OUIL402 End of Module Self Evaluation

1. What learning have you inherited through this module and how has it impacted on your own understanding of professional practice? Consider yourself as a student at University as much as an illustrator

It has been really important throughout this module to become reflective of oneself, find out what is important about my practice and specify what I want to improve upon and explore/develop further. This critical reflection and sculpting of a 'future self' has helped in terms of self-evaluation, and caused me to really think and outline areas for improvement in my personal work, university work and life in general. I have learnt that no matter what - anything can be improved upon, and a simple task such as writing aims, statements and rules has helped me understand so much about myself and how I can achieve what I want too over the next few years, and gain the most from this course, my time at university and in my professional practice. Independent learning has also been a key part of this module, and I feel I have been successful at utilising this in the personal & professional practice tasks as well as in other modules across the course, despite suffering from illness the vast majority of the year and needing to become organised and catch up with what I can. When receiving a brief from a client/agency once in the industry, I expect it to be mainly self-directed practice (other than a few meetings / emails with art directors) therefore learning in this way has been beneficial in slowly becoming prepared for this in the not so near future. 

2. What approaches/ types of research have you found most valuable over this module?
Why did they have such an impact?

Research into personal interests and influences has been really valuable to me throughout this module. Being encouraged to use our PPP blog as a way to document creative happenings and research into other practitioners, creative blogs, publications, exhibitions etc., over the course of the year has been really eye-opening to look back upon - almost like keeping a diary filled with all the best bits that I plan on using and re-visiting again and again over the years to come. I definitely plan on using my PPP blog a lot more during Level 5 as I have made a promise to myself to use my free time a lot more effectively next year and really indulge in all that interests me (not just focus solely on university work) - therefore having a lot more fun and interesting stuff to write about, document and research into. I like to look at the rest of my blog as a way of documenting my development on this course and my practice, so using PPP to explore my other interests is a refreshing change. In terms of particular areas of the module which have focused on research which I have found most valuable, I would have to say that Study Task 3 + 4 "What is Illustration" really jump out at me. Being relatively new to the course and the module at that time, the information gained from these tasks and sessions were helpful in outlining where illustration fits in industry and practice and helped to contextualise where my own practice may fit into this. It has given me something to aim for, to reach towards and has reassured me that there is a place for a lot more types of illustration than I had originally realised - which is such a relief as i was worried I was going to have to conform to a certain style in order to be successful - which I know now just isn't the case with new emerging illustrators.

3. In what way has PPP informed the way you work in other modules and your illustration practice as a whole?

Approaches to contextual research and recognising it's importance and value has helped inform my work across all of the modules, and I was first introduced to this through PPP. In particular I have made the use of my Pinterest account for nearly every single brief, which has been a brand new approach to the way I tackle tasks, never having had my own account before. Receiving a brand new brief can be daunting, therefore starting off with research and inspiration and having a place to search and catalogue this valuable information such as Pinterest is important and helps inform my work to no end throughout the course of the brief, the module and externally. Self reflection and evaluation explored throughout this module, as mentioned previously, has helped me to learn more about myself but has also informed my work in other modules. I have the confidence now to be critical of my work and reflective as I go along, and can really explain in depth how I have approached a task and what I would like to improve upon on the whole when it comes to writing my End of Module Self Evaluation. This final "summing up" stage of a module is really important, and is what sticks with me long after hand in, as areas for improvement outlined in this evaluation are something I refer back too and make an aim to tackle, develop and amend in the next module.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your PPP submission and how will you address this in the future?

When looking back at my work across this module, I would say that an area for improvement would be my blog. Despite having little free time throughout this first year of university due to other unforeseen commitments, I know I have still experienced some great things and have many more inspiring pieces of external research and influences to write about. It has been hard keeping up with this module with it running in the background and other modules taking centre stage, and next year I don't want this to be the case as I have found this module extremely beneficial. I plan on addressing this by recognising the importance of using my PPP blog to document all that interests me and will plan on doing this every time I come across something that has inspired me in some way. I will see my PPP blog as a way to showcase and indulge in my interests and discover what I am about - in the hope to build a better picture of myself as a practitioner and bring in external influence to help inform both my personal and university work. 

Another weakness I feel, is my idea and approach to Studio Brief 2 - The Illustrated Self brief. I am really happy with what I was able to achieve in my final work, but time did get the better of me and not being able to finish a final set of work had been really disheartening and unfortunate especially when I tried so hard to achieve a very high standard of work. To address this in the future, I really need to be sensible about my timeframe and approach a brief with this in mind. I am an ideas girl - needing a solid idea in order to connect with a brief. If the solid idea doesn't come straight away - I find it difficult to start working and commit and usually a solid idea means a seriously complex one with a lot of work involved. This shouldn't be the case and I need to be comfortable in taking new, less stressful avenues and have faith in the work I can produced - work that doesn't take me days and days to complete with no food, sleep or fresh air. It's not healthy, and in this case can be really disappointing when all that work and effort has still resulted in an unfinished submission. Never again!

5. What communities of practice and professional contexts do you intend to investigate further as you approach level 5? Why do they appeal to you?

Feeling a little lost recently in terms of the direction of my practice, my style and tone of voice, has meant that literally every avenue and community of practice is appealing to me for further research and experimentation. I plan on spending this summer exploring digital media approaches in further depth after having a ball with Adobe Illustrator for Visual Communication; I plan on investigating mixed media approaches after briefly touching upon this for Visual Language and recently coming across how ink and cut paper can create stunning 3D illustrations and patterned artwork. I want to improve upon my own observational skills and be able to characterise and communicate people, animals and my surroundings in a way that is unique to me as well as improve my painting skills and use of colour. Paint (in all it's forms) and colour have been my enemies this year, and I am in awe at practitioners work who manage to use both successfully, therefore it would be a great achievement to overcome this barrier and create my own work that I am proud and confident in making, ready to hit level 5 head on. I also want to look into ways of self-promotion and getting my work out into the industry. I know a few other students on the course have already achieved this, which is inspiring me to do the same. I plan on researching (and in some instances contacting) practitioners that influence me, to find out how they go about this final step once their work is complete and where their illustration sits within the industry, to help guide me on my own path and get me started. Watch this space!