Evaluation and Reflection:

Please find below three sets of evaluation questions to consider at the end of your project and write up in your blog.

You should also check on these throughout the process of your project as this will help you to develop ideas and problem-solve issues before it is too late (ie: the end of the project!)

1) Visual Communication:

In what ways does the visual communication/message of the piece meet the needs of the brief?

I think my designs link to the brief as it was all about making a change and linking it to either the NHS or to a service. Within the creative conscience brief they always state different sections and different scenarios and I believe that from my knowledge from previous years I knew what to do to enable to meet the visual communication and the message within the brief. I decided to make awareness and the entire cc brief is about making a difference and designing for good and I believe my final achieves that.

In what ways does the visual communication/message of the piece fail to meet the needs of the brief?

I personally do not think my design failed to meet the needs of the brief as it informs, educates and actually goes inside a fire fighter station which is another reason by my design fits the needs of the brief.

What are the strengths of the visual communication? Why?

I think going to the station and actually taking the photographs of my uncle and actually get to experience the life of a fire fighter (to an extend) really allowed the design to have that personal effect and that made the visual communication stand out. I believe that the design educates, informs and entertains the audience and the photos really are the strengths of the visual communications.

What are the weaknesses of the visual communication? Why?

the main weakness for me was losing the A5 designs I actually worked so hard on producing these and my Mac updated and got rid of them all. this would of tied it with it being a school pack but now it turned into just being a magazine to hand out to kids. I feel like some changes could be made to the magazine and I would of done a lot of things different if you handed me the brief now. I have developed a lot in my magazine style therefore thats the reason I think I can pick out a lot of issues. however its clean and simple and really does achieve its goal.

In what ways could the piece be mis-read or mis-understood by the audience? Be specific about who the audience is.

I personally do not think it could be misread, however I wish I could do more pages just to explain fire fighter life a little more and this could be said as a misread aspect because I feel like there isn’t so much information in the magazine that there could be.

In what practical ways could the pieces be developed or improved?

like I just said I wish I had made more pages, and when I lost the a5 just completely update the magazine. there is paragraph issues that are really angering me even to this day but I couldn’t change due to timing, I feel like the one reason I am picking up on elements that could be altered is purely because I develop in months after creating this and I feel like I ave achieved a lot more and understand more in magazines than I did when I made this if that makes sense.

In what ways did you consider Designing Backwards or application of Systems Thinking to your project?

I think with this project and linking it to project X the outcomes are always dedicated to the finals as you want to knowhow your design for good in the outcome. I personally think that with this design it was all about system thinking and really understanding the topic before designing it. I think mu approach to the design was well thought out and I planned everything including the trip at the beginning to make sure I was concluding to the correct final outcome.

In what other ways have you considered the sustainability of your project process
and outcomes?

Due to my love of magazines, I think I always consider sustainability aspects now more than I ever did. I always tried to make the designs really stand out and use a lot of imagery, but sometimes with. magazines test printing helps – however for this project I test printed a lot of pages onto scrap old A4 paper before actually printing it and this would be to check spelling and lineament issues and if everything was in the correct place. And I do continue this a lot through my projects.

In what ways have you considered the ethical implications of your project process
and outcomes?

ethics within design always seem to now come naturally to me when a few years ago they didn’t, I had to consider fire fighters and not be patronising as I am not a fire fighter myself, I always wanted to showcase some facts about women fire fighters and really let kids know the different nationalities and the other gender being involved in this job..

In sustainability and ethical terms in what ways was your work in this project an
improvement or a backward step for you as a socially conscious designer?

I think I am turning more and more into a conscious designer, I always create projects to design for good and to make people aware of situations, events or people and thats how I think I will continue.

What targets can you make at this point for your work in the future as a socially
conscious designer?

I personally want to design to make a difference, and I think thats my goal for my future and career in graphic design. I do not want to design to add to issues, I want to design to make a change and thats how I think I am a conscious designer.

3) Reflection of own working practices:

How was my time keeping?

I think my time keeping could n been better, I wish I had made a plan to finish this along side my dissertation but I just got so caught up in that , I felt like I had no time for this. I think I could done a really good magazine if I just planned it a bit more – but I did try my best all things considering.

How was my analysis of the brief?

I always think my analysis of the brief are good, I always highlight I always make sure I am designing for the correct outcome and I do not every really think I don’t meed the needs of the brief. I think it was quite a simple brief, and linking to the CC brief it almost allows you to be quite unique with your outcomes and explore it on your own.

How was my research?

I think going to a. fire station, having a tour was the main part of this entire design process and really enabling the outcomes to the the bets they were. I personally think if I did not go and visit the fire station I would not of achieved the outcomes and I would off certainty not had any of the photographs. I think I did a lot of research and really involved my uncle into the idea and the LFB.

How did I draw conslucisons from my research:

After visiting the station, I was able to educate myself, and develop further research into different aspects of LFB. Without the research none of the design would not be possible. from having the photographs and other elements allowed em to draw conclusions as I was able to understand themes, colours and layouts for my designs and understand a main focal point for the magazine.

How did I use experimentation during the project? How can I make this more effective?

I think a clear example of experimentation through this project is actually designing to a5 designs then losing them and having to work from what I had and I think that show cases elements of experimentation to fit the main purpose of the design and alternating the main outcome. I also with magazines always experiment with different layout and designs and images before concluding, and I do the same with mock ups as I was not happy with the first mock up so I changed it to develop it further.

In what ways did I show that I had achieved the Learning Outcomes? How can I improve this next time?

I always look at the learning outcomes it’s the first thing I always look at therefore I knew I achieved them  and I think I will always do this – I don’t think I did that much for this project as I would of liked to but I know I would do for FMP and over all in the future. Due to doing the same as last year I already sort of knew the learning outcomes.

What parts of the project did I enjoy most? Why was this the case?

I think what I have learnt is visiting places your resining about and really getting into the design makes me enjoy it more because I have a reason to design for. I did find it a bit boring due to the style I went for but I did enjoy designing magazines as its my favourite thing to within graphic design.

What parts of the project did I enjoy least? Why was this the case?

I wish I picked better topic not that I have anything against the fire fighter service, but because we already did so much not the NHS I think I should of linked it to that in some way or another as I felt like I made more work for myself and then couldn’t keep up – and due to not having an interest being a fire fighter I couldn’t really connect to the research so much.

At what times did I work best? Why might this be the case? How can I ensure that I work well at al times?

on my own I worked my best, but I defiantly worked a lot harder at university due to the fact I was getting inspired by others and allowing ideas to flow a bit more.

What areas inspired me? Why was this the case? How could I follow these up?

my uncle inspired me. He has mental health and get through amazing jobs he does and the horrific things he visualises on a daily basis, the fact he puts that aside an helps others I just think its incredible, and I also think the fire service don’t get enough credit they are amazing, and learning about them and visiting the station made me really understand them more.

What areas were challenging or difficult?  Why was this the case?

I found researching for this hard, after the trip I thought I had it all, but then I felt like I had to research more and I just couldn’t get into it. I find it hard to research. topic im not interested in and this showed by having to add more time and I think personally I need to work on that because I won’t always get to pick the topics I design for.

How can I go about developing and improving the parts I found difficult?

not focus on the topic, focus on the design for good aspects and the outcome and I believe I could get through it. I also think do all my research at once do not leave it to the last minute.

Do I need to develop certain skills? Do I need these now? Or later?

always research first before designing. it helps.