Monday, 4 May 2015

OUGD401 – Module Evaluation

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.


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