End of module Evaluation OUIL505

Tilly butters

End of Module Evaluation OUIL505

This module has been challenging. I didn’t get my time management right at all, and I really struggled because of this. My initial ideas were all over the place. I think, for me, there was too much free reign, and instead of having one great idea, I had hundreds of not so bad ones that just didn’t seem to work out.

I had every intention of incorporating ceramics into my practice during this module, but after giving this a go, and realising that it takes weeks and weeks for things to be done in the workshop, I realised that this wasn’t practical, and wouldn’t have been a good idea to be so reliant on someone else’s schedule.

This set me back a little, because ceramics was the only thing I was certain about. I thought that if the ceramics worked, everything else would fall into place.

Choosing my own topic to illustrate was really difficult for me, because at the start of this module, I wasn’t sure what I was passionate about, or what interested me enough to work on for a long period of time. If I was given the module now, after completing responsive and context of practice, I think my subject would have been completely different.

I tried to add my values in wherever possible, but the subject as a whole wasn’t something that interested me.

Over time, I started to enjoy what I was doing, but I spent a large chunk of this module kicking myself for being so stupid. I panic when given the option to take a project anywhere, that’s why I wanted to do illustration, its brief led and direct.

However, I’ve learnt so much about myself in the last few months, and I don’t think it would scare me quite as much anymore.

It took me a very long time to finalise what I was doing, but once I had, it was a lot easier to seek help and advice from my peers and tutors. Towards the end of the module, this was something that I valued greatly, and that pushed my work in the right direction.

I had avoided seeking help for so long that I became very lost and angry about my work. But after talking to the tutors, I felt so much better, and it gave me the inspiration I had needed the whole time. I shan’t wait in the future, I will ask for help as soon as its needed.

When it came to applying my illustrations to packaging and various other products, it all started to make sense to me. I was so lost in ideas prior to this, that the whole point of the module seemed to escape my brain. 

When I finally had some work that I was happy with, I started to make tea boxes, and started to think about how and where they would fit in the market, and what else could accompany them etc.  

Mocking these up was really enjoyable and quite exciting, as you envision it in the real world. I effectively created my own potential business, as I was creating packaging for loose leaf tea, which there’s a huge gap in the market for. I tried to use my skills from Life’s a Pitch to think about how I would promote the business, how it could grow, where it would work best and what the customers would want. These were all things that factored into my decision making, which was really refreshing and quite interesting to me.

Although I struggled greatly at the start of this module, I feel like I’ve come a long way, and I’ve learnt so much from my mistakes and my struggles.

Understanding myself and what I’m capable of is something that I’m slowly learning. I’m starting to have opinions and views on things as well as becoming passionate about things, and I think this will naturally feed into my practice in the future. The prospect of an open brief isn’t as daunting to me now as it was at the start, and I’m becoming far more confident within my work.