Evaluation

This project has taught me that I am very concept based; therefore when I get an idea that I don’t believe has been explored I thoroughly enjoy finding a way to visually translate it. I believe that this unit has forced me to progress; this can be seen in the advancements from the basic level of my publications from last year and through the more complex themes of my later editorial work. A more mature layout has created a minimalistic aspect to my work; the development of my use of negative space has seen me gain a better understanding in Art Direction.

As an artist I have grown up over the course of this unit because I now realize that I always need to be thinking about the audience of my work and the time frame to complete my work in. In this unit I have tried to move away from relying on my drawing and move more into the digital side of art. However rather then cut out drawing completely I simply want it to inform my work instead of defining it.

My variety of theme, content and execution of my work in this unit have kept me on my toes and allowed me to mature as an artist, thinking carefully about what defines and links certain aspects of my work. Looking at conceptual art gave me the opportunity to embody the abstract artist looking at the works of Sophie Calle and Vito Acconci, I tried to channel the unique style of their work and bring it to life in my Minor Project: ‘The Object People’. Whereas my live brief for ‘Patternmash’, a brief set monthly, the theme was ‘midwinter’ and for it I went back to what I loved about art and utilized my favourite medium, drawing. I chose my audience carefully and targeted children with a fawn and pinecone motif.

Experimentation was key in my previous years at University and I enjoyed trying a bit of everything, not worrying if it took me longer or wasn’t going to be the direction I ended up going into. However I found that because of the added pressure in this Unit, knowing that everything I produced affected my progression. I felt a bit constricted and did not experiment as much as I have previously. I feared wasting valuable time and resources,  that are very precious when taking into account the magnitude of this Unit.

This Unit has been undeniably useful to me in my progression and I hope to take an element from each project into Unit X and further establish myself in Art Direction. Layout will be a big focus for me in Unit X because I believe that it is vital in how the publication is viewed. Not to mention that I want to look at how the layout is altered from the physical page of the magazine to the computer screen in a digitized format. I will also make binding a focus of Unit X because I believe that if this is experimented with it could be integral in separating me from most other publications and set me apart from other Art Directors.

This Unit has has allowed me to see lots of different sides of art after University. It has done this through the many lectures and our constant contact with practicing artists in the outside world. In this Unit my fascination with magazines and the process with which they are created has deepened and my desire to get into this field has been increased. Over the course of this Unit I have become captivated with the process of witnessing a concept that I created, going through various stages of experimentation and then finally culminating into a physical hard copy on the page. Although the process was hard work and needed to be nurtured through many setbacks seeing my project come together from the moment of creation to the point of completion has made me very proud.