~ Statement of intent - review ~

Extended practice – Statement of intent – the review – Written at the end of level 6

This is a reflective statement reviewing my initial statement of intent – and how successfully I stuck to the points made.

Point 1 – Themes – My initial plan was to take on a lot of social issue/political based briefs this year. Unfortunately, I took on a lot of live briefs that took priority over more self-lead contextual briefs. However, I did engage with an exhibition branding brief that had contextual background regarding feminism and providing refuge for women. This demonstrates my interest in this area within my portfolio and was really rewarding to take part in. Engagement with social issues within context of practice also provided me with a much needed cultural hit.

Point 2 – Research process – I have been really successful this year in engaging with contextual research more than in previous years. Focusing on theoretical and contextual references to inform my designs, rather than visual inspiration, has allowed me to develop my own style. I’ve freed myself of labelling my style (modernist, post-modern, illustrative) and instead allowed context to drive the direction of each concept.

Point 3 – Documentation – In previous years I had the tendency to write a ridiculous amount of content within blog posts to the point it became more confusing than helpful. This year I’ve used my blog as a tool to record key points and notes. I have then used this to refer back to when creating concepts and design experiments. This has ensured my design decisions are informed and developed before any designing has actually taken place.

Point 4 – Visual quality – This year the visual quality of my work has vastly improved. This is due to my engagement with interesting briefs, new research methods, concise documentation and allowing myself to work freely. I have experimented more with different production methods, learnt new skills (e.g. animation) and improved existing ones. My portfolio now has an extremely positive tone of voice, a lot of branding projects which I enjoy, illustrative style and demonstrates a high level of visual competence.

Point 5 – Reflection – Reflection has been useful this year as it has helped me identity certain processes that are better than others and types of briefs that I really don’t want to engage with in the future. For instance, I took part in two very corporate branding briefs this year that didn’t allow me to have full creative freedom. This restrictive nature is something I will aim to avoid now, as the outcomes are not reflective of my style or preferred methods.

Point 6 – Brief types – I specified that I wanted to take part in collaborative briefs as a team leader in order to gain skills in project management. I wasn’t able to do so within extended practice as I was part of teams in which we had quite different ideas and styles. This did however give me a different perspective on team work and how variation in ideas can help produce something that appeals to a much bigger audience. I did also engage with a collaborative brief as part of PPP in which I executed team leadership skills and really took charge of the process, which was very enjoyable and valuable. Live briefs have been my main focus of the year, such as client lead briefs, competition briefs and creating visual responses for exhibitions. I have engaged with 14 live briefs this year, two of which are on-going and have deadlines after submission, giving me the opportunity to continue designing straight after we finish. These live briefs have taught me multiple new transferable skills that I didn’t have before. I now know the best methods of effective communication in order to get direct constructive feedback and a clear idea of client needs. I now understand the importance of time management to meet deadlines, providing print and production specifications and engage on one on one meetings with clients. The most valuable thing about this focus on live briefs is that I am now able to see my final resolutions in a real world context. This will help me identify the successful and unsuccessful elements in order to improve in the future.