Proposals / Processes / Reflections Constructing professional practices in visual research on a...

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Action Research Project Report

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Proposals / Processes / Reflections Constructing professional practices in visual research on a foundation degree design course.

Abstract

This research examines a range of issues relating to visual research and

learning styles which arose whilst teaching on the FdA Design for Graphic

Communication course. On a WBL course, industry approaches are keenly

adapted by students but traditional sketchbooks in design education tend to

be considered as evidence of work done rather than as research as a driver

of evaluation, editing and action. Without a permanent shared space in

University for learners to base themselves, they don’t have many opportunities

for peer-to-peer dialogue and reflection as happens in a studio. Learners are

not used to online technology as a reflective and visual research tool. The

first research was broad and aimed at assessing the viability of blogs as an

intervention. This was found not to be promising, and a trial using pdfs was

carried out. Feedback was from students responding to an emailed list of

questions. The answers were analysed by word frequency and progressive

focusing, which revealed that marking criteria can be use to construct a

praxis in stages within a single project, enabling appropriate means for visual

research.

Context

I graduated from the MA Graphic Design in 2006 with a grounding in

visual research. As an Associate Lecturer (AL) in the London COllege of

COmmunication since 2007, I have been interested in how research methods

can be learnt by those on the FdA Design for Graphic Communication course

which the FdA is a two year work-based learning course. The QAA benchmark

statements for Foundation Degree are not specific to this as a design course,

but emphasise readiness for industry. ‘Holders of Foundation Degree

Qualification should demonstrate’ (among others) an:1

– ability to apply underlying concepts and principles outside the context in which they

were first studied, and the application of those principles in a work context;

– knowledge of the main methods of enquiry in their subject(s), and ability to evaluate

critically the appropriateness of different approaches to solving problems in their

field of study and apply these in a work context”

September 4th, 2009

1 Foundation Degree Qualification Benchmark 2004. http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/foundationdegree/benchmark/fdqb.asp

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The initial proposal for this research was presented

to peers as a pdf shown on a laptop screen.

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There is a strong active interest in research and process on the course. An

assessed requirement at both years is a ‘research book’ which summarises in

a personal way a term of workshops. Many teaching and learning activities

relate to brainstorming techniques, research methods and process awareness.

In the course assessment sheet used up to 2008/09, there are seven marking

criteria, including ‘research and analysis’ and ‘contextual awareness’. I

consider these criteria as being representative of my focus on ‘sketchbooks’,

and, to a lesser but none-the-less important degree, ‘development’, ‘Ideas

generation’ and ‘presentation’. Whilst running teaching and learning

activities in these areas, and assessing project submissions, I became aware

of dissatisfaction with how my practice and my values were matching in these

areas. Visual research was being presented, in general, in sketchbooks.

Aim 1: Sketchbook

Sketchbooks in design education are perceived by surface learning students

as ‘busy-work’. (Tan, 2008) They don’t relate to visual research as a problem

solving tool central to industry practice. Students are required to justify the

criteria ‘research and analysis’, ‘contextual awareness’ and ‘experimentation’

in their projects in some kind of document. This, up to very recently is usually

a bound collection of sheets; a sketchbook. This idea of producing a final

project, ‘backed-up’ by due-diligence of work done supports surface learners

tendencies for quantity over quality. The roles of the sketchbook can fluctuate

between private explorations, creative interrogations, technical developments,

as well as a space for defining project aims, goals and objectives, and

contextual awareness.

What, in the design world does the term ‘sketchbook’ now connote? There

has been a surge of interest in sketchbooks as artifacts in popular design

magazines and publications One of these is edited by Brereton (2009) who

writes ‘For some, a sketchbook is a visual diary where ideas are affirmed, or

reaffirmed or discarded. Where the repetition either brings clarity, or haze.

For others, sketchbooks are simply a place to play, a freedom lounge and an

escape from work.’ Concepts such as ‘pressure valve’. ‘idea embryos’ ‘retreat

from anxiety of an unknown environment’ and ‘freedom to experiment’ are

outlined in a series of interviews that feature lovingly produced pages of

aesthetic explorations.

As a practising designer in studios and independently over the previous 10

years, I had been involved in a wide range of branding and communications

projects where initial research of various means was essential to the

subsequent stages. I perceived a difference in how a designer within a team

works with visual materials and how a student manages these. In a studio

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environment, some designers use personal sketchbooks, but for most projects

with a team, the research is kept digitally, shared and reflected on in studio

dialogue and evaluated in presentation contexts with the client and team in

further dialogue. These visuals materials form the basis of decision-making at

many points along the progress of the project.

In the context of WBL, this action research project is not concerned with the

‘sketchbook’ as a ‘pressure valve’ for one’s creativity, as Brereton’s (2006)

casual interviews demonstrate. This may be an important aspect of one’s

lifelong learning and continuing personal practice, but in a problem-oriented

context, it is not always an appropriate medium.

Aim 2: Collaborative Design

Research moves design from the personal to the social. Brockbank (1998: 30-

31) overviews research on communites of practice and paraphrases Leont’ev:

‘The activity of learning should therefore include appreciation of the broader

context through connection with others, as well as attention to a given focus.’

There is a concept of research that is driven less by evidence of work done

and development of aesthetic techniques, but more with the broader context

of the design problem, including understanding client, target audience and

consumer.

Web based technologies

This echoes the well-documented sea-change of the last 25 years since the

growth of the internet. Huge technological change has altered the media

and contexts within which we interact educationally, socially, culturally

and commercially. The contemporary design studio will use email to speak

internally, with suppliers and with clients; it will represent itself with a

website, it will interface with its community of practice with a blog, it

will use file formats such as pdfs to send work-in-progress to clients and

specs to suppliers; it will use various social networking sites to stay up-to-

date with contacts and interest groups and it may use twitter to send and

gather information about the world… among others. Technologies around

collaboration and networking have become more important (Littlejohn, 2009).

Social network sites, blogs and wikis allow for dialogue between web-users

in the form of text, links, images and videos simultaneously in a narrative

over the times posted, but also links by thematic ‘tags’ for referencing. They

allow non-hierarchical interaction. Blogs are also used by many designers as

a presentation tool for their practice, a kind of display area that reflects their

identity. They are a also a diary of work and a platform to air their perceptions

of the world. Blogs are easier to update and manage than conventional

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sites. Internet users can comment on entries, and so there is true dialogue.

The amount of people using and reading blogs has exponentially increased

over the last few years to millions. Blogs have become a conventional and

standardised tool for internet narration and dialogue around the central point

of a user. Wikis are more like a group site, with shared information editable to

all.2

A changed learning environment

Students on the FdA Design for Graphic Communication have limited time in

the studio space, without desks of their own, the time they do spend there is

highly structured and does not allow for organic interactions with their peers.

During WBL, this is accentuated further. There is no designated space in the

FdA area for students to socialise on their own time, Blackboard (the course

VLE) does not permit peer-to-peer interaction. Can there be some way to

facilitate dialogue through other web-based technologies?

Aim 3 What is visual research?

What then, can visual research contribute to everyday practice? A current

‘research manual’ for designers by Jennifer and Ken Visocky (2007,

p.11) explains that ‘Research-driven design can help define an audience,

support a concept, advocate for an aesthetic, or measure the effectiveness

of a campaign.’ Research tools provide evidence and feedback in a field

‘dominated by subjectivity’. The term ‘sketchbook’ as used in education, has

grown beyond its original physical form in practice but has remained as a

paradigm for more personal and subjective research processes.

The function of visual research

In the problem-based and work-based learning context, visual research

happens in the zone between briefing and completion of the project. Clews

(2007, p.8–9), focusing on design education, outlines three functions of

the visual in learning. The first is provider of a priori ‘evidence’ of work done

which is the starting point of analysis. Second is practical and the last function

‘is the most elusive and difficult to define. As a process it is sited in the space

between techniques for production … and techniques… for analysis. Visual

research is the synthesis of descriptive and reflective approaches to using

visual media’ He goes on to argue that

using the term visual research is unhelpful when applied to, for example, the simple

collation of visual materials, the making of images or developing expertise in a

particular technique. Whilst these might remain essential components facilitating

visual research, without a proposal, there is no research’. (Clews, 2007, p.9)

2 Blog –Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

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Essentially, without a proposal, brief, or other defined criteria, the student

cannot reflect-on-action or be able to critically step outside the production and

technical aspects to analyse that outcome. See Profile 2 for outline of Visueal

research and learning style.Visual research and learning styles

Reflection-in-action

In studio based practice, reflection is primarily evaluative and geared to action.

The crit is a dialogue between team members of a project, The designer

presents a series of visuals all of which aim explicitly to solve a strategically set

response to the brief. The crit moves around the defined problem, or as Schön

terms the ‘frame’. These are in the form of print outs on a wall or large boards

for later reference, on-screen in powerpoint or pdf form. All are structured in a

sequential, narrative format, mostly based on a series of proposals or ‘options’

which are strategic alternative solutions to the brief.

If the graphic designer’s evaluation and reflection of their work is to be

constructed to Type 2,3 and 4 in the learning styles, how can we recreate the

practitioner’s experience in the educational context? I propose that in WBL,

Schon’s ‘language, media and repertoire’ of practise is analogous to visual

research. The “reflective conversation with the situation” is played out through

the visual research through problem solving contexts, and not as unistructural

evidencing of work done. Can there be a way to construct learning activities

that encourage visual research and reflection as proposal making, process

driving and problem solving reflective tool, rather than solely as evidence of

work done?

Reflection can be difficult for art and design learners. The written word

is more researched starting point for reflectivity, but including one in the

design field by James using custom spaces and technology to initiate and

record learning narratives (James, 2007). Can there be a non-verbally based

form of reflection, but one based on visual materials primarily? How can the

performative and functioning aspects of visual research be constructed into

learning activities and assessment?

Aims

– To facilitate greater peer to peer learning support and reflection in visual

research.

– To educate learners on the use of online technology as a reflective and visual

research tool.

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– To move from ‘evidencing of work done’ to research as a driver of evaluation,

editing and action.

Design Phase 1

In order to find a viable intervention, a broad base of research within the

course was to be done. How did I gather Stage 1 information about the

suitability of blogs?

1 Blogs.

Blogs were examined that were set-up for term 2 ‘collaboration’ briefs given

by practicing designers or agencies. For the PPD aspect of this the students

were required to create a reflective, visual document or artifact that explains

how their respective group work influenced their project. I liaised with the

clients to set-up project blogs by which they could use to communicate with

the learners.

2 ‘Web 2.0’ seminar

Feedback from the students would be from conversation before and after a

sign-up session showing a variety of collaborative web 2.0 site.

3 Online questionnaire

An online survey was created about sketchbooks, blogs, display media and

other technologies that students use for various contexts of practice. This

would be a numerically based means of feedback counting how the learners

rate different contexts, media and technologies. See Appendix A

Preliminary research results

1 From the collaborative blogs set-up individually by students and by the client

leads of the projects there were many interesting collaborative interactions.

The students’ use of blogs was lively but ranged in the use of visual materials

and reflective commentary as widely as their own sketchbooks normally

do. Far more students didn’t use blog than did. The use of blogs by project

seemed to really hinge on the participation and actions of the client with the

bblog, ultimately, the person assessing the end result.

2 From discussion with some second years after the Web2.0 presentation,

there was a good range of difference in opinion about what the process of

collaboration, sketchbooks and technology. Robert preferred to meet in

person, with discussion, paper and pens. The contact with humans and

materials is a needed contrast to isolated digital labour. David expressed

interest in the wiki to aid collaboration and organisation. The shared

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sketchbook aspect would be seperate. Rachel is already blogging and likes

the potential. Her boyfriend who is studying animation uses blogs as a central

part of his coursework. Tutors and peers look (and comment presumably). It’s

a very exposing form of sketchbook in that one’s peers can make judgements

on the work.

Analysing the survey, for display purposes, the sketchbook is used most,

followed by ‘research books’ ( project-assigned journals in a previous term)

and blogs. For showing work in progress, the sketchbook was again the

most popular followed by print-outs, ahead of drawings, pdfs and blogs. For

making discoveries and experiments in work, conversations with peers and

tutors ranked top for nearly all participants, followed by ‘computers’ and the

‘internet’. Collaborative group work, crafts and materials and sketchbook

were cited as occasionally driving discoveries and experiments. Lastly, for

decision making, conversation and active design processes and sketchbooks

were cited as significant. Writing in emails and blogs was far less of a driver to

decision making.

3 Blogs are also considered to be just another ‘thing’ to do on-screen. They

interrupt spontaneous flow of work. They have to be figured out and tinkered

with. They can impede development. Sketchbooks, on the other hand are for

immediate visceral work away from the screen which enable spontaneous

and accidental discoveries. The blog is good for showing work remotely and

discussing it. The wiki is good for organisation.

My summary of the phase 1 research of blogs as a potential media for visual

research on the FdA revealed that there would be a reluctance among a cohort

to use blogs due to the need for familiarity with the technology. There was a

sense that they would be restrictive in format. Discussion would evolve but

with prompts from tutors. After a term where blogging was encouraged, there

was a small take-up. There was still a preference for direct conversation and

sketchbooks and print-outs. For online collaborative contexts, wikis are more

practical than blogs, as many can have instant access priviliges, whilst blogs

are designed for personal use, so they are more unwieldy to set-up for sharing.

Negatives of blogs

There is a danger of attaching too much value on the blog interaction – it can

never substitute for real-world interaction. Peter Nencini, Course Director of

BA Illustration Camberwell, says that blogs cannot be a substitute for being in

the college environment, but it can complement it.

The technology is unfamiliar. Whilst most students are comfortable using

their mobile phones, games units, laptops and social networking sites, it is

not the case that they are familiar with blog and wiki technologies. These are

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even more alien to some than to many of us over 30 who have had to learn how

to use the internet ourselves.

Blackboard is the current VLE. There are many potential difficulties in running

two competing platforms for communicating with students. It would be

hasty as an AL to suggest that a blog will act as a better looking version of

Blackboard. Only the most engaged users leave comments and interact online,

when there is little motivation to do so, and when unprompted by tutors

facilitating online dialogue. If it is not a requirement for assessment, it will be

ignored. (Brockbank and McGill, 1997, p.137)

How could I re-address my initial question?

I decided that blogs weren’t the direction that would forward this research at

this stage… on the course in my part-time role as an AL, unable to e-moderate

sustained conversations online outside work hours. The research methods

weren’t most accurate for the phase 1, (on a scientific basis), but my teaching

experience was communicating the obvious: if a media isn’t required for

assessment, it is less likely to be used.

In conversation with the course director I discussed how pdfs are used in

industry practice for communicating progress, sending work to clients and

a quick way of merging documents of many types into a single, universally

readable document that is private and small in file size. It was decided to trial

this media for the whole of year 2’s final project. It would be split into three

stages, each one being assessed to two or three of the marking criteria.

This was a remarkable opportunity for my action research project. I had the

chance to monitor an assessed, scaled up, intervention using a technology that

I didn’t initially plan on testing, but proved far closer to the industry reality I

was aiming to construct on the course, whilst still operating under my original

aims. PDFs aren’t web-based, but are distributable via email and uploading to

the VE. This change of direction demonstrates the power of action research on

the ground to assimilate results and adapt to contexts.

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Design Phase 2

After using a quantitative research method to gather data, I realised that the

form of my question and options given were dominating the response and

closing down the range of rich responses possible from more open-ended

feeedback. Therefore, I asked the students to feedback on the assessment

method by a standard email format. They were asked the following five

questions:

Q1 What are the ‘plus’ points of the PDF assessment?

Q2 What are the ‘minus’ points of the PDF assessment?

Q3 In what ways has the PDF process changed the way you work?

Q4 How has your understanding of the assessment process changed?

Q5 Do you feel more or less professional working this way? Please explain why.

After bunch of emailed responses from 42 (more than half of students), I

firstly put the results by question through a word frequency visualiser (www.

wordle.net). This yielded a general ‘visual-sense’ of the answers. Next, I

sorted the text by progressive focusing into semantically related categories by

question. I then counted how many discrete occurrences there were within

each of these categories. The visualised results of these methods can be seen

in Appendix C.

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Analysis

Was greater peer to peer learning support and reflection facilitated in visual research?

Students appreciated both peer feedback and learning as well as being more

capable of directing and structuring the conversations with tutors via their

presentations. In this work-based project, the ‘real’ context of the client was

simulated in the University: peers as colleagues, tutors as clients.

‘During the first week I had only research and no real idea when I talked to other

people and saw what was going it helped me move that one step forward.’

‘It is very good that sharing other people’s PDF on blackboard so I can get some more

inspiration and know what I might lack in the process of this project.’

‘They are easy to pass around and show off to other people to get feedback and to

learn from other students’ work.‘

(Year 2 students)

Were learners educated on the use of online technology as a reflective and visual research

tool?

Firstly, the very phrasing of the aim is contentious. Did learners really need to

be ‘educated’ in online technology at all? It suggests a ‘banking’ (Freire 19XX)

or ‘transmission’ (Biggs and Tang 19XX) concept of learning. They know what

they need to know for the purposes of the work. The first round of research

did attempt this, but the conclusion would be a general ‘no’. Blogs are used

for the most part as an online sketchbook of sorts, with annotations but not

much evidence of proposals, process or reflection.

Were learners moved from ‘evidencing of work done’ to research as a driver of evaluation,

editing and action?

Technology and praxis are intertwined. The convenience of the format allowed

for editing and re-editing of research and design materials was conducive

to their use in the design process. This medium also facilitated a sense of

confidence in designing and dealing with clients.

‘An empty InDesign file is a lot less intimidating than an huge empty sketchbook.

I found that making a PDF meant I could analyse my own progress much easier. I

could add things in at a later date in an order that makes more sense and is easier to

revise at a later date.’ Year 2 student

In the area of visual research and sketchbooks, there was a frustration

with the lack of tactility in the presentation of the work-in-progress. “To be

honest, I felt constrained by the whole process.” “I am a sketchbook person,

I always jot something down, and I found it very boring and time wasting

scanning everything in, it kind of lost it’s like, appeal. I love searching through

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sketchbooks. And technology can be a bitch - especially if it were to freeze or

you lose some work.”

‘Lacks the ‘natural flow of things’, the ‘organic process’’

On the other hand: “It helped me to stop worrying about trying to fill a

sketchbook and just log things down and even if you worked on some bits

before others you can easily add or take away pages with out starting again.”

While there were complaints about the page limit being restrictive, it forced

a lot of editing, which was deemed a positive point in equal measure. The

process constructed specific stages for research and contextual awareness.

“usually I wouldn’t concentrate on points such as Research and Contextual

Awareness as much, but with the PDF’s I did this more so.”

“I have started to think about my research and design process in a much

more methodical way and it became clear where and how to draw/show links

between the research and design. “

In dialectical thought, world and action are intimately interdependent.

But action is human only when it is not merely an occupation but also a

preoccupation, that is, when it is not dichotomized from reflection. (Freire

1970, p.35)

How can we apply these results to the course and future practice?

The methods I employed for this project may not be repeatable, scientifically

valid or wholly justifiable… I consider this project more as a broad

understanding of the role of technologies in learning and assessment and how

the context and motivations of students radically effect the interpretation of

the situation.

– use as one of many standard means of assessing at an earlier stage of course

– allow for greater tactility and freedom of format by using pdfs only for

research, analysis and contextual marking criteria, and anything goes for final

piece.

– use pdfs at beginning of course to introduce learners to marking criteria

– have a training period to introduce the technical aspects and possibilities to

learners.

– try two stages of assessment instead of three to reduce feedback load on tutors

– give hypothetical grades at formative feedback, assess if this increases

perceived usefulness of feedback

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– consider how(if ) an ongoing, personal research practice, filling the role of the

sketchbook, can be assessed at the end of the course, as a way of supporting

the learner outside of problem and work-related projects.

– consider how a more methodical approach can be taken toward obtaining

student feedback during teaching and learning sessions.

Conclusion: How does this AR relate to broader contexts?

In terms of a research process, I consider this project to be a first base of many

cycles. The issues were teased out but are still forming, and there needs to be a

far deeper examination of current literature and developments.

The ‘sketchbook’ in contemporary practice, is far less a necessary than a

personal choice. Because work in progress is generally digital, when the final

item is digital itself, hand rendered ideas are idiosyncratic. The sketchbook, in

the traditional sense is an escape from the realities of a practitioner’s work…

more so in the case of a graphic designer than an illustrator, (whose final

production is more likely to be analogue). For many, the analogue sketchbook

is a personal, private oasis from the cognitive demands of problem solving and

client discussions. It is this realm: beyond the traditional sketchbook – and

into the demands of ‘the practicum’ that space where ‘artistry’ is practiced and

situations are problematised’. (Clews 2007, p.13) that this research explored.

It is interesting to wonder if this industry-standard method does, as some

learners suggested. Does it drain the creative life and vigour from the creative

process? It may enable more ‘professional’ looking presentations, more ‘neat,

concise and legible’ outcomes… Are we molding students into a paradigm of

professionalism that is in itself counter to their higher ‘vocation of becoming

more human’ (Freire 1970, p.26). Are these kinds of designers conforming to

a healthily independent and culturally reflective practitioner? Where does this

paradigm of the professional designer come from but the white, middle-class

male world of business and competition?

The educated individual is the adapted person, because she or he is a better “fit” for

the world. Translated into practice, this concept is well suited to the purposes of the

oppressors, whose tranquility rests on how well people fit the world the oppressors

have created, and how little they question it. (Freire 1970, p.57)

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the brief:sitting ona goldmineIn 2002, Joe Lima founded what turned out to be a very successful IT consultancy firm in the UK. Abbeycomp pride themselves on the nature of people who work for them, who are ‘refreshingly lacking in geek stereotypes’. In fact, in their personal lives, most of the IT consultants are personally involved in creative endeavours such as music and design. Perhaps it was this rich palette of creativity sitting at his fingertips that inspired Joe to propose a short weekly creative brainstorm. The aim of those sessions was to come up with a simple, yet brilliant, business idea; which could hopefully turn them all into millionaires… Could they be sitting on a goldmine?

�is collaborative project is an attempt by Joe Lima and designer Douglas Minei to revive those moments and, more excitingly, to generate and implement an idea, and nurture it into reality.

I visited these four stores in order to find out what is already available in the market.

All sinks looked very much similar to each other: one or two faucets and a washbasin.

the first approach:looking atexisting designs

D. used his blog as a video diary and location for private

writing about the project. It was password protected,

as he was dealing with a live client concerned about

IP in the development of a new product. The pdf slides

show an organisation of thought and development,

with a mix of type 2 (showing a proposal), type

3(supporting a process) and type 4 (reflection).

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Once invited, people can now access Bounce on: http://bounce-project.ning.com

I have posted a message on the webpage, suggesting that the development of the Bounce website becomes the first Bounce

bounce is alive!making it better

project to be commented upon and improved.

We are already getting new members and comments are starting to pop up.

Sketches for the Bounce website.

�e idea was to keep it simple and let the website serve as a background to the ideas.

It should feel as if it was ‘transparent’, highlighting its content rather than itself.

building the website:planning

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WEB/TEASER INSPIRATION:CREATING CHARACTERS

Universal Everything Nokia Friends and Lovebytes Key inspiration for the inter-active outcomes, detailed yet abstract characters are randomly generated from data and interact with one-another. Marie Curie Chemistry-Shows the interaction between characters, clear typography therefore no need for narration.

K. uses her blog regularly to air her thoughts on

professional development, design references and found

images. Many of the entries are highly reflective and relate

directly to work she is involved with at the time. The pdfs

aren’t too different from a sketchbook, but more condensed.

This is a type 4 instance of both blog and pdf. click on>

http://katiemaybe.wordpress.com/

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Contextual Awareness and DevelopmentOlaJide Kareem Recaping

Hondas idea of dreaming and the powers of dream as been a motivation to me on developing my ideas

How can we show that dreams works?

What would trustworthy companies be like in their own worlds?

What is their dream for a better world.

O. has built his blog to represent himself as a designer,

and displays examples of work he likes, as well as his

own designs. It works like a display case. His final project

slides show a aprogression from unedited writing in a

hardback sketchbook. There is little evidence of proposals

for final designs, or that the visuals themselves are driving

a process. There is a jump though, in that some contextual

work is more organised and categorised here than in the

sketchbook. click on>

http://kareemdesign.blogspot.com/

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3d Building concepts 2

The Pdfs here show a consistent use of visual languages

across research, contexts, proposals and final work.

Below: The designs below culminated in a set of windows

in Liberty’s Regent St.

Right: The student was disappointed at assessment that

the pdf slides could not communicate the tactility of the

final range of work produced.

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Reflection/Comprehension

+ Leads to selection and editi\ng of work

+ Enables self-analysis

+ Organises and filters ideas

Process

+ Easier to focus on the stages of project and the marking criteria

+ Getting clients opinion on which to base a progression of project

+ More suited to Web-based and screen work

+ Easier to record and manage research

+ Requires certain methodology

+ Pinpoints weaknesses via the stages

+ Shows progression of ideas.

+ Presents the idea journey in a logical way

Self-management

+ The PDF leads to greater organization

+ Better overall self-management

Layout skills/Design

+ Consideration of layout

+ Neater and more legible

+ Looks professional: clear and neat

+ Practise and improvement of layout skills

Editability/Convenience

+ Easy to carry and send

+ Greater editability

+ Instantaneous

Presentation/Group feedback

+ Learn from seeing others’ work

+ Thoughts in pdf speak for themselves

Feedback/Assessment

+ Tutor sees the whole process in structured and highlighted manner

+ Easier to get feedback, Written feedback leads to improvement, Easier to improve before the end

Q1 What are the ‘plus’ points of the PDF assessment?

The PDF assessment was rated highly by a majority of students for wide range of reasons – self-management being top of the list.

All the words of the answer are visualised by frequency of use; www.wordle.net

The columns on the right are edited from statements and represent rypical concepts to give an ooverview. The full contect is found in Appendix C.

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Q1 vs Q2

0 5 10 15 20

No complaints

Format/Tactility/Structure

Professionalism

Feedback/Assessment




Self-management

Process


Q1 ‘Plus’

Q2 ‘Minus’

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Assessment/Feedback

Technical

Format/Structure/Layout

None in category

Professionalism


Self-management

Process


0 5 10 15

Non-specific

Work-basedLearning

Feedback

Criteria

Staged

Process

Editing/Selectivity

0 3 6 9 12 15

Tactility/Structure /Format

Work-basedLearning

Presentation

Creativity/ Style

Self-management

Restrictive

Process

Reflection

Q1: What are the 'plus' points of the PDF assessment?Q2: What are the 'minus' points of the PDF assessment? Q3: In what ways has the PDF process changed the way you work? Q4: How has your understanding of the assessment process changed? Q5: Do you feel more or less professional working this way? Please explain why.

Comparison of question 1 and 2. The categories were obtained by progressive focussing

of the feedback. The incidences within those categories are counted and compared to

obtain a relevency of theme.

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/ 76 /


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– Danger of missing important stuff

– Lack of clarity for requirements

Process

– Tendency to only work on-screen

– Tendency to not put ideas into sketchbook

– Lacks the ‘natural flow of things’, the ‘organic process’

Self-management

– Time consuming

– ‘extra’ work.

– Repetitive esp scanning

– Deadlines stressful

Layout Skills/Design

– Bias to those with stronger layout skills

– Handicaps those who are stronger with hand produced work


– Technical issues, file sizes, hiccups


– Long group presentations are tedious

– Exposure to the group

– Repetitive to say the same thing multiple times

Feedback/Assessment

– Rushed assessments

– Pdf would be better as interim stage assessment, rather than final outcome


– Lack of tactility

– No physical outcome

– Harder to communicate ‘texture and scale’ as well as prototypes and hand drawn work

– Page limit is restrictive

– Lack of immediacy without sketches

– Loss of sketchbook

– Not easy to show quantity of work done

Q2 What are the ‘minus’ points of the PDF assessment?

The PDFs were time-consuming but most students understood the value of that none-the-less. The greatest negative was the loss of tactility and immediacy for representing texture, scale and dimensions.

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+ Encouraged critical thinking

+ Getting to the point and summarising work

+ Logical thinking

+ Encouraged selectivity

+ Self-evaluation after the stages, rather than just at the end

Process

+ Seeing the process and ‘links’

+ Greater tendency for research at the beginning of the process

+ Better research management

+ Thorough documentation

Self-management

+ Working faster

+ Working to separate stages and structures work patterns

+ More organized

+ Clearer aims for two week blocks

+ Put thoughts in one place

+ Collection of sheets rather than sketchbook


+ Work is easier to follow

+ Easier to talk through process

– More effort in presentation

Professionalism

+ Appearance is more professional for future reference

None in category

• The PDF process hasn’t changed the way I work. I worked that way already.

Format/ Structure/Layout

– Need to be given choice in how to present one’s work

Technical

+ Creating a PDF on the InDesign software

Assessment/ Feedback

+ Allows for recognition of the development and areas for improvement

+ Understand the grading process, and using the course descriptors

Q3 In what ways has the PDF process changed the way you work?

Reflection and self-management were improved for most. Research and contexts were better managed and applied to later stages of work.

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/ 79 /


0 5 10 15 20

No complaints


Professionalism

Feedback/Assessment




Self-management

Process


Q1 ‘Plus’

Q2 ‘Minus’

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Assessment/Feedback

Technical


None in category

Professionalism


Self-management

Process


0 5 10 15

Non-specific

Work-basedLearning

Feedback

Criteria

Staged

Process

Editing/Selectivity

0 3 6 9 12 15


Work-basedLearning

Presentation

Creativity/ Style

Self-management

Restrictive

Process

Reflection


/ 80 /


/ 80 /


0 5 10 15 20

No complaints


Professionalism

Feedback/Assessment




Self-management

Process


Q1 ‘Plus’

Q2 ‘Minus’

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Assessment/Feedback

Technical


None in category

Professionalism


Self-management

Process


0 5 10 15

Non-specific

Work-basedLearning

Feedback

Criteria

Staged

Process

Editing/Selectivity

0 3 6 9 12 15


Work-basedLearning

Presentation

Creativity/ Style

Self-management

Restrictive

Process

Reflection


Editing/Selectivity

+ More reflection on work done

+ Evaluating work from wider points of view

+ Understanding of quality over quantity

Process

+ Incorporating sketchbooks and design ideas

+ More integrated process, More methodized process

– Process feels guidelined

– Does not show the story in as many details as the info is reprocessed (edited).

Staged

+ Clear criteria to address a stage at a time

– Disliked the stages as counter to normal way of working

Criteria

+ The criteria were clearer: Allowed one to focus on all the grading descriptors

+ More understanding of contextual awareness

Feedback

+ Feedback is more constructive

Work-based Learning

+ More helpful to prepare for the real client, commission and interview

+ More work-based assessment

Non-specific

+ More aware of what I have done

+ Look into more detail in particular areas of assessment

– Changed slightly but some aspects still remain unclear

Q4 How has your understanding of the assessment process changed?

Generally much more understanding of the assessment process and the particular critera. An appreciation of the link between assessment and work-based learning.

/ 80 /


/ 80 /


/ 81 /


0 5 10 15 20

No complaints


Professionalism

Feedback/Assessment




Self-management

Process


Q1 ‘Plus’

Q2 ‘Minus’

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Assessment/Feedback

Technical


None in category

Professionalism


Self-management

Process


0 5 10 15

Non-specific

Work-basedLearning

Feedback

Criteria

Staged

Process

Editing/Selectivity

0 3 6 9 12 15


Work-basedLearning

Presentation

Creativity/ Style

Self-management

Restrictive

Process

Reflection


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Reflection

+ Increased evaluation and reflection of work

Process

+ Consolidation of the research and ideas

+ Complements research books

+ More thorough documentation

+ Greater awareness of process

Self-managment

+ Greater self management equals more professional feel

Presentation

+ Clean, concise, smart

+ Presents design journey

+ Greater confidence for dialogue with clients and tutors

+ Speaking in front of group

Creativity/ Style

+ Clear and beautiful layout

– PDFs dont really capture the best of me

Restrictive

– Overly restrictive

Work-based Learning

+ Practical for working with a real client

+ Allowed numerous ideas to be shown to client

Tactility/ Structure/

Format

– Loss of tactility

– Not conducive to a final outcome

Q5 Do you feel more or less professional working this way? Please explain why.

Generally more professional and presentable than sketchbooks, except for dimensional and materials-based projects

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/ 82 /


/ 83 /


0 5 10 15 20

No complaints


Professionalism

Feedback/Assessment




Self-management

Process


Q1 ‘Plus’

Q2 ‘Minus’

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Assessment/Feedback

Technical


None in category

Professionalism


Self-management

Process


0 5 10 15

Non-specific

Work-basedLearning

Feedback

Criteria

Staged

Process

Editing/Selectivity

0 3 6 9 12 15


Work-basedLearning

Presentation

Creativity/ Style

Self-management

Restrictive

Process

Reflection


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/ References /

/ 84 /

/ References /

Bibliography

Austerlitz, N. (ed) (2008) Unspoken Interactions: Exploring the Unspoken dimension

of Learning and Teaching in Creative Subjects. London: University of the Arts

London

Belenky, M.F., Clinchy, B.M., Goldgerger, N.R. and Tarule, J.M. (1986) Women’s

Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice and Mind. New York: Basic Books.

Biggs, J and Tang, C. (1999) Teaching for Quality Learning at University. 3rd ed.

Maidenhead: Society for Research into Higher Education/Open University

Press

Blair, B. (2006) ‘Perception/ Interpretation/ Impact’, Networks, 1(1) p12

Brereton, R. (2009) Sketchbook: The Hidden Art of Designers, Illustrators & Creatives.

London: Laurence Kind Publishing

Brockbank, A. and McGill, I. (2007) Facilitating Reflective Learning in Higher

Education. Berkshire: Society for Research into Higher Education/Open

University Press

Brookfield, S. (1987) Challenging Adults to Explore Alternative Ways of Thinking and

Acting. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Clews, D. (2007) ‘Overview: Report on the 2nd Art Design Media Subject

Centre Annual Forum’ Visual 05: p. 06–19

Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed 2nd ed. Translated from the

Portuguese by Myra Bergman Ramos. London: Penguin

Hussey, T and Smith, P (2002) ‘The Trouble with Learning Outcomes’ Active

Learning in Higher Education 3:3 p. 220–233

Itten, J, (1961) The art of color : the subjective experience and objective rationale of color

New York ; London : Van Nostrand Reinhold

James, A. (2007) ‘Reflection revisited: perceptions of reflective practice in

fashion learning and teaching’; Art, Design and Communication in Higher

Education, vol. 5 no. 3 - 2007. pp179-196, Intellect.

Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation.

Cambridge University Press (B&MG p31).

Littlejohn, D., (2009) ‘Teach them to network or be damned, Deborah

Littlejohn’s Agenda from Eye 70 focuses on design education’ [online]

available at http://blog.eyemagazine.com/?p=147 [4 September 2009]

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/ References /

/ 84 /

/ References /

/ 85 /

/ References /

McGregor, D. (1960) The Human Side of Enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill

Norman, E. (1999) ‘Action Research Concerning Technology for Design and

Associated Pedagogy’; Educational Action Research, vol. 7 no. 2. p297–308,

Papert, S. (1993) Mindstorms: children, computers and powerful ideas. New York :

Basic Books

Robson, C. (1993) Real World Research. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing

Schön, D.A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Profesionals Think in Action.

London: Temple Smith

Somekh, B.(2006) Action Research: A Methodology for Change and Development.

Maidenhead: Open University Press

Tan, S. (2008) ‘Emotions and Interactions around Sketchbooks’, in Austerlitz,

N. (ed.) Unspoken Interactions: Exploring the Unspoken dimension of Learning and

Teaching in Creative Subjects. London: University of the Arts London

Visocky O’Grady, J. (2006) A Designer’s Research Manual: Succeed in design by

knowing your client and what they really need. Massachusetts: Rockport Publishing

Websites

Stephen D. Brookfield Education

www.stephenbrookfield.com

Julia Gaimster’s eLearning Blog

http://elearningartanddesign.blogspot.com/

McArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning

http://digitallearning.macfound.org

Innovate Journal of Online Education

http://innovateonline.info

Steve Terrett, practising graphic designer

www.noisydecentgraphics.com

Appendices

/ 92 // 92 /

/ Appendices /

Appendix B / First feedback forms

The new sketchbook: presentation, creativity and decision-making in graphic design. —

1. What do you currently use to display your design work?Sketchbook c

Research books c

PDF c

Blog c Website c Box of stuff c

Other: please specify –

2. How do you prefer to show visual ideas in-progress? (e.g to other students and tutors)Sketchbook c

Drawings c

PDF c

Blog c

Print-outs c

Powerpoint/keynote c


3. Which of the following has helped you make the most discoveries and experiments in your work? Always/Often Occasionally Rarely Never

Conversations (friends/students/tutors) c c c c

Sketchbook c c c c

Crafts & materials c c c c

Digital camera c c c c

Computers c c c c

Internet c c c c

Collaboration/group work c c c c


4. Which of the following helps you most make decisions on your work? Always/Often Occasionally Rarely Never

Conversation (tutor/friends/students etc.) c c c c

Writing (sketchbook/by-hand) c c c c

Writing (email/blog) c c c c

Designing (hands-on) c c c c

Designing (digitally) c c c c


—

Answers will be used only for research purposes and will contribute to posterity and the greater knowledge of the

University. It will be will also help you over the last term tutorials and with end-of-year show organisation.

April 2009. OO’B—

/ 92 // 92 /

/ Appendices /

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/ Appendices /

Online survey created on

www.surveymonkey.com,

Left, hardcopy version was

given to tstudents in person

to bring up the sample.

/ 94 // 94 /

/ Appendices /

Appendix C / Student Feedback Action Research

Q1What are the ‘plus’ points of the PDF assessment?

Professionalism

working in a professional environment.

the act of showing your process digitally to your client.

works particularly well for the meetings with the client.

More professional

It relates to real world work because if you really have a client, you need to show them a bit of this process so they can tell you what they like / don’t like and from there you can progress to next steps.

Easy to carry. Looks professional.

And perfect for sending to clients when working on projects within

industry such as our final major project.

I also think that It looks professional and would be a very good way of presenting a project to a client.

gives off a more professional approach and image

another obvious plus is that we get a good practice for the feature as we will probably be sending pdfs to the clients.

It highlights main aspects of the project to your client and gives them a bite size narrative of what you’ve been doing. It looks professional to show to a client.

And the PDF is a very good way to present our idea, which gave me a chance to work like the design industry does.

I think it also looks clearer and neater on a PDF, and would be something you could show to a client.

Reflection and understanding

show how all the thoughts were developed.

helps you filter out all the rubbish.

I found this useful as it broke down the research process into stages that we would present and receive feed back on, this meant that is was easer to pin point where the weaknesses in my work was enabling me to improve on be for the next stage.

As it has to be in a logical way, so when I am integrating and documenting everything for it, I can find out the blind spot of my thought easily sometimes.

I have never been very good at keeping sketchbooks so have much preffered this way of working as it enables me to move information around into coherent order, which I am then much easier able to reference when needed.

Helped me to organise my ideas, record my design/thinking process from beginning to completion.

When compiling my final PDF it became clear to me how well i had progressed and this gave me a little boost of confidence.

As I always fill my sketchbook with ideas in a very messy way and I always miss out some good things from it. Making a PDF helped me to reorganize the ideas and I read my sketchbook more carefully in order to take the best bit out of it.?

It allowed me to show my process like a story so things were also made clearer to me.

Self-management

Easier to log things down like research

Pushes you to make sure you reach the deadlines

Helps you to be more organised with your work

makes me feel like there are steps to be followed and that there is a specific time you should be on each step.

It allows you to tick all the boxes a lot easier than before

It was very good to have the first two pdf presentations, it made you get on with things in a quicker pace than usually

It helped us work systematic with a target for each week. It gave a guideline to work around.

I think it helps when it comes to self management and while with other projects sometimes is a bit easy to leave everything for the last two weeks having to hand in the pdfs hasn’t let us be lazy and the work seems to have more continuity.

I have found it has significantly improved my time management skills in that it makes me realise at what points I should be through the project at each assessment stage.

the plus point is definitely a better self/time management as the assessment is divided into three...

As the project is broken up to 3 stages, (with 2 mini and 1 big deadline) its easier to focus on the different tasks at hand at the different stages of the project.

Somehow, its less stressful when things are spaced out and when its clear what needs to be done in the respective stages.

Also, the PDF can be used to show the client the student’s progress, hence, its less work.

The main plus point is that it splits the long 6 week project into 3 slightly more manageable sections, which helps time management and stops one assessment criteria (i.e., research) taking up too much time at the start of the project. This could be done without PDFs though, just 3 assessment points.

I found it useful having a couple of deadlines so I could ensure that I had achieved certain points and couldn’t forget anything or leave it to the last minute.

I did the project step by step more efficiently.

Also handing it in every 2 weeks made me not leaving the work until last minute! Which is the biggest plus point!

Self management is a lot easier and I personally found myself doing a lot more research/development than I normally would.

Also by having the work marked at two week intervals its keeps you on track with the work because it makes you do stuff by each two week stage.

I like the PDF system as the deadlines are spaced out, allowing you to tackle each section of the project in more managable chunks.

I also found the PDFs help keep me clear of what I was doing and keep the project a bit more organised.

Iterations/ development/ Process

opportunity to work back onto some parts we missed in the first two PDFs.

easier to see how the project is developing.

Better way of presenting your process (sketchbook)

if you really have a client, you need to show them a bit of this process so they can tell you what they like / don’t like and from there you can progress to next steps.

requires certain methodology in a sense that you need to do things in a specific way

It is clear to follow my progress as a section which must be covered.

Its hard to miss main aspects out of the development of the project. Its a good basis for future projects and how they should be approached.

It made you structure the research and stuff and also to be more aware of the design process.

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/ Appendices /

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/ Appendices /

I think that doing the pdfs has helped a lot in all my research process.

They allow you to select relevant and the not so relevant working process to put in

The PDF assessment helps me to incorporate everything I’ve done and the idea journey in a logical way.

Allows us to see how we’re progressing along the project. Shows us if we’re missing something out

It also means you are able to be more select about the information you chose to show and emphasise, so you are able to show others clearly your journey of research and development which led you to your final outcome.

it will helps us to shape the ideas until the final outcome. Because, during producing the PDF, we will review and summarize our sketches, ideas and experimental samples. Then whenever we get stuck, we can actually look back to the PDF.

a quick and easy way to layout all your research in order without missing things out

Also, it promotes concise work, taking away the pressure of feeling like you have to produce piles and piles of sketchbooks, which doesn’t come naturally to everyone and is not necessarily a positive thing.

It gave me a very good guideline to approach the project. I started off the work very easily, and I could always trace back the work I have done so far.

An empty indesign file is a lot less intimidating than an huge empty sketchbook. I found that making a PDF meant i could analyse my own progress much easier. I could add things in at a later date in an order that makes more sense and is easier to revise at a later date.

That it takes you throughout whole process. It’s like writing

a report or a journal. It’s not easy to do, but it’s just a matter of time. More you do it, easier it will become.

Being able to work my ideas up on the computer and then instantly just place them on a Pdf to present with. It is easier to see what elements of the assessment we are working on at that point and develop them

Layout Skills and design

requires more thoughts about the layout how we show all the information not looking too informative.

Layout is much neater

Annotations are readable

Being able design your PDF in a graphic way

it has a strong aesthetic,and they are well to put togehter. Visual ideas are very strong, and the illustration is very unique.

Finally I think the PDFs are great for practising design layout skills and its actually rather fun to keep challenging yourself to find a better format of presenting the information.

a good way to play around with the typeface and layout on the page so it can look very professional

There is also the improvement of in design and layout skills. ;)

Editability/ Convenience

Adjust pages easier

They are easy to edit. Instant.

perfect for sharing/sending

The plus point will be easily to manage all the researching materials and resources, I think.

In addition, the PDF format will be easy to take, save, send and review.

can also rearrange pages as you can’t when using sketchbooks

Great for students who are more web-based in their research, as images from the web are usually

low in resolution, and look great on screen, but not printed.

Saves paper (eg. printouts of research and photos, photocopies, printed labels for presentation)

Another important plus is the reduced amount of printing, saving everyone money and paper.

You can send it anywhere without the weight of a portfolio/sketchbooks.

I think this is an appropriate way to show my work as I can just put anything there without having to worry about formats and printing, which sometimes can be quite expensive.

Presentation / Group feedback

presentation easier as all the thoughts are integrated in it

Getting to see what others in you group have got up to on the project and the ideas they came up with

It allows you to, at the moment of the presentation, learn with other students and to see if you are behind in a sense of development and other criteria.

Being able to see what others in your group/year have also produced. There has been a lot of diversity.

I enjoyed the presentation aspect as well, this definatley communicated better when showing others what you’re up to.

I was also a good way to see what everyone else was up to and how they were dong getting inspiration from them and there working process. I was also good practice at doing presentations and talking to the group as the more i do it the easier it gets, as this is something the i will need to be able to do well, in to future.

During the first week I had only research and no real idea when i talked to other people and saw what was going it helped me move that one step forward.

good use for presenting work. can be used as a digital sketchbook. (digitally enhanced sketchbook)

It is very good that sharing other people’s PDF on blackboard so I can get some more inspiration and know what I might lack in the process of this project.

They are easy to pass around and show off to other people to get feedback and to learn from other students’ work.

The PDFs have to speak for themselves and therefore they have to be thought through and there has to be a clear flow in the presentation, and therefore this again can show off the student’s ability with ‘Presentation’

I put more effort in to presenting my work.

It has been nice to view what everyone else has been developing in my group, so we can share ideas and improve our own development

They are a neat way of displaying your ideas and I love the consistency of having presentations and seeing everyone develop. This in tern helps my own development.

Feedback/assessment

easier for the tutors to find the most relevant and important aspects of your work,

Enables us to get fast feedback on our work

I found that I did more work with them - usually I wouldn’t concentrate on points such as Research and Contextual Awareness as much, but with the PDF’s I did this more so.

I found this useful as it broke down the research process into stages that we would present and receive feed back on, this meant that is was easer to pin point where the weaknesses in my work was enabling me to improve on be for the next stage.

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/ Appendices /

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/ Appendices /

This process also gave me confidence that my research was being assed and not just the final piece, it felt like the emphasis was more on the research, which i feel has produced a much better final piece

it was good to get the proper feedback whilst doing the project.

tutors see all your thinking if you can type well?

The feed back received at each point of assessment was useful.

Tutor can see the whole working process of our ideas/development in a more thorough and guided way.

The plus about the PDF is that we got marked step by step, so I know where I was going wrong. Normally we only get the feedback at the end and by then its too late.

As the PDF needs to be designed in themselves, they are a straightforward way of showing my ability in ‘Application Technical Knowledge and Practical Skills’ (eg. with operating InDesign) and ‘Presentation’ (eg. designing the PDF to look professional and presentable)

Because there is a limit to the amount of pages for the PDF, the student has to be selective in choosing what to show, making it easier for the assessors

I can’t see many. I guest it’s easier and less time consuming to assess.

Also, having written feedback was especially helpful in improving my analysis and ideas generation on this project.

It eliminates the ambiguous nature of sketchbooks, making the marking process fairer.

Feels like it is much clearer to explain and flag up our work to the tutors. Because its also marked in smaller chunks I think the tutors can monitor and notice things easier that

before. Like when we handed in big sketchbooks they would have to sieved through loads of information and might not find what we want them too.

During each stage we get to find out what you think of our work, so we can improve.

I thought the plus points of the PDF assessment was it was a really good opportunity to show tutors my research and development as usually i felt like it wasnt looked into as much.

Q2What are the ‘minus’ points of the PDF assessment?

No complaints

I can’t think of any. I really enjoyed making them and they were easy to make.

I have become a lot more aware of the order in which my research should be done and what is relevant and professional.

I cant think on many minus points, only that why have we not done thins before now? as i feel that i have thought more about the process this time.

From my point of view I dont feel there are a great deal of minus points.

I like the way that we can blinker the tutors to only see the best bits of our sketchbooks and thoughts and that there isn’t any wasted paper-by keeping it digital.

Designing a good PDF means that we have less time to do our project, but I tried to manage my time so that I would hand it in on time (I don’t know if that count as a minus point).?

Not that many minus points in my opinion.

Nothing really

I don’t see any minus points as yet. I think it has worked really well.

Technology/ (In)convenience

Harder to show ideas, having to draw it down and scan in takes a bit of time

Making sure you export your pdf in the right format

Exported file does not look same as in InDesign. We might want to get some more PDF’s done to gain some skills in PDF production.

I am a sketchbook person, I always jot something down, and I found it very boring and time wasting scanning everything in, it kind of lost it’s like, appeal. I love searching through sketchbooks. And technology can be a bitch - especially if it were to freeze or you lose some work.

The only time I had difficulty with the PDF was when I had to mail the last one in. After having reduced all image sizes and having sent it in I still had a mailer demon. I struggled with bringing down the size of the PDF. All my images were under 100 dpi yet I had a problem.

There was always a sense of panic when I got to Uni to hand it in, just in case there was a problem with the file or memory stick.


As this is the first time we are assessed this way, I was a bit confused of what information needed in it.

It would have been better if we had a clear indication on how to present it in PDFs, again, in real life situation, I do not think our client will tell us how to present.

Also if one is not allowed to explain in words what they are doing, it becomes harder for people to misunderstand.

At the beginning I found the concept new and wasn’t entirely sure what was expected of me, but after the first PDF assessment, I understood and could improve the following ones.

Hard to know if we should be keeping a research book, blog and PDF or if the PDF is enough, as we are all used to doing research/sketch books and aren’t sure if we need to do those as well as the PDF.

Format/tactility/structure

I think that the minus points of using this method is that seeing as you have to prepare a pdf document you are less likely to print out the work you are doing and sticking it in a sketch book.

Making sure you get a certain amount of pages done (don’t think it should be limited)

and maybe it also loses a bit the touch feeling of being more in contact with the paper, as this time I’ve been more concentrated on the pdf ’s than on the sketchbooks.

no physical outcome

can be tedious using the same format page everytime

There are a lot of things that would be better off looking at sketch book, rather than scanning things in that might be hard for people to read.

Page limit, i felt like i could have put more into my PDFs if i had more pages to work with

I do think it is important however that you don’t get too carried away in the digital side of things and get drawn away from the hand craft, which it is much easier to do when creating a PDF on the computer as opposed to cutting and pasting into a sketchbook.

can be very annoying as you can’t do sketches straight away on the page

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/ Appendices /

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/ Appendices /

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/ Appendices /

cant really get a real feel of how your work looks or feels like unless you print the PDF document in stages

Gets quite repetitive and boring after a while not like sketchbooks as you can always add the extra factor to make it different (personally your work etc.)

I’m quite disappointed that having the pdf meant that sketchbook went totally out of the question. i personally still did it because i cannot work otherwise, but knowing that we are only graded on the pdf and not the sketchbook is quite worrying especially that it’s impossible to show everything on the pdf. (photo of maquettes or paper samples is definately not the same as the real thing... i still want sketchbooks to be ultimately the once telling the story and pdf being the support - not the other way round.

As I’m working on the Replay Project with experimentation of texture and scale, work will not be seen or felt in reality, but be seen on a computer screen.

It’s difficult to do, because you have limited amount of pages.

I think it has steered us away from putting ideas down in a sketchbook, although I guess the pdfs are sort of an online sketchbook

Its harder to pick certain piece to exhibit out of all the pages of work in sketch books. To get them to fit onto 8-12 pages. Its harder to show prototypes and hand drawn work. However the first two points skills me in being able to select the right pieces to show and represent the idea clearly.

Self-management

The short deadlines is a bit stressful to get each section in

deadlines

The minus I see is that maybe sometimes we spend more time in making the pdf ’s good

than in actually paying more attention to the project itself

I also have a bit more of time managment problem when it came to solving a final piece as well as sorting out my final pdf.

takes more time to input information

Producing the PDF is an “extra” work

One other minor point is that the PDFs do take time to put together and this means you are drawn away from other design work etc you could be doing. Saying that however when creating the PDF, myself in particular I found I was much more critical in everything I did and it really enabled me to put everything in perspective, therefore I was a lot more productive.

I’ve found myself getting the end of each assessment stage and then spending loads more time putting the PDF together. It’s way too time consuming and means that you’re repeating the work - once for personal project working out (sketchbooks etc) then again for assessment - I know some people haven’t worked like this and have opted just for PDF, but I find it easier to document and work freely and creatively in on paper!

Sometimes I think I spent more time worrying and organising my Pdfs than actually developing the project.

I do feel that it was hard work trying to create a wonderfully laid out PDF and some days it felt like it doubled the work load and that I’d just concentrate on the PDF and not actually the final outcome.

They involve extra time concentrating on the PDF when time could be spent developing the project and sketchbook work. A bit stressful when your trying to do development work and THEN you also have to collate it into a PDF.

I didn’t think there were any minus points to the PDF assessment, apart from it taking a day or so to design so you would be a day or so behind with your work.

Iterations/ development/ Process

Sometimes it is easier to work on sketchbook to show initial ideas and drawings, after all you cannot scribble all over the PDF, it does not have the feel of initial design as everything is in digital form. Scanning it into the PDF does not always look right, I guess this is a design problem to resolve.

Sometimes even though I start through research, I already start with designing ideas and depending on what is being done, one or the other becomes more prominent. Sometimes designing becomes really interesting and with lots of experimentation whereas the research part stays on the side. A natural flow of things is not permitted in this way of assessment. When I think about a pdf presentation I think about something really structured and rigid, and that is what I produced for them. I know that if it were a real client, it is the way it should be but I am thinking about re-structuring the final pdf into something a bit more interesting and free (probably more images than text and more playing with layout.

It interfered with how I would normally do things but now I see the plus side.

Another thing is that maybe all students cant work in the same pace and after that structure on each project. For example when you have a real client you might be waiting to get photos, content or text to work with and cant do as much until u have it.

Students will focus more on creating a PDF document rather than a great piece of design - definitely the case for me!

Students may feel forced to come up with criterion being marked on for the three stages in the hand in. For example, sometimes I found that researching wasn’t necessary for me to do until the development process, by which time, I had already been graded and assessed on the ‘research and analysis stage’.

The minus about the PDF is that have to keep on top of everything, so I have something to hand in and sometimes you only come up with things until the next stage.

Its not as easy to show the ‘amount’ of work done (e.g. multiple thick sketchbooks with heaps of images)

As much as I acknowledge the fact that PDFs are a good way of presenting the design process to clients/tutors, I am certain that time was wasted in the process. I never showed any of my PDFs to my client - simply because he never had enough time to spend looking at whether I researched Dada or Woody Allen, and with the little time he had, he still wished to focus on results and concrete outcomes, rather than my background research.

I think we should have had only two PDFs in total - one PDF to display all our progress from Research & Analysis to Development – gain feedback, and then the second and final one showing improvements over the areas of weakness identified through the first one, and including the remaining assessment criteria.

It may have been nice to have a PDF assessment test run as opposed to diving right in.

Minus points are that you have to pick certain stages and points of the project, or else it will look overcrowded with information and unneccessary images.

You have to pick and choose your work, so you might miss something out that would’ve actually gotten you extra credit.

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Take a while to put the PDF together, and the moment you have done one you need to start the next one. You have to plan what you want on each page a lot and sometimes it feels like that is very time consuming. And you lose the organic design process a bit. But I think you can get round that by doing all your experimentations and development and taking photos of it at each stage then making then PDF once you have finished that part of the design. Makes you spend more time staring at a computer screen, which isn’t so fun.

Sometimes even though I start through research, I already start with designing ideas and depending on what is being done, one or the other becomes more prominent. Sometimes designing becomes really interesting and with lots of experimentation whereas the research part stays on the side. A natural flow of things is not permitted in this way of assessment. When I think about a pdf presentation I think about something really structured and rigid, and that is what I produced for them. I know that if it were a real client, it is the way it should be but I am thinking about re-structuring the final pdf into something a bit more interesting and free (probably more images than text and more playing with layout.

Design/Layout skills

the grammar is not good,so that some points are not really clearly. Maybe some of the captions are hard to read, but i already have changed the typeface and doing some white lay out to making them more clearly.

The minus point for the PDF will be that for some people who are not good at doing layout or more keen on hand drawings, it will get their grade down. Just like we need to choose the Major and Minor for our certificate, people are really confident in different areas. Though we

will have the presentation to explain the final PDF. Somehow, it will be benefit more for the people who are good at or interested in layout skills.

Presentation/group

However, sitting through very long sessions of looking back to back PDF presentations was a bit much and I found I lost concentration towards the end.

Everyone being able to see your work

Another minus thing is also that it gets a bit repetitive to be saying the same things more or less over and over when you are presenting them.

Also at group crits, looking through everyone’s PDFs can become a bit tedious.

Feedback/assessment

I thought a lot for the project but I found it difficult to have everything in it, it may seems irrelevant and I was not very sure how we are marked except for knowing the criteria.

We had our assessment today and I thought it was quite rushed. Seemed like it was more important to go through the whole 20 pages of the pdf, for the third time than to actually present the outcomes. And because there were 5 people, loads of pdf pages and not enough time it seemed like we had to be fast and that was no time at all to get feedback on the work.

I also didn’t understand why our work wasn’t kept, only the pdfs. I thought the work would be kept and looked at carefully and it didn’t happen at all. It was quite hard to get everything ready for today and it seemed like it was not as important as the pdfs. Think that the pdf assessment is good for the mid-assessments but definitely not good for the final one.

I think the only real minus point was shown today in the assessment, how the final pdf

seemed more important than the outcomes or mock up of the outcomes. It is for example hard to show technical skills and real design in the pdfs since they are consisting of smaller versions or screen shots of the actual designs.

It’s also quite ambiguous and impersonal. You don’t know what’s being looked at, what’s assessed. I know it’s not possible to look over EVERY page in sketchbooks. Assessment 1, we just handing in the PDF with little/no discussion or tutorial. There is SO much more that you can communicate when actually talking through your work, which I feel is missing from just handing in a PDF.

I don’t really understand submitting a ‘selection’ or ‘edited highlights’ of the work. It’s disconcerting only handing in part of the work produced, when that could mean that you receive a low grade on the assumption that you haven’t done enough in a particular area. Feels a bit pot luck (Saying that, I think the grades so far have been mostly fair).

I don’t see many minus points, I suppose having to condense a massive amount of work into a set amount of pages means there are many things that won’t be seen or assessed.

Q3In what ways has the PDF process changed the way you work?

No change

The PDF process hasn’t changed the way I work. I worked that way already.

Assessment/feedback

I understand the grading process a lot more, which makes it easier to take advantage of.

I think the PDF process helps spread the work out consistently. Getting feedback was very beneficial during the mid points as it was useful to continue working with a clearer direction. It was great that we could talk to our tutors and also see the clients. Over all for this project was the hardest but with the help of the team working on it, and the tutors I have made it through.

In general I think it is a really cool way of assessment as It also let you follow the development of your work at the parts that can be improved.

…it has trained me to do a large and wide research before I start working, and care about every criteria I need to achieve in the process.

Because we had to hand in something at different stages. I realised that I have more work and cover more stages of my development.

Because the PDF assessments focus on all the 7 assessment criteria, I started to work closely with the course Grading Descriptors, constantly checking if I am answering and producing what the Descriptors describe and if I am showing that in my PDF.

As previously mentioned: it’s better for time management. Spending 2 weeks on research and ideas, 2 on developement and contextual awareness, and 2 on production/delivery.

It does mean LOTS of time spent putting the PDFs together, which could be spent making further progress with the project.

Self management is a lot easier and I personally found myself doing a lot more research/development than I normally would.

Make me spilt everything down into stages, before I think I would do a bit of everything all at once, but because I know only two things are going to

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be marked at one time I only really focus on those elements.

It has made me spend the time suggested on each criteria, which in the end, probably helped to obtain a more consistent and conceptual piece because you are involved in every stage in a more in depth way.

It actually made me focus my attention to the different areas of the project. i.e. research, ideas generation, contextual research etc.

It has also made me look at the marking criteria much more helping me guide my work towards a better grade.

It has made me spend the time suggested on each criteria, which in the end, probably helped to obtain a more consistent and conceptual piece because you are involved in every stage in a more in depth way.

It encouraged me to be a lot more critical about everything and the assessment points with the tutors were also a lot of help.

In some cases though I felt I was doing certain things purely for the PDF assessment and not because it was benefitting my actual project in anyway, it felt like ticking the boxes to get the grade. I will certainly use this method in the future.

I knew straight away about what to improve in my project, usually when I got stuck and I knew there were something wrong with the project I couldn’t go forward, but after being assessed?I could continue my project in a more efficient way.

Process/Development

I explored different ways to generate and express my ideas.

I used to think too much and left with very little time to complete the outcome, the PDF really helped me to develop my idea faster and I have stopped thinking more than necessary.

It helped me to stop worrying about trying to fill a sketchbook and just log things down and even if you worked on some bits before others you can easily add or take away pages with out starting again.

I have become a lot more aware of the order in which my research should be done and what is relevant and professional.

The process has changed the way I work because it has made me tackle my work in a more structured way.

I have started to think about my research and design process in a much more methodical way and it became clear where and how to draw/show links between the research and design.

The process has also made me think about what i’m researching, keeping everything to the point and the PDFs helped summarize where i was at, which cut down the time wasted on something that was not helpful or relevant.

As written before I made me do more research and be more aware of the process, also to gather all stuff found or done in more or less one place. It is better than a sketchbook for me I think.

I personally like the PDF way of working as it makes you work more independently. You should have one at the end of every year as it makes you feel like your working for real.

Shown me that digital sketch books, can help the process of development

Easier to re-evaluate digital files, for improvement

It has made me record more things that I would originally not include in my portfolio

It forces me to think about my work very logically, even though sometimes the ideas just come out following my instinct.

It hasn’t really, it’s just made me realise when I need to

look at something in a bit more detail, it’s more clear.

I think on a whole the PDF has encouraged me to document my processes in a lot more thorough manner.

Therefore, I need to spend more time doing the layout and trying to produce nice PDF rather then spend more time to do brain storming and hand drawing on the sketchbook.

Changed the way i thought about preparing PDF’s documents, the work load and my final pieces.

Changed the way I layout my work on a page whilst researching

Only in how I record my work/design process.

As I’m used to work in my sketchbooks, it was very difficult to select work to include in the three PDF’s. It has made me be more critical about the way I choose vital areas that will attempt to solve the project brief.

It has helped me be more selective.

I think it has actually allowed me to work faster as I am getting my ideas straight onto the computer before going to the sketchbook

I have found this way of assessing has worked with the way that I work. A lot of the time my work is very computer based and I tend to forget about my sketchbook. This way I can see what I have produced on the computer and then organise it. It has made me faster at working and I can see the process better with more links.

I have felt a bit more free to experiment and develop my work, knowing

that it will be easy to just copy it and paste onto another file to present it.

In the past there was always the worrying about getting the sketchbook

organised so tutors could understand it, and never knowing how much development

work to have in it.

I work better and faster because I know what I have to change and do.

I used to rely on sketchbook for my thinking but knowing that our sketchbook will not be marked, I began to scribbles on paper as well as sketchbook,

Self Management

It allows me to understand more about the way I work, everything is equally important and ensure yourself to get things done by certain time will definitely help.

Time management is vital as we have to complete everything on time, I have learnt how to manage everthing to be done on time and always check again before it is sent off.

It has made me more organized, I usually go a bit all over the place, which sometimes works great, but sometimes doesn’t.

Like I mentioned it made me consider more areas of my work, and it made me time manage my work better so to speak, as I would usually dive straight into something and get it done as quickly as possible.

I improved on my time management I was able to complete certain aspects of my PDF unlike if I was doing it in a sketchbook it would have taken me a lot longer to complete my sketchbook so the end sketchbook would looked rush.

I was able to structure and plan my time better from the beginning because of the clear deadlines during the project.

The more frequent deadlines have forced me to work evenly and consistently throughout the term. I think I have produced more than usual and developed things more thoroughly because I have been working at a high pace throughout. Although

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it is quite intense and tiring, it is much less stressful.

Planning and organising my time and my project has never been easier as I now know how to work my way through the project with a steady pace, considering thoroughly, every aspect of the process

I found that I worked in a really rigid check list way to ensure I had covered the necessary points.

Most of all, I found it easier to keep to several deadlines rather than just one.

It’s definitely more organized. And you have to think and plan a lot.

Makes me have clearer aims for every two weeks, and I feel like I have worked harder in the first few weeks than I normally do. Also I feel like I don’t seem to do anything other than graphic design work from the moment I get home until 2am every day, feels like it has completely taken over my life, which I don’t like, but it seems to be the only way to get the grades, and finish everything.

It has made me more organized, I usually go a bit all over the place, which sometimes works great, but sometimes doesn’t.

Presentation

It made my work easier to follow

Better Presentation

Was easier to talk through and explain my process

And it gave me a good over view of a time scale.

I put more effort in to presenting my work.

Professional

The appearance is more professional for future reference

Because we need to produce the PDF but no really more research book which will be more like to show to the real client.


It was strictly connected with my research so it helped me to put all my thoughts in one place.

I really like using sketchbooks and writing down my thoughts. Although PDFs are somehow more visual. They are great for moving images around. Sometimes I would suddenly have an idea and i would be able to insert a new page and get it down. It also had a good order to it.

When I do the PDF, I should think of the visual style of the whole PDF, it should have a style or a theme about the client. I need to have a clearly idea to thinking each page for the whole PDF.

It meant that I didn’t have to keep a sketchbook but rather instead I used a collection of sheets.

I take a lot of digital photos when researching, developing etc and it was great not having to print them and stick them in a sketchbook only to be probably overlooked.

I have felt the least creative during this project, the PDF process I think being most responsible for this. Though I understand that tutors would like to see our ideas process, students at this stage in the course, should be given a choice on how they choose to present their ideas.

Technology

I learnt many things about creating a PDF on the InDesign software and has left me with confidence to use the software again and the PDF has shown my work in clear stages.

Reflection

And I started to evaluate myself after I received the feedback, which I have never done before, I always evaluated myself until the end of the project.

You have to pick and choose your work, so you might miss something out that would’ve actually gotten you extra credit.

Q4How has your understanding of the assessment process changed?

Staged assessment points

Rather than thinking it is an assessment, it makes a lot of difference if you consider it as a mid-point presentation to the client. Of course, it is good to have create a PDF every two weeks as we can get a clear indication where we stand and where to develop further.

Breaking down the assessment process also means the three areas are

more bite size and not so big and scary.

I feel that i have always had a good understanding of the assessment process but, i now feel it is a bit fairer as we can see that the research, sketchbooks are being looked at. I guess that the way it was broken down made the criteria clear and we had to address them a stage at a time.

The 3 step of PDF assessment has made me to more understand how to handle the project from start to finish, and to look back my works all the time.

Understanding of assessment changes: Each deadline was clear and pointed out which meant that i knew exactly when each PDF had to be handed in

Having individual assessment points for a start really helped you see where you was heading. By breaking the project down into these assessment points followed by information on what was expected of us made me realise what I needed to achieve in order to adhere and pass certain units.

I didn’t like being marked in stages according to the grading criteria’s as i always mix them up and do work more in one criteria than others and

so therefore it might bring down the other grades

I haven’t really thought about that. I seems a little like ‘lets see if this works’. It has helped make sure the work methodically meets each assessment criteria.

Because each assessment was focused on different things, I was able to research more in depth than I usually would. Not distracted by other criteria till you get to it. I think it has allowed me to focus on all the areas of assessment whereas in previous projects I tend to gear my work towards a particular area of assessment and forget about other, important areas.

My understanding of the assessment process has changed through the different stages we had to work on every two weeks. Doing this, it has made me focus on certain criteria. I reflect on my work more, also feedback from tutors and the clients, gives me what I need to work on more.

Make me spilt everything down into stages, before I think I would do a bit of everything all at once, but because I know only two things are going to be marked at one time I only really focus on those elements.

It’s a shame that its at the end of the course but I have understood better the way that I should start with and work through the criteria. Splitting the assessment criteria into twos has made it easier to see where I am coming from and what I’m going to do next.

Editing and selectivity

I understand that the content of the work being assessed is more important than the amount of work you have, it is about quality not quantity.

As there is a page limit for the PDFs, we have to carefully select and summarise the process in order to stay within the limit.

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Work-based learning

I have discovered how to (in)corporate the sketchbook and the design ideas together looking professional, and it is one of the key point of this assessment process, looking good and professional.

I think the assessment process changed is good of us to doing professional work

The new assessment will be more helped us to prepare for the real client, commission and interview. It is a practise somehow, which is brilliant.

I think the assessment process has changed into a more work-base one. I felt like working as a real designer as I always needed to report about the process of my work and get the feedback from my client during the process.

I feel that my assessment is now more realistic, and a lot more based on presentation.

General

Although the assessment process has changed, the assessment criteria is the same.

To me, it is a turning point for my design as it has changed both my understanding of assessment and how to make a good PDF.

Personally I feel that it is easier to understand the assessment process as you are constantly looking at what it is you have to produce in your pdf in order to pass the assessment.

It actually made me more understand how we get marked and what we get marked on. I seemed to be getting better grades on the pdf than my normal hand in deadlines.

Not much.

I know a bit more about how things are marked

I’ve always had a fairly good understanding of the assessment process, but this was it much more efficient and generally easier for everyone.

I feel it was a little more rigid than I had realized.

Honestly not really that much, as far as i understand, the assessment process is based on the ability to develop ideas and work constructively. it is not just about the final outcomes.

It has changed slightly but some aspects still remain unclear

Now I can see way the marks are going and what part is letting me down.

It has not.

I have to say I’m more aware of what I have done

I’m not sure what you mean, I understood how this process was going to work from the beginning

I understand it better, makes things easier.

It’s made me look into more detail in particular areas of assessment that I perhaps wouldn’t have focused on as much

Assessment criteria

I think I finally understood contextual awareness but unfortunately am not being able to connect my research to my final piece. Well actually I can show hoe the research showed me what “not to do” and that established my boundaries.

Not much I still find it hard to understand the contextual awareness bit and some of the other stuff too.

My understanding of the assessment process has changed dramatically, as I now not only know what is required of my work, I am working closely with the descriptions of the assessment criteria, to make sure my work answers them accordingly.

It would have been great to have done this at the start of the course, as I have never followed the grading descriptors so rigidly before (although I

know I should) and think that if understood them better I could have got better grades previously. I certainly think that this method should be kept for the next year of students.

I think I finally understood contextual awareness but unfortunately am not being able to connect my research to my final piece. Well actually I can show how the research showed me what “not to do” and that established my boundaries.

I have only just understood what the contextual awareness criteria means, and I think that’s because I was able to go through each part of the design process individually (which I think the criteria sort of reflects).

I am more aware of the marking criteria and what assessors are looking for. It’s a more intergrated process and feedback feels more constructive.

Feedback

I really like getting the emailed feedback. it was really easy to work from and to improve PDF’s. I might not have improved the work if it had not been editable.

Process

I feel more organized with the way I gather my information, where as before I would perhaps miss key aspects out with out realizing.

It gives me the chance to evaluate my works from more widely different point of view than before.

Also, it helps us to methodize our working process.

My understanding of how we are assessed is a little confusing and unfair as you may want to add something to something that has already been marked but wont get remarked not until the final assessment and then you can not add everything

I suppose the individual sections that we are graded on are now clearer BUT I still think that

pdf simply does not show the story in as many details because it doesn’t actually show how we think since the info is then reprocessed.

The PDF process feels guidelined, where as before, we were given the choice of how we chose to present our ideas/workings.

Q5Do you feel more or less professional working this way? Please explain why.

Form/Tactility/Structure

Yes because a pdf in my opinion is more “designed” than a sketch book would be, you pay more attention to layout and so on in a pdf.

Feel more professional, because the Pdf ’s we supply have to be designed rather than noted in a sketchbook, which normally I wouldn’t consider the layout as much as I do with the Pdf.

i regret to say that digital files more or less always appear more professional, as i love to work using my hands especially throughout this project focusing on the handmade aesthetic.

Its also meant you could use, clean, crisp, fresh imagery as apposed to when you print it on your home printer and stick it in sketchbook only for the pritt stick to unstick and the image to curl up at the corners.

- definitely more professional as sketchbooks can get a little messy and unprofessional whereas on screen it look fresh and polished like the final pieces.

Working through PDFs also require me to go through selection processes (unlike sketchbooks where everything I have done is included), and with this I am constantly evaluating and reevaluating

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and reflecting on my work, project management and self management.

I think that it has taught us an invaluable skill that we can use to show clients in the future. It looks organised and professional and we can get straight to the point without having to show scraps of paper in a sketchbook style. I think it’s a far more professional way of presenting our work to our tutors than handing in messy sketchbooks.

I think if I was doing a totally different project like designing a website for a corporate company, I will feel more professional working this way. But as I’ve been working on the REPLAY Wall Illustration Project, I’ve been experimenting with scale and texture, and I will feel more professional showing my sketchbooks/s. It really depends what kind of format I’m using for that particular project.

More professional, because rather than handing in giant sketchbooks and rough work, you have to design something that’s presentable. It makes you think more about how you present your work, which can only be a good thing.

I think it is much more professional, last year I used to stick everything in a sketchbook but I don’t think that looks very professional and used to take ages and you wouldn’t really show that to a client, and I spent lots of time making it look nice but no one really looked at them. This year I have kept research books, where I have printed stuff off and bound it once I completed the project and they look much more professional and were quicker to do. And I think the PDF’s compliment this, the PDF’s look more like something I would email to a client to show my ideas to them.

More professional. In my work placement I watched a client presentation and that was done over a pdf file as well and it was very professional. I think

this is much better than having to present a sketch book.

I feel more professional as showing my work throughout the different stages in a neat and concise presentation is more how I imagine the working environment instead of flopping out a tatty sketchbook full of questionable scrawlings and trying to convince a client of their worth...

Work-based learning

I feel more professional working this way because it is like presenting our process to the client.

I understand more about the working environment in the future when Im in the industry. The PDF is very useful when we met with our clients as we talked through our PDFs and have the sketchbook to work as a back up.

Advices from the client every two weeks helped with my idea development, ensure Im on the right track. Also, advices from tutors and mentor guide me to think realistically and the outcome ought to be within budget.

The PDFs are useful as it can be put into the portfolio looking designed and neat. The idea of real life client and PDFs works well together because I would have thought this is the kind of presentation we will be doing in the future.

I felt a lot more professional this way it made my work looks more professional and easier to follow and for my self easier to understand. If i was going to show it to a client like this they would fully understand my process and thats what I like about it its much easier to create and its understandable to everyone. I worked better on this ones because you was given deadlines as we went through the term and not just one at the end which tends to make you slack a little and make you leave things to the last minute and end up rushing your final idea.

YES. Definitely. I have e-mailed my PDF’s to my client and did so feeling confident and professional. They look smart, slick and well thought through.

More professional, it’s like you’re presenting to a client, it’s good practice and we all need to do it and get used to it anyway. It’s just generally a much better process.

I do feel that this is a much more professional way of working as, it made me think about the way a piece of design is produced, but also i had to think about how i would explain my ideas, research, findings to a client who doesn’t know anything about what i have done. Also i had to thing about the presentation of my research.

Neither. I think I feel more professional in this project simply because i did designs for someone else. And you had to work hard all through the project to show ideas and designs to the client.

I do feel more professional working this way. As during my working years this was how we were used to working. There were mid points during the project which helped us steer the project if it was going off road or even push the boundaries a little and mid-point meetings with the client only ensured that all the work done so far was not in vain. Although the ‘Civil Branding’ brief was a rather open one for some people easier that others it helped see possibility or being able to see other student helped me understand my task better and I was able to move forward. Having a presentation at each point also help me consolidate my research and ideas and I was able to reap the benefits.

more professional, more of a final document that can be pitched, explained, and printed with a better cleaner crisper aura about it.

I felt more professional working this way, as I was showing the clients my way

of thinking, and they would either suggest things they liked or did not like which would aid me in my development.

I guess both. More: because we’re asked to deliver a concise document as we might for a client.

The staggered nature of the marking is good as well, as it creates a dialogue between the client and us, which is how you’d work normally anyway.

Restrictive

I have felt less professional. Making these PDF’s remind me of making powerpoints at secondary school. The rules and regulations for each stage has restricted my creative flow, and has distracted me from focusing on the final outcome.

Creativity/style

Much more. It is more structured and “serious”. But I really want to try and present a different pdf for the final one, more playful and image based if that is ok?

I feel less professional, as I think the pdf ’s dont really capture the best of me

Keep trying and error makes me feel exhausted. I feel like moving back and forth on the balance of “feeling confident” and “lacking confident” constantly.

A lot more professional, in that by using a PDF it looks much tidier and presentable.

Clear and beautiful layout as well. Otherwise, we will not get the good feedback form the client. However, I havnt used to work on this way. So, I will trying to manage myself to learn it and later will be benifit from it, hopefully.

Probably more. I think it is a much more practical way of showing a client, for example, the work and development in a concise fashion. You don’t have to lose the sketchy, raw thought process if you don’t want to by scanning in initial doodles and

/ 102 /

/ Appendices /

/ 102 /

/ Appendices /

/ 103 /

/ Appendices /

sketches. Alternatively, if you’d prefer, it is just as easy to clean everything up and show your development in a neat PDF.

Much more. It is more structured and “serious”. But I really want to try and present a different pdf for the final one, more playfull and image based if that is ok?

Presentation

It makes it much easier to show and present your design journey to others.

The PDF could always be printed out on paper and binded in some professional so the client gets a better understanding of my outcomes and how i came about creating it.

More professional as it fells less casual since we have to present it. also this is quite possibly what we will do in the future jobs.

I feel more professional because I have taken more care at the presentation of my work and I get to practice talking in front of a group which will be helpful, when I get my job.

Less: because there has been less face-to-face/presentation type delivery. In my opinion nothing beats pitching and talking about the work/thoughts/ideas and progress.

I feel more professional working this way as you end up with an automatic presentation of your work which is good enough to pitch

Self management

I felt more professional because it forced me to plan things a bit more but sometimes felt a bit artificial almost like we were still back at school.

I feel more professional working this way but feel I am still unprofessional. I have learned the way how to handle a project overall and it really gives me the sense of how to know well about the direction of my work step by step.

Definitely, it will be more professional to work in this way which will be more like a way of the graphic designer should be. Highly self-managed and well organized for ourself.

I feel more professional working this way as my working process is much better documented and thorough.

Reflection

I have pushed myself and looked back my works all the time, but on the other hand, it makes me to find out a lot of faults of my works.

More, showed good and bad points in my work so know what to change, allowed me to show numerous ideas to the client

I felt more professional work of this way, because i need to thinking idea, doing research, and analysis where is good or bad by myself. this way is a good way to practice my professional ability.

I feel definitely more professional. It’s like to getting ready for your exams. It’s more serious, and you learn from it.

Overall I have really enjoyed this process of assessment and feel that it works for me. I will use it in future projects either on the BA top up or within the industry, either way it is a tool that I will keep throughout my design future.

Process

Of course I feel more professional working this way. In the previous terms we had assessment/presentation at the end of the project, I have been working more like alone and haven’t really talked to my tutors about the process, I pretty much stuck to my own ideas. But this kind of assessment made me knew more about my process and work since I have talked more to my client and tutors about it. I received more feedback on how to improve my work which made a bigger progress in the project.

I feel more professional using this method, because it allows me to organise the work and the process and then be able to present my ideas, research and future development in an organised way. This allows me to represent the right ideas and my structure to the client clearly and with confidence, rather than trying to explain every point I came up with and confuse the client.

The PDFs did not make me feel less or more professional. I understand that an organised presentation of my ideas and layouts would help me to sell and/or to impress a client, but not in this particular project

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