OUGD502 - Expanding Skill Set as a Creative

Looking back at some of my ambitions from the end of last years PPP module, I can reflect on how these aims have been fulfilled and how my intentions have developed over the last few months. As can be seen by last years PPP presentation, I had a large desire to develop my skills in Adobe After Effects, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign along with grasping a better understanding of printing techniques and CMYK colour theory.

All of these ambitions have been pushed mainly by the first two studio briefs, design for print and design for screen. For both of these modules I pushed my practice to the limit and dove in at the deep end with my intentions for the module. I chose to design a 108 page publication with little prior knowledge of Adobe Indesign, this forced me to watch numerous hours of tutorials and build my practice in my own time. At the end of the project, I was not only proficient in using Adobe Indesign, but also had a good knowledge of manual print techniques, bookbinding and laser cutter software. The constant communication and meetings with Pressision Printers was also a pillar from which my knowledge on CMYK and RGB has evolved.

Moving onto design for screen, I attempted to complete the project purely in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects. The reasoning behind this was my lack of ability in these areas, my college only had access to Adobe Photoshop so all of my practice prior to my life at Leeds College of Art was produced solely in Photoshop. This again resulted in many online tutorials and the project even ventured out into Adobe XD to produce my final resolutions.

It is clear that every bullet point on last years PPP presentation has been addressed and executed with the best of my ability. I aim to keep building upon my practice by developing on my editorial, motion, branding and identity in my final year at this institution.