FINAL MAJOR PROJECT EVALUATION

My final outcomes include: promotional concepts for a film: ‘Squid Grip City’ in the form of posters, trailer/ storyboard illustrations and related merchandise (top trumps and postcards). The final outcome was different to what I originally planned, except for the poster. I quickly realised that my initial plan to create a whole comic was not going to be achievable within the timeframe set and I wanted to create different types of merchandise rather than just one. I am pleased with how it progressed; the idea of doing a wider range of experiments and creations made the project more exciting and gave me greater freedom to experiment.

I have used multiple methods to show how learning has affected my project; for my final major project blog, I have entered my actions and progress at least 3 times a week for every individual week of the 7 weeks the project spanned. This regular diary-like evaluation of what I had achieved at every small stage in the project really helped me to notice what was working and what was achievable. It was also helpful in how alongside the FMP plan it made me constantly realise that I was working to weekly deadlines; I often would record daily/ weekly targets that I would set myself on the blog. I found the FMP plan useful in that it gave me specific targets and dates to achieve them and if I missed a deadline I knew I was working too slowly. As I learnt and progressed, my initial plan developed. My sketchbooks portray a much more visual representation of how my project developed; my sketchbook shows the process of experimentation, research and reference points that helped me improve my ideas. This aspect of working allows you a freedom and a carelessness that births potential for the creation of the unknown and allows for the unexpected to arise and this can be great if searching for a breakthrough in your project.

I met the main target of creating a poster for the ‘Squid Grip City’ film and I also met the early 2 week targets of research through gallery and comic shop visits alongside the experimentation when doing character design. I met these targets exactly at the time I set myself to achieve them. However my FMP plan targets to complete a full illustrated comic and a stop motion basically transformed into new targets. I essentially replaced these targets with better ones that helped me to get a more rounded project which was definitively achievable within the 7 week time frame set. My final product targets show a wide range of graphical skills which are consistent to my project so I feel that they are successful replacements of my earlier targets.

For the first two weeks of the project I succeeded in researching heavily, visiting exhibitions and comic book shops and experimenting with character design. In week 3 I had just come back from Los Angeles and had been inspired heavily by all I had seen and I had been given a fresh perspective on life and my project in general. This set off a spark inside me which helped me define my project direction. I realised and accepted that a whole comic wasn’t going to be the most rounded project so moved on thinking of new ways to go about illustration and a storyboard seemed like a good idea. So from week 3 onwards I started to draw up a storyboard of key scenes. I was sure that I wanted to use black and white illustrations which I would use for one of my final outcomes. Nearer the end of the project, I started to introduce some colour helped by watching adobe Photoshop tutorials online. I learnt how to use the marquise and gradient tools to my advantage and added a completely new element to my work. In general my self-taught Photoshop and sketching skills have improved immensely during these 7 weeks and as they have developed so have my ideas because these new skills have opened up new doors and possibilities which help create greater final outcomes.

I received a lot of feedback about my project, some more helpful and some not so. In the earlier weeks the feedback was mainly helping me to explore ideas surrounding the topic of comics and to try and help me identify in which direction to take my project. Tutorials were always good because they allowed you to compare progress with peers and would often inspire me to look at areas in which I hadn’t previously thought about. Feedback on my sketchbook stated that I needed to document more experimentation and research; for example evidence of visiting exhibitions and comic book shops. Feedback suggested that I explore another area of graphics whether that be merchandise or motion graphics with sound. I appreciated and took on board all advice; this helped me to strengthen my process. I would’ve liked to incorporate some motion graphics for example a film trailer would’ve been a great addition but this would’ve been at the expense of other work. Based on blog feedback I edited my blog posts to introduce more imagery alongside the daily evaluations. Overall the feedback experience was positive and definitely helped me learn and guide me towards enhancing my project to the next level.

This final major project has prepared me for the realities of the demands of a degree course. Hopefully I will be more experienced and know how to approach a brief in a more focused and efficient manor allowing me to achieve better results in the timeframe set. Next time I will know to appreciate how precious the time frame is and how important meeting deadlines whilst still challenging myself to produce ground breaking work. In general, time management is probably a big factor that I need to improve on. I am good at working hard and efficiently as I have shown in this final project but if I had realised exactly what I wanted to do earlier much more could’ve been possible. In general all my graphic design and illustration skills have developed but more specifically I would have to say that my pen drawing and adobe Photoshop skills have excelled over the duration of this project. These skills are incredibly useful my future work. There is still a lot to learn but to continue to boost these skills is vital in the long term and the sky is the limit so I need to keep challenging myself. Next year I will be studying graphic design/ illustration at ‘Central Saint Martins’ so I aim to use all that I have learnt on this foundation course and apply it to all future projects at CSM. I would also love to come back to finishing or simply exploring ‘Squid Grip City’ further over the summer and into next year.

CHC