External Assessment

Top Art Digital Submissions

Candidates who were awarded Achievement commonly:

• composed and applied a select number of foundational design elements together – most commonly formats, type and image generation – to communicate ideas or a message

• established a colour palette from the start to maintain consistency

• followed and established a coherent brief that started with a plan and intention; often this only related to formats rather than message or meaning / content

• used systematic drawing and media processes to generate a starting option, limited by narrow phases of explorative drawing at the outset

• were unable to clarify and select 1-3 best typeface options to consolidate brand and campaign communication across the folio

• understood and used a small range of conventions, which suggested that research was not ongoing or informing decision-making

• had difficulty selecting and editing the best concepts and visual outcomes to purposefully expand on

• reapplied all the brand marks they had developed to new collateral, rather than consolidating and harnessing the brand-mark decisions they had already resolved to free up time for new idea generation, inventions and research.

Candidates whose work was assessed as Not Achieved commonly:

• ran short of work and resorted to presenting step-by-step process leading to a final artwork

• did not present a systematic and cohesive body of work; each new approach to a format heralded a new style, new typeface, new colour palette, and new attempt at conventions

• lacked evidence of type understanding, selection and hierarchy; i.e. stacking, display typeface versus body copy, grid structures etc.

• selected and used typeface that was inappropriate to the topic, aesthetic, and brief

• demonstrated limited understanding and exploration of research to inform their own practice, which resulted in over-reliance on a superficial trend

• printed work that was pixelated and/or stretched to fit various formats

• produced art work that was poorly presented; the scale of printed outcomes in relationship to format affected workload and achievement

• chose a colour palette that was illegible and overloaded visual communication and readability

• relied on digital filters that confused and lacked clarity and communication of ideas and message

• showed a lack of relationship and understanding between visual style and the brief or topic they were investigating

• did not understand the conventions and function of formats, such as posters that presented minimal information for the event or organisation being promoted

• placed their logo on stock merchandise templates that did little to evidence the standard

• relied on stock imagery without taking ownership thorough manipulation or media exploration / processes

• did not use their brand mark consistently throughout the folio; instead, they changed the brand with each format shift, which confused communication and message.

Candidates who were awarded Achievement with Excellence commonly:

• included a brief that had complexity and demonstrated a point of view or critical angle / context that was going to deepen the investigation and purpose of collateral (outputs)

• revisited photoshoots and resource / research practices to refuel and extend ideas and visual language

• travelled quickly and produced enough work to be critically selective and discerning about what work made it on to the folio

• evidenced high levels of synthesis with the ability to combine ideational and visual fluency to communicate imaginative narratives and thoughtful and intelligent messaging / meaning

• considered copywriting in both slogans and tag lines that enriched communication.

• developed a brand system and typographic hierarchy that confidently underpinned their performance and intentionality; they didn’t keep changing their mind about brand and type

• fluently understood and researched the conventions they were exploring to create new combinations and compositional options

• valued content and really investigated their subject from a user-centred perspective; they visited and documented sites, recorded observational drawings, took photos, read up on experiences, etc.

• explored the conventions of time-based and narrative principles alongside the technical and graphic visual execution of type and image

• produced and executed the artefact with high levels of production and craft values

• situated their work and ideas in context, using research and practice to inform ideas, copywriting, and documentation of events, formats and art work.