End of module evaluation
I think the main strengths of the album cover brief/ module is my ability to become more confident with developing typefaces for projects and the capability to combine them with images in an effective way; I definitely spent a lot more time on improving my skills in regards to type design, and began to use more unorthodox methods and working by hand more. Additionally, I feel like this module has seen me develop more of a confident and contemporary style, which helped me push my concepts visually; the final outcome felt a lot more professional and consistent as a collection, which felt a lot stronger visually and somewhat conceptually than my previous work.
Despite this, I still had a lot of weaknesses within this module, which I think limited the impact of the final outcome to some extent; the main issue with this project was my ability to generate multiple concepts, as I used a more generalised and broader conceptual approach. Although this helped ensure that the visual language explored the overall mood and semantics of the micro genre/ brief, it limited me from using more ‘a smile in the mind’ approaches.
The main creative strategy used in this project that I will continue to use is using more unorthodox methods to generate visual language; for example, a key approach within this module was manipulating textures to generate atmospheres. This pushed the concepts to be more abstract and intriguing, which can definitely be applied to be useful in future projects. I think an important consideration when developing imagery is to experiment with a wide array of approaches, as the best outcomes in this module came from experimentation; this is crucial as I feel like it encourages you to think outside the box and not tae the design process too seriously.
In regards to things I've done differently in this project, I feel like I have focused on more of a visual approach when generating the final outcome; considering what mood and atmosphere I want to create with the album cover, and how I can apply this in the personality of my typefaces. Arguably, I didn't take enough risks in this project as it was very much focused on my style as a designer and my visual identity; perhaps I was too focused on the visuals and not on the concepts as much. Needless to say, I think this outcome is a lot more confident in comparison to my other work, as I feel like it embodies my style as a designer which is still super important to build in my opinion.
The stage of the design process I find the hardest is most likely the initial ideas side of things; it is very easy to get stuck on finding really good concepts to begin with. I feel like I put more pressure on myself to come up with concepts immediately rather than letting them run their natural course throughout the project. On the other hand, the easiest part of the design process to me is by far the generation of design developments. I could spend forever developing and making iterations of one design to push it further; there are so many little tweaks that can improve a design massively. I also just find transforming initial ideas into rounded concepts a lot more fun, as it is mainly focused more on visual language than concepts - there is a lot more freedom.
Like previously mentioned, I think that in some ways I have reached my potential in regards to pushing my typeface design further (type was something that I really hated prior to this project), but overall, there is a lot of room for improvement. This mainly lies in the conceptual approach in my work, as it is very visually focused on a string sense of style. I feel like I need to find a balance between this strong style and personality as a designer with strong concepts; obviously, as a designer, I am a brand, meaning that people will want to buy into my style (hopefully). However, this style needs to be reinforced by concepts more, as I have found it somewhat difficult to justify my ideas as they are so abstract. In future modules, I will definitely focus on more clever design instead of visually strong concepts.
In terms of resources, I can't really say much due to being in lockdown; it is a shame that I couldn't actually have a finished physical product for the last project of the year. However, I have tried to use my peers as much as I could, e.g. mini crits with friends. As well as this, I am very grateful for the 3 sessions on google hangout, as they did help me push my design further, as well as being encouraged to develop my type more.
To say that I am stuck at home in lockdown, I think I've managed the workload pretty well; for some reason, lockdown has made me way more productive (since there's nothing else to do). I managed the workload by setting myself deadlines within the deadlines, e.g. finishing the designs 2 weeks before the deadline to really focus on design boards, since I find design boards very dull. I think I will definitely try to use this approach in future modules, as I have never actually finished a module this early.
