Evaluation

In this project we were asked to explore Digital media and create up to six final pieces using Digital software based around the theme given, which was 'Take a Closer Look'. I feel I have achieved what the brief asked us to produce as I have combined traditional image making with digital media to a high standard and have ended with five final designs to present. The designs also explore into the graphic design field of typography which was another element we had to cover within the project. Lastly we were asked to make a portfolio to present our work in which is to a professional standard. I feel I also achieved this mostly independently and have connected the simplicity of my final designs with the use of white space and light colours in my portfolio. For the theme I chose to take a closer look into the world of Ballet as it gave me two powerful opposing sides. I felt that a lot of peoples opinions on ballet was the stereo typical graceful, elegant and effortless dance that makes them look beautiful. However beneath the surface it is not all beauty as this form of dance is physically and mentally damaging to the body such as the main body part they use, their feet. 

Throughtout the project I researched into designers that inspired me and designers that use digital media in their works. The main two that stood out and helped me most were Samantha Hahn and Olly Moss. Samantha Hahn's work influenced me the most and can be seen in my work as she produces watercolour images traditionally and also transfers them to vector images. My inspiration for the style of my imagery can see a connection to the ink works and silhouette works of Olly Moss as I chose to use a simple line drawing with a minimal amount if detail that still looks effective. the research I did has helped towards my work and allowed more to understand more if how digital media works and what imagery designers are producing using certain methods. 

The main softwares I have used in this project have been Photoshop, Indesign and finally Illustrator being the one I have produced my final designs in. I think I worked successfully transferring to traditional art into digital media using the combination of Photoshop and Illustrator together. I was quite confident before starting this project on my skills in both illustrator and Indesign as I had used them previously however I did learn how to use the live trace tool on illustrator as a new skill. I have also built upon my skills in Photoshop by understanding to rastersize a layer, add filters to images and edit images using adjustment tools. I built up skills in two more digital media softwares that I aphasnt used before which was the Wacom Graphics tablet and the software Brushes and Sketchbook Pro available to iPads. I feel I picked up these working method quickly and was able to experiment confidentially with them during this project. 

Although I feel happy with the final pieces I have created to submit and my electronic portfolio presents them well as a high standard, I think if I had more time there is improvements I would make. My final designs are quite simplistic which does match the subject matter however I feel I could have furthered the experiment using the tablet to paint my images which would of added more substance and detail. I had problems creating the exported flash animation of my portfolios and they are still adding double pages whent they should only be single. Overall I feel the project suited by abilities in design and has pushed my skills in digital media.