OUGD504 - Module Evaluation

During the course of the OUGD504 studio briefs, a new set of skills had been learnt and developed, which will be useful for future projects. Having acquired these skills, it became possible to approach a brief from a different perspective and understand the ways to deal with a client.

For studio brief 1, design for print, working with the client in order to come to a solution to a problem was required. This meant first understanding the client's point of view for the project and what they expect to achieve from it. From this, a level of research into the topic was conducted as a way to further gather ideas about how to approach the project. These ideas were then discussed with the client and peer reviewed, which would in turn bring about more ideas on ways to begin a design strategy. The designs would then be tested and altered through the development stages, suggesting other options that could work as an alternative. By the end of the project, it became clearer on how the design should look, what stock to use and how it should be bound. These final ideas were then examined and compared with the client's original vision to see whether it had been successful. The brief also allowed for the chance to create a brief for another designer. This then gave further insight into the role that the client will be playing during collaboration in a project.

For studio brief 2, design for screen, it was possible to gather information on ways to solve a problem of our own. This meant finding a problem that exists in today's society and then finding a possible solution to this problem, through the use of an interactive platform. In this case, the problem was trying to find a way to encourage more young people to cast their vote in an election. The possible solution to this problem was creating an app that would narrow down the options for the audience, so they could understand which party best suits their view points. The project allowed for the chance to take a different approach, in which the design for the app would be considered on a particular platform that would work as an interaction. This meant designing pages for an app that would function, if it were to be coded into a real interactive application. Consideration in this project included, how the pages of the app would flow in wire framing, whether or not the design style would be appropriate for the audience and what layout would be needed for a design of this type.

Overall, the two studio briefs allowed for further opportunities to work collaboratively with clients and as an individual. This was insightful, in that it provided a glimpse of how it may be to work in a professional environment and how to manage collaborations. The projects also gave further insight into the ways in which to print the outcomes and the types of materials that are appropriate to the context. Furthermore, it will be beneficial for future projects as it has provided a more precise skill set, useful for professional environments.