Overall feedback
In your assignment piece you do well to create a technically well resolved and cohesive feeling series of final works which bring together illustration and graphic design skills in a balanced way.
The way that you develop these designs through your mind mapping, reference collection methods is good. Your line drawings also have a technically well executed style which feels clear and communicated. Whilst its clear you are able to use line drawing and watercolour quite well, it would be good to see you experimenting with a wider range of approaches and considering and reflecting on your choice to use a particular style for the final work. Why did you choose watercolour here? What was it about this material that felt relevant to the brief or audience? Could you explore a wider range of drawing approaches or mark making styles in order to explore a range of options before settling on methods for your final designs? As you move forward, look to do plenty of experimentation before settling on final ideas. Allow yourself to take creative risks and to explore new methods, or to develop methods learnt earlier in the course.
ITs good to see you bringing in various references as part of your research. As you move forward, it would be good to see more reflection and critical writing around the research in order to give a sense of why these researched images are relevant ,what techniques they use and how these discoveries help to inform your own approach to designing. In the ‘travel exercise you research relevant examples very well, just look to bring elements of this more in depth research into assignment work too if possible. ’
Here is could have been interesting to research and reflect on travel illustrators but also illustrators working with a wide range of watercolour techniques. This would hopefully give you more insight into the breadth of ways in which watercolour could be used, and into the different ways in which travel illustrations might be approached. With each of these, consider what effects the use of imagery, colour, composition and materials have on helping to communicate or to engage with a particular audience.
My response to the feedback
I’m glad that my final work is showing my illustration and my graphic design skills. I probably could do more research about the watercolour illustrators and the reason that they chose watercolour for their work. I personally like the feeling that watercolour makes which is subtle and not that over powering to dominate the whole design. Also, I do appreciate all the unexpected effects that watercolour creates. For this assignment, I wanted to use a traditional watercolour to start with then enhanced it in Procreate as well as adding the type.
Action points
- looking to do plenty of experimentation before settling on final ideas.
- reflecting and critical writing around the research in order to give a sense of why these researched images are relevant ,what techniques they use and how these discoveries help to inform my own approach to designing.
- Looking at illustrators working with a wide range of watercolour techniques.
- allowing myself to move out of my comfort zone and to explore more experimental techniques in order to develop my skills and creative approaches.
- Continuing to develop an in depth approach to working with composition and style / material in order to continue developing my personal voice and technical skills.
- Bringing in depth research and reflection into assignment work.
- Trying to add a more ‘questioning’ approach to my reflection to communicate why I choose to work in the way I do.
Maryam: OCA Graphic Design 