Evaluation

Effectiveness
Extent to which brief has been realised
Firstly, with each assignment I receive I look at the brief and the
read the whole of it. This includes the scenario, reading this allows
putting myself in the position as if it were real life and I am doing
this for well in this case a band. After reading, that I would look
through each task and set up blank documents in the correct folder
to make myself organised and ready to do the assignment. I would
look at the criteria that needs to be covered just so I find it easier
to manage time. Further, design and produce digital graphics in response to a brief to near-
professional standards, showing creativity and flair and working independently to
professional expectations. The expectations were longer and this is the fact the assignment
was bigger.
Use of appropriate method and techniques
I feel that when I comes documentations I like to be organised. I feel the method I use to
complete documentation is very good and has worked out to be very successful with my
previous grades in assignments based on theory.
I kept a diary in which all of my progress is stored so I can keep up
to date within anything I do within the creation of my designs. I
feel this method has been useful and successful as it helps me
understand what I did. The diary was a success therefore; I feel I
have used appropriate methods and techniques in this area.
Level of professionalism achieved
I feel when trying to achieve professionalism its
important to stick to a plan or in this case a brief. This
is because my client needs to understand that I take
my work very seriously and that I need to make sure
that everything is created to a professional standard.
The design stage with this assignment was just as
important as the documentation based work. I feel
without this, for example the diary, the sources
document, the brief I would have just made three graphics lacking a purpose with no
intentions, which isnt good because my client needs me to create to a purpose so that they
have a clear knowledge of what it is they want.
What message your final versions communicates
I feel the way I chose to do this
assignment, which was an inaccurate
method; I decided to use assets and
information. When I received the brief the
information about the band other than
the name the pixels was not clear
therefore I thought the page I was using
was the actual band. Turns out the band
has been made up for use of this unit.
I have the same text from the album cover but I have used another image of them on stage
and I feel this allows the viewer to imagine the band playing live after seeing the image. To
conclude I feel the final version communicates well with the information about the band
stated on the brief.
Problem solving
There was a major problem I faced from when I was trying to print out my work in A3.
Luckily I had a colleague on hand to help me with this difficulty.
Skills development
During my time whilst I was doing the checklist, I learnt a lot of new features on Photoshop
that I never knew existed. Because of this I feel I have developed a lot of new skills.
Areas for improvement
I feel like I used too many colours during this
assignment and I possibly couldve used less.
Having said that I used a lot of the themes
and colours to create my own graphics.
Fortunately, this turned out to be a success
and I am happy with the way the graphics
have turned out. I would be even happier if
the real band and the one I used for
inspiration related as personally I think the
graphics I made would have been perfect for
the band, which was not the real one.
think If I was to do this again I would stick with my own plan, and make more detailed
storyboards so I can work from them more easily and then the final graphics create my own
graphics based on how I think they should be made, rather than looking at inspiration. I
think this way the graphics could be more original. This is something I would have enjoyed
doing for my own benefit, as I believe I would feel like I have put 100% into it if the graphics
were completely mine.

Sources of information
Self-evaluation
believe my performance throughout this
assignment was okay. I think I slowly and
one of the reasons for this is the fact I
only have one lesson a week for this
lesson, which means it is a very long time
consuming process, and one thing seems
to take weeks to complete. Which is
something I do not equip to well as I get
quite impatient. Another performance
issue related to the fact I only have one
lesson per week is especially with the part
of the assignment (theory based) the work was really hard to do, just because it felt like it
dragged, especially towards the end I stated to slack with the work, in turn the work was a
proposal and it didnt turn out too well, I had to do a lot more work on it just recently.
Having one lesson a week also affected my work ethic whilst producing my graphics I would
begin by thinking of an idea, Id get a good start in but with the lesson only being one and
half hours I never got anything done in a lesson, meaning I would always forget what I was
doing, or how I was thinking.
Documentation notes, sketches production logs, comments from others, peers, tutors,
client
After I made my designs in simple forms of
Photoshop, and the cd cover panned out
from there. Further, with the poster I did
not do any sketches on this because I felt it
was important the poster went well with
the album cover. I wanted to create an
image for the band and I felt making the
cd cover first then using it as inspiration for
the poster would be the better idea as it
would ensure similarities throughout the
designs.
The feedback was constructive it allowed me to expand on my ideas and create designs
which include more thought and effort. Im grateful for all the feedback now the assignment
is over and the designs are completed. The feedback also helped as a form of planning. For
this assignment I did not have an ILP. An ILP is an individual learning planner which includes
dates of lessons, targets and session reviews. I did not have this due to only having one
lesson per week. This meant the feedback I used as planning and to keep up to date in
replacement of the ILP.

Production Process
Pre-production planning, preparation
This unit consists of 4 assignments, two of which are
planning and preparation. The first assignment was
preparation and it was an illustrated article. The
information in the article consists of the difference
between a raster graphic and a vector graphic, file
extensions, vector based and raster based
applications, and the use in different media forms,
prints, interactive, etc. To summarise, in preparation
I needed to write an illustrated article on main file
formats and applications that are used in production
of print media products. This was a part of preparation as its important for me in order to
understand the rest of the unit that I understood the graphic file formats and applications. I
feel assignment 1 was beneficial as it gave me an in-depth knowledge in the area of print
media products. This made it easier to produce the graphics in assignment 3.
Production, Time management, project management
Time management Although the way I managed time in
throughout this assignment was different in relation to other
units. I still feel Ive been successful in the way I handled my time.
To summarise, I handed the two assignments of work in so far on
time, and both came back at level distinction. Im really happy
with the results and I feel time management played a part in
that. I
Monitoring work in progress
Monitoring work in progress I think the tutor was a big part of this. Throughout the lesson
the tutor would occasionally walk around the room and ask everybody: Do you need any
help? and what are you working on now then? I feel this was very helpful to monitor
progress, as it was a reminder that work needed to be done. Also I pride myself on time
management and organisation skills so I feel monitoring work comes natural to me in a way
I can do it and know how much work needs to be done and when the work needs to be done
by. knew that I had one lesson a week to complete this assignment, because of this I had
such a big deadline to complete a piece of work therefore I used this opportunity and did a
lot of the theory based work in my own time and used my lesson time to produce the
graphics.
Technical competencies
Technical Competencies I feel when it comes to Photoshop I am still a
beginner, and after a year and a half experience with the software I
feel I have improved but not even to the point of an intermediate user.
I feel comfortable with the software, and I know how to use simple
features. Im aware of how all the tools on the tool bar work and I am
aware of what some of the features do in the advanced menu(s). Im
aware of some of these features I have not mastered them. Meaning I
dont know the most accurate and efficient way to do things. I sometimes feel sluggish and
untidy when I work on Photoshop, this is inaccurate of me as when I work on computers I
usually try to remain organised as it helps me work.
Creative ability
Creative Ability To create my desired album cover I did a lot of research, I researched some
of my favourite albums and used them as inspiration even if they didnt fit the genre of the
band. I wanted influences of a great variety.
Own work, teamwork
Own work I am happy with the way I produced my work I feel
I managed my time well, I bettered my skills on Photoshop, I
learnt some new skills. I managed to blend these together and I
feel I pulled this off successfully. I am happy with the way this
assignment turned out and I overwhelmed of how well it turned
out considering I had one lesson a week. The one lesson makes
me forgetful when it comes to deadlines. Also with the fact I have
a lot more lessons with another teacher it creates an illusion that
this lesson is less important. This has been downside of this unit,
but overall I am happy with how everything has turned out.

Finished Product
Compared with original intentions
I feel comparing my original designs and intentions to the
graphics I have made is a quite an accurate comparison. The
colours are similar, images, and themes. I am also going to add
some images below this section of album cover designs to get
an idea of how much I stuck to the original intentions. When it
comes to comparing my work to my original intentions I dont
care all too much. I think its important to make decisions in the
moment regardless of the reason. I think work is better when its
spontaneous as creative ideas seem to flow better. I feel this
was the case when I was designing all my graphics. I feel plans and sketches are important
for guidelines but I dont think they have to be followed or should be followed in fact.
Appropriateness to audience
Originally I was asked to design and create a
range of promotional materials; a logo, A3
poster and CD cover, following the animated
web banner I created last year. The content is
designed to be launched nationally and
possibility to an international audience and
market place. The content is for the Pixels
which as I have mentioned in an earlier
assignment are a new fairly successful,
upcoming band in the Manchester area. The
band are looking to branch out, get a bigger a
following.
I think the content is a success. I believe the ideas and designs are true to the band, and the
ideas are original in comparison to other bands in the Manchester scene currently. I think the
graphics are appropriate to the audience, they strike similarities with the genre of music
being indie/techno. The band name The Pixels is related in the designs (as I pixelated
certain areas of images). I have included images of the band within the content so it gives
viewers a better idea of who they are and potentially who to look for. I believe the images I
have chosen to represent the graphics are good images, they are interesting especially with
the poster the image on the poster is very exciting and it makes you want to be there.
Technical qualities
I believe that my work in terms of the technical qualities is a good standard considering I had
to create them on Photoshop, and make my original designs look somewhat similar to that
of the digitally created ones.
Aesthetic qualities
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of art, beauty, and taste, with
the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of
sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgements of sentiment and taste.
More broadly, scholars in the field define aesthetics as "critical reflection on art, culture and
nature". In modern English, the term aesthetic can also refer to a set of principles underlying
the works of a particular art movement or theory: one speaks, for example, of the Cubist
aesthetic.
Content and style
In the visual arts, style is a "...distinctive manner which
permits the grouping of works into related categories."
or "...any distinctive, and therefore recognizable, way in
which an act is performed or an artifact made or ought
to be performed and made." It refers to the visual
appearance of a work of art that relates it to other
works by the same artist or one from the same period,
training, location, "school", art movement or archaeological culture: "The notion of style has
long been the art historian's principal mode of classifying works of art. By style he selects
and shapes the history of art".
Style is often divided into the general style of a period, country or cultural group, group of
artists or art movement, and the individual style of the artist within that group style.
Divisions within both types of styles are often made, such as between "early", "middle" or
"late".