Throughout this module, the focus of the work has been to create synthesis between written theory and practical outcomes. The topic of my essay not only informed the practical aspect of the module, but I found a topic I am passionate about and I feel as though I could take it further.
To an extent, the topic of my essay was both its strength and its weakness. There were lots of academic sources readily available on women's rights and gender role, but as I chose such a broad topic, I didn't really get the chance to be really critical of any sources/information. I think perhaps 3000 words weren’t enough to write about how the female role has changed in the last 100 years. In order to conduct a much more in-depth study on this topic, I may consider taking it through to level 6.
I found that educating myself on a topic and then trying to draw it helped me understand where the gaps in my knowledge were and in order to fill those gaps, I had to go away and do more research. I feel as though my practical response illustrates my written work quite clearly and concisely and hopefully it communicates a specific tone of voice. Without realising, I had applied knowledge from other recent modules and I found that I was considering how the practical work could exist in the world, which audiences would use it and what it’s purpose was. As a result, I think the end product was well considered but didn’t require lots of investigating in order to get to this stage.
I’m pretty happy with the overall quality of the practical work but I didn’t reach this stage without issues. For one, choosing to create a paper-doll on magnets meant that I had to figure out which parts repelled each other and which sides would stick together best. For the smaller parts, physically cutting them out was challenging too. I found that various curves/lines required a different tool to get the best edge, so it was quite a time consuming process. If I were to do this again, I would definitely seek out a laser-cutter to ensure a good quality line and less strain on my hands.
At this stage, I think the lack of physical visual journal work is my downfall. I think I spent a long time refining the final artwork so I didn’t really give myself a chance to explore other avenues. I would have liked to work with more analogue materials in my sketchbook, but the balance of work between this and other modules at the time, meant that I just couldn’t find the time. I suppose this is just the downside of having other work that needs more attention sooner.
If I had the chance to revisit this module, then I would definitely try and push the artwork further. At the moment, I feel that the illustrations look a bit cold and flat. To an extent this is because of my chosen audience and the educational context; however I would have liked to create something a bit more lively and enticing. As the practical response has such a wide range of potential applications, there could be opportunity to collaborate with someone in an area I am unfamiliar with – e.g. actually creating a simple app/game. As far as time management goes, I think I have done a pretty good job of making sure everything gets done on time. I admit I was very slow to get started on the practical work because I was struggling to find an essay question I wanted to answer. I think this may have been a consequence of being busy with other modules and not really finding the correct balance with my workload. Overall I’m very pleased with the progress I have made on this project and I am now recognising the synthesis between not only the practical and theoretical work for this module, but between all the modules I have tackled this year. Even though I have had to draw it to a close, I feel as though this work could be continued and used as a tool to explore other areas of gender roles.
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