HOW TO... - self evaluation

WHAT ROLE(S) DID YOU TAKE IN THE GROUP?

- All 7 of us spent monday and thursday's sessions on idea generation. A lot of mine were taken into consideration.
- I took the photographs of the end product (stickers) in appropriate surroundings and edited them on photoshop in a way to best put them into context for the presentation in Friday's presentation.
- I helped present the work to the rest of the group.

HOW WELL DO YOU THINK YOU PERFORMED IN THE ROLE(S)?

I feel i came up with some good ideas which were taken into consideration and used in the end product.
I was really happy with the way the photographs turned out. I learnt about aspects of photoshop I hadn't used before and feel they were effective in presenting the stickers.

HOW WELL DO YOU FEEL YOU WORKED AS A GROUP?

At first i feel we worked quite slowly as there were so many different ideas and a few clashes on what to finalise on. We found it quite difficult to balance all the different ideas and to come up with an end result and how to go about it.
When we got into it and had assigned roles, I feel everyone got on with it all really well. There was good communication within the group. No-one went off and did what they wanted without considering everyone else.

WHAT WERE THE POSITIVES OF WORKING IN A GROUP?

The amount of initial ideas everyone came up with was astounding, then building on these ideas all together.
Everyone had different styles and strengths so we could all have different roles in which we used these. It resulted in a much broader end product and presentation.
We learnt from each other how to do certain things we didn't previously know.
I would never have been able to come up with the designs/presentation that we produced in such a short time if i had been doing the work as an independent project.

WHAT WERE THE NEGATIVES OF WORKING IN A GROUP?

There were so many different styles and ideas that we found it difficult to come to a conclusion as to what to finalise on. There were a few disagreements throughout the week.
Some people ended up doing a lot more work than others. Not purposefully, but the end result ended up in people having specialist roles according to what they were good at...

WHAT WILL YOU DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME?

I would listen to other people's ideas more...
Manage my time in my role better...
Look into the ideas that we did come up with better... more research.

WHERE COULD YOU HAVE IMPROVED YOUR RESOLUTION?

We could have done more research into nets and packaging designs for the sticker packaging.
Again... more research into some of the facts and points we put on the stickers. Maybe if we had had more time we could have come up with more of a variety.

WHAT ARE THE STRENGTHS OF YOUR PRESENTATION?

I think we visually communicated the stickers as best as we could. The black and white photography with the sticker designs in colour really helped them stant out and put them into perspective. Also the variety of places which we put them. They looked good presented on the projector.
There was a good balance of humour and seriousness in the presentation which helped us put accross our points and also keep the group listening.
We also had the stickers and packaging prepared to show everyone what they would look like. So it was an actual product rather than just an idea...

10 things i would like to achieve this year...

1. I would like to learn how to manage my time better... not leave things until the last minute.

2. I would like to firstly learn how to use Adobe Illustrator, then improve my skills with practise to become fully comprehensive with the features.

3. I would like to further my skills in Adobe Photoshop, learning about the different features that can be used rather than my basic knowlege of photo enhancement that I possess at the moment.

4. I would like to be able to successfully manage my time with the course and my social life... learn how to put the important stuff first but not get completely bogged down.

5. I would like to keep on top of my work and get each brief done to the best of my ability. Not leave anything un-finished or use the phrase "I'll do that later"

6. I want to develop my own style. I want people to see a piece of work and think "that's ellie's" without even having to ask.

7. I want to use the inductions we get tought, try and incorporate everything i learn this year into one or more projects. Not just stick to my comfort zone.

8. I want to learn how to work better as a team. With friends/ people I know... and total strangers. Learn to manage the work easily and effectively.

9. I want to learn off other students, pick up some skills/ shortcuts/ tips that we won't necessarily be taught this year by the tutors. Learn to bounce and pick ideas up off the others in the group.

10. I would like to make it onto the second year... not just scrape on... ace it!