Throughout this module I had the opportunity to engage with my own self lead briefs, some longer than others, and some set briefs which consisted of responses to editorials. It was really refreshing to see my work developing, and seeing pieces that I never thought would appear, such as the packaging brief. My goals for this module was to make work that interested me and kept me going until the end, which it did, and I’ve also found a new passion for making work with meaning and work that I have a personal connection to. There were of course stages where I felt like I was a bit stuck and was being a bit repetitive but I have learnt from this and realize the best way to get past this is to just keep going and exploring new paths, because you never know what might come from a project.
I think over the past 3 years this is the module I’m most pleased with, i've experimented with lots of different mediums such as Lino printing, Screen printing, painting and strengthened my skills on lots of digital softwares including Illustrator, Photoshop and Indesign .I've thought about where and how my work can be applied which is something I've never done in such depth before, but has been extremely beneficial. And I’ve made constant reflections which has helped me further develop my work, and practice as a whole. I’m confident in thinking that I finally have a more consistent tone of voice within my work, which is something i’ve always been worried about not having - I feel confident in saying that throughout all of my briefs, although they have a different subject matter, you can notice the playful colour palette and the bubbly shapes which tie them all together. I’ve realised that this has become apparent through constantly having briefs to work on, in the past I feel like there's always been a break from each brief and my work would differ massively throughout, so this is something to take forward - even after university, to perfect and solidify my tone of voice even more, I need to continue to make work and continue to strengthen my skills on digital softwares and even within the print room because it’s what I enjoy doing and believe where the best outcomes are produced. I’ve also never really made work with such strong context and meaning behind it, and it’s nice to think that my work could perhaps benefit or enlighten someone on such a serious topic.
Research has always lacked in every single one of my projects, however I’ve really tried to explore every option I can take this module. I’ve realised that research is important, without knowing the context behind something its difficult to make work around. And in terms of application, without researching I would have never known there were so many areas my work could fit within, and its allowed me to find a new love for areas of illustration that I never thought Id get into, much like the packaging project.
During this module I've come to the realisation that it isn't so scary creating briefs and that it can be easy to complete goals if you make the time and push yourself to achieve. This is something I've never been great at, I've never been good at managing my time and I know it does still need to be worked on, however this module has really allowed me to strengthen this attribute. I do realise that it is normal to set goals and not complete them and I've realised that this happens maybe due to the fact that I become bored of the project as to why I need to focus on work that interests and excites me, which the majority of it did. If I could go back and change anything from this module it would be to plan my time better and don't get too carried away tacking too many briefs at one time - although this has massively improved its something I still feel I could work on - I kept daily to do lists and printed out a calendar with important dates and tried to stick by my statement of intent, whilst also looking back through sketchbooks to see what has been working and what hasn't , but it’s easy to push work back and be lazy, I need to have the motivation to complete all daily tasks so that my time is used more efficiently and that I can complete everything I have planned such as the printing and binding of my publication. I’m overall really pleased with this module, and it's been great practice for what's to come next, I’ve learnt a lot including skills and weaknesses and I just hope that I keep developing and improving.
