Re-evaluating The Situation
Looking back at the formative statement I produced at the beginning of this course I can see that I was as determined to succeed as I am now.
At that point I was not so sure what was ahead of me on this course and I can see that I was excited and eager to learn. Now that I am at a half way point through my first year I can say that the course so far has lived up to my expectations and even surpassed them.
I think when I set out on his course I thought that the work load might be a little lighter than it actually was, I didn’t realise how much of my own time was going to be needed to succeed with a pass never mind anything of a higher grade.
Having completed now this beginning section of the HNC I feel that I can continue to learn and progress on this course and that if I do I will achieve the goal I set myself, to complete the course and to have a good digital portfolio.
There has been some times when I doubted my ability, I know that the referral I received after submitting the first assignment was a big let down for me as I the reason I failed was just a few glitches that needed sorting out and had I just planned my time a bit more carefully I know that I could have identified these problems before hand.
The highlights of the course for me have been the lectures, I especially enjoyed the work we have done on layout with the business cards which was a really enjoyable task and also the colour wheel lecture was very enlightening. These are very valuable aspects of design to know and remember I think and I am glad to have covered them so early in the course.
Another highlight is the other people in the class I think that everyone is really friendly and helpful and I feel comfortable enough to talk to anyone and ask for their help or opinion on my work.
Getting feedback has been something that has proven really useful this semester, getting the feedback and ideas of my peers has helped my work to progress and evolve. I think is most evident with the Queen Victoria designs I produced. The original design I produced was supposed to look slick and fashionable but give a nod to the ornate, patterned designs of the Victorian age, unfortunately my first attempt at this looked slightly too period and not at all modern. After feedback I gained from my peers and tutors I feel the final design achieved the look I was aiming for and I was very happy with this.
When I then moved onto my second project I had identified that creating my designs was very much aided by having had a theme to inspire things. I felt this helped give continuity throughout the design of the page when it came to designing the buttons and banner etc. this meant that when I was coming up with ideas for my second screen design I thought it would be important to try to come up with a theme again so that my design would have a strong theme running throughout the website.
The problem that I have faced on both projects is my time planning which is something I am still looking to improve upon in the upcoming semester. I think the main problem with this side of my work is that I tend to get caught up in the design of my work and so my theory and written work can suffer from this. A way I tried to combat this with the second project, A3, was to make sure that most of my written work was completed before I would allow myself to get on with any of the final design work. Although this did help me get all the design work finished to a good standard ahead of schedule, it did lead to me having less time that I realised to put all my work into the template once the final designs were finished. Obviously this task took about five times longer than I had expected it too without mentioning the unforeseen problems I encountered with my printer.
Overall I feel that the first semester has been a success though I am very anxious about what grade I will receive for the project A3 on my return. All that I can do is stay focused and positive and keep aiming for my goal.
I am very keyed up about getting back and making my first website as I have mentioned before. I recently registered my domain name drewellis.co.uk which was really exciting for me, how sad, but I can’t wait to have a website that I have made from scratch on the internet it will be a big achievement for me. I know that if I can produce one to a good standard, like that I have designed in my plan, I will be impressed.
At that point I was not so sure what was ahead of me on this course and I can see that I was excited and eager to learn. Now that I am at a half way point through my first year I can say that the course so far has lived up to my expectations and even surpassed them.
I think when I set out on his course I thought that the work load might be a little lighter than it actually was, I didn’t realise how much of my own time was going to be needed to succeed with a pass never mind anything of a higher grade.
Having completed now this beginning section of the HNC I feel that I can continue to learn and progress on this course and that if I do I will achieve the goal I set myself, to complete the course and to have a good digital portfolio.
There has been some times when I doubted my ability, I know that the referral I received after submitting the first assignment was a big let down for me as I the reason I failed was just a few glitches that needed sorting out and had I just planned my time a bit more carefully I know that I could have identified these problems before hand.
The highlights of the course for me have been the lectures, I especially enjoyed the work we have done on layout with the business cards which was a really enjoyable task and also the colour wheel lecture was very enlightening. These are very valuable aspects of design to know and remember I think and I am glad to have covered them so early in the course.
Another highlight is the other people in the class I think that everyone is really friendly and helpful and I feel comfortable enough to talk to anyone and ask for their help or opinion on my work.
Getting feedback has been something that has proven really useful this semester, getting the feedback and ideas of my peers has helped my work to progress and evolve. I think is most evident with the Queen Victoria designs I produced. The original design I produced was supposed to look slick and fashionable but give a nod to the ornate, patterned designs of the Victorian age, unfortunately my first attempt at this looked slightly too period and not at all modern. After feedback I gained from my peers and tutors I feel the final design achieved the look I was aiming for and I was very happy with this.
When I then moved onto my second project I had identified that creating my designs was very much aided by having had a theme to inspire things. I felt this helped give continuity throughout the design of the page when it came to designing the buttons and banner etc. this meant that when I was coming up with ideas for my second screen design I thought it would be important to try to come up with a theme again so that my design would have a strong theme running throughout the website.
The problem that I have faced on both projects is my time planning which is something I am still looking to improve upon in the upcoming semester. I think the main problem with this side of my work is that I tend to get caught up in the design of my work and so my theory and written work can suffer from this. A way I tried to combat this with the second project, A3, was to make sure that most of my written work was completed before I would allow myself to get on with any of the final design work. Although this did help me get all the design work finished to a good standard ahead of schedule, it did lead to me having less time that I realised to put all my work into the template once the final designs were finished. Obviously this task took about five times longer than I had expected it too without mentioning the unforeseen problems I encountered with my printer.
Overall I feel that the first semester has been a success though I am very anxious about what grade I will receive for the project A3 on my return. All that I can do is stay focused and positive and keep aiming for my goal.
I am very keyed up about getting back and making my first website as I have mentioned before. I recently registered my domain name drewellis.co.uk which was really exciting for me, how sad, but I can’t wait to have a website that I have made from scratch on the internet it will be a big achievement for me. I know that if I can produce one to a good standard, like that I have designed in my plan, I will be impressed.
posted by DREW @ 12:34 AM
1 Comments:
Yeah, I know what you mean when you say you can't wait to have your first website up on the internet that you've created. I felt like that when I created my portfolio site, as I created that completely from scratch and I felt very proud that I had done. I've made a couple of other websites before that, but it was only once I made that portfolio site that I felt it was an achievement.
I felt like I'd brought the culmination of all my knowledge so far on the course and what I'd learnt outside to one big head.
I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with for your site.
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