Semester 1: Performance Evaluation

Now that the first semester is over, I look back upon the 3 assignments that are now completed and handed in and smile with pride. It has, by no means, been an easy ride; however, I never expected my return to education to be anything other than a challenge.

A2 – That’s the Plan!
The commencement of the first assignment saw the introduction to my first formal web plan. Whilst I have created a handful of websites in the past, the process in which I undertook during the design and creation has been completely different.

I have found it very interesting to see how we are supposed to approach design tasks such as this.

As can be expected, the referral of this assignment came as a complete shock. The marking scheme was like nothing I had ever seen before and posed quite an obstacle between a pass and me.

However, following the comprehensive feedback from Steve [the course leader], I was soon back on track. The alterations were minimal and seemingly painless; before I knew it, the resubmission was in and the other assignments were well on their way.

As ever, there is much room for improvement with the A2 resubmission; the thing to remember is that we are students and that the educational journey we are on is exactly that.

A3 – Back to Basics / A4 – Image Rights

With A2 now a distant memory, it was time to concentrate my efforts into the two active assignments, the very similar A3 and the much more creative A4. Advancements in my experience and design techniques give the dual running assignments much more of a professional feel than A2.

My creativity and ability to work under pressure has been explored in quite some depth during the last few months with timed assignments and imaginative web banners.

With every day that has passed since I started the course in September, my desire to be a designer has increased significantly. I consider myself to be a well-motivated individual who has a passion to succeed.

Whist I aim for perfection, there is still much room for improvement; in particular with my time management, or at least the planning / recording of it.

I feel that the quality of my work has and will continue to improve significantly as I progress through the course.

Targets

Short Term [Semester 2]
Improvement of my time management skills during this next semester is going to be essential. Over the Christmas period, I am going to become very familiar with the upcoming assignments, featured on the HND Interactive Media Website.

Additionally, during the upcoming semester, I am looking to ‘raise my game’ and achieve at least a merit in the next assignments.

My design and creativity skills will naturally progress over the next semester; I am willing to put in as much work as is required to further this.

Mid-Term [End of the course]
By the end of the course, I foresee myself being in a very employable position. This is based upon the position that many of the second years and previous students now find themselves.

Before the completion of the course, I predict that I will have completed some ‘outside’ work either as an individual or as part of a small team from the class.

Long-Term [Employment]
I think that everyone is of very similar disposition in that freelance / self employment is the ideal with regards employment; however, being much more realistic, I think that working for a company may be a much more practical approach as much experience is to be obtained by those who have walked the path before you.

In closing, “Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life.” – Unknown Source.

--
Word Count: 645

Happy Holidays...

Following the advice of a wise man, I have altered my approach and rolls in many things since I started this course; much to my benifit.

In spite of the turbulent times I have experienced during the first few months of the course, both personally and academically, I honestly feel as though everything is beginning to make sense.

If everyone is being honest with themselves, I do not think that there is anyone who hasn't at some point questioned their position on the course; this is only furthered by the people who have left. However, four and a half months in and I really feel as though I belong.

As I reminisce about my first [and only] week off work since starting this course, I look back upon a very productive week; however, there much work to be done and every second counts.

Steve has very kindly given the class the opportunity of working from home on Monday the 17th of December [the day before the submission of A3 and A4]; an opportunity that I do not intend to miss [for clarity I will be working from home on the 17th].

During Monday [in particular the afternoon] the atmosphere in the class, for some, was surprisingly relaxed considering the impending submission[s] in a weeks time. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it shows that students have been making good use of their time planning and are either in front or on schedule.

I am now looking forward to the actual build of the A3 - Back to basics assignment in the New Year; the work that has gone into the A3 project, it would be a great shame not to see the site created and uploaded.

--
Quote of the week

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."- Derek Bok (1930-), Harvard University President

Image Restoration

Before

After

Feedback please everyone... [be nice :-) ]

Thank you in advance

The Sky's the Limit

Hi there everyone,

This is the first of my two banners. I would like to thank everyone who has commented on the banner so far.

However, as this is an evidence based course, I would be very grateful if you could post additional feedback here.

All feedback greatly appreciated.

[19.8k]


P.S.
Once I have a good enough draft of the other banner, I will
upload that one for feedback also.

Introduction

This week has been a very productive one. Aside from the many self-study hours fuelling my attempt to regain the time lost during my referral work, I feel that the ‘college time’ part of this week has gone really well.

Monday

The resubmission feedback was delivered well. It showed us how simple errors can [and do] have a very large impact on our grades. I personally know that the feedback time on Monday has already had an influence on the direction of both the A3 and A4 assignments.

The remainder of Monday was spent working on the content of A3. I feel that for this particular section of the task, it worked well that this was done in class as many of the students were sharing references; strengthening both the groups bond and giving clarity to areas of the assignment.

Tuesday

With the ‘heads up’ before we left on Monday night regarding coloured pencils, we knew we were in for a bit of ‘studio time’ come Tuesday morning.

Sure enough we were welcomed with an other timed challenge [bring it on :-) ]. Today’s challenge was directly related to a one of the sections in A4; the planning and production of two static banner adverts which conform to IAB [Internet Advertising Bureau] standards [26.4].

Not such a problem? We have done this kind of thing before [with the business cards]. Think again. Although this task was similar in that, we had a strict time restriction and a limited amount of canvas in which to produce our designs.

However, working on 5 different images we had to create 2 different sized [sizes were given] static banners to be used on the web. With the motivational encouragement of Steve, we managed to produce 40 rough sketched banners within a very short period. How short? At one point we had to create 4 banner ideas within 1 minute! I was amazed how much can be done in such a short period with the correct coaching.

My sketchbook is beginning to look more like how I would have imagined a designers sketchbook to look! :-)

I do feel however, that this kind of pressure based production would be somewhat difficult to reproduce at home / without the encouragement of someone else.

Although my design skills are not fantastic [and my drawing skills are even worse], I am overall very pleased with the results [see above for an example].

From looking around the class, it was apparent that the majority of the group really enjoyed the task and as a result produced some good quality work.

The support [as mentioned in previous entries] was as apparent as ever again today. Many people took full advantage of other people opinions and altered their designs accordingly.

This week is set to be my most productive yet. Motivation and self esteem is high and for the first time since I started this course I HAVE A WEEK OFF WORK!

I will [as I am sure many others will] be posting my draft banner ideas on DasForum so please please please if you are not already an active member, sign up, log on and lets get some creative feedback and support given to each other.

Great work everyone

--

Thank you

Shaun Bellis

Quote of the week
“Know your limits, but never accept them.” – unknown source

Action Time

The referral work has now been resubmitted and I am feeling quietly confident this time around. The work I have done for A2 has already played a vital part in the development of the second web plan [A3].

Even though my referral work was started on the night that my official feedback was given, I still found myself coffee fuelled and still [only just] awake and working at 4:30am of the morning of re-submission [today]. This is just another late night amongst many recently.

This week has seen a very important lecture surrounding P.A.R.C. [Proximity Alignment Repetition and Contrast] possibly the most important acronym that we will encounter this year; the explanations of which are common sense when you think about it; however, sometimes it takes someone to point it out to you before you implement for the first time.

In addition to the above, we have also had our long awaited presentation feedback. I am very pleased with mine, apart from the occasional time, my stutter did not show through and my presentation [according to all the ticks on the review form] was a success.

We ended the 'in college' week with a progression of our image restoration. After realising that I had set my image to CMYK [Cyan Magenta Yellow and Black] instead of RGB [Red Green and Blue] the restoration process became much easier.

My 'self study' time this week is going to be once again very busy. Being as I am, after reading my assignments over again I feel that there is room for improvement and I fully intend to make full use of the remaining time before submission.

If I am being honest, I am really nervous about getting the result back for the A2 assignment a failure would be devastating for me at this time. Fingers Crossed

However, looking forward, I will concentrate my efforts on the assignments in hand.

We have had our first attempt at a timed project, a business card design. We had 15 minutes design times and 15 publication time; I must admit i thoroughly enjoyed the two tasks.

Although, this is more like the reality of working as a designer [tight time scales] I saw this more as a personal challenge over anything else. Even though the designs I produced still leave a lot to be desired, overall I am very happy with the results. I look forward to more tasks like this in the future.

--
Quote of the week

"You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind." - Source Unknown

Skin Deep

Hi Everyone,

As you are aware us first years are faced with the image restoration project. An obstacle we are all going to have to face is going to be the digital reference for a natural skin tone.

If anyone has any useful links, ideas and / or examples they would like to share can do so here.

Here is a useful link I have found. [I am also going to post a discussion on DasForum]

Let me know what you think...
:D

Practical Magic

Good Points

Once again the practical aspects of this course are beginning to shine through. With this weeks introduction to the third part of the A4 assignment, the image restoration project, my enthusiasm for the course has increased.

Although I have undergone image manipulation in the past, I have never tried to restore a photograph which has been this badly disfigured. Whilst this kind of restoration work isn't exactly ground breaking, the level of personal satisfaction so far is high.

Whilst the lectures are a necessity to our progression to the course, the practical side of things always appears to encapsulate the attention of the class on a much higher level.

Although I wasn't present for the lecture on Monday on the colour wheel, the notes which I borrowed from James Bell proved to be quite comprehensive (thanks James). The colour wheel is something that I had heard of but never really understood until now.

It is now apparent that with each week that passes that the intricacies of the course are unveiled.

I am looking forward to the next two weeks, not only because of the practical work we are currently undergoing but also because of the resubmission of A2. This might sound strange at first, however, I feel that I have a much clearer understanding of what is required to the right side of the marking scheme.

Fingers crossed :-)

Not So Good Points

The exclusion from this Mondays lecture was disappointing. Remaining ever positive, I am sure that this will be the last time that is happens; things like this are not intended as punishment, but as a wake up call.

Aside from the missed lecture, the only real 'not so good point' would have to be the late nights involved in bringing my referral work up to scratch and for the progression of the A3 and A4 assignments. I am sure that they will pay off quite shortly though and I will be back on form.

Targets

• Maintain strong standards with regards time sheets; this includes the comments.
• Continue with referral correction work.
• Further progress the A3 and A4 assignments.
• Read through this weeks lecture notes.

--
Quote of the week
“I said there was but one solitary thing about the past worth remembering and that was the fact that it is past - and can't be restored” (unless its a photograph!) - Mark Twain

Seminar Groups and Pre-submission dates

Ok so no one likes the pre-submission reviews often incurred during seminar groups; however, although the cause of much frustration for myself and my colleagues, I feel that they are a very necessary part of the course; particularly for my circumstances as without these pre-submission dates, I feel that for many people (myself including) the majority of the project work will be carried out in the latter weeks of the project and the quality would suffer as a result.

The toll of having now THREE assignments to complete, I feel, is now catching up on me. The referral work is taking up much more time that I had originally allowed for it. However, because I started this work early, I now have into the second week for corrections.

I can't work out yet if this is because of the referral in the first instance, (and the associated pressures and fears of failure of the first assignment spilling into the present) or the will to succeed that is driving me on? One of my largest fears is “Am I going to be good enough to make the grade for after Christmas.

Who know's... All I can say is that I do worry !!

--

Quote of the week…

“Progress comes from the intelligent use of experience.” - Elbert Hubbard