This morning was the crit for the Secret 7 brief, the first brief in OUGD406. I presented my final design printed on antique white paper in the digital print suite. I did this because due to the colour difference between on-screen design and printed design, I wanted to be sure the background wasn't exactly white, and was more off white. I chose to use the digital print resource after being underwhelmed at the quality of the laser printers.
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| My Final Design |
We were in small groups for the crit, so the quantity of feedback was quite limited, but I was very pleased with the feedback I was given, which was:
- My idea was very original and unique.
- The design has an immediate impact on you due to the contrast.
- Part of the reason it works is its simplicity.
2 Of the other people in my group had completed their work, but one was still developing hers. She had stitched an image of Lorde and it looked amazing. She'd then scanned it into the computer and implemented it into her design, but it didn't look anywhere near as nice as the actual stitched image itself. She was talking about how she was going to scan it again, which didn't make much sense to me. I suggested taking a photo of it as that wouldn't press all the stitching flat like a scanner would. I think this could make quite a difference to her work if she decides to try it.
PHOTO
Evaluation
What Went Well
I feel that my research was very in-depth and useful for this project. The fact that often my research contradicted itself shows the depth I went into. I also feel as if I had a strong pool of initial ideas, and I think I could have made a success of any of the 5 ideas I took into the interim crit.
What Didn't Go So Well
In all honesty I don't think I experimented very much with this project post-interim crit. I think I lost some steam after getting such positive feedback in the interim crit and possibly got a bit complacent. By this I mean that my initial ideas were quite creative, I doubt many other entries will have taken close-up photos of bread or made shapes out of ground coffee, but when it came to developing my design further after the crit I sort of stopped trying to think creatively and stick to the concept I had so as to avoid it becoming too abstract. I'm not sure if this was the right decision to make on reflection, but either way, I put it down to me being a bit arrogant about my feedback.
What I'd Do Differently
Like previously mentioned, really the only thing I'd do differently in terms of production would've been to think about more creative ways to take my design forward, which is something that I found was lacking in the second half of the project. Also, something I'd try would be to print it on gloss paper as well as the antique white, as a lot of peoples work looked more commercially viable than, and those that did tended to correlate with being printed on glossy paper. That said, the whole point of the project is for the designs to be one-off individual pieces, not necessarily commercially viable, and I think my work fits this description about as perfectly as it could do.
My Opinion On The Brief
I really respect what Secret 7 is doing, and think it's a really great and fun thing to take part in. I also appreciate how doing more obscure charity briefs such as Secret 7 is useful to our development as designers, as it's something very different to everything we've done so far, the only thing that's arguably similar to it is the Frame Brief from OUGD405. I would however, question it's suitability for it being an academic brief on this course. Two of the main benefits of this particular Graphic Design course are that we are taught to design for other people and not ourselves, and the large amount of feedback we get on our work. I don't think this project is in any way consistent with these benefits. This project was about creating something personal and individual to ourselves. Not only does this go directly against the first point I made, but it also limits the usefulness of the feedback given to us due to how everyone will view each others work differently. I also think that if people are producing personal work, there's quite a large window for people to get offended by feedback, especially given the anonymous nature of the crits we partake in. Don't get me wrong, I've really enjoyed this project, I just worry that it's a brief that is more directly linked to a Fine Art course than a Graphic Design Course.
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