OUIL406 Self-Evaluation

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	04
OUIL406 Visual Communication	Credits	20
End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME	Sophie Edwards-Smith

1.  What skills have you developed through this brief and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
This module has shown me that my digital skills are continually improving – every piece of work I’ve done for this module has involved lots of digital process as well as analogue. My time keeping skills have developed recently, as well. Although lots of my work for this module was very time consuming and labour-intensive, I’ve tried to be diligent about putting the hours in to get the results I want. Working to timetables and has been a real help to me this module, as well as thinking about practicalities in advance, such as booking printing slots weeks in advance.
2. What approaches to/methods of image making have you developed and how have they informed your concept development process?
Again, I my digital skills have developed most markedly.  I now approach image making knowing that what I can produce with analogue methods is not the be all and end all of my work. SB2 especially was a real help to me in realising that digital process can just become an extension of an existing practice, and needn’t dictate it. Also, the way in which I draw is, I feel, becoming more sophisticated and distinctive. I don’t know if this is because of this brief, or if it’s just the result of a slow development, but I think I’m starting to develop a recognizable visual signature within my work.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I definitely think that it has only in this module that I’ve begun thinking like a designer, and I am making a conscious effort to consider compositional elements of image making, and how different elements fit together as a finished piece, rather than just making things because they’re pretty. Especially in Persons of Note, I made a conscious effort to make a choice that would force me out of that mind set, and wouldn’t leave me much room for doing anything that was too ‘pretty’. Although I obviously love making that kind of work, from now on I’m definitely going to try and keep more of a ‘designer’ head on. I still have a lot to learn about thinking as a designer, but I’m hopeful that that will develop over coming projects. In terms of my finished work, I think that my final outcomes for all 3 projects are among the best work I’ve made so far on this course, and that has given me a real boost looking forward to the future.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
In sb1 I know that I didn’t exhaust ideas in my sketchbook as extensively as I perhaps should have done. I knew what I wanted to do (more or less) right from the off, and so put all of my efforts into producing the final GIFS. I know that in order to hit more learning outcomes and get better marks I shouldn’t do this, and will try to avoid it (however, I would also argue that if you have an idea you’re passionate about straight away, experimenting and exhausting just for the sake of marks is redundant), but in future I will try to fill my sketchbooks more, rather than focusing on the final outcome. I also I don’t feel that I blogged as vigorously as I could have done over this module. I had a lot of stuff going on around the time of SB1 and SB2, and fell out of the habit of blogging really regularly; I did make an effort to pick this up in sb3, but still could have been better.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
1.    I will stay on top of blogging regularly, no matter what. It couldn’t really be helped this time, and I accept the fact that I probably won’t have done as well as I could have done, but having that on-going dialogue just makes development so much easier. 2.    I will not have preconceptions about processes/software before I have actually used them. SB2 taught me that good things can come from what initially scares you, and trying to shake off those reservations will, I hope, make my practise more versatile. 3.    I won’t sketchbook-slack (I write this in every evaluation. Maybe some day I’ll actually do it) 4.    I will try to really bust my guts at the beginning of projects, rather than wait until the final push to find a way to manage a lot of work in not a lot of time. I AM gradually getting better at this, but would like to keep improving. 5.    At times I was so fixated on getting things done that I forgot to really have fun with some of this work. In future I will always try and keep the spark of fun, because from fun comes good things. I will try to be more playful again.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance				x
Punctuality			x
Motivation			x
Commitment				x
Quantity of work produced		x
Quality of work produced				x
Contribution to the group			x
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self-evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.