Assignment 2 relates to Part 2 of the module which was geared at learning how to develop ideas from a brief to a finished illustration. I think this was definitely a learning curve for me. Even from Assignment 1 I knew that I was getting stuck sometimes in terms of developing an idea, experimenting and allowing my style and drawing to loosen up. I think this comes from being too worried about the final product and getting things right rather than letting myself go through the creative process. However, all the exercises really served their purpose and I got some really good and encouraging feedback from my tutor where I managed to let the creativity flow! It was pointed out though that sometimes I am not taking enough risk or experimenting enough either and I recognise that. Though now that I am more confident with the development process, I hope I can achieve this moving forward. What will help is to continue doing mark-making exercises to experiment and which I also enjoyed a lot as one of the exercises for Part 2 and which actually helped me to pick different media when doing the other exercises.
I also need to get more creative with my idea generation and make better use of the student website and other resources. I may also have taken some of the instructions too literally – e.g. for the final assignment, I spent so much time getting the illustration and images right and since it didn’t say anywhere that I had to accompany these with text, I simply didn’t include it. Now I realise that I could have really provided ideas of how my illustrations could have been used for point of sale and packaging including using text.
I also think I am still challenged with time due to my job for which I write, analyse and organise a lot. This also means I am often at my desk and then having to continue to be for my research and practice for this course. This was probably quite confounded by the COVID-19 lockdown which technically did give me more time but I struggled to focus or was quite tired after work and really needed to get out the house and not be at a desk. However, despite me delaying my hand in deadlines, I also did manage to bring back pace and rhythm to my work that I hope to maintain more as I progress.
I really also enjoyed trying to use digital softwares and now have a bit of a better grasp of using InDesign and Photoshop though I am still far off being a pro! I signed up to a free tester course on graphic design which was really useful and have been googling tutorials when I get stuck on how to do something specific. There is a lot online that can help so I want to continue to tap into this. I have even used InDesign to create a graph and a brochure for work. See these below and note that the brochure is still under development. My graph even got published in an official United Nations report on migration and COVID-19 (where I used official icons and logos of the Sustainable Development Goals which were not designed by me).
It’s also very clear that where I have had the best results, it is also related to how much I enjoy the exercise or where I had a clear idea on how to move forward and go through the process. I will need to get better at being comfortable in areas or exercises I am less sure of or unclear about which might also help get more creative and experiment more.
Based on Assignment 1 feedback, I also have made sure to reference things more and have made more effort on research and analysis in general and gotten better at also scribbling ideas and things into my sketchbooks
Overall I have plenty of areas to build on and improve but my tutor has also recognised my skills and progress and I am really encouraged by all the additional ideas and suggestions where I can improve this work for submission and continue to get better.
Jo's Illustration Learning Blog 