I think that Responsive has been a very interesting module to complete. Looking back at the initial thoughts we had towards the module as a group, such as completing briefs out of your comfort zone, making more finished, professional pieces of work and producing work for a variety of different formats, the module seems to have done just that for me.
I think that in terms of the development of skills, Responsive has been the most significant module I have completed thus far on the course. Thanks to the varied nature of the briefs I chose to enter, I was forced to adapt my methods of working to fit different purposes, and doing this came with its own set of skills I was required to refine. Most significant of the briefs which I found this with was the animated Vice ident, in which I had to prepare various assets for animation, use both After Effects' and Photoshop's key frame capabilities, and use sound editing software such as Adobe Audition to put it all together into a 15 second animation. I feel that throughout this brief I had a very professional workflow, completing it as fast and efficiently as I possible could have. The Syfy brief, despite giving me grief as I battled with my initial concept, was similarly useful as it introduced me to using key frames in Photoshop before importing anything into After Effects. It's a shame that my final resolutions for that brief were haphazardly put together in desperation to finally get it out of the way. This is made even more unfortunate by the fact that the Syfy brief was one of the few YCN briefs that was more open and not simply a dull re-branding/campaign brief.
With briefs like Secret 7" and "Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit", I tried to develop skills in conceptual illustration which would be highly transferrable. My unsuccessfulness with Secret 7" is indicative of a lack of skill in that department, which I came to understand when I finally went to see the exhibition and saw the punchy and memorable nature that my designs lacked compared to the others. With "Oranges", I've created a front cover that I'm pleased with. What I enjoyed about this brief was the requirement of a Penguin template - when applied to your artwork it makes it look a lot more professional and your end resolution more rewarding to behold. Type also played a large part in the development of my final resolution and I feel like I developed some basic graphic design skills during my time with the brief.
Although it was only for one half of the brief, I explored conceptual illustration with the Filmdoo poster competition. I'm pleased with my design for "Waking Life" both conceptually and visually. As the last image I made for the module, I think it would be wise for me to take some of the visual approaches to image making I employed and use them in the future.
The collaborative brief was also enjoyable - brainstorming ideas and concepts with a partner was something I really enjoyed doing. I feel as though both me and Astrid influenced each other through our own illustrative styles and this pushed the work we made forward. Having both attended the photography re-induction workshop, we both developed skills in photographing any potential products we may need to in future.
Quick briefs such as the Hyde Park Picture House poster and Qwertee have also made me more confident in my ability to make work quickly, which is an invaluable skill to have when working professionally with multiple clients.
On the whole, I think that this module has been great for my learning as an image maker more than anything else. This was unexpected as I thought this module will yield experience more specific to dealing with live briefs and competitions; but I think that this may have come from the fact that at the end of the day, all the live briefs and competitions are just about making illustration, and that's what I placed focus on. I'm looking forward to taking everything I've learned from responsive this year and applying it to all work I produce from here on out.
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