COP3 : Evaluation

What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

There are a number of skills I feel I have improved though out this module. I now feel like I now understand how to engage in academic writing and feel that through going to the academic writing classes that my writing skills have improved and I was able to apply the skills I learnt to my extended piece of writing. I feel like my research skills have greatly improved, I now  know how to approach and focus research, it is important to not waste time during the research stage of a design brief or this extended writing so learning how to focus my research and make it as specific and relevant was very useful and will be something that will continue to be useful in other modules in the research stage. My organisation skills have been tested through this module as I began research when we broke up for summer and have only just finished now, that is a lot of sources, books, quotes, etc to keep organised so that I could access them when I needed to, although I probably could have done it better, my organisation skills were definitely improved and I was able to keep onto of the organisation of research. I have developed better communication skills through the primary research stage of my research project. I had to communicate with a number of people and form question that would get me the most useful and valid responses, so by taking the time to do this I realised that although it does take longer, it is best to really take into consideration exactly what you want to get out of the scenario. From doing this I got really useful replies which I was able to use both in the written element of the project and the practical side.   

I have gained a great deal of knowledge into how the creative process works and applied it directly to graphic design which has helped my personal practice as a designer. Through understanding the power of innovation and how it is achieved I feel more confident to go forward in the design world. I always had the worry in my mind of 'what happens if I run out of ides' and so on, but now that I understand how it all works I no longer have this fear to hold me back. 

I approached my practical project wanting to create something which communicates a strong message as I think the way that people have a hang up on creativity  needs to change.  I wanted to communicate how beneficial creative thinking is to the graphic designer but also create a conversation, not just force the message in people face. The range of my project allowed me to do this as I could approach each product slightly different to gain a different voice.

In terms of production skills, I have furthered my book binding skills. I wanted the book to visual represent the messages it was delivering so the best way to do this was to break the mould of the book by using books within books and several binds making the book into a an interactive piece. This was a very complex bind and involved a lot of planning but I feel it is successful and works well with the message of the book. 

I feel that my stengths in this module have been the research skills which as I said I will take further and apply to all other briefs and module. I really enjoyed really delving deep into a subject especially one that I have such a strong interest in but I did no know much about, where as now I know a lot about my research subject and feel like I have gained so much from all the knowledge.  In terms of my practical piece I believe I have successfully achieved synergy between my practical piece, research and essay. I have taken onboard all the information and research and developed it into something new. I am also happy with the primary research I undertook. I got some really valid interesting primary research and I can see the importance of it and really don't think my essay or practical outcome would have been as rounded without it, so this level of primary researching will definitely be developed into my other briefs

My organisation was probably a weakness. I wrote plans and tried to stick to them as best I could but when obstacles appeared such as pressure from other modules it made my planning crumble. I need to develop my ability to share my time between module.  I also think my crafting of the final product needs work as something always seems to go wrong which could be solved by leaving enough time to make mistakes during the crafting which I will start to do from now on as it is a shame to not create something which is executed perfectly as so many hours have been spent on it.


Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

- Research, I put myself massively behind through researching the wrong things at the start. I was reading really interesting books and they were relevant to my subject but just not to the academic level of the things I should have been reading. So I will definitely research with focus from now on to save time

- Leave enough time to make mistake in the final crafting of the product this will improve the overall aesthetics of the piece and make it look more professional for portfolio shots

- conduct more primary research. I did a lot but it was so beneficial that more would have been even better.

- Begin to write earlier, this would have abled me to get over the writing hurdle quicker, but I may not have been as well informed starting sooner.

- Photograph work professionally - this would communicate my work better and is something which I should definitely put into the time frame 



How would you grade yourself in the following areas;
Attendance: 4
Punctuality: 5
Motivation: 4
Commitment: 4
Quantity of work: 4
Quality of work: 4

COP 3 : design boards

COP3: Photographs of end products

Photographs of products. click here for Illumination website -  http://cargocollective.com/illumination

Illuminate - Magazine photographs

I am really happy with how the magazine has turned out, it is simplistic in style and easy to read and navigate around. The interviews work well that I conducting with the graphic designer and I am very thankful for their co operation.

Illumination - Book photographs

I am really pleased at the level of interaction I managed to achieve with the book, it defies what a book should read like but whilst maintaining to use traditional binding methods/styles. I am disappointed at the end execution of the book, it was going well until the glueing of the bind which went slightly wrong, this is something I would have liked to change by starting the book again, but time was an issue so it was best to make do.

The contact of this book was all derived from the research I have been undertaking. The process of the graphic designer is based on the theory of by Graham Wallas (1949) who describes the process of creativity as four stages, preparation, incubation, inspiration and verification. I have just adapted his theory and applied it to graphic design. Another example is the intrinsic, extrinsic motivation and about how fake deadlines and threats effect a persons creativity as a creative person is intrinsically motivated. This is the theory of Amabile(1998) in the article 'how to kill creativity', one more example is the 'leave your negativity outside the door this is based upon the finding professor John Beeman made about how prior to a creative endeavour is someone is in a bad mood, there creativity will be hindered. I could go on, but every single statement is backed up with research.   

COP3 : End bibliography

This is my finished bibliography of all the sours I used throughout writing my COP3 essay and practical.

Bibliography 

ACR Staff. 2012. What You Need to Know to Be a Graphic Designer in South Carolina | Animation Career Review. [online] Available at: http://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/what-you-need-know-be-graphic-designer-south-carolina [Accessed: 10 Jan 2014].

Adams, K. 2006. The sources of innovation and creativity. National Center on Education and the Economy.

Adams, K. 2006. The sources of innovation and creativity. National Center on Education and the Economy.

Amabile, T. M. 1998. How to Kill Creativity. Harvard Business Review, pp. 77 - 87.

Amabile, T. M. 1982. The Social Psychology of Creativity: A Consensual Assessment Technique.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43 (5), pp. 997-1013.

Amabile, T. M. and Amabile, T. M. 1996. Creativity in context. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.

Amabile, T. M., Conti, R., Coon, H., Lazenby, J. and Herron, M. 1996. Assessing the work environment for creativity. Academy of management journal, 39 (5), pp. 1154--1184.

Austin, J. H. 2003. Chase, chance, and creativity. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Batey, M. and Furnham, A. 2006. Creativity, intelligence, and personality: A critical review of the scattered literature. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 132 (4), pp. 355--429.

Buzan, T. 2002. The power of creative intelligence. [S.l.]: PerfectBound.

Buzan, T. 2006. Mind mapping. Edinburg: BBC active.

Edwards, M. 2013. Graphic design and creativity. Interviewed by Suzanne Moore [TV] 18 dec 2013.

Feist, G. J. 1998. A meta-analysis of personality in scientific and artistic creativity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2 (4), pp. 290--309.

Gazzaniga, M. 2002. The split brain revisited. Scientific America, The hidden mind pp. 27-31.

Grafton, J. 2013. Graphic design and creativity. Interviewed by Suzanne Moore [radio] 18 dec 2013.

Gröger, A. 2014. Graphic design and creativity. Interviewed by Suzanne Moore [radio] 12 jan 2014.

Guilford, J. 1967. Creativity: Yesterday, today and tomorrow. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 1 (1), pp. 3--14.

Horizon: The Creative Brain - How Insight Works. 2013. [TV programme] BBC, channel two, 27th june.

Jarrett, C. 2012. Why the Left-Brain Right-Brain Myth Will Probably Never Die. [online] Available at: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-myths/201206/why-the-left-brain-right-brain-myth-will-probably-never-die [Accessed: 25th september 2013].

Johnson, S. 2010. Where good ideas come from. New York: Riverhead Books.

Jungkind, W. n.d. The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada Graphic Design - Definition |. [online] Available at: http://www.gdc.net/designers/features/articles/122.php [Accessed: 7 Jan 2014].

Kaufman, J. and Sternberg, R. 2007. Resource Review : Creativity. Change, pp. 55-58.

Kaufman, J. C. 2009. Creativity 101. New York, NY: Springer Pub.

Kaufman, J. C. and Sternberg, R. J. 2010. The Cambridge handbook of creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kaufman, J. C. and Sternberg, R. J. 2006. The international handbook of creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Keegan, R. 1996. Creativity from childhood to adulthood: the development issues. In: Runco, M. A. eds. 1996. Creativity from childhood through adulthood. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 57-66.

Kiosoglou, B. and Philippin, F. 2013. I used to be a design student. London: Laurence King.

Kounios, J. and Beeman, M. 2009. Aha! in the Brain. Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 18 (4), pp. 210-216.

Lehrer, J. 2008. The eureka hunt. New Yorker.

Lehrer, J. 2008. The eureka hunt. New Yorker.

Lehrer, J. 2008. The eureka hunt. New Yorker, Jul 28 2008, pp. 40-45.

Mednick, S. 1962. The associative basis of the creative process. Psychological review, 69 (3), p. 220.

Milgram, R. M. and Livne, N. L. 2006. Research on creativity in Israel: A chronicle of theoretical and empirical development. In: Kaufman, J. C. and Sternberg, R. J. eds. 2006. The International Handbook of Creativity. New York:: Cambridge University Press, pp. 307-336.

Millotte, L. 2014. Graphic design and creativity. Interviewed by Suzanne Moore [radio] 14 jan 2014.

Moore, E. 2007. How to kill creativity ten easy steps. Industry and Higher Education, 21 (5), pp. 337--343.

Oxforddictionaries.com. n.d. creative: definition of creative in Oxford dictionary (British & World English). [online] Available at: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/creative?q=creative [Accessed: 5 nov 2013].

Rhodes, M. 1961. An analysis of creativity. The Phi Delta Kappan, 42 (7), pp. 305--310.

Ritter, S. M., Damian, R. I., Simonton, D. K., Van Baaren, R. B., Strick, M., Derks, J. and Dijksterhuis, A. 2012. Diversifying experiences enhance cognitive flexibility. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48 (4), pp. 961--964.

RSA. 2010. RSA Edge Lecture with Sir Ken Robinson - Changing Paradigms. [video online] Available at: http://www.thersa.org/events/video/archive/sir-ken-robinson [Accessed: 30th october 2013].

Rubenson, D. L. and Runco, M. A. 1995. The psychoeconomic view of creative work in groups and organizations. Creativity and Innovation Management, 4 (4), pp. 232--241.

Runco, M. A. 1996. Creativity from childhood through adulthood. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Runco, M. A. 1992. Children's divergent thinking and creative ideation. Developmental Review, 12 (3), pp. 233-264.

Runco, M. A. 1984. Teachers’ judgements of creativity and divergent thinking. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 46 pp. 375-384.

Runco, M. A. 1984. Teachers’ judgements of creativity and divergent thinking. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 46 pp. 375-384.

Runco, M. A. 2014. Parents’ and teachers’ ratings of creativity in children. Journal of social behaviour and personality, 4 pp. 73-83.

Sawyer, R. K. 1997. Pretend play as improvisation. Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates.

Sethi, R., Smith, D. C. and Park, C. W. 2002. How to kill a team's creativity. Harvard Business Review, 80 (8), pp. 16--17.

Shaw, O. 2013. Graphic design and creativity. Interviewed by Suzanne Moore [radio] 19 Dec 2013.

Strawberry. 2013. Divergent thinking tests. [online] Available at: http://educationmuseum.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/divergent-thinking-tests/ [Accessed: 22 sep 2013].

Suzanne Moore. 2013. What is 'creativity'?. Interviewed by Suzanne Moore [radio] https://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_EditorFull.aspx?sm=3xRvpEq2hX9fGRdmlb90sD4_2FGWKJglI_2FX9vTrMXhzwA_3D, 21 nov 2013.

Suzanne Moore. 2014. Graphic design: student to industry. Interviewed by Suzanne Moore [radio] https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TDK7QW7, 20 jan 2014.

Suzanne Moore. 2013. Process: Creativity test. Interviewed by Suzanne Moore [radio] Leeds.

TED. 2006. Ken Robinson: How schools kill creativity. [video online] Available at: http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html [Accessed: 31 october 2013].

Tierney, J. 2010. Log In - The New York Times. [online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/science/29tier.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2& [Accessed: 5 Jan 2014].

Torrance, E. P. 1970. Encouraging creativity in the classroom. Dubuque, Iowa: W.C. Brown Co.

Vygotsky, L. S. 2004. Imagination and creativity in childhood. Journal of Russian and east European psychology, 42 (1), pp. 7--97.

Wallace, D. B. and Gruber, H. E. 1989. Creative people at work. New York: Oxford University Press.

Wallas, G. 1949. The art of thought. London: Watts.

Witjas, A. 2013. Graphic design and creativity. Interviewed by Suzanne Moore [radio] 18 dec 2013.

Zagorski, N. 2008. Hopkins Medicine Magazine - A Kind of Calling. [online] Available at: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/hmn/s08/feature4.cfm [Accessed: 11 Jan 2014].

COP3 :Website development

Website :

This is the final outcome for the website it functions as a platform for graphic designers to develop, learn and communicate about creative potential. It is something that you would visit when you suffer a creative block on a brief or just to read an interesting article .

the pictures act as the navigation opening to each of the pages which will feature different things take for example 'the work it out' image links to the graphic design work out video that people can join in with to unblock there creative problem.  

Other features are interviews with Graphic designers around the subject of creative potential within graphic design and the process they uses when approaching a brief.

I am happy with how the website has worked out it all works visually as a set but also houses information that I think would be useful for a graphic designer to know. It would be updated regulary so that it is current and exciting and would hold the interest of the the audience. 

COP3: Process booklet

Pictures of process booklet

These are photographs of the finished process creativity tests, the question booklet and answer booklets  printed and filled in. I have already evaluated the this pieces of primary research in a previous post but thought it would be beneficial to show photographed documentation of the booklets.

COP3 : design development

Covers:

These are the resolved cover designs for the magazine (right) and book (left) I am happy with how they have turned out and feel that they work well in the range but are different enough to be recognisable as one or the other but enough the same so that people will know they are part of the same range 'illumination'.

 


Magazine editorial layout:

This is the format I am going to for my magazine layout. I want there to be lots of white space on the page so that the text does not feel overpowering. I want this magazine to be an easy but interesting read that allows the brain to think and wonder.




Bellow is how the layout works when filled in with images. I experimented with adding more visuals to the introduction page to the graphic design but I don't think it works as well as the simpler layout as in the right and bellow image the text has more room to breath and makes it easier to look at when reading.

  

 

As the start of each interview is very basic I want to showcase the work of the graphic designer on the next spread, so that the interview can be put into the context of the work of the designer.

The layout will follow systematic rules such as the width between each image, and the placing of the designers name and website. This will add a coherent fluidity to the magazine. To stop the spreads for each designer looking to similar and repetitive I will use different sized and formated images.