OUIL501 end of module evaluation

Context of Practice End of Module Evaluation 

Similarly to last year, I was very apprehensive about COP as a module as I struggle with writing. To make sure I did not leave the essay till last minute I made sure to start straight away and had weekly sessions with my DSA tutor. These sessions have been really helpful, giving me the much-needed confidence in my own writing. They have made the thought of a 3000 word essay less daunting, due to the weekly workload set, allowing my essay to slowly but surely come together over a long period of time. 

At the beginning of the year I was really unsure about what type of subject I wanted to look into, I worried I would make the wrong decisions on a essay question and loose interest/momentum with it.

Though I was not set on the question I chose to research into homelessness, luckily I was aware of a project-taking place at ST George’s crypt (a homeless shelter) so I decided to take part, which allowed me to visit the crypt every Wednesday. This was a great opportunity for me to gain primary research into my subject. Though having to be involved in a separate project was very time-consuming and sometimes irrelevant to my COP study, the opportunity to experience the environment of the crypt and interact with the people made me more passionate about my project, which I feel has really helped the development of my essay and practical work. 

it has definitely opened my eyes and changed my opinions towards stereotyping homeless people, and how easy it can be for any of us to end up in such a desperate situation.

 At times I found this project quite challenging and intrusive when interviewing the users of the crypt.

my initial idea was to create 8 illustrations of 8 different homeless people i interviewed at the crypt, however after talking to tutors and thinking realistically, i decided to focus on one person. i felt that if i tried to illustrated 8 peoples stories the concept would not be as focused  and the final resolutions may not create a strong enough individual connection to someone’s personal life and therefore my piece wouldn't be as empathetic. i found by focusing on the one person, i was able to really explore them as a person, which made it easier for me to try and illustrate there life with sensitivity and justice. 

 To adhere to the brief, i had to then think about how to visually communicate the persons (Tony's) in the format of an 8-12 publication. However after discussing with Eleanor she reassured me that the work I was creating and then laying up into the one portrait collage image substitutes for the amount of work asked for from 8-12 publications. 

I have definitely learnt the importance of primary research in this project, i feel the work I have produced from the case studies have much more of a personal, sensitive aspect to them due to my aspiration to communicate the person/people I met and do them justice in what I create. 

I feel I have began to envisage my work with context and publication in mind in this module, thinking about where the illustrations would go and how and it would be seen as this is something I have had to be aware of in other modules. I think this has helped me develop and push my ideas further, such as considering how the audience will interact and understand my idea by experimenting with creating a jigsaw from the collage illustration.

To communicate the homeless persons life journey in images I decided to use a collage method, layering up individual illustrations on Photoshop creating one image of he’s story. This allowed me to really focus on one image at a time adding the pencil details I wanted to produce intricate pieces, helping connote my concept and the sensitivity of someone’s individual life. 

 Though I have primarily created my piece by hand, I have had to tackle working with Photoshop to collage the illustrations together, which has been challenging. However I feel this is something I needed to do to improve my skills as I believe digitally editing can really increase the professionalism of someone’s work. 

When drawing the portrait of Tony (homeless man) I started off with the multiple fine liner drawing which I have been developing in previous projects I thought this would be a ideal technique to illustrate and strengthen my concept as the multiple lines looked like the grains of a tree, a visual metaphor for the many different journeys in life.  However I found this made the portrait to bold, so I decided to draw in pencil as I felt this gave the more gentle effect I was after. 

With the jigsaw idea, I have had to consider text to replicate instructions given in a commercial puzzle, I wanting to make the context of the jigsaw as realistic and professional as possible so research a variety of game instructions for inspiration of layout. When experimenting with font and layout in previous projects, I have found this very difficult to get right, as can alter the whole tone of a publication, after testing myself; I ask my flat-mate (graphic design student) for advice. He helped me with the composition and font of the instructions pages improving the continuity of the tone of voice, creating a strong recognition. 

After spending a long time on the development and refining my illustrations, I feel the printing and presenting of my work could be better. I need to spend more time thinking about what paper and what size paper to print on, as I feel this has slightly lessened the impact of the illustration/s from not experimenting with this. 

Basing my illustration around the information and interview material I used in the essay I feel my practical work represents my theory well. Because I decided on an idea early on, I found it more straightforward and clearer to link the two together as I was working on both at the same time.