OUGD502 END OF MODULE EVALUATION

During this module, I have come a long way on the social side of graphic design. I have discovered and learnt a lot about networking, dealing with clients, pitching an idea and communicating professionally in an environment with other designers. My first experience with this what as the bound art book fair in Manchester at the start of the year. During this, I spoke to a lot of book, zine a publication designers about their work and process which I found incredibly interesting. This further inspired me to pursue this format of design. Unknown to me at the time, I was low key networking with these designers and I ended up interviewing two of them for my creative report due to meeting them prior to that briefing. The process for that brief came quite easily as my responses from them were very quick and I now have a continuous flow of conversation with both of them.

After working with my peers on life's a pitch, I discovered a lot about the specifics of curating and exhibition and how much time and effort really goes into it behind the scenes. Learning about budgeting and specifics of the venue became very important to me during this brief. Some of the more important values I learnt was working within a group and figuring out who I was more compatible with in the class.

After several presentations throughout this module, I feel like I have become more confident around the topic of presenting my work, pitching an idea etc. I also feel a lot more confident in approaching other designers and asking more questions about their work. Something I now believe is not to wait for them to approach you but for you to approach them. This could be applied to freelance work, networking, applying for a job and many other elements of graphic design. I will continue to use these skills later on within my career.

OUGD502 PERSONAL PRESENTATION

OUGD502 CREATIVE REPORT RESPONSE & EVALUATION

After reviewing the answers I received from the professionals I interviewed, I found myself learning quite a lot through the process of contacting them, staying in contact and from what they generally had to say. I interviewed them on the topic of collaboration which was something I was genuinely interested in learning about because at the time I had no experience in this whatsoever. During the whole process of sending the questions out, keeping in contact with the designers and receiving the questions, I had undergone my own collaborative practice with a photographer. I found that this process went a lot smoothly then I would have expected due to the fact I was learning about the collaborative process whilst practising it at the same time.

I enjoyed the responses the designers gave back to me and agreed with all the things they had to say. Something I found interesting about their responses was that some of the answers were quite juxtaposing. For instance, DIY YOUTH stated that they come across a few misconceptions when collaborating and to overcome this they make sure they keep regular contact with all the designers involved and that everyone is happy with the final outcome. On the other hand, Meanwhile Press stated that he is lucky to work with like minded people and nothing ever seems to go too wrong at all. From this I figured that its definitely down to personal experience and how the individual works with others, not a universal design problem.

The most influential part of the interviews was the part where they both mention that regular contact with your collaborator (in person if possible) is the most important part to a successful collaborative project. This is something I am now beginning to practice myself thanks to the answers they both gave me. I am also keeping regular contact with both of these designers so that I have a well known contact in the industry in the future.

OUGD502 CREATIVE REPORT FINAL OUTCOME

I finally finished producing my creative report onto a physical format. I did this in the style of an A5 zine which was the type of work the two designers regularly produce. This made it easy to create as they both had pretty straight forward aesthetics that I could base this work off. The pages alternated between black and white to simply represent the theme of collaboration as this is usually a two sided process. After I produced a couple of copies, I sent the two designers a copy each in the post to say thank you for their time helping me with this project. This lead onto them reposting my work and granting exposure to my design profile on Instagram. I now have a continuous conversation with these designers and will hopefully work with them in the future. Below is just a couple of pages taken from the 32 page creative report.