Andrew McGowan: FMP

So the final evaluation, of the final major project, in the final year. I can look back at the work I've produced for this module and say it's some of the best work I've done (as you'd expect), but also I really feel that my work is at the professional level of quality and finishing it needs to be at so i can compete in the industry.

In my statement of intent for the FMP, i stated that I wanted to continue with type and layout work but to push it further by looking at grid systems. I also wanted to develop my image making and simplistic illustration skills as well as learning more about design for the web. I also stated i was concerned with the ethics of my work and wanted to look at briefs that tackled social issues. I believe I managed to cover all of these bases with the briefs I chose for my FMP.

The Graphic Design Yearbook pitch gave me the opportunity to work collaboratively again in a group, however I feel that 4 was pushing the limits of how many people can work together. I managed to work a lot with grids though, testing different ones and different layouts.

The H.G. Wells brief gave me the opportunity to re-visit book covers and the idea of designing for a set or series as oppose to an individual product. I also used this brief to look at my illustration skills, following a similar style to what I had developed for the Action Aid posters in the previous module.

Continuing the Formula UCLan brief I was able to explore design for web more, setting up a WordPress for the team and learning about scripting languages such as PHP to build the WordPress UCLan theme from scratch and more in-depth CSS to style the theme.

Working on the Art & Design Yearbook with Scott was one of the best parts of this module for me, and while being a proper brief with a real (if not stressful at times) client-designer-printer relationship. Me and Scott both have complimentary practices so working together was really good, bouncing ideas off each other and having a similar opinion on where we wanted the book to go. I also learnt more about vector illustrating/image making from Scott too, and 'keeping it simple'. This project turned out great, with all parties happy with the result and it feels good to of had a proper project go to print.

The Imbalance brief gave me the chance to look at a brief that dealt with social issues or charity work. In this case I ended up looking at the Voting and the idea of 'My Vote Does't Count' due to the recent General Elections. This brief needed to be very research-heavy and I was able to produce a range of infographics to accompany statistics which I put into a booklet/fold-out poster. I was quite pleased with the way this brief turned out and I feel it was finished to a high standard with the badges and little packs.

I would of liked to explore typeface design and screenprinting in this module but the Art & Design Yearbook began to take a priority being such a big, and live brief so I had to drop them in favour of finishing the yearbook. These are areas I still want to look into and so I have planned briefs out for them as something to do as personal projects after we graduate.

Overall I'm happy with what I've produced and learnt over the course of this module. I have managed to complete most of what I set out to do and I have increased my skill set to the level I feel I need to be at to compete as a designer in the industry. I'm looking forward to working in a professional studio and can't wait to get started.