Over the course of the responsive module many new and existing personal skills were challenged. During the group collaborative project in Studio Brief 02 it was important that effective communication and collaboration between group members was successful. A team contract was drawn up at the beginning of the project to ensure equal division of work. As a member of a team I was given the opportunity to utilise my strongest skills as an editorial designer while also learning new skills of team project management and the process behind illustration design. Effective scheduling of team meetings and group-set deadlines was crucial to meeting the overall project deadline, and was managed effectively with the use of social media for fast communication.
Working individually on a range of large and small competition briefs presented many new personal challenges. Managing small competition briefs such as Papyrus required a quick turn-around of research, ideas, critiques and final deliverables. Creating a poster for the LCA Film Society allowed me to experiment with an illustrative style of vector art combined with typography, strengthening my skills with Adobe Illustrator.
Individually producing a publication for the larger Shy Bairns project gave me opportunities to expand on my existing knowledge of editorial design, as well as working alongside an external print company to learn the process of designing for professional printing. Extending the project into design for social media also allowed me to use my existing knowledge of interface design in order to create effective promotion for the Shy Bairns collective.
Managing projects individually proved to be more challenging than working with a group as there were not as many opportunities to delegate work. However, I personally found that working through the full process of a project individually to be more rewarding as it created a more cohesive project and allowed me to fully incorporate my own interests and influences into my work.
Collaboration is a key part of a professional Graphic Design career and the experiences I have gained within this module have provided me with a wealth of new knowledge and skills that can be utilised in future projects within this course.