PPP3 Evaluation

PPP3: Submission Boards

PPP3: Time Management for Second Semester

For the second semester, me and Emily decided to record the time that we had on an A3 calendar so as to keep a track of what needed to be done and manage our time effectively just like we had done for the first semester as it was an effective way of keeping track of time.

Calendar for Second Semester Time Management

As the semester went on, I continued to add new things that would happen onto the calendar and record the times I would be working on the weekend so I could see if I had a chance to do some work over the weekend. I felt that being able to see when I had booked things made for a visual diary and time frame to work to.

PPP3: Studio Visit- DBA Presentation at Thompson Brand Partners Studios

The members of my DBA group have been approached by Ian at Thompson Brand Partners Studio through Amber to see whether we would like to go and visit their studio to present our work to them.

Initial Organisation

We were very surprised yet quite proud and excited by the prospect of being able to visit a studio and present our work to them, especially because someone has thought that a piece of work we have done is good enough to show to the rest of their team.

From the initial email contact, Adam went on to organise a day and time for us to go and visit as he is organising a placement with them. Before the visit, we met up as a group and managed to get some practice in before we presented it to the studio.

Visiting with our Presentation

While on the visit, we presented our presentation to a few of the designers who in turn asked us a lot of questions and gave comments and feedback about the work that we had produced. A lot of the things that they pointed out were things that we hadn't actually considered at the time, such as the angle of the chevron in the logo and how it doesn't point directly north and, in a way, gave us a completely fresh perspective which would have been very handy at the time of designing for the brief.

In regards to feedback, we got a lot of positive comments towards our work, not just about how our work was very cohesive and how it was consistent in visual quality the whole way through, but how we worked together as a team. We were told that it was very obvious just from looking at the work that we clearly worked very well together as a team. This was more obvious as we had managed to come up with an idea that we all agreed would be the best and work with that rather than us all wanting our ideas to be used, which we were told was a great trait to have if we could identify other ideas better than our own and putting the success of the team before our egos.

Perhaps what was the biggest compliment of them all was that we were told that we should all have this brief within our portfolios as this was a piece of work that could easily get you a job. That was quite a proud moment for us all as a team as this is what we want to achieve and aim for at the end of our degrees so to suggest that this piece of work is strong enough to do so is quite overwhelming. With that, we were advised to present the brief in a way in which would allow us to describe what elements we had done individually as well as as a group so that this way it would allow us to discuss it from our individual experience.

Following the presentation, we were given a tour around the actual studios which are small but extremely clean and open with a friendly atmosphere. Also, Ian asked us all to give our email addresses to him so that we would be able to stay in touch. He offered to look at any portfolios we had to give feedback and told us to contact him if we have any questions. I think it is lovely that he is so welcoming and helpful to students as this would be some invaluable help and I think I am going to take up his offer nearer the time of the end of year show when putting my final portfolio together.

PPP3: Progress Tutorial

As it was coming up to submission time, I was able to have a tutorial with Amber about how I was getting on.

Progress Tutorial Form

We discussed the briefs that I had altogether and jobs that I still had to do, such as send off my yearbook photos and start my design context publication.

Alongside this, we discussed things such as my attendance, which is great at 100%, as well as the amount of work I do at my job on a weekend which gets in the way of my work.

It actually helped to have a conversation with Amber as it helped me put things into perspective and reassured me despite my worry about submission.

OUGD603 Submission Boards Tutorial

We were able to sign up for tutorials to be prepared for the submission that was coming up so that we could see how much work we needed to do and how prepared we were.

To be prepared for the crit, alongside the briefs that I had already produced design boards for, I made some quick boards to show how far I had got with the rest of the briefs that I had been doing or been involved with.

I presented the design boards that I had produced so far alongside these boards so that I could get some feedback.

Design Board Feedback

I was really disappointed to be told that my design boards for the briefs I had done were completely wrong and I would have to re-do them. It was annoying to me because we had to go back to doing design boards like we had been in first year when in second year we had been told that was wrong and had learnt to make them more professional. Now I was being told that being taught that was wrong as well and I was incredibly frustrated. having said that, I know that my tutors were only saying that because they wanted me to get the most out of my boards. From this, I asked if I could have a follow up tutorial so that I could have a go at implementing all of the changes necessary, which included development and research pages and consistent layouts for all boards, and make sure that I had fulfilled the criteria necessary of my boards.

The following week, I went to the tutorial with boards done for two briefs, the first being my Parish Pub brief and the second some new boards for the Luxury Chocolate collaborative brief. I was told that these boards were much better as they showed the development of the work and how it became what it is. I was relieved to find that I was now presenting them in the way that was needed and I will be continuing to do this for the rest of my briefs.

PPP3: Contacting Something More Studio for DBA Placement

For winning the DBA brief, the members of the group had been told that we would be able to have a placement at any of the participating studios, however, after a while, we still hadn't heard anything back about it.

A few of us decided that we would instead contact the place that we wanted to go to in order to get a placement organised for after our college course.

I had decided very early on that I wanted to do a placement at Something More, the same studio who came to do the Ministry of Wonderful brief with us earlier in the year. The reason I wanted to do a placement there was that I knew that they had seen earlier in the year the work that I can produce when working independently as well as seeing that I can work in a group collaboration as well. This was important to me because I don't have a lot of confidence in my ability but I knew that they had seen what I can do before so this made me feel more comfortable with the idea of working with them. Not just this, but I liked the idea of having a placement in a small studio which is establishing itself and I liked the idea that I could be apart of this, as well as being in Duke Studios which means that I could see about getting more contacts whilst I was at my placement.

Correspondence with Jon at Something More

I was really excited when I got a reply back saying that they would like me to do my placement there as this is something that I have been struggling to get all year and now I feel as though all of my efforts to contact places as well as get involved in the college love briefs has been worth it. I would love to have the experience of working in a studio and feel that this would be a great place to do this. The fact that this is now something that has been organised for after college ends means that I have something to focus my design work towards as well as a plan of action for after college as well as continuing to try and contact places I have been to to organise placements with them.