I have decided to create a first term overview, to explain how I have felt the first term has gone and how I feel about the projects we were given.
Subject:
During the 1st term my main focus was making sure that i fitted the criteria that i wasn’t fulfilling as much as i should have been last term. this includes focusing on my blog and the process throughout the projects in which i have encountered.
After completing two weeks work placement over the summer i have found that blogging your opinions and ideas is a crucial part of the design world. its how modern day designers and consumers work together in order to see the full process. blogging for me this term has been an enjoyable part of the course. I have been able to express myself fully using imagery and terminology. i feel that this way i can connect with people on another level to show my full personality within my work.
I have also realised that by doing the work placement, that focusing on my work and completing my work to the fullest and creating the ultimate best outcome for my client is a crucial part of the process itself. this term i have been mainly focusing on what work i have to do in order to fit all of the criteria and to the best of my ability.
I feel that with the projects given this term the deadlines have been very close together. this has helped me balance and separate the important when competing briefs together. at times during this term i found found the work load quite heavy. trying to balance 4/5 briefs at the same time was a new experience for me and even after doing the work and completing it to a high standard i still felt that there was more to be completed (even though there wasn’t. At all. In the slightest).
One thing that i have done differently this term is keeping a sketch book properly. being able to design my ideas by hand, and develop them without having to redo them on software has really helped me fasten the process and show group members ideas quickly without having to find a way to do it on the adobe software available for us. This also allowed me to show full development of my work during the tutorial sessions with clients and with our tutors. this allowed for quick changes to be made and progress within the final visuals made to.
Group work:
working within groups has been our main focus this term. we have been asked to work in groups for our S4C project and within our field group. i have found working i a group on both occasions good as this allows for progress to be made quicker and the work to be evenly distributed between the group in order to get the work completed to a high level. i found this on both occasions within the two projects mentioned below.
when working in the groups the main difference was being able to choose who you work with. in field we were allowed to create our own groups in order to complete the task ahead. this allowed for me to work within a friendship group of people i know, knowing the way they work and the way in which they design and like their work to look. however the S4C project was different as being put into groups we were not familiar with, not knowing the way in which many people work and the way they design. This wasn’t only a case of getting the work done but a case of building friendships and trust with others within our subject group. i found the process really enjoyable as working within a group you do not socialise with allows for a broader range of knowledge, ways of working and completing work that you on your own wouldn’t have been able to come up with.
I feel that working within those groups allowed us to develop as designers and social beings, using our communication and knowledge within the topic to progress further. i feel that the S4C project allows for more relationships to be made in order to benefit from within the future. showing skills and knowledge that not everyone knows and helping each other in order to progress further within the course itself.
Working with Clients:
I have enjoyed working with clients to an extent. i found that one of my clients was a silent client, they didn’t really offer much information and the brief given to me wasn’t as specific as it could have been leading to quite a difficult experience in order to please the client. this was a hard yet it has helped me to develop ideas to a vague brief and complete designs that can be used within the ‘real world’. i understand that in the real world that clients aren’t going to be as direct and specific as you may like and it might come to a point where they don’t actually like your design’s as they don’t correlate to the vague brief given. however i wish to be able to take this within my stride in order to create the best possible outcome for the client.
I did enjoy working for S4C. i found the entire process interesting especially pitching to the clients. i found that working to their client brief meant creating something that fitted to every point within their criteria, and mentioning this within the pitch in order to show the thought and the process given to the project itself. i particularly enjoyed this project and this allowed me to make new connections and test out our own ideas to a real world client.
Overall
Overall i found this term quite stressful, understanding the reasoning behind it however made the entire process worth while. the jump from first year to second has meant that the work load is larger and will become larger as the course goes on. i feel that with sticking to the approach i have taken this year about concentrating mainly on my course work this will allow me to progress further throughout the year learning new techniques and gaining more experience within the field itself.
My aim for 2017, is to gain more work placement within the field itself. branching out in a more in depth way in order to get better feel for the subject itself. i also would like to have written a great part of my dissertation and feel comfortable and content with the subject in which i have chosen for it.
Happy new year everyone. Bring on 2017.
ABBIE - LOUISE 