Summative Evaluation

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? I have learnt how to use drawing as a tool for understanding a topic and forming an opinion on it. The drawing as thinking sketchbook task made me see drawing in a different way, less about its appearance and more about the concept behind it and different thoughts that come into your head as you are exploring a topic. At first I didn't understand how this was going to help at all but I think this sketchbook was really important for me to clarify to myself my own opinions and how I was going to progress with the information I had. I had never heard of a Pecha Kucha presentation before, let alone prepared one. I felt that my script was concise in getting across what I was trying to say which was a bit difficult as I am not used to writing in such short sections. It was a challenge for me to be clear in what I was trying to say but still only spend around twenty seconds speaking about each slide.
2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your practical outcomes?
Most of my research for the draft of my essay was from books, articles and webpages which wasn't a very broad range of information. I struggled with the idea of writing a ‘university standard’ essay because I didn't really know how this was meant to be, the same went for references because I wasn't sure whether the information I was looking at was academic enough to be referenced. When I made improvements to my essay, I used some quotes from the big heads sessions which made me more interested in my research because it was more than just reading from a page. During my further research for my visual diagram, I spent more time reading articles online and a few newspaper articles which were slightly less formal than what I had been reading before. Some of these included personal experiences of the isolation and loneliness involved with freelancing which gave me a much more human viewpoint of the topic, I think this influenced the way I decided to tackle this topic in my visual diagram. After reading these more personal accounts, I realised that the topic needed to be handled respectfully but with a bit of a twist so that the atmosphere wasn't totally downbeat, this is how I came up with the more humorous approach to getting across the information.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I think I managed to get across my opinion in my work and used my references mainly to support this. My opinion was that freelancers need to do their best to avoid isolation in their situation which I am sure became clear in the visual response part of this module. When it came to writing my essay, I managed my time a lot better when writing up the final thing after the draft had been submitted. In preparation for the draft, I was guilty of leaving the written tasks to the last minute because they are the ones I enjoy the least but I didn’t want the stress of a last minute essay for this entire module. After receiving feedback on my draft, I set aside some time in the Easter break to improve my essay, continue with my research and develop my Pecha Kucha presentation which meant that I had more time to develop my visual diagram after the break was over. Next year I will stay on top of written tasks throughout the whole year to avoid unnecessary stress.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
I attended all of the lectures and took notes from them but I don’t feel like they were relevant to the context of practice module. I’m not sure if I needed to make them relevant through further research or incorporating them into my essay but I feel like I attended the lectures, typed up the notes and then just forgot about them when I may have been able to use the information more constructively. I am not entirely happy with my final visual diagram, especially now it is printed I keep noticing things that I could have spent a bit more time on. I am still not sure whether it actually functions as a diagram because I don’t think the information has been arranged with enough thought going into it. I understand that the main point of the diagram was the concept behind it and the research gone in to it but I can’t help but pick apart its overall appearance now that it is complete. A big weakness of mine from this module was staying motivated. I think this was due to the topic of my essay being carried through from the very beginning to the very end of the year. The research aspect became less and less interesting. Especially after the essay was finished and I felt like I has exhausted the topic, I found it hard to stay motivated to research further into the same topic for the visual diagram. 5. Identify five things that you feel will benefit you during next years Context of Practice module? Getting my research from a wider range of sources. This will help me to broaden the pool of information I am basing an essay on, it may also help me come across more controversial and opposing opinions if start to look deeper for more interesting sources. Choosing a topic irrelevant to illustration. When it came to the second part of this module where it became more image based, I found myself going in circles doing illustrations about illustration and felt like I couldn't expand out of this. I think next year I will choose a topic that will be more interesting to illustrate and improve my knowledge about something totally different. Referencing as I go for all information. I was quite good at doing this but there were a few pieces of information I found online that I hasn't taken note of a web address for and therefore had to struggle to locate it again. I’ve realised it just takes up unnecessary amounts of time and it would be quicker to reference everything as I go, even if I’m not sure if I will be using that information yet because it would be ready to add into my essay if I do need it. Keep my notes organised. Keeping everything for this module in one folder would be useful because it saves having to look amongst all my work from this course for pieces of paper or drawings from weeks ago that I misplaced. Become passionate about my chosen topic. Although my topic this year is relevant to me as an illustration student, I don’t think I got particularly ‘involved’ with the subject. I am hoping that next year, I will choose a topic that I will become passionate about and enjoy researching it in a lot of depth.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance					X
Punctuality					X
Motivation		X
Commitment			X
Quantity of work produced			X
Quality of work produced			X
Contribution to the group			X

Making of Visual Diagram

Placing of images

I scanned in all of my images and arranged them using Pages on my Macbook so I could get an idea of layout before using Photoshop in the studio. I will need to re-scan all of my drawings at a higher resolution because they are drawn quite small but I don't want them to be blurry when they're blown up to A2 size. 

Plan for arranging text 

Obviously this is just a vague idea of how I will fit the text around my images, I need to finalise what I am actually going to write and I will adjust this layout according to how big the chunks of text are. 

Final visual diagram

I used the brusho samples I produced for the the background textures and then I played around with the hue and saturation to get the complimentary blue and orange. Arranging the text was challenging because everything was at a jaunty angle to fit it inside the constraints of the shell shape. I think it helps make it look more chaotic and stressful which goes with the idea of how working alone can make you more agitated and less relaxed. 

Evaluation of Visual Diagram

I think the main strength of this visual diagram is the metaphor of the hermit which runs through the whole thing. It makes the images really relevant to the topic and makes everything feel like it is working together to make this point. I like the textures I have used - this is the first time I have used brusho in a final piece of work and I wasn't sure how it would work out on such a large scale but I think it is effecting in making the overall aesthetic of the diagram a but more sensitive. 

There is a lot of text on this poster and I think I could have done a better job at arranging this in a more easily readable way. I didn't put much consideration into the order I wanted things to be read in and I think this has shown in the overall business of the page. I think I could have also considered use of language better and spent more time on perfecting the wording of the text. 

 I also think the subheadings could have been stronger so they stand out more and grab your attention as key points. I have been confused throughout the whole making process of this diagram as to what actually classes as a diagram. I am still not sure whether this does or not but I think it is effective in making the point I want to make and maybe that's all there is to it. I thought it may have made my information more connected if I had added branches from certain points with hard facts and statistics but then again, this may have detracted from the humour of the diagram. 

Visual Diagram Development

Main points

Get feedback.

Talk face to face.

Avoid workaholism. 

Don't be a hermit. 

Learn new things. 

Divide your work/home life. 

Started planning what it could look like based around the idea of a shell but before continuing with roughs for my layout, I researched some shells and did some drawings from them.

These are my further developed ideas for the layout of my visual diagram. I like how there is a clear start and end to the diagram with the title in the top left and the image of the hermit in the bottom right. The rest of the information floats around the centre. 

Ideas for drawings that will fit with my text, illustrating the main points mentioned above. I will draw my best ideas out again and will scan them in to add them to my visual diagram on Photoshop. I am trying to keep my drawings simple so I stay on track with the meaning behind them and don't get too caught up with overcomplicating the imagery. 

I did a few media tests and found that I really liked brush. I think the speckled effect it gives in some of these samples would be appropriate to show the surface texture and pattern of a shell or the hermit crab itself. 

Rough draft

Visual Diagram Planning - Feedback from Richard

• The idea of using scarcest could be funny if written well and as long as its clear its making a joke. 
• 'A diagram of a creative hermit' is a good title to go with. 
• Think about how to make this visual and not just a list of information.
• Ideas for imagery and metaphors: hermit crabs, shells, shell spirals...

It was good to get some feedback on my ideas so far and I feel more confident with progressing with the idea of a creative hermit now. I had said in my Pecha Kucha that I wanted to base the diagram about all professions who work from home but now, I think it is best to keep it more specific so that the texts stays more relevant to a smaller group of people rather than vaguely relevant to a large group of people.