Refinement

What & why

Refinement is where you modify the concept you selected in response to feedback and evaluation against the brief.

This is when the production of the final visual communications is undertaken. It is very important that you document how you produce the final visual communications, including:

  • any adjustments to the visual communications
  • step-by-step production process
  • any challenges, failures and solutions

Refinement allows you to polish up your design – it’s the opportunity to get the details right!

Production schedule until the deadline

By the time you’re working on the refinement, you should be aware of the submission due date and thus how many days left for you to complete the folio.

You might think it’s tedious, but trust me, it gives you an objective perspective on how much time you have and how feasible it will be to complete the folio within the limited time.

I’d even incorporate the time schedule you make based on this set up with the schedules of other subjects (with any SAC / SAT submission due dates) so you have a holistic view on the remaining term.

Minor tweaks

In Refinement, you should we working on the details & fine elements of your visual communication.

One way to demonstrate your care for those details is to have a grid of alterations with annotations so that the viewer can easily compare them.

Make sure to annotate how you changed & why, and analyze which one is the best (it’s still part of the critical thinking method!)

Step by step

It is important that you show step by step refinement / production process. There are different ways to keep the record of them:

  • Digital work: screenshots as you go, save in a designated folder. Label them (change file names) so you can remember what changes you made (but keep the dates).
  • Physical work: take pictures as you go, you might want to take notes of what you did so it’ll be easier to remember.

Pitch

The pitch is where you get to explain your design process in relation to the brief and to receive feedback from your teacher.

It should cover the entirety of your folio. Basically, you’re reflecting on the design process: what you did, how you did, why you did, what outcome you got, etc.

  1. brief: who was your client? what were you asked to respond to?
  2. Research (presentation 1 & 2)
  3. Generation of ideas (presentation 1 & 2)
  4. Development (presentation 1 & 2)
  5. Refinement (presentation 1 & 2)
  6. Resolution (presentation 1 & 2)