OUGD501

Aims of COP 2

• To identify and apply a range of methods of research, analysis and critical evaluation of theories, practices and contexts appropriate to increasingly individual concerns within art, design and media.
• To further develop and examine effective approaches to the documentation and communication of analytical, critical and reflective responses to source material.
• To establish and critically explore an integrated understanding of theoretical and practical contexts of increasingly individual creative practices and concerns.
• To adequately prepare learners for the theoretical and practical research demands of Level 06 study.

In response to a considered research question focussing on a specific Graphic Design discipline, you will produce 1 x 2500 piece of academic writing and a body of practical work that demonstrates your ability to research and understand increasingly complex theories and concepts and apply these to the development of graphic design work. This brief is separated into two parts but will be assessed as a whole. As such, you will be assessed on your ability to organise and execute theoretical and practical research in relation to a single question.

PART 1 (critical writing):

To complete part one of this brief you must write a 2500 word academic critical essay exploring and interrogating your research question. Your essay will demonstrate your ability to find, read and understand increasingly complex ideas, theories and concepts and to make use of these for your own purposes. Your written piece must adhere to academic writing conventions (which you know already but further support will be available through tutorials and through academic support) and must be written using objective, specialist language in the third person consistently. Your written pieces must contain some quotes and must be referenced using the Harvard referencing system.

PART 2 (visual investigation):

In part 2 of this studio brief you will develop a graphic design response to your chosen question. Your practical work will build on your knowledge established through your critical writing and explore through practice the creative, practical and pragmatic issues and circumstances surrounding your chosen topic and question. In this way, your practical work should endeavour to "answer" your chosen question through practical means. Since you will be producing a graphic design response, your work must show that you have an increasingly advanced understanding of the purposes and processes of graphic design practice. That is, it must have a clear brief and a thoroughly documented and assessable design process.

Your practical outcome will be documented through design boards in the same way as is required from other studio modules. Be sure to cross reference information learned and established through your critical writing in the development and documentation of your practical response.