End Of Year Formative Statement

Well, what a year it has been. It dosen't seem 2 minutes since we was throwing balls at each other trying to remember each others names. I looked back at my formative statement I made during the first few weeks at college and i've really got to admit i've come a long way. I was somewhat of an expert with Frontpage and one of my main reasons for coming on this course was to learn the more advanced programs of web design. I did try learning some of the programs I had heard about like Photoshop and Dreamweaver but didn't really know where to start so I just stuck to what I knew.

Time planning was a big issue throughout the year and after countless lectures on just how important it is for our buisness it was something I had struggled with. I'm more the kind to just get on with things and not plan things out, but this course has taught me that this is the wrong approach on dealing with things. A good time plan is essential, not just for college work but with all your life. The more the year went on the more I got used to using a time plan and is something I will bring into the course next year so I can build on grades and not just hope for passes all year round.

The sketchbook assignment was also something I wasn't expecting to be as important. Sketchbooks previously have just been a pad for ideas and wasn't something I expected on getting marked at the end of the year. I don't think i've done as well as I could have done with this assignment and if i'd have known at the start of the year what I know now I would have put a lot more effort into this.

I had expected the course to be a more hands on course with not much written work but within the first few weeks we got given a big reasearch assignment with a lot of essay writing to be done. It wasn't what I was hoping for. After me going to and from college various college courses through the years this was something I hated and part of the reason I never completed some of the courses and felt this course was going the same way. It was more enjoyable then other essay written work I have been given through the years but still wasn't happy.

I knew I wasn't going to find this easy and had a hard time settling into this, with at the time I thought I could handle a full time job as well as attending college I was working myself to death. Also with all the college work expected of me outside of college my college work was suffering at first. I couldn't carry on this way and knew something had to change but it never crossed my mind to finish college, I knew I had to cut my hours down at work but could I afford it? After getting a referal for my first assignment I thought it was just a case of me adjusting to full time education again. And for the second assignment I knew I had to do something about my work so that I could give my best at college.

When the second assignment came I was still working full time but when I realised the amount I had to do I found myself a part time job on evenings so that the day time could be spent with college work. This gave me a big boost in what I could do at college now and was ready to getting started on a new assignment. A lot of written work again had to be done, mainly with reasearch about why I was designing the site and the audience it was being aimed at. Something I would have never thought about before enrolling on this course. With us doing the written essay in the first assignment this was to be very much the same again. So with me getting a referal I was told what I did wrong, so all I had to do was make sure I didn't do it again.

A lot more research had to be put into this assignment as it was designing a website for beginners with computers. I made every effort in researching this as the first assignment I had to admit that I didn't realise just how much research I had to do. I felt confident that I could at least pass this assignment this time and took a lot from what I did last time in. After putting a lot of hard work into this I recieved a pass, I don't know what I would have done if I didn't at least get a pass as I put a lot into it. This again gave me an extra boost and made me realise that this is the course for me.

The next assigment I was prepared for more essay work but now was the bit I was looking forward to, learning Dreamweaver. I loved every minute of Dreamweaver and found it so much easier to use then Frontpage. I did a lot of work in my spare time learning more and more about Dreamweaver and now I don't know how I coped without it. This assignment was actually designing a website that we did in our last assignment about the basics of computing. This didn't actually take me that long to create but it was the fact that I had all my images basically double the size I had wanted them due to me not knowing how to resize images in Photoshop (which now seems the easiest thing in the book).

Half way through this assignment I decided to switch to the HNC part time course which I found much easier and felt I could really achieve what I wanted and also give my full commitment to out of hours study too. A choice I still think is the best I could have made. I handed this assignment in a bit of a rush and thought I had everything finished, but the large image files wasn't the only problem so I again got a referal. I had to redesign the website again and with us getting set a new assignment this was something I didn't need.

The new assignment I was really looking forward to, it was to design a cd cover to suit the style of music we was going to be given. This really sounded great to me until we heard the actual music! It was electrical music and with me choosing proberly the worst out of the lot I wasn't the happiest in the class. After a few listens the only thought that came into my mind was water sounds and the relaxation of being by the beach so I sketched various beach designs and thought the worst bit was going to be putting my ideas into digital designs.

However this wasn't to be, my final designs in my opinion look a lot better and even better then I had expected them to be. This was the image I had chosen from www.dreamstime.com

And after a bit of editing in Photoshop I came up with these designs,

CD Cover
Inside Inlay

I have learnt such a lot this term, not only new software and the way I look at websites now, but things about myself I never thought I could achieve. I have met a good bunch of friends on the course with whom I can rely on if I need help and advice. I am really looking forward to the second year now and hope to learn lots more.

My main goals that I have set for myself next year

• To acheive higher grades in my assignments.

I have basically just relied on getting through this course on just passes, but now I know what is expected of the course I am hoping I can achieve more higher grades. I am looking at at least 2 Merits and 3 passes just so that I can achieve this goal.

• To design a webpage using just CSS.

I've never used CSS before, and is something I have heard lots about. One of our assignments is to create a webpage using CSS so I am confident in achieving this goal.

• To plan my self study more.

At the start of the year this is something that took me a while to get into, as the year got on this drastically improved, something I hope to continue into next year. At the moment my time planning has been fairly sketchy, but I feel I can go more into detail and break assignments down into smaller sections.