Evaluation

At the beginning of this project my key goal was to make an illustrated guide to the coffee scene in London, but I feel that my idea has developed so much from that point. I died up producing a magazine on monthly issue that would be given away free in independent coffee establishments for those who already love this drink, rather than those new to it. I went from a complete illustrative approach to working with different materials and prints that made a much more commercial-looking publication. This project has made me much more open minded and confident of my own abilities. 

My sketchbook is a massive visual and text based journey that makes it clear where and why I chose to do different things.  This was where the majority of my thought processes went down and where I reflected upon those decisions made which I was easily able to refer back to. The blog certainly led to a few eureka moments as I described a particular point in my development and suddenly had another new idea that I had to explore. The blog was at my fingertips and easy to update all the time which helped with my time management and productivity levels. Rather than sticking to the FMP planning sheets given to us religiously, I rather preferred to make my own time table and action plan lists that I was able to tick off as I went.

A main personal goal was to improve my own knowledge of coffee and apply that to my daily life, broaden my horizons and try something i’ve never done before. I can proudly say that I no longer take sugar in my coffee and enjoy the bitter taste which I would have never seen happen at the start of this project. A target within the plan was to look at illustration but that didn't happen; and I am glad for this. Collaging and printing was equally fun as I realised the endless possibilities outside the realms of watercolour and pencil. 

The smaller review cards were a massive turning point for me and the whole image of the final booklet. Without taking bright and bold pages from the Harpers Bazaar magazine and collaging them on the page, I’m sure I would still be working in pastel shades. This collaging technique opened a door to other forms of mark making and building colour that I would have shed away from before. Also, just the logo design and building the image for the text and visual ideas surrounding this booklet was a significant part of the process as it created the base from which I was able to expand ideas.

The group review at the half way point was a real eye opener for me as I was able to see what progress other people were making and compare that to my own work. One thing that really stood out was the contextual research, lack of, that was contained within my project. It was at this point that I made a conscious effort to link every development to an artist or relevant thing. This was a positive thing because it made me realise the effectiveness of this approach as I began searching on the internet for people to inspire my work. I was also told to experiment more, at which point is obvious from my sketchbook work because I really began to consider other materials available to me. 

Time management was a major issue for me during this project as I was unorganised at the beginning of this project to the point where I would procrastinate continuously. This changed however when I got to the mid-point of this project in which I could really start branding my journal and adding my own personal touch to it rather than researching alone. In fact it was the process of researching with my development and tying that in that really helped me overcome this obstacle and speed up the process. This project allowed me to also work within publishing design, which I found I thoroughly enjoyed. The idea of making an outcome that flows as a whole, but made up of individually designed components is something I will consider doing in my future as a graphic designer. I also want to try out brand design again as something I didn't get to fully explore in enough depth was the proper branding process of a product or concept and creating a logo, colour palette etc. for that particular thing.