Methodology:
What does methodology mean and how does it relate to as graphic design students?
-The examination of method and creation of methodic plans in relation to your ways of working. Challenging and understanding your personal methodology is important as developing designers so that with each project we challenge the direction we are going in and push ourselves to the best outcome.
-The idea of a system is inherent to methodology and placing a methodology of interrogating your work is very useful.It encourages an adaptable practice that will see you through hugely varying projects and a way to address problems in a methodic' and repeatedly effective way. It is a way to make sure that you are future proof.
- consider what the people who need the design are and what limitations and requirements this applies to the outcome.
Methodology Evaluation:
Limitations are usually the first point of focus when analyzing a brief. Limitations of context and audience are the two big ones that grab attention from the outset. For example the limitations of audience for my Penguin book cover brief was very different compare to that of my Salt of the earth website designs in the previous module. With the competition brief I researched the judging panel and the professions that each indevisual came. These were predominantly either illustrative, publishing or more hands on print processes. I then looked to shape the design I created to these criteria, creating something illustrative and tactile in appearance, but only because it fitted so well with the content of the book. With the website design brief I looked into the location limitations of such a project and looked at creating a audience profile so that I could pin them down more effectively. I then used tis profile to look at venues and establishments in the area concerned (North Norfolk) that could provide the context for my design outcomes. Limitations of media format also fed into this creating the need (through augmented design) for strong wifi. These limitations in themselves then give rise to other links to other works that have functioned within the same parameters. Analysing the good and bad of these provided not only perspective but also provides inspiration and design context for the finished piece.
What does the client see? It is often the case that the client has an image of what they want in their head and although this speaks greatly of enthusiasm it can be an impediment to progression. Talk closely with the client and help them to open up their mind to more experimental and exciting options if possible. This is something that I made great use of during my work with the Leeds Arts Party. Conversation is so valuable for the eventual creation of an effective design and close communication is key to its development.
Tone of voice, along with a specific message is always something that I strive to pin down. I usually simply write word associations until I have a few for tone of voice and a short sentence for message. Against this I will constantly measure my design outcomes. This was of particular help during my parallel re brand brief in the first module of the year in which I strived for something close to gender neutral in colours but also somehow strong in its femininity and unapologetic in its presence but also tasteful at the same time. A constant state of critical evaluation was and is always required required. Production methods are particularly useful in the creation of a distinctive tone of voice and I often use tone of voice to shape these discussions closely. However, often limitations of cost can cause problems, as with the flyer I designed for the Leeds Arts Party, in this case aesthetic decisions in design and composition can alleviate problems.
Something that I do not always manage to do but always want to do is work with several designs to a mature stage. This allows the merits of each to develop and a well rounded design at the end. I hope to do this more in the future because the projects when I have found time to do this have been my most successful i.e parallel branding.
Overall I feel there has been a slight degradation of my methodology this year, so I must make a conscious effort to actively partake in these stages detailed above. And so I shall for the next modules. More writing is the best way to do this and take note of all formative evaluation, be it even in passing.
Task 2: (analysing feedback)
In my responsive feedback I mostly got suggestions that my research could be of greater depth and I might find in enacting this research I could find that the conceptual content of the designs would be greater. This lack of research was something that I noted in my evaluation of the module and something that I was aware of during the module. However, at the time I don't think I could have done better because each live brief I received tended to be needed very shortly and the research had to mostly be talking to the client and ascertaining exactly what they needed. In the future however, as mentioned above, I will make a more concerted effort to go through all of the motions of my methodology even if excitement or pressure pushes me not to. Research in particular is something that I should undertake in a more open minded and relaxed fashion for it to be as useful as possible. This ca be difficult for me because controlling my stress levels is not something I am adept at, but I shall try. Where my Design process module feedback is concerned I got some very specific but very useful feedback about my illustration style and how this could be utilised more widely and more experimentally at larger scales and with a less cluttered texture. This is something I did act on in the following responsive module with my feathr wallpaper design, using the line illustrations but with a lot more space and at a much larger scale than any of my previous illustrations. this was a fantastic brief and although it was hard won I was very happy with the finished result. I will go on to consider scale more openly as well as experimenting further with the visual textures of illustration.
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