overall evaluation

Throughout the first brief I learnt a lot about subjectivity and objectivity within graphic design. Previously it hadn’t been something I had looked at or paid attention to, it was always something done subconsciously. However, now I have done more research into it I see that graphic design can be both subjective and objective dependent on the brief. Some briefs require us to follow rules and guidelines for example if we were designing a wayfinding system which featured an emergency exit. The emergency exit would have to be clear and readable by everyone so that evacuation could proceed without any slip ups therefore would have to follow certain guidelines. This would be objective. On the other hand, something that allows us to have more freedom and allows us to add our own creative flair would be subjective as it has been manipulated by our own feelings and opinions. I also learn a lot about wayfinding in this brief and realised how oblivious to how much effort goes into creating a wayfinding system I had been. There are lots of little elements to consider such as the location, the colours, the legibility, the typeface and much more. I also found it interesting to find out that wayfinding systems aren’t placed at eyelevel because in busy places they need to be seen easily therefore they are placed above head height so that there are no obstructions. This is something I will always remember and store in my memory for future reference. However, as my wayfinding system was more of a novelty and was designed to be interactive, I placed it lower.

As for the second brief I enjoyed the fact it was concentrated onto a single object, in my case a cassette tape, I liked taking quite a basic item and trying to make it engaging. The list of task we had to do in relation to the object helped bring out all the possibilities that this one object could give. As all of the tasks varied from taking photos to working on excel it made enjoyable and different to the work done previously for wayfinding. I think both briefs have helped me become more experimental, the study tasks have taught me ways of producing lots of quick outcomes which I will definitely do more of in the future. For the second brief I enjoyed looking at layout and creating something which wasn’t only going to be on screen but something that was transformed into a physical product. I think this is something I will bare in mind for the future, creating actual printed publications, and not just designing for screen, when possible. I think it adds more of a challenge because you have to account for colours changing and add in bleed marks before printing which  will benefit my future design process. If I ever had to make a digital copy of something that was then going to go into production, I would know what things to take into consideration and have a better understanding of this process.