Evaluations

End of Module Evaluation

Design for print and screen have brought a new set of skills and tools to my practice. Having a session quickly explaining how to use XD at the being would have made me more inclined to use it earlier on. Being introduced to this software none the less was good. This software however did not fully visualize my app with restrictions to what it could do. In the future I look to try other software such as Sketch and it would be good to have a proper tutorial on this software. The visit from Village was great, looking at independent publications that really considered the design of the book engaged me and brought new ideas together such as using a variety of paper stock. Design for print was out of the two much more engaging to myself. In the future I will definitely be making a publication from using the skills I have developed in this module. I feel the design for screen moved very quickly and found some elements of it rushed and therefore documenting my progress was not as solidified as it could have been. The typesetting study task at the very being was useful and I think more small study tasks like this before projects would be a good idea to help broaden out our approaches.

Design for Screen Evaluation 

During this module my understanding of how to build an appropriate user experience in relation to the purpose of a particular design for screen has massively improved. In the production of this app, XD to me was a new user experience as well as other apps looked at for research. Through using these new screen based designs I found myself being critical in how I experienced it. All this formed a better awareness of the considerations made when designing for screen, resulting in the design of ‘BonAppetite’ to reflects an engaging and operative user experience.

Adobe XD was used to visualize the interface designs, however this software was new to my practice and therefore following a tutorial had to be done. Having a proper tutorial in XD would have encouraged me to use it earlier on. This could have improved my designs as the final XD was only used at the very end and to an extent rushed. I was also unaware of Photoshop having an iPhone template and so all templates were made on illustrator.

The way my app functioned meant both sides of the exchange had to be planned out and designed to work effectively alongside one another. This was a new designing experience for me.

To conclude I now feel I have a better understanding of the processes and procedures involved in designing for screen as well as understanding of the relationship between designer and developer.

Design for Print Evaluation

Design for publication has strengthened my understanding of the importance to consider each design decisions and relate it back to the books content. Research has majorly impacted these decisions and production strategies.

New binding methods have been practiced. Unfortunately my final print , although numerous layers of glue were applied and left over night, still the book feel fragile.

The final piece has a polished finish and accurately reflects the personality aimed for.

Time management was dealt with well as a prototype was made very early on. This abled mistakes to be recognized and prevented being made later on with the final piece.

Marketing and printing methods have been altered to fit the correct price range given in the proposal as well as choice of materials and layouts that abled less page counts.

Throughout feedback has been given to alter and improve the existing piece. All photography was changed to the correct resolution to fit for the print size. Preparing the document for print was also done through considerations such as using Bleeds to leave room for mistake.

A large variation of paper stocks were experimented with. Although these were not used in the final piece I look to further use them in projects to come.

As the printer available was not able to print double sided on many contrasting paper stocks this did prevent the final outcome not having the full effect it could have done.

I found it an interesting task being able to grasp the author’s vision of the book. As the proposal was given with already having design ideas, it was important for myself to input and make decisions separate to what the author had already pitched to me.

With such a large content there was a lot of pages to work with. Therefore, during the development, it took a lot of time to go back and change the layouts as originally I was working with over a 70 paged document.

Throughout this project issues did arise. With an initial idea using a varied paper stock, this costed money and ended being unsuccessful. To add when printing my first full copy, due to difficulty understanding preparing the document to print, pages were printed incorrectly as when put together the wrong pages were parallel to one another.