Evaluation

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	04
OUIL402 Personal & Professional Practice 1	Credits	20
End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME	Christopher Cooper

1.  What learning have you inherited through this module and how has it impacted on your own understanding of professional practice? Consider yourself as a student at University as much as an illustrator
The main thing I have learnt from this module is how who I am as a person links to and informs how I work, what I choose to pursue within in it and what areas of illustration as well as art and design as a whole appeal to me. This has led me to looking into various different artist and practitioners that I am deeply interested in based on how they relate to my own intent within my work and whether or not I feel and can gain something from them in order to develop my own practice. I have also begun to consider how other aspects outside of illustration such as music and personality traits have a huge impact on who I am as a creative practitioner and what it is I am interested in.
2. What approaches/ types of research have you found most valuable over this module? Why did they have such an impact?
The most valuable form of research over this module has been secondary research in the form of online articles and blogs as well as taking out various books from the library. I find this particularly useful as it allows you to seek out and gain an in depth understanding of the practitioners you are interested in. This is achieved through being able to extensively analyse individual images, as well as practitioners portfolios on a whole in terms of what it is their intent is, what content are they communicating and how this grounds their output, whether or the context in which the work is viewed has impacted decisions the artist has made as well as analysing the overall aesthetic of their work and why it appeals to me.
3. In what way has PPP informed the way your work in other modules and your illustration practice as a whole?
It has informed my work in other modules through the way in which it as expanded on my process of analysis of imagery, both in terms of that of other practitioners as well as my own work. Particularly it has got me questioning within the other modules how certain aesthetic choices such as colour, shape, texture etc impact upon the tone of voice of a piece of work and how this can alter the intent in terms of what content is being communicated through it. Furthermore it has allowed me to more carefully consider where exactly I want to push my work in relation to a specific professional practice such as graphic design and print making and how looking at specific groups of practitioners can inform how I answer the briefs in relation to this.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your PPP submission and how will you address this in the future? The two main weaknesses within my PPP submission are my Illustrated self response as well as the types of research I did. Firstly I feel I didn't effectively or exhaustively explore ideas and media in relation to studio brief 2 to the same extent I have done in other modules, particularly those contained within studio practice. Subsequently I feel my final outcome was neither conceptually, in terms or content and communication, nor aesthetically as successful as it could have been. Finally although I think the research I did was highly informative, carrying out more primary research such as going to galleries as well as documenting and analysing more of the big heads talks would have given me a better understanding of professional practice and where I want to go in relation to my own practice.
5. What communities of practice and professional contexts do you intend to investigate further as you approach level 5? Why do they appeal to you?
As I approach level 5 I want to investigate more into practitioners that operate between the boundaries of graphic design and illustration particularly within the context of print making. This are of professional practice interests me due to the fact that often it involves using reductive/minimalist aesthetics to more clearly and concisely communicate content. This is something I have found myself constantly exploring within PPP and trying to achieve visually within my other modules and therefore investigation into it I feel will help expand my own practice and steer it more to a point where I am happy with what it is I am doing.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance				X
Punctuality				X
Motivation			X
Commitment			X
Quantity of work produced		X
Quality of work produced		X
Contribution to the group		X
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self-evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.