OUGD401 – Module Evaluation
Context of Practice has been a long and challenging brief
for me, but an exciting one for a lot of reasons. I think considering the
difficulties I had at first with the module, I have produced some worthwhile
work, and my essay provides a successful critical analysis to the essay
question. When we first briefed I was quite unsure of which topic I wanted to pursue,
because I had interest in all five of the topic areas. I chose to investigate
Postmodernism, because it was something that I hadn’t really looked at in depth
before, and I wanted to push myself to dig deep and find out something new
about this movement. I had previously
written essays about consumerism and gender within advertising, so I knew that
I wanted to stay clear of those. Before coming to the course and before writing
the essay, I hadn’t considered myself as a postmodernist, nor did I really
recognise it as a movement with the arts and culture. However now, after
completing this module, I can safely say that I do consider myself a
postmodernist in a certain sense. I relate to and enjoy work that has a
postmodern aesthetic, and it is something I am definitely more passionate about
now following this module.
Initially, I was slow to make progress with any COP related
work, but once I made a start on my essay, my practical work exploded and I did
plenty of research and experimentation which I am proud of. I think my
practical work is very strong, playful, witty but very well informed thanks to
solid research undertook throughout the year. I did struggle with the essay throughout the
year, but I believe my final essay tackles the question effectively and
demonstrates well my understanding and new found passion for the movement and
its context within graphic design practice. I know there I things that I could
have done better in order to improve the work produced. I think I did a
reasonable amount of research, both primary and secondary for the essay, but I
could have looked for more book based sources of information. When it comes to
the practical, I know I did a lot of secondary research; However, I didn’t do
enough primary research in to the subject of post-modern graphic design. I
feel that too much of my research was done online and I would have liked to
have had tangible research, which would have lead to better informed, more
considered practical outcomes. I should have done more research within the class and utilised the creative energy of others. I also
left the referencing for my sources and images to the last minute, which was
completely unwise. I have learnt my lesson and will now strive to reference as
I go along, and aim to improve my Harvard referencing skills at the same time.
One thing that I am content about is that my practical work reflects
current trends in graphic design which have been directly influenced by
postmodernisms legacy. This is something I discussed a lot in my essay, and
concluded that postmodernism 100% had an impact on graphic design practice. I
particularly enjoyed discussing vaporwave aesthetics, and wanted to pay homage
to them in my practical work, which I believe I did successfully. I have learnt a great deal through doing this
first COP module, and I know that there are things that I need to improve on to
better my academic writing and research skills.
