OUGD501 Module Evaluation (Studio Brief One)

Overall, I think this module has been incredibly successful. I chose to try to answer the question ‘to what extent does the creative industry have an impact on sexuality?’, and I believe I have answered this question very thoroughly and to a high standard. This was also a really interesting topic to research and I had a lot of motivation to get my essay and practical finished, purely because it interested me. 

A strength of this project was definitely my own time management, as I finished the first draft of me essay a long time before the submission deadline, and therefore I had a lot longer to think about which aspect of the essay I would like to discover and research further for my practical. I also managed my time very effectively for the practical, as once I had a strong concept, I knew that the design would be very time consuming. For this reason, I made sure I had a print slot booked for printing the publication. In the end, I did end up cancelling this print slot, as I worked out that it would cost me around £50 to print the publication, whereas it would only cost me around £6 to print the publication in the graphic design room, due to the publication lacking in colour. 

Another strength of this project was definitely planning ahead, as I was very prepared for this module and worked out the cost of everything prior to purchasing, as I knew that the publication was going to be around 200 pages, and therefore I knew it would be very expensive to print. This is why I decided against using GF Smith Colourplan stock, as it would’ve cost me £75 for the stock alone.

Another strength of this module was my participation in group critiques. I always made sure that I had something to show, and some questions to ask my peers, which made their feedback very helpful as it was informed feedback. I also feel as though I contributed a lot of ideas to other peoples work, which is something I often struggle with as I usually need a lot of time to analyse a brief. 

A weakness of this project was probably my lack of engagement with a fair few of the seminars. I missed a number of seminars due to the fact I thought it would be more productive to work on the actual physical work, however looking back over the study tasks, I think it would’ve been helpful for the development of my project. I did, however, go back and do the study tasks in my own time, and in fact they were mostly very helpful.

Another weakness of this project was the fact that I didn’t manage to put the poster designs inside my publication. I tried a lot of different methods and I just couldn’t seem to attach the poster designs in the way I would have wanted, and in the process ended up folding the posters which made them look not as professional. This was also annoying as I didn’t have time to reprint them.

Overall, however, I think this module as a whole was very successful and very interesting, and it is something I will definitely carry on researching - I’m thinking of writing a similar essay for my dissertation, as it is the subject that I have been most interested in so far, and it is also a very broad topic, meaning there are a lot of different avenues to research into further. 

OUGD501 COP3 Proposal, Study Task Nine (Studio Brief One)

Proposal:

For my dissertation, I am going to try to tackle the question ‘To what extent does Social Responsibility impact on the role and function of Graphic Design?’. Social responsibility is an ethical framework and suggests that we all have an obligation to act for the benefit of the whole of society. It is a duty that every individual has to perform to maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystems.

I have decided on this question as I am most interested in this subject as I have a strong belief in social responsibility. There are multiple routes I could go down, such as social responsibility, cultural responsibility, environmental responsibility and economical responsibility, however the main point I would stick to would be social responsibility, which has many subcategories in itself.

Feminism will be the main basis of this essay. I have decided to base it on feminism, as I have written very briefly about it in COP2 and it was a subject that I found really interesting. There are wide number of women that fight for justice within the creative industry, such as Sarah Lucas, Tracey Emin and the anonymous activists The Guerrilla Girls. 

Along with this, however, there are a lot of other social responsibilities I can cover. One of these is racism. Racism has been featured within art through-out history, whether it was in paintings where the servants with black, or even the representation of black people in performance arts, such as the use of ‘blackface’ in the 19th century. Racism still exists today within the creative industry, such as a month ago a new advert for GAP and Ellen Degeneres was deemed racist as the white child was resting her arm on the black child’s head.

Another point I could cover is the representation of social minorities within art. This is also something that I have briefly covered in COP2 and it is something that I really want to learn more about. In my previous essay, I covered briefly AARGH (Artists Against Rampant Government Homophobia), which is a comic created in protest of Clause 28. I think it would be really interesting to look into homophobia and transphobia further.

This essay can also cover mental illness, something I am creating a campaign for in OUGD505. Mental illness is often ignored by a lot of people as it isn’t a visible illness to anyone on the outside. These people suffering are often mocked, for example Urban Outfitters brought out a t-shirt with the word ‘Depression’ written across it. They have also brought out other belittling t-shirts, such as a t-shirt with the words ‘Eat Less’ on it. Not only is this damaging for people suffering with these illnesses, it also encourages people to be unhealthy and deform their body to fit with what is considered ‘beautiful’.

OUGD501 Design Boards (Studio Brief One)

OUGD501 Practical - Feedback Session (Studio Brief One)

1. What do you think of the poster design?

- I really appreciate the style, with positioning tweaks made it will be a clear, motivational and powerful display. The lack of colour brings out the importance of the campaign.
- I don't think there is any improvements! Perhaps trial different stock? looks really good
-It's clear and has a high impact - consider printing on bright coloured stock?
- Very striking and effective, if the viewer knows what its about.
- Love them, the red really works with the concept of them being killed. Adds an element of danger.
- Maybe include a hashtag to link into digitals.

2. What is your opinion of the front cover & layout? why?

- It seems very factual and proven, therefore helps the purpose.
- Would stand out to me on a shelf. Isn't too in your face for the subject. Subtle is good.
- It's clear because it looks like a book full of scripts for a TV show - this is great conceptual touch.
- I like the simplicity.
- The simple shapes and style communicate the message.

OUGD501 Practical - Poster Designs (Studio Brief One)

I decided I would make some posters to go along with the publication. They are very minimal, again to get the message across about how boring killing off LGBT characters is becoming. The first two I designed are based on the hashtag #BuryOurGays, which is a hashtag based around the idea of LGBT murder. 

I then created a similar poster, this time based on the hashtag #WeDeserveBetter, which was a hashtag that came about specifically when Lexa was killed off on The 100. I prefer this poster as the type looks more natural as the words are different sizes, meaning it looks a lot more interesting and designed.

These posters were created based on the front cover of the publication that I have designed. They are very simple, however ideally they would come inside the publication, and therefore it would be obvious what the concept of the posters is.

I then created the next two posters, which is a similar concept, however each poster has a memorial of all the lesbian characters that have died through-out history. The point of this particular poster was to show just how many there are. I then added the hashtag and a fact over the top of the memorial, which made the poster have a purpose. These two posters are definitely my favourite posters that I have designed, as they are very similar to the publication and are therefore consistent.