Challenges from first year

Looking back on First year, there were clear challenges and difficulties that can be addressed in Level 05. 

A difficulty that often appeared throughout the year was being on top of the work schedule, especially with multiple modules and briefs going on at the same time. With Level 05 requiring the student to be more independent than last year, time management is a high priority. What can be done is to break down the briefs to identify the key dates and requirements, and to break down my ideas in response to the briefs to identify the bookings needed and timeline of where I need to be in the project. Doing this would help me have a clear idea of what I need to do and where I need to be without stressing unnecessarily or missing out on key areas. In relation to bookings, it is better to book them in advance of a deadline so that mistakes can be accounted for. This was an issue last year when I had to re design the note for the Money Is_? exhibition due to screen printing errors as well as having to outsource the printing of OUGD404's Studio Brief 02 publication. Making these mistakes in the First year is beneficial however. Now in Level 05, knowing these mistakes will prevent me from making similar ones, especially in a pivotal year.

Secondly is my tendency to be too ambitious with my ideas, which can be seen in my evaluation for OUGD404's Studio Brief 02 publication. Speaking in context to my ideas for that brief and the content of the publication, I took on too much of Raf Simons career that ultimately lead to a publication that was not as focused as it should be. It was full of conflicting layouts that evidenced this. Being ambitious and aiming for elaborate design solutions is encouraged as it pushes the definition of what is graphic design, however I must consider the scale of the ideas alongside the other briefs. What I noticed was that because of that large idea, I spent more time on OUGD404 Studio Brief 02 than the others which potentially limited the outcome. This relates to the first point of breaking down my ideas. By breaking it down I can identify every component for criticism and narrow down the ideas to make my proposed solution stronger overall. 

Thirdly was the difficulty in identifying myself as a type of designer. In last year's presentation I identified as a fashion influenced editorial designer. This has changed. I still hold an interest in fashion and try to follow whats going on but I have realised it is not something I want to pursue after graduating. My relations to fashion only extends to my personal interests. I am not passionate enough or within the fashion world to justify why I should become a editorial designer in fashion. My interest in editorial design however still remains but I am more concerned about creating my own identity for editorial work. This stems from my admiration of how magazines are a platform to convey such unique and characteristic identities that can be recognisable enough without seeing the masthead.