End of module evaluation

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	04
OUIL406 Visual Communication	Credits	20
End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME	ISAAC SMITH

1.  What have you learn about visual communication during this module and how effectively do you think you have applied these ideas?
I have gained a great respect for the craft of animation as I never fully appreciated the care and time and patience that has to be invested into it to make it successful. I spent a lot of time working on my gifs as I largely enjoy the animation process, and I wanted to step away from ways of working that Im used to for this module. Similarly, I have gained a better knowledge of programs like photoshop and illustrator and how they can enhance work, and also where they have limitations. I have enjoyed working digitally in this module and it is a method I will be carrying on using into the future.
2. What approaches to/ methods of image making have you developed and how have they informed your concept development process?
The main methods I have utilised during this module have been digital, primarily advancing my skills with Photoshop and developing my use of Illustrator. I have had to be more conscious of final outcome requirements and restrictions, concerning aspects like measurements and vectors. I think I’ve worked quite well inside these parameters to make work that fits the briefs but also keeps true to the ideas I want to express through my work.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I am quite happy with my reflection throughout this brief on my blog as I feel it, coupled with crits and feedback has allowed me to become more confident in both my idea generation and visualisation in general. I’m also  happy with the ideas based pieces Ive made, namely my vectors as they are all quite conceptual and don’t rely on character design, as a lot of my work has done in the past.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
Because I’ve been digitally focused for the entirety of this module I haven’t really utilised many analogue methods in my development, and that is something I definitely feel I could improve in the future. I think I need to manage time better and give myself time to experiment with a lot of different methods before moving forward with my ideas.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
I will use a greater range of methods next time to further my idea generation and come up with stronger concepts before moving forward with any ideas. I will manage time better in the future as I have been ill for a few weeks and it has interrupted the flow of some of my ideas, so in the future I will make sure to be a lot more consistent in my sketchbook as well as on my blog. I will seek out more advice throughout modules in the future to get other peoples opinions as I go along and better my ideas as I go, as I feel that hearing outside viewpoints on what I am doing to be really helpful generally. I will keep trying to look at ideas from a more simplistic style of working rather than relying on lots of detail or linework to try and make an image look good. I think that if I focus more on process fuelled by ideas alongside ideas fuelled by project I will be able to make a wider variety of work. I will try to blog more consistently throughout the briefs as I feel that I still aren’t documenting all my thoughts on my blog as I don’t fully evaluate each page of my work, as I feel I will have to start doing in the future.
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Attendance			x
Punctuality			x
Motivation				x
Commitment				x
Quantity of work produced				x
Quality of work produced				x
Contribution to the group			x
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self-evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

Final Stamps

Final Tesla Circus Poster

I'm happy with the layout of my final poster as I wanted to play with composition in a way I haven't really considered before, combining text and block shapes of colour with vignettes. I enjoy this way of composing as it is a departure from my usual character driven work. My disturbingly extensive knowledge of comic book covers has also played a part in influencing my thinking for this poster, as they have to be dynamic and eye catching but also must include certain information and encapsulate a message and can't just be a frame from the inside of the comic with the words "Iron Man" or whoever plastered over it. I tried to consider the use of space and distance between objects in the frame to create something that keeps the attention, as my poster is based on old flamboyant circus posters. 

In the future I'd like to experiment with an analogue media on this larger scale, as I aren't used to working on A2 and I feel that I could have made something very different by using paint or ink. However I felt that for this poster a dynamic graphic colour was needed. I definitely intend to explore large formats in different ways over the next few weeks, as I aren't very experienced with large scale work and I want to improve. 

Postcard Final Designs

For the final designs for my postcards I kept with the idea of late 19th century showmanship concerning scientific discovery and accomplishment. Unlike my poster where I focused on Tesla's predictions that aren't a reality, I chose to visualise the things that Tesla actually correctly foresaw.
 As humour is usually an element I enjoy playing with in my work I thought that expressing these normal modern ideas as great wonders of the future would be interesting. Every generation always assumes it is at the peak of human development (which is why a hundred years ago everyone thought everything the human race would ever need had already been invented), so I wanted to look outside this frame of thinking, as Tesla did, and appreciate that we are somewhat arrogant for thinking that we in the here and now know best when we have no idea what the future holds. Also I think it's just funny to see hyperbolic advertisements for things that we all take for granted and often don't even notice, but are instrumental to our progression as people, like moving image and the Internet. 

To keep with the theme of these postcards being advertisements, I kept the Tesla logo consistent across all three postcards. I also wanted to visualise Tesla himself as a ringmaster, as that's how a lot of people perceived him in his time, as he was suggesting ideas that sound normal to us but sounded ridiculous then. When asked about his strange predictions and comparison to other more profitable scientists such as Edison, he was quoted as saying "The present is theirs, the future is mine.". While he never really got any personal reward or recognition in his life for his contribution to science and his technological predictions, he was right about most of the things he said and his ideas of wireless energy, a cloud of data storage that spans the globe, and portable devices that would allow us to converse with anyone anywhere at any time have become a staple of our society. The aim of my postcards is to appreciate the distance between his audience in life and his audience now, and how what one generation dismisses as impossible, a future one will eventually dismiss as taken for granted. 

A2 Poster before colour

My final choice for the A2 poster is focused around Tesla's ideas that didn't take off, or haven't taken off yet in modern society (robots is basically confirmed but beetle power is surely dead in the water). I simplified each concept down into a vignette, as I have enjoyed working with seperate smaller images that come together to form a cohesive piece.
I also have chosen to use these vignettes as my stamps once they are coloured, with added text, as I feel they work independently and together. I was planning on colouring this using paint or pencil to evoke the vintage tone that has inspired a deal of my development, but the size of the poster means it just looks uneven and messy, so I will be colouring this one digitally and sticking to analogue for the smaller postcards where it's more appropriate.

Beetle Power - Best Idea Ever or Absolute Worst

Today I revisited the podcast from which my favourite Tesla fact comes from, the episode of a show called Shut Up A Second titled "Bugs". Prior to starting this brief I learned on this podcast that as a child Tesla had envisioned plans for beetle powered electricity, using them as drivers for cogs similar to hamsters in wheels (that is mainly in cartoons I know but the principle is the same). He had this idea for a couple of weeks until he showed one of his fathers friends children, who immediately sat down next to Tesla's prototype and ate all the beetles he saw inside it. Aside from being hilarious, this anecdote is basically the core of what I want to explore about Tesla through my poster - that while being a genius, some of his ideas were really out there.

Some quick responses to a possible bug powered future.

Visual research into Coraline bug concepts based on feedback and suggestions from the Easter Crit


Coraline Bug Room Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JdZXhLTw4I
The quality on this video isn't great but this scene from Coraline is very visually compelling to me, as it is beautiful and eerie at the same time, because nothing in the background stays completely still, everything is shifting and clicking and twitching gently. I think if today's electricity was powered by bugs as young Tesla intended, it would be a variation on this scene. Or at least I'd hope so.