Reflective Journal Statement

Jemma Rayner

Reflective Journal Statement

BA1a

I have really enjoyed this unit and the term so far. I’ve found the projects both challenging and inspiring and have learnt a lot of new skills in a short amount of time.

Last year I was on the year 0 course at NUA. I really believe that this has prepared me for the demands of year 1 and without the foundation I might not have coped so well under the pressure.

The first project, One Word Poster, was a good starting point. I found the large group crits helpful as we could all see each other’s work and hear advice about different element for future reference. I started to manage my time between the main project, tasks and extras such as lectures and keeping my reflective journal updated. I played about with a couple of ideas but chose to use the word ‘zone’ as I could make a really strong composition with it. I was scared of white space before this project and always tried to fill the page. I now realise that white space can be powerful and that less is more. I really enjoyed this project and I am very happy with my outcome.

I found the second project, Typographic Collection, more challenging, as I had not done anything like this before. I went through four ideas before I chose to look for the letter A around uni and home. I started to think about how I could make the collection different as everyone had gravitated towards doing a classic style booklet. I found it helpful talking to a tutor who showed me different styles of booklets. I decided on an A3 sheet folded down to create a pocket size collection. I learnt a lot about InDesign though trial and error as well as the inductions. This was only the second time I had used the programme, the first was for the Baker’s Dozen summer project. This was also the first time I had used a DSLR camera properly. I went to the induction and learn how to control all the settings in manual mode. Workshops and inductions like this are really handy to learn skills that are related to graphic design.  I found keeping up with the tasks a lot harder over this two week project as there were just so many and my time management skills where tested. Thankfully I caught up and was happy with my outcome.

The final project, Type and Image booklet was really enjoyable because I had the freedom to create whatever I liked as I was my target audience. I hired out a DSLR camera from uni and took over 250 good quality photos of Yarmouth. At the time I had no idea what narrative I was going to base my booklet on so I just took as many photos as I could. I started quite slowly with this project, as I didn’t have a clear idea of where I was going with it. I started with the idea of creating an old looking booklet and making the photos look old but I didn’t really know how to not just create an old fashioned ‘come to Yarmouth’ piece. I went to my first crit with only a couple of edited photos where I was given the advice not to copy the old style booklets, because it would just look bad, but to take pieces from them. I decided to make it postcard size as in the boom of the British seaside holiday everyone would send postcards. I found a poem online which had won a competition all about how Yarmouth isn’t great any more. I picked out images from my photos that fit each line of the poem and continued to edit them the way I had planed. The project all came together really fast after I started to roll with a strong idea. I am proud of the photographs in this piece and these are defiantly the main element of the booklet.

Overall I have really enjoyed this unit and all the things that going along with it such as the workshops, inductions and lectures. I look forward to the next project where I can learn more new skills and continue to challenge myself.