Exam Evaluation

A2 Graphics- Exam Project: ‘Inside, Outside and In-between’ Final Evaluation

When we started off, we were all given general insight into each of three options of the project: book jackets, book illustration and typography books. This included getting us all started with observational drawings, using techniques we would be able to think about and use further on. I strayed into the areas of techniques and mediums I had used before like paper cutting and digital experiments, working out how they would fit with the project I had in mind. Early on, I decided to follow book covers as though I hadn’t explored minimalism before, was still the one I felt didn’t have the most rigid guidelines of what you had to produce. As Book Jackets range in style according to the text and genre of the book, the best way the find inspiration is to read the books and look at artist according to the method you are using in your experimentation.

I chose Terry Pratchett’s Discworld collection of novels as what to base my jackets on as they are works of fantasy, based on another world, meaning and interesting take on the theme of inside, outside and in-between. What I took the meaning of the project to be related to these books are inside: what is really there, outside: what people see and in-between: what people expect to see. This is based on the theory explained in a few of the novels that people rarely see what is really there, only what they expect to see. This is the one of the issues in the main book I was experimenting with, called ‘Monstrous Regiment’ a parody and a book that challenges the view presented in ‘Monstrous Regiment of women’ by John Knox. I chose as accompaniments ‘Night Watch’ and ‘Hogfather’, as- though they do not feature a continuing storyline nor are next chronologically in Pratchett’s series of work- they are feature ideas of a state of things not being all of what they seem.

As progressed through this project, I’ve come across new inspirations at every new approach I took. Going through the double exposure tutorials, which inspired my idea of seamlessly merging layers for my jacket to symbolise the layers of intricacy and the balance of inside outside and in-between, then onto the abstract digital layer placement inspired by Ciara Phelan, fan illustrations of characters from the book then onto digital layers in a minimalist restrictions, created by the University of Cardiff for a poster. This inspired me to use the observational drawings and the experiments I had started with, liking particularly the aesthetic uses of colour illustrations on tracing paper, which I linked very closely to the project theme. Creating more illustrations to base on the books, lead me to the work of Hennie Haworth’s work, using different colours over each over layer to create a multi-coloured pattern. While working on the digital side of my exam outcome and putting the layers together, I also notice a handmade similarity to Ciara Phelan, who inspired using my primary source photographs which I try and work upon.

Overall, this project has been how well ideas develop through the refinement of ideas and individual research yield unique results. I have enjoyed the journey I went down, though clearer links should of been made as well as clearer refinement and greater inspiration from an artist but each experiment took me closer to a better result and what I wanted. As the process to making my outcome is long and requires detail, and because I expand every time I make it, I should think my outcome will show how far I’ve come, though making all three at once, is very time consuming and I hope to finish all of them in time to the best I can possibly make it look.