next year
• To get at least 3 Merits
• To get at least 2 Distinctions
• Build a portfolio
• Get more professional experience

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