EVALUATION - Design Context

Towards the end of the year, I have felt much more confident in my design, in terms of my abilities but also in terms of the direction that I see my practice going in. It has only been recently that I have become much more influenced by blogs such as Studio DIY, Oh So Beautiful Paper and The Sweetest occasion, who explore personalised stationery and crafting, which had a direct influence on my branding and identity. I started to use Pinterest regularly to document my recent influences and aspirations, splitting these into different boards. This then formed the basis of my publication, giving me the titles to each section in my book – things I love, print and pattern, gifts and greetings, packaging and context of practice. Evidently, this publication does not feature design that is completely new to me; there is evidence of strong influence throughout, showing the love I have always had for packaging and print.

I wanted the content to be well organised, manageable and informed and therefore chose an A5 format that could be transported and used as a point of reference. I sent them away to print so that I had something that was professional and high quality, as this is something that I will want to keep as a log of all of my influences. I chose to get it perfect bound also, as this was the most appropriate time of binding for the number of pages included within the publication.

In terms of written content, I have made sure that each section is thoroughly explained and evaluated in terms of how my practice can be seen throughout, and why I have chose to include that particular area of design. I also included other appropriate content, such as interviews with designers themselves, as this gave a great insight into their working mind, offering tips and advise for graduates and those wishing to head in a similar direction. This was something that was really useful, as it instilled confidence and allowed me to gain a better vision of my future.

In terms of weaknesses, I would have liked to have made the format more appropriate to my design practice. For example, I could have created some packaging for the book. I had also originally hoped to have each heading as a separate book, allowing me to produce a consistent range, bringing them all together as though it was part of a stationery or gifts and greetings range. However, this wasn’t feasible, as I wanted to get the books printed professionally, which is costly. In addition to this, there are also a few images, which haven’t come out perfect quality, which is a shame. I had initially printed a mock up that allowed me to see if there was any pixelating, resolving this issue, however some images are still not as sharp as they could have been.

I now feel much more confident in terms of my practice and the type of studios I want to direct my attention towards. I want to improve my skills in terms of hand lettering and calligraphy, exploring stocks, materials and processes, in order to become much more accustomed to studios that work with personalised stationery and greetings ranges.