Design strategy - Evaluation OUGD505

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

I believe I have improved on the practical side of things a little, for example the ability to construct packaging well from a simple drawing to a three dimensional object, as maths isn't my strongest subject I think I have done quite well in designing and building designs. I am sure I have improved in the way I need to document my work throughly on my blog, I annotate and analytically comment about my work in an informative way, so I suppose this is a skill I am developing. I feel I have the ability to explore a variety of ideas before designing, previously I used to stick with one idea and create from there resulting in dead end designs. 

2. What approaches to/ methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

In terms of approaches to creating designs I believe my best asset is researching thoroughly, primary and secondary information helps a lot before beginning a design, it sets a foundation for what exactly I am going to create. For example in the what is good brief, my  'good' was Marc Jacobs perfumes, I gathered a wide range of information and found a lot of useful imagery to enable me to develop my own brand of perfume in sired by the research I had found.  

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

Unfortunately when I observe my work I don't see many strengths in terms of designs, I feel quite disappointed with myself when evaluating the work as I believe I could have produce a better quality and quantity of work in the time that I had, and I believe the amount of research I had gathered for the brief shows what I could have produced product wise. Although this is a negative answer I do believe my ability to develop a good concept has improved in comparison to previous briefs. 

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

What is good was the one brief of the year that I thought I would enjoy and get most out of initially, regrettably I produced the least work for it due to bad organisation and time management throughout other briefs, which inevitably has been reflected in my work for this module. I can identify weaknesses in the quality of my work due to the stocks I used in final products and the formats I chose to apply. If I could do things differently with the 'What is good' brief I would develop a wider range of products such as perfume lotions, sprays etc as well as create the actual perfume bottle for the range. I would also produce more informative products, applying information about the range of fragrances I had produced. 

5. Identify 5 things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
Manage my time more effectively and be a more organised designer so that my work doesn't lack in quality or quantity.
Begin designing sooner to show a stronger development in ideas and to gain a more satisfied outcome when the products are finished. 
Experiment a lot more with processes and finishes to show a better collective of work.
Work more on creating good concepts and fulfilling all work that I want to achieve as a brief. 
Don't be lazy when designing, do all the things I set out to do not just the easiest/ last minute option. 

6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas:

Attendance: 4
Punctuality: 3
Motivation: 3
Commitment: 4
Quantity of work produced: 3
Quality of work produced: 3
Contribution to the group: 5