Dissertation Evaluation

For my dissertation I chose the question 'To what extent has postmodernism influenced contemporary editorial design?' This was because of my interest in editorial design, as well as my ignorance of postmodernism that I wanted to learn more about. The research stage took a huge proportion of my time, researching postmodern philosophy, design theory, influence on graphic design as a whole then finally postmodernism within editorial design. I also had to research modernism so that I had a good foundation of knowledge to build upon - This was critical as without an understanding of modernism, postmodernism is a difficult concept to understand fully. I found the writing process very difficult as critical writing is something I have always struggled with. The main issue was that it was such a broad topic, deciding which information is important and which wasn't became tough. Once the writing on theory and postmodern design was complete, the task became a lot easier with the case studies. Critically analysing contemporary magazines was very enjoyable, and improved my understanding of the construction of publications in the modern age. Along the way, I made notes on key concepts that are found in both modernist publications and postmodern publications, which I could then apply to my practical piece to ensure that a strong synthesis would be present. Numerous conversations with course mates helped a great amount, reflecting on my writing and discussing concepts which would be in my dissertation and practical. I felt that I should have spent a larger proportion of my time refining my final written piece, improving the structure of the content so that it reads more smoothly, however I am confident that the content successfully answered my initial question. The practical piece was stressful as I have never constructed a piece of art before. I built the frame using repurposed wood which became slightly damaged in the process, however I feel like this adds to the human warmth element of the work as it's history can be seen. The stringwork was tough as during the drilling process the wood almost split. I had to then take it to a workshop and set the frames in vices, using a screwdriver instead of a drill to screw the screws in more carefully. With more time I would have liked to print the content in different stocks to further add to the postmodern concepts, but time restraints unfortunately prevented this. If I were to do this process again, I would have managed my time differently, taking a week out of my research stage and using it for a contingency plan, or for dissertation refinement. I would also have experimented with different materials for the practical content. I would've liked to create a larger installation rather than a piece contained within a frame to further the concept of an individuals point of view being key to their understanding of the work. I am happy with the final results, and am proud that I managed to write a successful dissertation even though I was very unconfident with my writing skills.