Section of the stitching mentioned previously.

Some recent drawings,

I was beginning to feel very uncreative the other week, I felt like I hadn't really been producing any work of value. So to help my mood I began drawing. These are two of the drawings I produced. The third was destroyed.
Over the summer I started doing some stitching into paper, working with pattern. I'm considering collecting a couple more drawings and combining all the imagery as some work outside of college to keep me from losing my ability to draw.

The Santa Trap

A design I've done in response to the Christmas postcard brief. The concept was "What I want this Christmas". I decided I wanted to catch Santa, and so have designed this trap which will definitely catch him.

Evaluation

The research I have undertaken for this project differed from past projects. To gather primary research I asked people to fill in surveys, posted questions on forums, emailed useful sources and photographed the environment. Forums proved particularly useful for my primary research, I believe this is because people discussing topics there have an actual interest instead of feeling obligated to fill in surveys and so the qualitative answers received are genuinely interesting.My downfall would be the lack of visual documentation. Although I took photographs, I think I could have explored this a lot further. The secondary research also proved very useful, and it was this that actually had most influence over the progress of my project.
I read a lot about the print process and production and feel I learnt a lot about it. However I only really experimented with printing on different stocks and using the vinyl cutter, I was hoping to experiment more into different types of finishes in particular foil blocking and embossing. These two method's weren't appropriate for my product or packaging which is why it wasn't necessary to try it but I do feel regretful that I didn't experiment anyway. The tutorials have proved to be very useful and my software skills have improved slightly which is one of my aims from last year, so that is positive.
My design development for this project has been the strongest in comparison to previous ones. I tried not to be too precious with initial ideas and if after evaluation they weren't working then instead of trying to force it new ideas were developed. I probably treated this module more as a design practice module instead of a chance to explore print, which was a mistake however I do feel I have benefited from it. Also I actually used some drawings for this module which is pleasing, as this was also one of my aims from last year.
The organisation of work throughout the module has improved a lot since last year, and doing this has made the design process a lot less stressful. However my big mistake was not keeping up to date with my blog's. Last year I used the blogs to my advantage and they were really useful as a place to evaluate what I was doing, this time though I avoided my blog. If I had kept up to date I think the ideas/concept/message and everything else would've been a lot clearer in my own head and would've really helped me. So this is my priority for next module.
I'm pleased my product and packaging, however it would probably be good to have the message more obvious on the stationery by using words from the story. This would re-enforce my concept and would perhaps make it more successful.
The 16 page booklet I am unsure about. The purpose of mine was to remind myself of all the things I always forget. The majority of that is technical stuff. Because of that, I don't think I made is as visually appealing as others have managed and I am disappointed. It would have been useful to look at more examples of work and perhaps include them, rather than the diagram approach I took. The layout is also something I'm not sure about. Some spreads work more than others, but hopefully after the type module I will be able to improve on my layout skills.

Things I need to do next time:

Keep up to date with my blog
Experiment more with different processes
Do more secondary research into pre-existing design
Make sure there are more examples of visual primary research
Not get stressed out as much and try to keep my head clear

PPD Task

What is professional/industrial experience?

- Communicating with people involved in industry
- Visiting agencies/businesses to see how they work
- Work placements/internships where you're working alongside other people
- Freelance
- Paid work as an In-House designer

Why is professional/industrial experience important as part of PPD?

- The end result of the course is looking for employment, a graduate with experience of industry is preferable
- More confidence of going into paid employment if you have some previous experience
- Might decide that after experiencing one type of agency you want to go in a different direction
- Gives you more of a context of where you will fit in, in the creative industry and more about the industry will be learnt from experience
- Useful contacts may be made during work placements, that can be used post-graduation

How do you gain professional/industrial experience and what form does it take place?

- Approach potential clients for freelance work
- Join an agency
- Self promotion, through business cards, word of mouth, portfolio
- Work placements, by getting in touch with design agencies and networking with designers
- Design competitions

What should you aim to gain from professional/industrial experience?

- A good knowledge of the creative industry in practice
- How to communicate with clients
- Good contacts that may be useful after graduation
- A sense of direction, regarding how you want to work
- Knowledge of how people work together on design jobs, how each person has a role

Designing an identity and business card for E.E.S a business that builds horse jumps etc