1. What skills have you developed through this project and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
Productiveness
Before this project I was going through a stage where I didn't know what project to do and I wasn't being productive at all. I knew that I needed to start something, and if it was going to be a YCN brief it had to be now since I was running out of time. Doing this brief got me back into the swing of things, and I worked so hard every day to make sure that I achieved everything that I wanted to.
I created a plan and timeline, and had a really good way to manage my time. I started each day early, going to the gym to give me a fresh start to the day, prepped all my meals for the day so I didn't have to spend time making food, and used an app on my phone to block out social media so I couldn't get distracted (my downfall). I then just worked all day, but made sure I spent time to eat healthily and talk to housemates when I needed a break, and didn't go to bed too late. Having a plan of action helped me so I could see how much time I had for each part of the project and I could see whether I was sticking to it or not. I did spend more time on the ideas stage than I would have liked, but I was able to just move this around and alter it which still worked.
Decision Making
This is my biggest weakness, but I managed to improve this skill during this project. I simply didn't have the time to procrastinate and worry about my choices, so I became better at making snap decisions when I had to.
Presentation Boards
I feel I have improved on my presentation board skills, as usually I worry so much about what to write on them but once I got going I found it came more quickly than usual. I also used things like drop shadows and annotations to get my point across further and humanise the way it looks which I think worked well for this brief.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
Sketches
I really wanted to get the navigation right for both the website and the app, and include the most relevant content. I feel like I would not have been able to do this without doing so many sketches and notes beforehand as it really helped me refine my ideas and see in front of me how it would work and what it would look like. Although they are only small sketches and probably aren't legible to other people, I know what I mean and they really helped to inform this part of the process for me.
After Effects
I have used After Effects a few times now, and I was more confident this time round with what I wanted to achieve as I have done similar things before. I wanted to create an animation for the website and the app, which I was able to predict how long it would take me since I have done this before. It also took me less time, with each animation taking just a few hours. I find it quite therapeutic using After Effects as although it is quite fiddly I enjoy doing it and the outcome is rewarding.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
Digital Design
The main focus of the project was the website and the app I produced. Although I produced a lot for them to what I would say is a high standard, and really thought about the navigation, context and content for them, it didn't take me that long to produce. I definitely spent longer on the ideas and sketching stage than I did at the digital development stage. I think this is my strongest area of design, so I found it quite easy to create something that looked realistic in a short timescale, which is what I needed to do.
Working Hard
I started the project two weeks before the deadline, and I wanted to make it a substantial project which looked great for my portfolio and had a lot of thinking behind it.
I wanted to create a website, app, environmental concept, poster designs, snapchat illustrations, x2 animations and a microsite within that timescale - all to a high standard which were competition worthy and were well thought out. I had lots of ideas for these, and spent a lot of time sketching and refining my ideas and designs before I went to the digital stage so that I could make it something realistic, that would work well in real life as well as be appropriate for the brand.
I did everything that I set out to achieve within the timescale - aside from the microsite which I decided wasn't necessary, and still managed to submit it with plenty of time to spare on deadline day. I think this just shows that although I set myself a huge task and challenge, I really wanted to do it and I managed my time and dedicated myself to the project to reach my goal. I think this is important to be able to do in industry since I'll be working to really short time scales.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
Decision Making
My worst trait is being unsure and unable to make decisions. It's something I have always struggled with, and is something that I have found hard this year since we have to decide all of our own projects. Before I started this brief I was unsure whether to do this, the Propercorn brief or my own written brief. I spent so much time trying to think of what to do, and thinking of reasons why this project wouldn't work instead of just going for it sooner and seeing what I came up with. As since I started doing it, I loved it and wished I had spent more time on it - or at least finished earlier.
Too much emphasis on digital?
I don't know if this is a weakness or not, but I do do a lot of digital design and put a big emphasis on it. I feel like it was relevant with this brief, although I did also want to do a microsite which would have been four digital elements! I just really enjoy creating digital design, but I do feel I should branch out more to show I do have more skills than just that.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
- Have more confidence in making decisions - I wouldn't have started this project so late (two weeks beforehand) if I was more sure on picking projects and sticking with my decision. This would have given me more time to create an even bigger project or allowed me to submit and finish the project earlier.
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