Positives throughout the module
Extended Practice has probably been the most enjoyable module I've gone through during my time at Leeds College of Art, in the same way my final year has probably been my most enjoyable time on the whole at LCA. The primary reason for this is we're simply able to work on whatever we choose to. I feel giving final year students this freedom, might have been a bit of a risk but I feel it's definitely paid off - it's only helped the students find their own direction even more. Consequently from this, coming to college and working on stuff for the most part just hasn't felt like "work" I've been working on stuff I'd love to work on anyway, if I wasn't at college I probably would be a bit lazier and would be slow to do this stuff - so it being part of my degree just gave me a really good excuse to do it.
Some of the briefs this year have been hugely enjoyable, and collaborative. At the start of this year I didn't feel i would collaborate much more than once or twice - this really wasn't the case in reality. I've probably done around 2-3 briefs on my own while collaborating on the rest of my submission. The majority of my collaborations have come with Sam Lane and Seb Needler - which has been a huge positive of the year. It's been enjoyable, and inspiring working on briefs with designers who share the same drive, objectives and principles as me within design. I feel it just makes design more enjoyable, and less lonely in a way, when working with people you choose to work with and feel can only make the work stronger.
On a similar note as the above, working on Brief 02 _ Typecast with Sam, was one of the highlights of this year. We had both never made a typeface before, so simply learning about something completely new, and the proud feeling you get when actually pulling it off to a decent standard is very rewarding and confidence boosting. We liked it so much we plan on taking the brief further and producing a typographic space in the End of Year Show which we're very excited about.
One of the underlying positives throughout the year has been the way everything has just seemed to come to fruition, we've put in 3 years of hard graft, and sometimes you go through periods where you're unsure if things are working out or if it will be worth it in the end. This year has massively confirmed to me, that it really is worth it. We've been getting noticed online, got quite a few freelance opportunities, compliments, placements and a lot more just from the work we've produced this year. It's a great confidence booster and it just makes me feel more ready and prepared for the professional world. I feel I will be an important part of a studio I work in, with a lot of ability for this period in my career, and also a lot to learn and offer long-term.
Difficulties faced throughout the module
A difficulty throughout this year, for me personally, has been time management. I think everyone works in a different way, I always find myself obsessing over one project at a time - it allows me to work better and produce better results in that project. I also feel I work better when my backs against the wall and the timeframe is very short. So, in the extended practice module where you set your own deadlines, and have multiple briefs running at once I feel I've perhaps not worked as efficiently as I could have.
In longer briefs, I feel I've not achieved everything I could have, or simply got a little bored after a while and the end products aren't as inspired as they could have been. Working efficiently, and a little more professionally in my workflow is something I need to work on and become more comfortable at.
As a predominantly self-driven year of study - we were also expected to run our own crits and feedback sessions. I feel, this sounds great in practice but in reality we probably didn't run as many crits as we should have. Maybe we found ourselves too busy at certain times, or maybe it's a little too much to ask at this stage - either way I definitely didn't have as much crits and feedback on my work as I probably should have. This would only have made my work stronger, and more justified.
I still feel conceptually my work has been inconsistent this year, for a variety of reasons. In longer, more drawn out briefs the concepts have been much stronger as they were with Brief 01 (Ovaitt) and Brief 02(Typecast). But, in shorter more stressful briefs such as Brasilia 50, and Talia Welka branding, towards the end of the year - I don't feel 100% with the concept and justification of my work. This culd be because, I was working on my own on those, or could be because time was tight so I didn't spend as long on concepts I wanted, and also probably because I didn't discuss the work enough in crits and the like.
Another difficulty, hasn't really been work related but definitely a rough time - I carried out placements right in the middle of the year during the Easter period where a lot of work is going on. I took 5 weeks out to work at Golden, and Vast. Working at Golden was very enjoyable, and an inspirational experience but working at studios is a lot more tiring and mentally taxing than it is at college because it's all go from as soon as you get in, till you finish. So I didn't manage to do any college work in the evenings, as I planned to. I came back after Easter with only around 4 weeks till deadline, and basically 5 weeks behind schedule. This made the next 4 weeks a bit of a slog, I feel a little bit burnt out and I feel my work in places isn't up to where I want it to be. Visually, I'm very happy but conceptually, again, maybe a bit inconsistent. Especially compared to the start of the year.
Skills I have developed throughout the module
A skill I've definitely developed this year is project management and organisation and professionalism really. I've carried out quite a few large briefs where I'm dealing with clients, pricing, ordering stock and materials, props and so on. In the 2nd year, I didn't do this at all. I've also gained experience in event, and spatial design organisation through working on Creative Networks events all year, which have been great at getting our name out there. Although difficult at first, it gives me a lot of confidence and ability moving forward to work on bigger projects, such as the End of Year show we are working on now.
Collaboration is a skill developed throughout the year, purely through practice. Much of my briefs this year have been collabs and I feel although a bit awkward at first maybe, I've began to work really well and comfortable with designers I've worked with. In particular Sam, and Seb. I've also gained skills in working collaboratively in studios - in the past I feel I've been a bit too demanding, and possessive in a way in collabs. A bit bossy maybe! But this only came from just wanting the work to look right, and having a strong vision of how it should look. I've now learnt to take a step back a bit more, and appreciate and respect other peoples opinions, and allowing the work to be even better in the end.
Freelance, and presentation skills have developed throughout this year, probably because I'd never really had meetings with clients and serious freelance projects before this year. I've got more experience in arranging meetings, presenting concepts and references to clients and the general workflow that works best, in my experience with clients. It was difficult, and probably a bit disorganised at first when working with clients - especially in Brief 01 (Ovaitt), but I feel in the end we were much more organised and had more clarity in our communication.
What I would do differently next time
Next time aroiund I would simply take a step back more and just think of big ideas, and see where it takes me. I feel my concepts would be stronger and less inconsistent, I think I was doing this the right way at the start of the year, and should only have got better, but in fact I probably became more inconsistent. I don't really know why, but I know moving forward I know what I need to do to produce stronger, conceptual work.
On a simialr note, I would also gain more honest, and useful feedback at all times. Not to the point it's counter-productive and slows me down but just to discuss ideas, project plans and overall concepts and see what people think, and what impresses them. It would only help make my work stronger and better realised.
Overall
This year has been super enjoyable, and has flown by. I've produced work I'm massively proud of in a variety of areas, and that's come from being given the freedom and space to do whatever we want and I feel my work shows where I had fun. I'm happy with the progress I've made this year and feel it's more of a refinement, than a revolution in my style and approach to work. I've produced around 6-7 work I'd be more than happy to put straight into my portfolio and I feel that's a pretty good result. I know the areas I need to improve in, and hopefully I can refer back to this evaluation in order to refresh my mind in terms of what my initial plan was. Visually, I feel very confident I feel I can design pretty well and have a good eye for aesthetics - conceptually I still have more work to go. But from advice from professionals at placements, they all say an eye for design is something you either have or don't, concepts and big ideas is something you can work on at in terms of becoming more consistent. So that's reassuring.
Working on collaborations and establishing design partnerships that we can take forward post-college has been a huge positive, and I really feel me, Sam and Seb can do something serious in the future if the stars align. Right now, the next step is to concentrate on producing a great End of Year Show that I'm very excited about and then go from there. Leeds College of Art has been a pleasure.
Extended Practice has probably been the most enjoyable module I've gone through during my time at Leeds College of Art, in the same way my final year has probably been my most enjoyable time on the whole at LCA. The primary reason for this is we're simply able to work on whatever we choose to. I feel giving final year students this freedom, might have been a bit of a risk but I feel it's definitely paid off - it's only helped the students find their own direction even more. Consequently from this, coming to college and working on stuff for the most part just hasn't felt like "work" I've been working on stuff I'd love to work on anyway, if I wasn't at college I probably would be a bit lazier and would be slow to do this stuff - so it being part of my degree just gave me a really good excuse to do it.
Some of the briefs this year have been hugely enjoyable, and collaborative. At the start of this year I didn't feel i would collaborate much more than once or twice - this really wasn't the case in reality. I've probably done around 2-3 briefs on my own while collaborating on the rest of my submission. The majority of my collaborations have come with Sam Lane and Seb Needler - which has been a huge positive of the year. It's been enjoyable, and inspiring working on briefs with designers who share the same drive, objectives and principles as me within design. I feel it just makes design more enjoyable, and less lonely in a way, when working with people you choose to work with and feel can only make the work stronger.
On a similar note as the above, working on Brief 02 _ Typecast with Sam, was one of the highlights of this year. We had both never made a typeface before, so simply learning about something completely new, and the proud feeling you get when actually pulling it off to a decent standard is very rewarding and confidence boosting. We liked it so much we plan on taking the brief further and producing a typographic space in the End of Year Show which we're very excited about.
One of the underlying positives throughout the year has been the way everything has just seemed to come to fruition, we've put in 3 years of hard graft, and sometimes you go through periods where you're unsure if things are working out or if it will be worth it in the end. This year has massively confirmed to me, that it really is worth it. We've been getting noticed online, got quite a few freelance opportunities, compliments, placements and a lot more just from the work we've produced this year. It's a great confidence booster and it just makes me feel more ready and prepared for the professional world. I feel I will be an important part of a studio I work in, with a lot of ability for this period in my career, and also a lot to learn and offer long-term.
Difficulties faced throughout the module
A difficulty throughout this year, for me personally, has been time management. I think everyone works in a different way, I always find myself obsessing over one project at a time - it allows me to work better and produce better results in that project. I also feel I work better when my backs against the wall and the timeframe is very short. So, in the extended practice module where you set your own deadlines, and have multiple briefs running at once I feel I've perhaps not worked as efficiently as I could have.
In longer briefs, I feel I've not achieved everything I could have, or simply got a little bored after a while and the end products aren't as inspired as they could have been. Working efficiently, and a little more professionally in my workflow is something I need to work on and become more comfortable at.
As a predominantly self-driven year of study - we were also expected to run our own crits and feedback sessions. I feel, this sounds great in practice but in reality we probably didn't run as many crits as we should have. Maybe we found ourselves too busy at certain times, or maybe it's a little too much to ask at this stage - either way I definitely didn't have as much crits and feedback on my work as I probably should have. This would only have made my work stronger, and more justified.
I still feel conceptually my work has been inconsistent this year, for a variety of reasons. In longer, more drawn out briefs the concepts have been much stronger as they were with Brief 01 (Ovaitt) and Brief 02(Typecast). But, in shorter more stressful briefs such as Brasilia 50, and Talia Welka branding, towards the end of the year - I don't feel 100% with the concept and justification of my work. This culd be because, I was working on my own on those, or could be because time was tight so I didn't spend as long on concepts I wanted, and also probably because I didn't discuss the work enough in crits and the like.
Another difficulty, hasn't really been work related but definitely a rough time - I carried out placements right in the middle of the year during the Easter period where a lot of work is going on. I took 5 weeks out to work at Golden, and Vast. Working at Golden was very enjoyable, and an inspirational experience but working at studios is a lot more tiring and mentally taxing than it is at college because it's all go from as soon as you get in, till you finish. So I didn't manage to do any college work in the evenings, as I planned to. I came back after Easter with only around 4 weeks till deadline, and basically 5 weeks behind schedule. This made the next 4 weeks a bit of a slog, I feel a little bit burnt out and I feel my work in places isn't up to where I want it to be. Visually, I'm very happy but conceptually, again, maybe a bit inconsistent. Especially compared to the start of the year.
Skills I have developed throughout the module
A skill I've definitely developed this year is project management and organisation and professionalism really. I've carried out quite a few large briefs where I'm dealing with clients, pricing, ordering stock and materials, props and so on. In the 2nd year, I didn't do this at all. I've also gained experience in event, and spatial design organisation through working on Creative Networks events all year, which have been great at getting our name out there. Although difficult at first, it gives me a lot of confidence and ability moving forward to work on bigger projects, such as the End of Year show we are working on now.
Collaboration is a skill developed throughout the year, purely through practice. Much of my briefs this year have been collabs and I feel although a bit awkward at first maybe, I've began to work really well and comfortable with designers I've worked with. In particular Sam, and Seb. I've also gained skills in working collaboratively in studios - in the past I feel I've been a bit too demanding, and possessive in a way in collabs. A bit bossy maybe! But this only came from just wanting the work to look right, and having a strong vision of how it should look. I've now learnt to take a step back a bit more, and appreciate and respect other peoples opinions, and allowing the work to be even better in the end.
Freelance, and presentation skills have developed throughout this year, probably because I'd never really had meetings with clients and serious freelance projects before this year. I've got more experience in arranging meetings, presenting concepts and references to clients and the general workflow that works best, in my experience with clients. It was difficult, and probably a bit disorganised at first when working with clients - especially in Brief 01 (Ovaitt), but I feel in the end we were much more organised and had more clarity in our communication.
What I would do differently next time
Next time aroiund I would simply take a step back more and just think of big ideas, and see where it takes me. I feel my concepts would be stronger and less inconsistent, I think I was doing this the right way at the start of the year, and should only have got better, but in fact I probably became more inconsistent. I don't really know why, but I know moving forward I know what I need to do to produce stronger, conceptual work.
On a simialr note, I would also gain more honest, and useful feedback at all times. Not to the point it's counter-productive and slows me down but just to discuss ideas, project plans and overall concepts and see what people think, and what impresses them. It would only help make my work stronger and better realised.
Overall
This year has been super enjoyable, and has flown by. I've produced work I'm massively proud of in a variety of areas, and that's come from being given the freedom and space to do whatever we want and I feel my work shows where I had fun. I'm happy with the progress I've made this year and feel it's more of a refinement, than a revolution in my style and approach to work. I've produced around 6-7 work I'd be more than happy to put straight into my portfolio and I feel that's a pretty good result. I know the areas I need to improve in, and hopefully I can refer back to this evaluation in order to refresh my mind in terms of what my initial plan was. Visually, I feel very confident I feel I can design pretty well and have a good eye for aesthetics - conceptually I still have more work to go. But from advice from professionals at placements, they all say an eye for design is something you either have or don't, concepts and big ideas is something you can work on at in terms of becoming more consistent. So that's reassuring.
Working on collaborations and establishing design partnerships that we can take forward post-college has been a huge positive, and I really feel me, Sam and Seb can do something serious in the future if the stars align. Right now, the next step is to concentrate on producing a great End of Year Show that I'm very excited about and then go from there. Leeds College of Art has been a pleasure.
