At the beginning of the module I was very set on the majority of my briefs being packaging as this is the career path I wanted to go down. However as time progressed and I began working on the briefs I discovered that packaging was only one of the areas that I was really interested in. I began thinking more and more about how the products would be sold or promoted, and this led me to extend the projects by considering brand image, advertisements and branding.
My plans and briefs have constantly changed over the year as I have developed and reflected on what skills I will need for industry. I really wanted to use the Extended Practice module as a way of preparing myself for the real world of design whilst simultaneously creating a strong portfolio of work I am proud of. I chose different types of briefs - competition, live/client based, self initiated and collaborative as they all taught me different things. Working collaboratively taught me a lot about negotiation and idea generation, it also showed me how much work could be produced in shorter time frames when working as a team. Live briefs were really useful as it was great experience at dealing with clients appropriately, it also taught me about sending work and clearly presenting my ideas. Competition briefs were also great because I enjoyed having to think of creative and innovative solutions to the brief whilst working within guidelines. Self initiated briefs were probably my favourite because I could choose whatever I wanted it to be, this meant that I picked projects that I had a genuine interest in and I enjoyed the challenge of having to create a brief and set myself restrictions to work within. The briefs had varying overlapping time frames so that it would be more reflective of industry; some projects lasted months whilst others would just be a few days.
This module has really developed my thinking process and how I approach briefs. I have noticed that I now think about things on a much more conceptual level opposed to just going with the first obvious design. I feel confident taking on any brief, unlike before, because I now have a clear design process and stages I go through to generate an idea and create an outcome. I have come to appreciate how useful visual and contextual research is before beginning a project and how important research is throughout the brief. I have also realised the importance of experimenting with different ideas and sketching things out on paper before working digitally as this has really improved my design process.
The other noticeable difference is that I have grown in independence and in confidence. This module has really cemented what areas of design interest me and allowed me to explore them in great depth. It has given me a clear idea where I want to go in the future and what sort of design I want to create. I feel more confident presenting my ideas and speaking about my work with passion and enthusiasm.
My time management throughout this module has been meticulous and organised so that I could get the most out of my time. I was wary that I was going to be out of education pretty soon so I really wanted to use my time wisely to prepare my self best I can for industry. I have shocked myself with the amount of good quality work I can produce in what feels like no time at all.
Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed this module, I have learnt so much from all of the briefs and I have come out of it with a portfolio I am proud of and I feel confident talking about. Being in charge of the year myself and choosing what briefs I do meant that I really considered every decision I made because I didn’t want to do things aimlessly or without purpose, nor did I want to take part in briefs that wouldn’t help my progression.
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