Creative Strategy: OUIL501 Evaluation

Here is my evaluation for OUIL501 - Context of Practise:

This year I approached Context of Practice slightly differently than last year, largely due to my understanding of the module’s purpose this time around. Going into it, I knew that there had to be a continual synthesis between my theoretical and practical work and I feel that for the most part I succeeded in implementing this. I found that my practical explorations at several key points helped inform my theoretical work and vice versa. Due to awareness of the module this year, I made a point of continually researching throughout the year, be it by watching video clips, reading news articles and collecting ephemera concerning politics. However, whilst the amount of research this year dwarfed what I did OUIL401, I found that it was perhaps somewhat unfocused; this resulted in a portion of my research becoming redundant once I’d settled on an essay question. Going into Level 6 I will have to resolve this issue - my research will need to be focused and relevant. 

It is due to my research that I was able to make critical, and logical decisions in both my theoretical and practical work. My wide research base allowed me to make informed triangulated arguments within my essay, resulting in it being quite a smooth discussion to produce. Similarly, my developing knowledge of politics allowed me to create an strong, and at times humorous, practical piece that commented on the government and our attitudes towards it. I am very impressed with my practical piece as a whole, not just due to its theoretical foundations but also because of my exploration of media. Initially I tried to create a piece of work with hand, like the great cartoonists of the past such as James Gillray or modern cartoonists Steve Bell or Martin Rowson. However after many attempts at producing work in this method I returned to my guilty pleasure - digital. But digital as a sole method of production also failed to create an aesthetically pleasing outcome, it was only when I merged the two methods that my work truly came alive in my opinion. Despite my positive appraisal of my final product there are understandably a few issues that remain within it. Firstly, that characters within my book could have been improved upon somewhat - this could have been done with repetitive drawings as I found my stronger character designs generally came about due to this process. Secondly, the physical production of the book could have had more care given to it. Several of the pages are trimmed quite tightly and, although not apparent to the casual observer, are a thorn in my side. Perhaps more time could have been spent on its assembly to allow for a more careful hand crafted piece. Finally, although I am happy with the colouring of the book I feel more could have been done with it to create something truly memorable in a visual capacity.

Additionally, I feel that if I were to go back and do this module again I would have done a few other things differently, such as; the Nazi propaganda discussion within my essay. Whilst I felt that this was an interesting part of the paper, it seemed somewhat detached from the rest of the essay. I could potentially have found a way to better intricate it into the rest of the discussion. Given the time again I would also begin drafting my essay much earlier on within the year as I could have began writing segments of it much earlier on rather that waiting for a specific prolonged period of time (the Christmas holidays) to write it. That however shouldn’t act as reflection of my time management within this project, as I am in fact very pleased with my assertiveness throughout this year despite a few stumbles early on. I feel that my management of this module has provided me the time to get informed feedback from my peers and allowed me to make alterations to both my theoretical and practical work where needed. 

I hope to improve upon my increasingly assertive attitude towards Context of Practice going into Level 6 as I feel that such a mindset will be integral to my dissertation and the body of work that will accompany it.

To celebrate handing my work in I made this image of David Cameron being adorned by his fate cat followers.

Creative Presence: Peer Review

We had a peer review today in which we showed each other our promo packs. I was in Aggy's group and wow, her promo pack is amazing! I feel like such a failure after seeing it. I had a calendar and business card mock up. I'm going to have to work hard to get my promo pack up to scratch if I want to be on the same level of Aggy!

Creative Presence: Responsive Disk and Project Report

Yesterday I burnt my OUIL503 blog onto a disc and it's now so... Final.

I can no longer edit my work, and despite knowing that I've done everything that I can, I am still feeling the same gaping terror that I do around a normal module hand in. Still, it is done now and ready for tomorrow, which should be a breeze!

Additionally, here is my Project Report for OUIL503 in which I evaluate what worked, what didn't and what should have been done different throughout the module:

Creative Presence: Calendar Mock Up

After a bit of fumbling around today I managed to create a mock up calendar for my promo pack. The calendar was designed in such a way that it is small and easy to place on a work desk in an office for example. However the downside to this is that the imagery I have created thus far is very small and doesn't receive the focus that it should.


I've decided instead to create a wall hanging calendar. Perhaps still keep it quite small as printing on larger stock could potentially be a fair bit more costly. I'll have to discus this with James in digital print at some point.

Creative Presence: Page 45

Last week I went to Nottingham to visit a friend, and whilst there we went into Page 45, one of the bigger comic book stores in Nottingham.

Whilst there I got chatting to one of the owns called Jonathan Rigby. I told him I was an illustrator and he gave me his card before saying they are always interested in recieving new zines etc. I informed him I'm not quite ready but will keep in touch. I also picked up the business card of Jodie Paterson (a stationary person) as it looked like an interesting card.

Looking around Page 45 they had work by Kristyna Baczinski, Dan Berry and Emily Carroll to name a few (besides the mainstream Marvel and DC stuff). Page 45 is exactly the sort of place I'd be interested in selling zines, once I have made some I feel are worth selling etc.

Creative Strategy: Easter Reflection

I'm going to reflect upon my Easter for a moment as I feel it was a big turning point for me as a professional. Last year during Easter I completely wound down, I found my first year tiring and needed a break. This swung back on me after Easter when I had a tonne of work to do. This year however was different! I gave myself a few days off to recharge before the final term but for the most part I worked right through.

This has benefited me so much as I have managed to get a lot of work done and I know that, although the next few months are going to be stressful regardless, they won't be half as stressful for me than they will be for some of my peers. Well done to me.

Creative Strategy: Olga Demidova

I came across Olga Demidova today, her work isn't exactly the style that I like but I appreciate the immense detail she puts into her work. I need to be able to concentrate enough to produce work of this calibre.

Creative Presence: Calendar Research

Recently John mentioned in one of his sessions that a calendar could be an interesting idea for our promo packs. I like this idea so set about today researching potential ideas for a calendar about myself. I'm thinking that this could perhaps act as a replacement to a CV, rather than specifically talking about myself (and my lack of experience at the moment) I could instead give off an idea of who I am through the calendar.

Follow Tommy 'Zoom''s board Silly Calendars on Pinterest.

I discovered many quirky calendars but none that really took advantage of Illustration - this could definitely be a way to promote myself. I'm thinking that being a calendar about myself I may call it "A Zoom for all Seasons" (Zoom is a nickname my friends called me and is a moniker I plan to use in my illustrative practice).

Creative Strategy: Hardcastle Craggs - The National Trust

My girlfriend and I love getting away from the city. Ideally I would live in the middle of nowhere if it was feasible for us, however it isn't. With this in mind we decided to join The National Trust a conservation charity who help preserve some of the most beautiful places in the UK. With the weather being nice today we decided to join and printed off temporary tickets before going to visit Hardcastle Craggs just north of Hebden Bridge.

At Hardcastle there is a mill which the Trust looks after, this mill is next to a lovely river which we walked along for about three hours. I honestly can't say enough about places such as these and it's important they continue to exist. From a personal point of view this was exactly what I needed. I've been working hard over the Easter Holiday and feel that this was a well earned break.