OUGD502: Reflection From First Year to Now

Past - Level 4

In first year I thought I enjoyed typography and lettering a lot and thought that I would carry that on to second year and have that become my core focus for Graphic Design. I enjoyed hand rendering things and different ways to typeset. I also quite enjoy conceptual thinking behind projects. I was ambitious with projects but scared to gain feedback on my work although it is compulsory. 

Present - Level 5

This year I have experimented with more aspects of Graphic Design and collaborated on more projects with people from other courses. I think I've asked for feedback more because the only way to improve is asking for critical feedback not just approval for work. I also collaborated with an illustration student for responsive which was interesting because people work in different ways and handle projects in different procedures as to how we would on Graphic Design. The process when they get a brief is different. It also helped with time management because another person depends on you and you don't want to let them down. 

Future - Level 6

Progressing on, in Level 6 I think I want to try find an aspect of Graphic Design to specialise in. I do want to experiment with incorporating illustration into work because I had fun doing that in Level 4. I had level 4 and 5 to experiment and see what I enjoyed. I need to narrow it down for level 6. I hope to collaborate with more people from different disciplines because although it's hard in terms of time management and sometimes people are difficult to work with, we will never be in a large place with this many different talented people. 

OUGD502: Girls That Art

For one of the projects in PPP we had to create a collab with other students. Ours was based on the theme of girl power and our group chat is called Girls That Art. We are currently in talks of creating an exhibition for a similar theme at LS6 Cafe which is a trendy art space in Hyde Park - this should be for the 14th but we are waiting for it to be confirmed. I am going to feature prints from my shop which will roughly be 3-4 A4 prints and maybe some A6 prints depending on what is required.

OUGD502: Getting Work Out - Portfolio Page

In my presentation for PPP I mentioned wanting to add a portfolio page to my personal blog which is also my practical for COP. I have since added a shop portfolio page to display the progression of my personal designs and work for my shop. Then a general portfolio page for projects I have enjoyed doing and that reflect my style of Graphic Design.

My plans for summer are to work on a physical portfolio.

OUGD502: Collaborating With Photographers & Finding Projects

I really wanted to make the most of more opportunities outside of Graphic Design in LCA. The collaborations page on Facebook is full of students requiring help from other students within the uni and I found a few that looks interesting so I decided to participate in them before the end of semester two. I helped two photography students, Kim Stuart and Lucie Blissett as models for two of their projects. Kim did a project on different types of makeup we shot one morning then recorded a few pieces for a small film project relating to makeup. For Lucie she needed to take photos for a jewellery company called Muse so we took some shots this afternoon. It was interesting to get involved in the procedure of modelling for photographers. There's a lot of different aspects to take into consideration and I've realised that the photographer needs to help the model with positioning etc. because it's difficult to know what they want from you, you have to be told because it's their shots. They were both really fun and enjoyable to do and it's something I want to help more with within second year. I'm going to keep looking at the Facebook page for more projects to collaborate in.

OUGD502: Personal - Ted Talk - What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness | Robert Waldinger

I thought that it was important to write a personal blog post on mental health. I found this year to be my most challenging in terms of mental health. I do not have any diagnosed mental health issues but it has been an extremely sad and confusing year for me. With these types of things you can only get help once you decide to help yourself and speak out and although I left it until almost the end of second year I'm happy that I said something instead of suffered in silence. I found a talk called "what makes a good life? lessons from the longest study on happiness" by Robert Waldinger where he says that study asked millennial what their goals and ambitions are in life a majority said money and the rest said to become famous. Although those are practically everyone's goals because you need money to survive and fame comes across as luxurious and accomplished. It's all just paying bills and showing off. Those are not the most important things in life, happiness is. It's a choice and a mindset and it helps make your work better and how you are generally better. This talk helped to influence my outlook and days where I would need to take a break and completely turn my mind off from overworking I would listen to things like this and it would put me at ease.

OUGD502: PPP Presentation

What I'm Going To Include In My Presentation:

First slide will be the last slide from last years presentation which will demonstrate how I was last year and where I wanted to progress to for second year and if I have achieved it.

I feel like this year I have managed my time more to accomplish what I want from the course. 

This means I've been setting up more self indicated deadlines to meet module deadlines.

Tried more to show my work and ask people for feedback on pieces even if it's through messenger.

Didn't change every part of my work and just kept parts that I could back up with reasonings as to why the design decision is what it is.

This year I found the interface design difficult. I have identified it as something that I probably wouldn't specialise in but tried to be as ambitious as possible with the design and concept in that project. 

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- Engagement with industry:
Glug
Was an event I went to last year which was full of creative talks and professionals explaining how they got into industry. We watched talks from Alec Dudson of Intern Magazine, the ladies from up and coming movement SheDoesDigital, Matt Essam of Creative Life, brothers turned business partners Matthew and Daniel Tweddle of Only, and author of the Human Freelancer - Chris Kenworthy. This was a career clinic - keeping leeds talent in leeds based talk so it was helpful to see how people started their journeys and wanting to keep the artists here instead of feeling like they need to move to London to pursue an artistic career.

It was nice listening to peoples journeys and this helped motivate me because a lot of people started or did a degree completely irrelevant to what they were doing so if they can start small and just pursuing something they are passionate about then anyone can. Studio 12 were also extremely helpful as they spoke about start ups and helping people pursue their creative endeavours such as if they wanted to produce or had specific ambitions in mind they help people with their resources and push them to achieve their ambitions. It is a place to experiment with your talent and they have workshops and opportunities available. Their services include film, graphic design, music production, photography and masterclass and hot desk.


I maintained my tea and talks blog from last year which is a series of creative talks from students and professionals because it's good to get an insight on what it's like beginning your practise from the perspective of a student and what industry is like from a professional view.

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- What I'm good at
Networking
Conceptual thinking

I really enjoyed OUGD504 - I created a colouring in book called colour in new york which I bought in a bulk of 25 to sell on my shop and I have two left. I enjoyed the process of working with a manufacture to physically produce a book.
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How I'm going to get my work out there:
-Shop
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Plans for future:
-hopefully travel a bit over summer
-work over summer to get money
-try find what i want to specialise in
-look for where i want to do a placement/internship