Personal and Professional Development - Evaluation and SWOT

PPD has been one of the harder modules for me and has showed some lack of understanding.

When I was first met with the brief, I was under the impression we had the bare minimum to do for this unit (creative cv, business cards and powerpoint). But it was not until the last minute I had been made aware that we had to have a whole file documenting our findings to submit. I feel like I have been very sheepish about many aspects of this file, often looking around to see what other people were doing before taking my own initiative and being my own person.

Due to a lack of time and pressure to get the job done, I went ahead and printed pdf's of web pages as part of my research in to local and national companies, I feel like this shows very obviously my press for time and an 'easy way out' of getting it finished and out the way.

My individual learning plan was absolutely naff, extremely limited and last minute, showing next to no effort put in. With zero introduction or conclusion it was hard to even tell that it was a learning plan other than the title of the page which I can say I am humiliated to have handed in.

My business cards are alright and are fit for purpose but are designed with minimal effort and bad design choices, for example, the box around 'illustrator' was a rushed and last minute bad decision that I regretted as soon as they were printed.

My cover letter is jam-packed with a whole load of unnecessary waffle that would probably bore the eyes off of any future employers. Its incredibly long-winded and I feel as though there is a lot I could have done to summarise myself.

And I save the best til last, my CV. For the majority of this unit, planning and constructing my creative CV was the fun side of this. Because I've had experience in the past with creative CV's I made note of how the pros and cons of my last one and made it quite clear on this one exactly how I wanted it. When comparing my old one to my new one I would hardly believe that is what I was able to get away with in the past. When making my CV I aimed to make it as visual as possible whilst still retaining important information. I think the main changes I would have liked to make was possibly adding a little more eye-catching colours instead of the boring black and white but I stuck with my goth themes.

In conclusion to the file in whole, I definitely feel like there’s room for improvements, especially in regards to my research, skills analysis and individual learning plan. I will be looking to find solutions to misunderstandings like this in the future with a lot more urgency and detail. I hope to prove myself a lot smarter about issues like this in future and have to confidence to discuss them with my tutor.

SWOT

Strengths:

• Very informative and professional CV
• Research detailing several companies listed
• Research in to competitions and live briefs
• Very informative and colourful business cards
• In-depth cover letter

Weaknesses:

• Lack of understanding the tasks of the brief
• Very poor time management to get tasks done
• Very effortless write-ups
• Very poor and last minute decision making
• Lack of urgency to get the job done

Opportunities:

• Catch ups with tutor to elaborate on misunderstandings
• Realistic timeplan
• Spending an hour doing coursework a day
• Look for second opinions before making big decisions
• Look up motivational speakers for inspiration to do coursework

Threats:

• Not making an effort to overcome issues
• Making an unrealistic and hard to follow timeplan
• Letting distractions get in the way of work
• Refusing to understand and looking for the easy way out
• Generally running from fears instead of facing them

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Commercial - Evaluation and SWOT

The work I have produced for this module has been lacking severely over length of time i've had for it.

Required for this brief was an A3 printed portfolio, a photobook (from either Blurb or Vistaprint) and a pdf of our portfolios, portfolio commentary and evaluations.

For my A3 portfolio, I did not print on the quality of paper that I should have, making it appear very lacklustre and quite subpar. I think I have managed to scrape the bare minimum with my portfolio, displaying some of the pieces I did not want to represent me. Another point to make is that many of the pieces included in my portfolio appear quite pixelated which has further lowered the quality overall and making it look cheap and not that of a HE student.

I took a lot of time work on my photobook before I sent it off to print as I wanted to polish off older pieces and make some new ones, especially to appear more professional and orderly. However, since coming back from Berlin I had still not sent it off, leaving not a lot of time before the estimated due date of arrival. I chose to go with an A4 book as this is my first time making and ordering one, so whilst square did look nice for displaying certain pieces, a lot of my work is done on A4 - A3 portraits, so making the fit in to my book would have been tricky.

For the pdf file of my portfolio, I struggled to print them in university. I was told that if I select them, go in to print and print them as a pdf it would be as easy as that but unfortunately I was unable to print them all as one pdf file as it would only offer to turn the first selected image in to a single pdf. When I eventually did get around to doing my portfolio, it was not in order and looked extremely underwhelming.

I did not get around to doing my portfolio commentary as I should have due to time limits and restrictions. I had left my portfolio commentary up until the last minute and failed to complete it before it was time to hand in, this is a very poor standard of work to be handing in and I am to blame for my own shortcomings.

I feel as though I have handled this unit as well as PPD and Work-Based Learning very poorly since getting back from Berlin, making very poor choices and showing very little effort amongst my work. This is a very crucial and important time to be making these kind of mistakes and it is regrettable to say in the least. I desperately need to get my shit together before going in to the third and final year and will be reflecting on this period to get a better hold of myself and how I stay focused.

SWOT

Strengths:

• 25+ pages in my portfolio and photobook
• Polishing and renewing old pieces
• Progression of new techniques
• Understanding tasks and what to prioritise
• Problem solving issues involving finance

Weaknesses:

• Terrible focus to stay on task
• Poor quality of paper to print on
• Poor time management
• Missing vital coursework
• Lack of self-awareness

Opportunities:

• Make a timeplan
• Write up a check list beside timeplan
• Find a quiet place where no distractions can cut in to coursework
• Work for an hour every day until the deadline
• Check in with tutor and classmates to see where you should be up to

Threats:

• Not attending classes to receive important information regarding brief
• Setting unachievable targets and timeplans
• Not investing in quality
• Making a habit out of failure
• Not working towards improvement

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Work-Based Learning - Evaluation and SWOT

This unit has been very enjoyable and has given me amazing opportunities to work under several like-minded creatives in workshops that have since informed me about their experiences since leaving university and what I should expect when going in to the industry.

Over the last month or so I have been actively taking part in workshops and contributing to competitions hosted by Pictoplasma and the Cheltenham Illustration Awards, making pieces based on themes arranged by both sites. These competitions have been very open to artist interpretation and I have therefore had lots of freedom to come up with my own ideas for my entries based around the chosen theme.

For the workshops I took part in I had a very enjoyable time learning about the different backgrounds of some very talented artists. But when it came to actually writing up my summaries and getting something out of the workshops I found that there was a certain laziness about it.

For the zine workshop - I failed to take pictures and to present the step-by-step process made in the session, making it unclear as to how I got from point A to point B, and did not go in to further details about why. I was also unable to attend the first workshop hosted by Midnight Gifts which is a bit of a shame as I would have really enjoyed learning more about him and his creative process. For other workshops hosted by Laura Sheldon and Livetales, there was a considerable amount of detail and visuals to go with which I should have really shown in all workshops.

The competitions and live briefs we took part in were a lot of fun and fairly straight forward to get an idea of what needed to be done.

Starting with Pictoplasma's Rabbits Reloaded:

The brief for this unit to create a rabbit of my own choosing and submit it on to the Pictoplasma website. I had many different scribblings in my sketchbook of what I could possibly develop further on a digital format but narrowed it down to four rabbits. I was quite proud of the work I produced for this and found it to be very straight forward with no research requirements (aside from the minimal amount I did on how to actually draw rabbit proportions).

I felt like out of the four produced that the last one was the most unique and gave the character a bit more character compared to the rest and decided to make her my rabbit for entry.

I feel that for this competition my development was not nearly as limited as it has been for my Tangled Tales entries:

Whilst I did enjoy working to make something for the Cheltenham Illustration Awards, I feel that the lack of development and experimentation made towards the final pieces hindered some more diverse looking outcomes. I think it is the development during this competition that has really let me down, giving very half-assed documentation to even detail choices (or the lack of them). Limited research was also an underlying issue of why my experimentation and development has been very unprofessional and lastly the distractions from outside college that I did not address sooner. 

Artists researched were Vince Low and Nester Fomentera who both display some very intricate and unique approaches to their linework. I only did one experiment with Formentera's style before I decided to call quits on pursuing a style like his.

When printed, I noticed that all three final pieces were giving off some very obvious pixelation that I had not even noticed during the making. Because I did not notice during the process I cannot answer why this occurred or where the pixelation came from during this time but it is my own fault for not going back and fixing these errors as soon as I seen them but instead left them appearing extremely unflattering.

Had I approached Tangled Tales with the same enthusiasm as I had for the Rabbits Reloaded I would have made something I could be proud of for once.

In conclusion, I found this unit very enjoyable and very informative. Getting a glimpse of the outside world via other peoples backgrounds really spurred on a new motivation and excitement for me to get out in to the real world and start making something of myself, however, I feel that this excitement and drive needs to be shown in my coursework first. 

SWOT

Strengths:

• Attended all but one of the workshops
• Completed write-ups summarising workshops
• Various concepts and ideas for Rabbits Reloaded
• Submitted to both competitions
• Learned how to use the riso
• Learned how to make a small zine

Weaknesses:

• Very effortless approach to Tangled Tales
• Next to no development for Tangled Tales
• Very limited research for Tangled Tales
• Very poor documentation overall
• Very poor standard of work overall

Opportunities:

• Making a realistic timeplan
• Spend an hour a day doing coursework as soon as issued the brief
• Take more pictures throughout workshops and lessons for documentation
• Using spider diagrams to branch out more ideas and artist influences
• Find a special time to update all social media to update

Threats:

• Poor time management
• Poor documentation to show I completed a task
• Lack of development and experimentation
• Lack of research to influence development
• Lack of communication and confidence to tell tutor when struggling

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Compositing - Evaluation and SWOT

Compositing appeared as quite a tedious unit for me, not being too confident with 3D applications and software I feel as though I definitely had my struggles.

Starting with the points for improvement, I feel as though the 3D aspect of my work was showing a lot of under-developed processes and approaches. My main struggle being my confusion around compositing and applying visual elements from separate sources in to single images, creating the illusion that all of those elements are part of the same scene and therefore making a lot of the composits I made appear very unrealistic and unbelievable.

Whilst I am relieved that this brief was more of an experimental one I feel like I was unable to portray an in-depth understanding of the use and navigation of the software. Lighting and shadows was very difficult for me and I did have issues trying to touch up on them.

For my Character Staredown entry I feel like as a finished piece it was pretty up to standard and I was proud of the turn out however it was advised to use compositing within my piece that I unfortunately failed to produce, aside from the video overlays I applied at the very last minute (which I am definitely glad to have gone with).

I did have a lot of struggles with this unit that left me very panicked and stressed for time. I definitely could have gone back and made improvements as well as reach out for help a lot a lot earlier.

Stress aside I did make an animation for this piece that I am actually very proud which is a first for me. I consider myself leaning more towards the illustrative side of the course and to make an animation that has turned out up to standard and without choppiness is a great new feat for me and has inspired me to try my hand at more animations in the year.

SWOT

Strengths:

• Taking pride in certain aspects of work
• Better understanding of 3D software
• A selection of development and experimentation
• All tasks completed with in-depth documentation
• Submission to Character Staredown

Weaknesses:

• Lack of understanding software
• Under-developed processes and approaches
• Unrealistic and unbelievable visuals
• Not reaching out for help
• Poor time management

Opportunities:

• Make a timeplan
• Communication with my tutor to assess issues
• Looking for tutorials online from sources such as Grayscale Gorilla
• Doing a mini project using compositing techniques
• Referring to the documentation of CAAD sessions

Threats:

• Giving in to failure
• Setting unrealistic goals and targets
• Not reaching out for help
• Not taking the time to fully document tutorials for future use
• Letting distractions get in the way

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Contextual Studies - Evaluation and SWOT

Contextual Studies has been another difficult one for me, having to detail research in to trends dating as far back as the 1800's. Unlike my normal write-ups where it is much more relaxed and I can write from a personal level, I had to had to make in-depth research of 2500 words, complete with a bibliography detailing all my sources from an array of different formats online and in books.

Whilst I got off to a good start expanding on the history of poster crazes from eras such as Art Nouveau, Early Modernism, Futurism, Heroic Realism, Kitsch, Late Modern, Psychedelic and more all the way up to Early Grunge. I started to lose my way when the deadline drew closer and began babbling after my introduction.

When hand-in was originally due I almost handed in an extremely half-assed looking essay which very obviously displayed my scatterbrained and sleepless night trying to reach the word count. I was very lucky to receive an extra week to re-write and re-evaluate.

After stepping away, receiving feedback and getting a grip I decided to make points and justification for them. I began to write with a bit more structure and depth and used research to inform a wider practice from a historical point of view. Whilst I have detailed key influences that have had an impact on commercial illustration I feel as though I left out certain points from contemporary viewpoints.

When I went on to talk about how the evolution of technology and political awareness had impacted modern practitioners work I found myself doing most of my research on established processes and practices opposed to what is happening in the current day. I struggled to expand on my research to a contemporary point of view which was really my downfall throughout this unit. My conclusion was spotty at best, showing very little focus again.

Lastly, whilst my bibliography was in good order, I did not take my investigation any further than the internet, showing only online sources where I could have expanded my research in to Juxtapoz and Digital Arts which have a selection of publications detailing emerging artists and techniques of this year from a more professional and well-credited source.

SWOT

Strengths:

• In-depth research in an area out of my understanding
• Correct and accurate bibliography
• Detail to grammar and punctuation
• Establishing key influences
• Justifying my argument

Weaknesses:

• Poor time management
• Being too scatterbrained to think of where to start
• Lots of waffle and babbling
• Sources from anywhere other than the internet
• Lack of contemporary viewpoints

Opportunities:

• Making a timeplan and spending an hour a day doing coursework
• Making a list bullet pointing key points
• Use sources such as Juxtapoz and Digital Arts
• Check in with tutor for help and advice
• Look at tutorials on laying out essays

Threats:

• Lack of sleep
• Lack of motivation
• Poor time management

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Digital Skills Application - Evaluation and SWOT

This unit was Digital Skill Application and I was left feeling rather disappointed with the pieces I had to present. 

This module took me up to about two weeks to really get a move on with and I felt very scatterbrained to settle on styles, approaches and workflows to how to get through my what I had. I feel as though my concentration and focus began to slip over the christmas period and and I began to fall off of my timeplan.

I feel like was very ambitious to challenge myself in an area I hadn't done before such as working traditionally, gathering and making a texture gallery however there are certain aspects of of my work that took longer than what it should have which made the digital side of my pieces appear rather rushed and lacklustre.

Whilst my sketchbook detailed problem solving and creative solutions to my how I was going to address issues in my assets I feel as though the final pieces varied in success via the individual panels. For example I feel like certain panels such as the last one appeared quite lazy and a bit of a rush job in comparison to the room which displayed a good sense of light and colour. If I had applied the same level of detail I did to the rest of the panels it would have been very easy sailing. Another point to make is the background which was just empty and boring, where it could have done with a bit of subtle pattern work to make it appear more interesting yet not eye-catching enough to distract from the main body of my work which was the separate panels of my work.

I did plan for my piece to be done in monotone I am very happy I chose to work using colours because there is more depth and an overall more established appeal about it. 

Although I really like the turn out of the scenery in the first page I feel there is a certain laziness about the decisions I made, especially regarding the grass which was made using the grass brush tool. It appears very obvious and very repetitively used making my pieces appear very unprofessional. Another point to make is my use of point-perspective when making the house is lacking the skill required, making it appear very wonky to say the least. I feel quite happy to say that whilst this was an issue I struggled with, I managed to overcome it the easy way, using assets to hide the areas for improvement.

To end on a happier note I feel fairly happy with the colour palettes which have informed research through artist influences and use of complimentary colours. Which backs up my point about being happy with my choice not to go with monotone colours.

I would like to use this unit as a learning point for briefs to come in the future and take some time to reflect upon my effort, motivation and the result of later work.

SWOT

Strengths:

• Good standard of development and experimentation
• Very good research in to artists
• Informed development via research
• Strong influences via research
• Good decision making

Weaknesses:

• Lazy documentation
• Lack of skill when it comes to point-perspective
• Limited texture gallery
• Certain lazy aspects (grass brush)
• Bad time management

Opportunities:

• Spending an hour a day to do coursework
• Learn more on point-perspective through tutorials
• Collect free textures and magazine clippings to build texture gallery
• Stop taking the easy way out
• Make a realistic and achievable timeplan

Threats:

• Leaving work until the last minute
• Refusal to learn
• Time management
• Letting distractions get in the way of your focus
• Not putting in the required effort of a HE student

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Alternative Techniques - Evaluation and SWOT

Alternative techniques is a bit more of an experimental sketchbook project covering the baseline methods to approach printing. We covered the different techniques such as lino, vinyl, press-printing, etching and more. This unit was a really fun one for me as it really broadened my skills index and I can now go on to use these techniques in the near future for other units or personal work.

I made an array of different designs for the different printing methods we used, the first one being print-pressing which I had a little bit of experience in. I decided to roll with the skulls and bones theme from last year and made my design using bird skull visuals in my work. I am very proud of this design and would love to use its designs in the near future to create tees. If I was going to make any changes to this piece I wish I had thickened up the lines so when printing it was a lot more bolder. And secondly I would have been extra cautious about the pressure I would be applying to this piece as it did crack a couple of times.

For the making of my vinyl, I was very influenced by the halloween spirit and tried my hand in designing a spell elixr. Whilst I loved the design and was very excited to try my hand in vinyl printing, I was unfortunately not in due to outside occurrences and feel that this has left me a little left out of the loop in terms of my skills. This is going to have to be something I decide to catch up on through out the week. Sadly whilst I emailed I did not include my font and therefore it had disappeared when printing. This is an issue I will be learning from when selecting fonts from my home computer.

For lino and etching I created a simple little teethy pattern to copy on to my plates. Etching was another one of my favourite practices when applying alternative techniques and whilst I unfortunately I did not take pictures of my process in the making, I did my best job in replicating my teethy design.

I think whilst I did have fun on this unit there is a lot more I could have done in the way of development, I was very inattentive during this unit and was issues outside of uni I was struggling to overcome which I feel really distracted my from progressing and showing my skills on a much bigger scale. I feel that when I started getting involved with Livetales I started to let myself slip in to another unmotivated slump. I hope that I improve on this in the future and show work more like that of a HE Student.

SWOT

Strengths:

• An array of different techniques learned
• Different print methods I can apply to future work
• Up-to-date documentation
• Pride in work
• Previous experience helped motivate and encourage me to come out of my shell

Weaknesses:

• Poor time management
• Cockiness from previous experience
• Poor decision making
• Poor design choices
• Allowing distractions get in the way of my work

Opportunities:

• Make a timeplan
• Be realistic and professional with coursework
• Get a second opinion when it comes to decision making
• Ask for criticism and points for improvement
• Find a place to settle down and focus

Threats:

• Prioritising the wrong tasks first
• Letting distractions get in the way
• Clamming up and not reaching out for help
• Not listening to criticism or advice
• Falling behind schedule

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Character Design - Evaluation and SWOT

When I initially started this unit I was very motivated and excited to be given a module based around my favourite thing to do. It was later when distractions started cutting in to my workload that I found myself struggling to keep up.

 Starting from the beginning, I found that despite my research in to several different styles was made, I didn't produce enough development and experimentation for either style. Whilst I was very settled on Hellen Jo's style I feel that it would have done me much better to delve deeper in to more experimentation with body shapes, expressions and looking for a more open approach to how I draw as it was quite limited.

It took me far longer than it should have to be producing the work I did which is a shame because this is really what I wanted to elaborate my skills upon but rather limited and humiliated my self with my lack of motivation and willingness to experiment and develop.

I came across another issue regarding my work when I realised whilst working on the final piece, I did not set my canvas to the correct size (A2) and instead began my work on A3. Because I had been working on bitmap-based software such as Photoshop, it was near impossible to stretch the piece without gaining some kind of pixelation. After confronting my tutor I decided to make the decision to make two turnarounds, both on A3 to make up for the mistake, one in her outdoor clothes and one in her outdoor clothes.

Whilst this plan solved my issue with the canvas sizing it did not help the already difficult state I was in with my workload. I had to work very tirelessly to catch up and the result did not feel as though it paid off. Getting the layout of where to place my characters was proving a difficult task as a lot of the layouts I had in mind were quite unflattering when taking in to consideration the amount of stuff I was trying to cram in (x2 turnarounds, x6 dynamic poses and items from her back)

Ideally if I could I would have loved to have just done the one turnaround with her hat on as this drove home her origins and a little more of her backstory. But this is my own downfall and one I could have avoided had I been more focused, on task and a little more open-minded.

I hope to learn from this module and reflect upon this unit when I go in to future modules.

SWOT

Strengths:

• Informed development and via research
• Handling workload
• Problem solving
• Learning new techniques and methods
• In depth backstory and write ups

Weaknesses:

• Lack of motivation
• Limited experimentation
• Bad time management
• Boring and basic colours
• Limited anatomy knowledge

Opportunities:

• Listen to motivational speakers for inspiration
• Spend an hour a day doing coursework
• Start making achievable timeplans
• Find poppy colour palettes to use in your work
• Attend life-drawing classes

Threats:

• Dismissal of motivation altogether
• Falling in to art slumps
• Giving in to failure
• Not solving an issue and taking the easy way out
• Not working to improve weaknesses

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