End of Module Evaluation

This module for me got off to something of a shaky start. I feel there were two main contributing factors to this with the first being- the dissertation. In true character, I left the 8000 word essay to the last minute and found myself devoting every waking minute trying to make up for lost time. As a result, by the time I handed it in I had lost out on at least a couple of weeks that I could have been working on my FMP and felt so drained from the experience that it would take time for me to re-gain momentum. The second contributing factor to my shaky start was the fact that I had almost forgotten what it was like to work by myself. Having collaborated with Nathan on Soundbombing in the second year, I went on to work with Ben on the Wrinkley Runners Brief and then Ollie with Root Clothing. I had become accustomed to developing a project in tandem and now faced the prospect of writing my own briefs and going it alone. Having worked with video and moving image so much, I knew that I should pursue illustration for this next project and outlined this in my statement of intent.

I set myself the primary goal of developing my ability as an illustrator with the aim of becoming a more well-rounded designer. To achieve this I went about drawing into a sketchbook, trying out new techniques and approaches in creating imagrey. I really do feel this process was invaluable to me and has certainly allowed me the freedom to just experiment for experimentations sake. However, I recognised the need to start channelling my drawings into some kind of brief to give them purpose and meaning. I found this process a real struggle and felt constrained by the idea of having to ‘pick a theme’. In retrospect I think that I was too worried about producing ‘my best work’ and didn’t feel confident in my own ability as a designer. With time passing by, I reluctantly settled on the Guardian illustration brief and decided to pursue paper craft as my aesthetic approach. I found that working this way was a really beneficial exercise for me because it forced me to make imagery without the luxury of an ‘undo’ feature. Naturally, this meant that I was unhappy with many of my final resolutions but nonetheless I felt that challenging myself helped me to think about image making in a different way, particularly when it comes to making aesthetic decisions.

Similarly to the Guardian Brief, I struggled to get out of the starting gates with the skateboard design brief because of a concern that the designs would not be ‘good enough’. It was only when I let go of this notion and began to quickly and methodically churn out imagery that I realised the importance of just going with it and not being afraid of producing bad work. I took imagery from my sketchbook and was sure to mock up any given design in a range of different colours and compositions. This way I was able to judge what elements actually worked instead of just visualising them in my head.

Initially, I was somewhat reluctant to pursue skateboarding as my theme for the FMP as I didn’t want to define myself as a designer in that way. In retrospect it was a good foundation to leverage my work from. It provided me with an ideal outlet for my character designs on the bottom of boards and was an area where I had the contacts to provide content for my third brief. At first, the plan was to produce a magazine, but after numerous crits, I decided to change direction and produce something closer to a collectable book. I was considering using video in someway for the publication when the penny dropped- I should produce an illustrated booklet for my collection of skate edits that I had been working on in parallel to my college work. This brief ended up being the main focus of my FMP and was certainly the most successful. For the first time in a while, I really got immersed in the project and enjoyed the whole process. A strong first page gave me the enthusiasm to maintain the momentum and despite working incredibly hard, producing the book didn’t seem like a chore. I felt like I got the buzz from doing graphics back in this project and enjoyed every minute.

Overall, I feel this module has been about getting back up to speed with the illustrative side of my practice and although this process took some time to come to fruition, the mistakes I made along the way have helped me grow as a designer. Aside from my design practice, I was pretty happy with my final resolution for design context. My plan was to create a website that I could use as reference point for work that influences my practice and as it turns out I have used the site a great deal over the course of my FMP. I find it comes in handy when I get stuck for ideas about which way to take a given piece of illustration and acts as a hub that can be accessed and updated at any time.

Looking into the future, I have realised that I don’t want to define myself as purely an illustrator as I feel my creative interests lie in other areas as well. I love to work with video and moving image and have developed an interest in web design and branding over the course of my three years at the college. In the end, one quote from the Delicious Design League sums up my outlook on this perfectly:

“Is it better to be a designer who can illustrate or an illustrator who can design? And to that question we always say "yes”.