PPP2 - Afternoon

We now had to present our summer brief to the rest of our group. We had 3-5 minutes to present with a minute for the rest of the group to write feedback.

This is the feedback that I received:

• 'Really personal to you, good idea to look at what interests you to help set you up after uni'

• 'Good broad knowledge of studio and links they have'
• 'Which is your favourite designer that you found?'
• 'You had more time so could have spoke more about your likes/dislikes'

• 'Shows a clear interest and a reflection of what you enjoy'
• 'Plenty of good examples'
• 'Presentation lay-out - Fantastic'

• 'Good broad range of research'
• 'Maybe more research/examples of the studio chosen'
• 'Which pieces of their work do you particularly like and why?'

• 'Good breadth of images'
• 'Liked how you looked into each designer'
• 'Good analysis of design'
• 'Could have included more facts and information'

• 'Clear explanation with visuals of what draws you to the subject'

• 'In-Depth knowledge on subject'
• 'Keen interest in specific subject'
• 'Don't narrow approach too soon'

I have gone through the feedback I received and highlighted the comments that were:

• Specific and Useful - Will help me to make my future work better
• 'Nice to hear' - Not really useful to hear but just good for my ego
• Too Vague - Could have been useful information if they had explained more

Overall I think that the feedback I received was very positive as well as being useful. It has given me some ideas about areas of my summer brief that I could improve as well as areas of the project that I have done well. We were then asked to name three ways in which we can improve our summer brief. These are my three:

• I need to look at more examples of the studios work and talk about which designs I like and which I don't, as well as why. This will help me to figure out what elements of their style and design I agree with and which I don't.

• I need to try and find more facts and figures about the studio and the members of it. This would give me a deeper understanding of them and how the studio functions.

• I need to talk more about why I am so interested in the studio and why I think they are so good. This would help me to understand what it is about their design work I find so appealing and could help to inform my own design practice.

We were then asked why we felt this session was useful:

I think that this session has been very useful for us as it has made us look at feedback and its importance. Being able to give productive and constructive criticism is essential when working within a group, but having the ability to understand and react to feedback is just as important. As we often have short time frames in order to make group critique fast and efficient, we need to ensure that we can quickly, concisely and effectively give feedback that will help the recipient to improve their work.

PPP2 - Morning

Initially, in groups, we had to come up with what we felt were our successes from last year, a minimum of 10 answers were required. These are what we felt were some of those successes:

• Blogging - Before coming to LCA, I had never had to blog before. This way of documenting my work was a bit difficult to initially get used to but now has just become habit.

• Money management - Being my first time living away from home, it has been the first real time I have had to support myself financially.

• Time management - Managing to finish all work for set deadlines has never been something I have excelled at. However, I really pushed myself last year in order to ensure everything was ready for hand-in.

• Print process - Learning between digital and non-digital printing and understanding how it all works has been something that I have found very interesting and beneficial.

• Presenting work - I had never previously had to present my work in front of a group of people, so by being forced to face the fear of public speaking I have become much more confident presenting my work and ideas.

• Confidence in own ability - Starting a new course in a new city is a very nervous experience and made me constantly compare myself to my peers. But from producing work that I am proud of and receiving positive feedback my confidence is rapidly growing.

• Listening to, acting upon and giving feedback - Being able to take in what people have said, as well as constructively critique the work of others, has helped me to constantly progress and develop as a designer.

• Thorough thought process and development - Ensuring that I explore a wide range of ideas has meant that I can produce work of a much higher standard that is much more informed.

•  Knowledge and understanding of the Adobe Suite - Before attending the Adobe workshops I was only confident in using Photoshop. Now, however, I have a very strong interest in Illustrator and even more so InDesign. It has become one of the foundations of my practice and is something I shall continue to use and experiment with.

• Independence in production of work - By using my initiative and finding alternative places to get my work printed has meant that I never had to worry about booking print slots or trying to catch a drop-in slot.

• Appropriate research sources - When researching a subject matter, I would have simply used wikipedia and thought that would be substantial enough. I realise now that this isn't always the most reliable place to gather information and should be used as a starting point.

• Broad range of research sources - The internet was the first, and usually the last, place I would look if I had to research anything. I have become aware that other sources such as books, design blogs and even primary research can often become just as useful, if not more so.

We then discussed these successes as a whole class, realising that many groups had very similar choices. Trying to avoid the obvious ones, we then had to pick which we felt were our two most important ones. We chose 'Money Management' and 'Broad Range of Research Sources'. As a whole group once again, we selected our top 10.

• Presentation Skills
• Feedback
• Workshops
• Independence
• Research/Development
• Understand Time Management
• Working In/With Groups/Specialisms
• Confidence/Motiviation
• Theory/Context
• Discovering Your Style

We were then set a task to compile a list of things that we would like to succeed at this year; things that we hope to accomplish throughout the year. Here is my list:

• Time Management - During my first year, despite managing to get all of my work done for the deadline, more often than not it was a very tight squeeze; most of the time I forced myself to stay awake all night for days before the hand-in. Although in the end I got a good work and produced some work I am proud of, this year I cannot allow myself to get into that situation. I am going to ensure that I stay on top of my work to enable myself to work to my full potential.

• Working with various media - In the first year, I started working with a range of media and materials that I hadn't previously had much experience using. Being able to experiment and try out new processes has opened my eyes to a lot within graphic design and I want to continue this exploration throughout my second year.

• Discovering My Style - This is something that I feel will really start to come together this year. From looking back at the work I enjoyed producing last year, as well as from finding design blogs and studios suited to the design I love, I am starting to realise 'my style'. This year gives me the chance to experiment and push the boundaries, hopefully resulting in my own style developing.

• Independence - Being an independent learner is something that I need to be in order to be successful. I have to take my learning into my own hands and ensure that if there is something I want to learn or do, that I make it happen.

• Presentation Skills - As I had never had to do this before, presenting my ideas and work in front of people, especially groups and large as this one, was a very daunting thought. However, after having had to do so numerous times I have become much more comfortable doing so. I want this to be something that I keep doing and become much better at.

• Looking at more design studios - Throughout this year, much more so over the summer break, I have been making myself more aware of design studios and blogs. This will help me in many ways throughout this year; becoming aware to what is happening in the world of graphic design means that I won't be living in a bubble that is LCA. It also gives me the chance to think about what I want to do after university and look into the kinds of places I would like to work.

• Networking - This is something I have never really thought about but would be extremely useful for me. In order for me to have a successful career and have opportunities once I have finished university I need to make sure that people know about me.

• Freelance/Live Briefs - I feel like it is time that I start looking into free lance work as well as entering more live briefs in order to have some sort of idea about the real world of graphic design. This is another aspect that I hadn't given much consideration but realise would greatly benefit my practice.

• Feedback - By being able to interpret and respond to, as well as give, constructive critique will allow me to progress and develop as a designer. I have to understand how to take comments from my peers and tutors and imply them to my practice in order to make my design stronger and more informed.

• Design Practice - I have given it much thought over the summer break and came to the conclusion that I need to stop thinking about grades and focus more on the actual learning and design work that I produce. This is what people will judge me on and by doing so, the good grades will just come and be a pleasant bonus.

• Going back to the idea of live briefs and competitions, I would like to win at least one of my briefs from my responsive module. After my success from the Secret 7 brief, I have an urge to succeed further this year and win more competitions.