EVALUATION

Overall Evaluation

Hindsight is an irritating thing, and although I am extremely happy with where I am right now I sometimes, throughout the course of this module have wondered where I would be had I had some of the realisations I'm having now, a lot earlier in my degree. The major turning point in my FMP was submitting my statement of intent, I was having a lot of problems with trying to include all of my interests in one sentence, and it has changed a lot throughout this year. I finally got it down to 'Conceptual, research driven design for independent publication with a focus on human behaviour and language'. I think it definitely sums me up as a designer, and is extremely relative to my future plans and design strategy after I leave. Originally it was centred around film, music and literature and I was having trouble in crits when explaining my work to people, because what I was doing wasn't always necessarily under those headings. Changing it to human behaviour and language has allowed me to explore a more diverse range of topics within my work, it will always be under those headings, but could potentially be bigger that culture.

Having a more focused statement of intent allowed me to write in detail my plan for my FMP, which would usually be a massive problem for me as most of my degree has been very heavily conceptual and research driven, and so writing my own self initiated briefs has been hard for me. It is easy enough to write about something you're passionate about, but when you're told you need strict guidelines and reigning in then it becomes difficult to pin point what you want out of your briefs. My statement of intent allowed me to come up with a series of headings that I could look into and actually stay excited about throughout the course of the last module.

One of the things I was worried about was the fact that I am not one for processing, and trying out particularly experimental formats and stocks, but I began to realise that I am not concerned with those for a reason. I had initially said in my statement submission that I wanted to experiment with screen printing more, and I did, outside of my FMP and although I enjoyed it I found that it wasn't relative to my practice. I have been able to bullet point my practice so that whenever I feel anxious about what other people are doing, that I realise that it isn't always relevant to me;

1. I am an ideas person
2. I don't like branding
3. I want to stimulate and educate
4. I am cost effective
5. I work faster than I think

Finally, 6. It isn't all about Graphic Design; and I learned this when it came to writing my dissertation – mine wasn't Graphic Design related in the least. I have learned to use Graphic Design as a tool and not have my entire life revolve around it. Like last module I started off with a lot of briefs and my blog labelling was all over the place, and so I have actually cut out a lot of what I was initially going to submit, this wasn't due to time, money or enthusiasm, it was because I realised that a lot of the briefs I was trying to pursue were very similar and could actually exist together. I got a lot of feedback on my briefs throughout my FMP from professionals, both who came in and who I contacted myself which really helped me to shape which briefs were worth it and which were just taking up my time. Getting really involved with the people I contacted helped not only with my briefs but also getting myself out there. Speaking to people I admire such as Steve from STACK and also Alasdair from Article allowed me to understand and make clear the reasons why I do what I do, for the love of tangible printed ideas.

One of the briefs that I had to opt out of, that wasn't working for me or my time, or my health! - was the Fine Art Yearbook. I was initially really quite excited about yearbooks and the prospect of being involved with one, after all I am quite obsessed with publications. I didn't have a design team to create an initial pitch for the Graphic Design yearbook, and so I took some photographs and made some boards with the paper specs and all of the details on how information would be organised and planned to pitch by myself until I realised it was illogical and probably not allowed. I ended up getting another person to put their name to my pitch, this wasn't necessarily someone who I would choose to work with. I didn't really think it would result in anything, I just wanted my pitch to be seen so I wouldn't regret not pitching entirely. Getting the Fine Art yearbook was one of the happiest moments of my degree! I was so happy because the previous Fine Art yearbooks had been so well executed and by past students who I really admire.

There were a lot of students who hadn't gotten a yearbook and so we were told to pick some of them up, again the people I ended up weren't people I would ordinarily work with, due to differences in opinions and design, but I was still very excited about it. I was delegated project manager and was in charge of organising people. There's nothing much more to explain about this brief, it started with promise and resulted in me almost having a mental breakdown! I didn't get on with any of my group because I didn't rate what they were designing, and it ended up with two separate PDF's every meeting with Fine Art because I would work by myself. I regret not pitching by myself and being able to form my own super group! Hindsight is very annoying. I had to quit the project because it was taking up so much of my time due to stress of not being able to get everyone in one room at a time, the lack of work I felt other people were doing, the disorganisation of Fine Art, the standard of work my group were working, the list could literally go on. The only thing I am happy about is that the group ran with their own ideas and not any of mine, because the sole reason I couldn't go on with that brief is because I wasn't prepared to put it in my portfolio.

It is bizarre to look back on first and second year where I was so clearly half hearted and my organisational skills were dreadful, simple things like automatically creating a pitch board for any client who asks you for an idea have shown me that the structure of the course and all of the feedback we get are useful. The way I present myself and my work has drastically changed – I am no longer away with the fairies wondering if I should have taken Fine Art or Photography. I now know that I want to create design for a purpose, and not selfishly.

This has been one of the main problems that I have encountered within this module, my designs have not always accurately reflected the work, effort and research I have put into them and so people have had trouble connecting and understanding my aims. One of the main things I have learned is that I cannot forever be my own target audience, and most of the time people may not understand or even be interested in what I am, I worked on this a lot over the past month in trying to make my work accessible, not commercial, just tying them to an event or a campaign so that I could sum up my aims.

The most important part of this module has been finding my feet and where I want to be after my degree. I have previously been so anxious and scared about leaving, but for the first time in three years I can genuinely say that I am excited about not knowing. My design Strategy presentation was a turning point because I proved to myself that I can gain and sustain contacts who want me to work for them, in securing artwork for Article and OWT, and also in starting friendships with people all over the world who I admire. This degree has done something that I never thought would happen; it has given me a plan and a life strategy. I feel inspired by the people around me and the people I haven't met yet, it has given me confidence in myself, my work and my ideas.

Evaluation for 'Smells Like Zine Spirit'

Throughout this module you will be excited, confused, upset, angry, elated and probably on the verge of a nervous breakdown. How are you going to combat this? All of your practices are going to merge into one and as you begin to be inspired by things around you, you will react by taking the best aspects of your surroundings by trying and testing them within your own design practice, so emerse yourself into zine culture and create an archive of non related zines to show the non design side of yourself still in keeping with your umbrella statement of human behaviour and language.

My value is not solely because of my Design background, and like aforementioned my personality, to me, is equally as important as my skill set. I wanted to showcase my talent and myself through one of my briefs and so I came up with 'Smells Like Zine Spirit' which allowed me to remember my interests and pin point what has amused, irritated or excited me throughout my FMP. I got heavily into zine culture this year and spent a while researching it with the initial intent to have my DC book showcase that interest.

Most of my briefs are information heavy and rely on serious conceptual messages and I wanted a brief that was different, lighthearted and accessible to people who weren't interested in the same things that I was. This brief has allowed me to look into different design trends that aren't present in my others, I wanted to experiment and use my found design context as a template for creating a visually different set of zines. Zines that didn't look like they belonged together, but catalogued what I was looking at in terms of blogs, designers and studios.

Two of my zines printed weirdly because I don't think I paginated them properly, these are 'YEAH! SCIENCE!' and so to appear in my portfolio I need to get these re printed. The series I produced on KU Ibiza in the eighties turned out to be a success as I got in contact with the people who ran it and they want me to send them a copy as they are looking to source a designer to publish a photo book for them. The Heathers zine, although simple, caught the attention of the creative designer of VICE who prompted me to send some work to the UK designers for possible submissions.

My aim was to make people laugh and want a copy of each of my zines, and through crits and feedback I feel like I have achieved my objective. There isn't much to evaluate with this brief because there isn't a right or wrong answer, I wanted to do something and I did it, the development is personal and relative to my interests and mood. 

Evaluation for 'My idea of fun'

This brief was the first brief that I started during my FMP, and was the first brief I have felt could be transferred into the 'real word' as a viable product. In my last module I still worked conceptually, but they were still just ideas – they didn't translate as a tangible thing. ‘I have told myself a thousand times not to be shocked, but every time I am shocked again by what people will do to have fun, for reasons they cannot explain.’ - This is a quote by Isaac Bashevis Singer that appears at the start of the novel ‘My Idea of Fun’ by Will Self. I had a conversation with someone about fun and lack of it when so busy on the course and this prompted me to fulfil this brief. My zines/publications that I worked on previously have been made on inkjet printers and although I wanted to still keep with the low cost information aspect of my practice, this time I thought that it was important that I looked into professional printing.

This brief was also partially influenced by the very first project at the start of second year 'WHAT IS GOOD' – you can see how fun and good are relative and so I wanted to re-define what I personally thought was fun and interesting. The first module in third year made me forget who I was and what my actual interests were and it scared me a little to think that I was just a designer, who designed things. This brief investigates how, even as an enlightened society, we still have this constant need to be entertained, and as access to technology and data is so effective - we are better equipped than ever to create information that expresses histories in the personal as well as the international forum.

I was very precious about this brief because I finally realised how interesting the world outside of the degree can be, and what people around me are doing. There was a lot of design development and I irritated my friends a lot in testing these designs out on them, I just wanted to do the project justice and feel content with the design I chose. 90% of the photography used within this series is my own, as I realised I could be everything – the editor, the photographer, the designer etc. It shaped my strategy for when I leave and has reminded me that I can actually be interesting.

Evaluation for 'Smells Like Zine Spirit'

Throughout this module you will be excited, confused, upset, angry, elated and probably on the verge of a nervous breakdown. How are you going to combat this? All of your practices are going to merge into one and as you begin to be inspired by things around you, you will react by taking the best aspects of your surroundings by trying and testing them within your own design practice, so emerse yourself into zine culture and create an archive of non related zines to show the non design side of yourself still in keeping with your umbrella statement of human behaviour and language.

My value is not solely because of my Design background, and like aforementioned my personality, to me, is equally as important as my skill set. I wanted to showcase my talent and myself through one of my briefs and so I came up with 'Smells Like Zine Spirit' which allowed me to remember my interests and pin point what has amused, irritated or excited me throughout my FMP. I got heavily into zine culture this year and spent a while researching it with the initial intent to have my DC book showcase that interest.

Most of my briefs are information heavy and rely on serious conceptual messages and I wanted a brief that was different, lighthearted and accessible to people who weren't interested in the same things that I was. This brief has allowed me to look into different design trends that aren't present in my others, I wanted to experiment and use my found design context as a template for creating a visually different set of zines. Zines that didn't look like they belonged together, but catalogued what I was looking at in terms of blogs, designers and studios.

Two of my zines printed weirdly because I don't think I paginated them properly, these are 'YEAH! SCIENCE!' and so to appear in my portfolio I need to get these re printed. The series I produced on KU Ibiza in the eighties turned out to be a success as I got in contact with the people who ran it and they want me to send them a copy as they are looking to source a designer to publish a photo book for them. The Heathers zine, although simple, caught the attention of the creative designer of VICE who prompted me to send some work to the UK designers for possible submissions.

My aim was to make people laugh and want a copy of each of my zines, and through crits and feedback I feel like I have achieved my objective. There isn't much to evaluate with this brief because there isn't a right or wrong answer, I wanted to do something and I did it, the development is personal and relative to my interests and mood. 

Evaluation for 'Sanguinary Creeps'

I am really pleased with my DC Publication, because I feel like it sums my design up completely. Here are a few bullit points of what I wanted my DC to say;

1. My practice is about exploration
   This was achieved through intentionally not having a contents page, I want the reader to flick through and pick out the pages they find interesting or stimulating.

2. I'm interested in literature

I had excerpts and quotes from my favourite books and articles from my favourite writers.

3. I am nostalgic about aesthetic
   When designing, photographing and documenting my work I like to achieve a nostalgic/retro feel reminiscent of a 90's/80's text book, and so I chose to have my book spiral bound with an 80's type on the front.

4. The design speaks for itself
   I felt I unnecessary to add my own comments about the designs/designers I chose because they were in the book for a reason, it is obvious they influenced me.

One thing I regret about this brief was not doing a series of books, and also putting money aside so that I could get it properly printed, I printed is on Lulu but it wasn't as nice as I expected. Now I have time I think that I am going to create that series I wished I had. 

Evaluation for 'Competition Briefs & Recognition'

I think that I have effectively tried to put myself out there in terms of competitions and contacting people to submit for existing publications. At the start of the year I was really down about the state of my CV and professional experience compared to others. Throughout my FMP I have been in contact with people I admire and they in turn have offered me opportunities to contribute to their projects. One major thing that has come out of this that I am most pleased with is contacting Article magazine who let me create artwork to accompany an article that was in the April 'Broken' issue.

Another major thing that has come out of trying to promote myself is my new relationship with Marcroy, the founder of People of Print. I am now constantly in contact with him and have had opportunities to write and post on their blog.

One of the regrets I have this module is not contacting people sooner. Even in second year I put off sending my work to people, this was mainly because I didn't think that my work reflected me so it couldn't actually be helped. I've been stuck thinking that as soon as I have been in touch with a studio or person I admire that I could ruin in within an instant – and so I have previously chosen not to bother due to thinking i'd be burning bridges. I've already contacted VICE magazine and Tissue magazine, and so I just need to continue as I am doing now and build up more relationships. 

Evaluation for 'Satanism'

“Don’t worry, you who have been fooled into believing the paper tiger displayed by today’s media; we Satanists aren’t after your children, for they are probably as hopelessly mediocre as their parents. But we are moving the world towards a state wherein the freeloaders will either work or starve, and the parasites will be removed to wither and die. So, you need only fear real Satanism if you are a criminal, a parasite, or a wastrel. Are you afraid?”

• Peter H. Gilmore

Considering the general stereotypes of a Satanist, I wanted to alter the perception and challenge the public. I was happy with this brief and have been throughout – even though originally it was just to promote it. This has possibly been my favourite brief due to a response I got from the Church of Satan themselves;

Greetings, Ms. Leigh:

Frankly, the texts and graphics on our web site are copyrighted and you should have asked for our permission to use any of our materials. Fair use allows for brief quotations, but appropriating essays and graphics is clearly a violation. While this may be a class assignment, such things tend to get "out there" on the Internet and such a book project cannot legally be released even for free as it could potentially be a violation of numerous copyrights.

It is wonderful that you've found meaning in aspects of our philosophy – it is intended as a tool for creative, responsible and intelligent individuals, but we cannot give you permission to do this. Additionally, posters - while you intend them as a means for iconoclasm, shattering pre-conceptions - they also can be interpreted as proselytizing, and we are firmly against that.

We appreciate your positive intentions, and imagine that you may have the skills to make such a project interesting, but we'd rather that you did not do this.

Sincerely,

Magus Peter H. Gilmore

High Priest

Church of Satan

This e-mail prompted me to reassess the way I was working – if they take themselves seriously already then why should I? It is far healthier to take a piece from all religious models to construct your own meaning rather than to feel the need to belong to one set. Make your own religion. I'm happy with how my publications have turned out and I've read a lot during my research, one thing I would comment on though is that I am nowhere near an expert yet, and for future pursuits I need to remember that if I want to convince someone then I need to know what I am convincing them about. Visually, this brief got good reception from peers in crits, but I found it hard to pin point what I wanted to get out of the brief, and what I wanted other people to get out of it too. I feel resolved now and I can adequately explain my reasoning behind it.