OUGD401 Context of Practice - TASK 1 - CRITICAL ANALYSIS

What is criteria

• Critique is the greek word to judge, to distinguish and to select. 
• Assement criteria helps workout good/bad, critique, implicit and is subject to opinion.
• Criteria is the judgement of good/bad. Understanding criteria helps move forward.

Feedback

• Good feedback gives you things to work from.
• Bad feedback is words like nice and just praise.

Criteria

• Can't be about me and what I like.
• Think about feedback from set of criteria.

The critea by which we judge the quality, effectiveness and appropriateness of work is 

based on; colour, layout, communication, visual content, non-visual content, function, quality of execution, legibility, audience, context, concept, message, media/method of production.

A simple and effective way to critique work is the 'DIET' system:

D- describe (what can you see)

I- interpret (what's it about)

E- evaluate (how good is it)

T- theorise (how could it be improved)

This system is a good guide to follow when critiquing work as it adds structure to analysis and forms good feedback as opposed to 'I like it, it's nice...'

Describe is objective, evidence in front of me based on; colour, type selection, manipulation of type, layout, quality of image, line and stroke, texture, composition, theme, concept, content and structure.

Interpret is subjective, no evidence, inform ourselves to interpret based on; message, clarity, function, content, audience and tone of voice.

Evaluate is based on; general aesthetics, communication, design quality and elements, quality of execution, does it function and clarity.

Theorise is how to improve solutions

Why is critical analysis an important part of education, learning and devloping your understanding:

1. Critical analysis aids in critiquing peoples work properly it helps to develop me as a designer but also my knowledge of graphic design
2. Critical analysis allows us to properly critique  by using the 'DIET' system enabling us to give good feedback rather than just nodding and agreeing.
3. I can also apply critical analysis to my own work which in turn helps me develop my work further and ultimately develops me a s a designer.
4. A good understanding of critical analysis from others within a group crit provides helps me to develop my own work by comparing their interpretations to how i wanted the audience to interpret the designs. It also gives me good suggestions for how I can improve and develop my designs.
5. fv

Identify and explain why the crit (group critique) is useful in the development of your work, skills and opinions:

A group crit allows me to voice my ideas through discussion and visual ideas and representations. Critting helps gain the opinions of other designers, this in turn answers doubts and addresses issues one may have. By gaining other designers opinions we can then develop our work further be it font choice or layout, everyone else's opinion counts as they could be the audience. A group crit brings to light issues i maight not have noticed because it's my design and I'm oblivious to some problems but fresh eyes instantly spot these areas of weakness in my designs, from constructive critisism I can then drive forward develop my concepts and designs.

Choose 5 criteria from the generated list. For each criteria briefly summarise what will generally affect how you judge what you like and dislike, when analysing examples of work:

Line and Stroke-

What affects my judgement in a piece of work are intricate detailed strokes and lines that create textures be it smooth or rough, this appeals to me, whereas poor stroke choice, for example I detest the charcoal and artistic brush strokes in Adobe Illustrator, they're repetitive and aesthetically ugly. The example above is something like, it has good use of strokes and incredibly detailed lines that create shine and texture in the hair but also the lines used for the teeth create shadow and texture.

Media/ Method of production-

Again the image above serves as a great example for this category, when judging design I look for clean design generally designed digitally. I have quite an eclectic taste in method of production, it varies from digital prints to screen prints, woodblock to laser cut, hand drawn to lino cut etc... As long as the design method has been done professionally and not distastefully. For example the image above has been created digitally but in the style of hand drawn illustrations, it's clean, crisp and actually quite minimal to say there's quite a bit of information.

Communication-

When judging work on communication I don't like it when the message or content is completely unrelated to the design, for example the image below is a letterhead and business card for a religious group. When I first look at the image the first thing that pops into my head is bad design, no where does it say to me religious group or does it have any information or imagery that implies it is for a religious group. It doesn't bother me that the message is sometimes hidden as long as the design relates to the message. I also enjoy when a message is communicated clearly and is completely obvious and screams in your face the message and content.  

Function-

I'm a modernist at heart, I have the attitude that form should follow function. I like the design to serve it's purpose, be it to inform or educate. When designs are completely irrelevant and convey no message and are solely for aesthetic reasons I can't comprehend what the point is or what purpose it is serving. The image below serves a purpose, the header states there is a cycle event called 'The Hunt' and that a pack of racers will be chasing or 'hunting' down a sole rider which is illustrated easily through the dog riders chasing the sole fox rider. This image serves it's function perfectly, it informs and advertises the cycle event.