Production: Part 5 - Ex 5 Reflective practice

 Reflecting on the projects, exercise and assignments throughout this unit I found some to be enjoyable.

Do you enjoy the creative freedom of working with your own text and images from scratch, or do you prefer working with text and images provided to you?

I do enjoy the creative freedom to an extent when using images and text from scratch because theres no limitations so to speak and I can take something and make it whatever I like. However, when things like a brief and theme are provided I tend to do better because there is more direction. While it's not good if a task has strict expectations as long as the brief is somewhat open for interpretation whilst not being too vague then the process is very enjoyable. So to sum up, I enjoy working with a brief that sets a theme and background. But I dont like when something is to strict.

 Do you prefer working in a hands-on way, physically manipulating paper and materials, or do you prefer working digitally, laying out the pages and page elements on screen? Which subjects covered in this unit have intrested and engaged you?

I think I prefer working hands-on and manipulating the pages physically because I can see everything in front of me. I do think theres benefits to working digitially because of the tools and easy ways to change and move things but I think organizing pages and their contents physically makes it a lot clearer like i have more control of the process. Digital comes in handy when I've exhausted my options manipulating paper and materials physcially and after finalizing an idea I can create it on a screen where I can just perfect and make somehting mroe professional and cleaner.

 

 Below are some pointers of what has been covered in this unit, as a reminder.
They are very broad areas, so as you’re reading through the list, reflect upon the
more extensive content of each. Consider what aspects you enjoyed the most
(and the least!) and make notes in your learning log.
 

Contextualisation:​ Researching designs and designers

 This has been the least favourite part of the unit, as I find research all the helpful and sometimes necessary quite tedious and boring at times. I prefer to get stuck in creating rather than reading and relaying information, some element’s intrigue me like the unique designs of other artist’s and intricate work but only from a Visual perspective. The backgrounds and great amount of writing that goes a long with learning about a designer or the idea behind a piece of work never really something I focus on. I’m not so good with words an expression so the parts where analysis an writing about a designer or design is asked of me I struggle a lose interest rather fast. If there is something that really catches my eye however then I can talk about it a bit more fluidly but summarising someone’s whole portfolio of work sometimes is a bit to much to have to explain.

Typography:​ Principles and experimentation

Now while typography has never been a big part of my art, I have learned a lot  from this unit. I’ve never been interested in typography as a design tool in general. It’s usually one of the last thoughts in most of my work. However   creating the good and bad Typography booklets was actually really fun and I learnt a lot. I enjoyed organising playing and manipulating the text on the pages as well as the backgrounds and using colours and shadows to help the typography stand out but still giving the relevant information. The booklets are quite loud to look at and knowledge within them I will use for the rest of my studies when typography is included.

 Colour:​ Colour management and working with images

Using colour and images I find Make or Break a design. Learning what colours work together and don’t is a key for design, colours need to complement the image and or text on the page and I think I’ve achieved this quite well throughout the unit. I’ve enjoyed the manipulation of images and layouts for certain task like the concrete poetry exercise ‘tango with cows’ which had me experimenting with the text mediums and the paper samples to create a narrative. Colour was a big part of this exercise as it symbolised a communicated certain words and lines the in the poem.

 Paper:​ Properties and qualities I’ve had a lot more exposure to the use and history of papers throughout this unit. Receiving paper samples from companies and collecting my own samples that has it had different treatments I have compared the qualities in thickness, printing capability, textures and so on which is quite interesting. The only thing about this subject that has be quite a struggle is the lack of access to a good printer for most of the paper exercises, I can’t seem to get my work done to the standard I’m aiming for, the ink too has been expensive to replace but I think I have done the best I can up to now regardless.

 Printing and bookbinding: ​Processes – traditional, digital

 Working both digitally and traditionally has given me different perspectives when designing a book. Traditionally planning is a lot easier and straightforward as I’ve said in a previous part everything is in front of you an using a pen or a pencil is a lot more efficient when experimenting through sketching, writing pointers or circling parts of a design you wish to change. Flat plans and mock ups can be quick and rough while still setting the foundations. Whereas the process digitally is a lot more precise and when the ideas have been finalised last minute changes can be added such is the colour layout image composition. Drawing digitally can be a lot more refined and perfect as well as there is a vast amount of typography, options and tools to work with which is especially important when there are measurement and size guidelines to follow in order to create a working and correct looking book. 

 I think moving forward I would like to explore the process of phsyically using paper and the construction of books such as the 'altered books' exercise or a pop up book. I'd like to look into the paper mechanics and how I can use materials to make just more than 2d creations, soemthing that can be interactive with, have multiple layers and have some weight to it. Book binding I will include in this search as the two go hand in hand with the overall strength and structure of a book.