Studio Brief: 'Typogateuax' Self- Evaluation

From making and producing the Typogateaux cakes themsleves, we presented them on tables with a registration card next to our cakes (See Pictures).

Typogateauxs Presented on Tables for Judging

I felt that there was a high standard of entries for Typogateaux and the wide range of ideas and interpretations shows how differently people approached the concept of presenting type and the imagination of the aesthetic appearance to do this.

Self-Evaluation:

How did you approach the brief? - I was quite imaginative and inventive with possible cake ideas as I came up with quite ambitious designs. I knew that I wanted to produce something that would be relevant but I wanted it to have context within itself.

What was your thought-process behind the brief? -  I knew from the brief that I needed to produce a solid idea that could be translated successfully from paper to a delicate physical media. I knew that this would be the hardest aspect of delivaring the brief successfully therefore it was my main thought-process when choosing ideas as the cake would have to be self-supporting and structured.

What worked?/What was Good? - What worked was the outcome of the cake itself. It came to life as it was being cut and decorated which was aided by the development of the aesthetics that I had produced beforehand. This meant that I had a plan as to the presentation of the idea and that I had an equal balance between communication and decoration.

What didn't work?/ What was Bad? -What didn't work was making the cake as I made several attempts to make these cakes and they all continued to concave in the middle or burn. The fact that I tried it out several times (in particular when I was testing some for primary research) meant that the eventually began to get better but it did mean that I had to be careful of the quality of my product.

What would you change?- I would probably change the final cake as I only included detailing (Type and Colour lines) on the front and top of the cakes due to the fact that I had run out of icing when making them therefore I would want to include the detail on all sides of the cake itself so that it is more consistant with the real physical object.

Studio Brief: 'Software Induction: Photoshop' Self-Evaluation

Self-Evaluation:

How did you approach the brief? - I approached the brief with enthusiasm based on the fact that we had previously had an induction due to the fact that I was wanting to try and put into practise what I had learnt. It was only as I was developing the brief that I was finding it more and more difficult to use and therefore began to feel negatively towards it. 

What was your thought-process behind the brief? -  My thought process was that I wanted a lot of my design based around the images that I created, which is why I put the most emphasis on the photographs. Another thought-process was the fact that I wanted it the whole set of the 5 photographs to be distinctly obvious as a set. They needed to work as a cohesive unit which is something that I continually thought about whilst producing my postcards, which I think is clearly evidenced.

What worked?/What was Good? - What worked was the photographs themselves that I took of the wheels. I took several series of photos for this brief in order to find the right objects and theme I wanted and I felt that I experimented with the concept and the photography a lot within this brief. What was also good was that they fill the requirements of the brief.

What didn't work?/ What was Bad? - What didn't work was the postcards when they had been printed. They look much better on screen then they do printed out. Not only that but my Photoshop skills were bad which effected the quality of the postcards that I produced. For my first attempt using this program, I still have much to learn in order to produce better quality works which are more experimental and imaginative but, towards the end, I was happy to have managed some basics.

What would you change?- I would maybe experiment with some other colour filters and adjustments just to see the effect it would have on my work. I did test some but I felt they were irrelevant and unappealing on these particular images so it might have been worth just testing some more out to see if they were any better.

Design Process: The Process of Doing Research 2

After getting some initial, quick research for my Baseball brief, we were put into groups of 8. As individuals, we then had to make a list of the 10 most interesting facts I had found within my research:

1. Each club plays 162 games- only 1 days break every 10 days
2. 2 Major Leagues in Major League Baseball- American and National
3. Runs from Beginning of April to End of September
4. Games are played consecutively in a series of 3 or 4 in a row
5. One major difference between the 2 Leagues- 'The Designated Hitter Rule'
6. Field is known as a 'Diamond' and has 3 corners
7. There are 3 methods of getting someone out; Field Out, Put Out or Strike Out
8. The American and National Leagues are split into 3; East, Central and West
9. The World Series is when the winners of the American League and National League play a championship against each other
10. An All Star Game is when the best players from the American League and National league go against each other

From the 10 things we have collected as individuals, how many are facts and how many are opinions altogether in our group:

Facts- 71
Opinions- 9

Methods of Research Undertaken as a Group;

• Listening to Audio (Music/ Radio Stations)
• Reading Articles via Internet and Books
• Documenting and Collecting Findings
• Watching Documentaries and Videos

As a Class;

• Reading Books
• Watching Videos
• Talking to People (Asked what they knew)- Interviews (Written and Audio), Emails, Letters
• Looking at Images
• Listening to Audio Books
• Searching the Internet
• Dissection
• Emailed the Subject

Forms of Source Materials we have as a Group

• Images
• Quotes
• Facts
• Statistics
• Graphs/ Charts/Tables
• Statements
• Opinions
• Lists
• Dates

Source Material we have as a Class:

• Quotes- Photocopies, Articles from Magazines, Interviews, Transcripts
• Images- Drawings, Print Outs, Scans, Blogged, Primary/Secondary Photos
• Dates
• Videos- Clips, Screenshots, Opinions, Observations- Written Note Taking

Problems you face when you attempt to research as a Group:

• Not knowing where to start
• Prioritising other things before research (eg. briefs that have an earlier due date)
• Time Scale/ Time Management
• Not having enough money
• Not living in the country for the subject matter
• Biased Research articles
• Questioning the reliability of the source

As a Class:

• Reliability of Sources
• Geographical Restraints- Send Emails, As People who have been there, Google Maps Street View, Do Something similar to it
• Legal Restrictions
• Limited Time/ Too Much Money
• Insufficient Funds
• Dead People or Past Events- Relatives/ Music/ Films
• Lack of Motivation due to lack of Interest
• Co-Operations of Others
• Outside Limitations
• Lack of Prior Knowledge
• Lack of Confidence

Research gives you evidence and proof

What do you need to get out of this?

Only do what is relevant

Study Task:

From this, we were given a sheet which we had to fill in with 5 examples for each box of possible pieces of research we could conduct on our topic:

Qualitative/ Quantitative Research Sheet

This was so that we would have some focus onto aspects of research we could go into.

Studio Brief: 'How To...' Self / Group Evaluation

What roles did you take on in the group?

In the group, I took on the role of advertisement and promotion as I was the person who was delegated with the job of producing a poster advertisement in order to promote the road safety capaign that we were creating in order to fulfil the brief. This meant that everyone in the group that there own area to work on, working as a collaboration on a whole product rather than doing one single thing altogether.

How well do you think you performed in the role?

I think I performed very well in this role as I successfully managed to produce the neccessary outcome for the product itself. I came up with several intial ideas then developed them and presented them to my group. I constantly asked for feedback and help into how I could improve my posters. I came up with a good idea which I then ammended to fit in with the rest of the groups work and made it myself in a digital fashion.

How well do you think you worked as a group?

Perosnally, I felt we were a really good group who worked together in a successful way to produce a great collaboration in a supportive environment. We listened to everybodies point of view and ended up making decisions to suit individuals as well as compromises to suit the group project. Everyone pulled thier weight because each person was included in producing part of ther outcome.

What were the positives of working in a group?

What was positive about this project being with a group was that we were able to produce a large volume of work between us which then came together to make a final outcome. What was also positive was the array of expertise that we had in our group which meant that we were able to learn from one another, such as that some were good at computer work and some were good at ideas.

What were the negatives of working in a group?

The negatives of working in a group was that some people wern't available to come into college for various reasons on different days so we had to work around each other. This didn't hinder our progress or the project itself but it did mean that we had to consider group decisions without some people being included meaning that they wern't able to get as involved in the project as others were.

What will you do differently next time?

Next time, I would perhaps try and make even more variations of my poster, maybe making handout flyers or maybe even stickers that would advertise and promote the campaign even more. Another idea could be that I could make a magazine editorial or magazine advertisement for the campaign so it has endorsement fronm being featured in a national publication.

Where can you have improved your resolution?

As an individual, I would have improved my resolution by printing it in better quality and on a better stock in order to imporve the aesthetci quality of the poster print. In a way, it is more in keeping with the ideology of a mail shot by being printed on just a regular printer as that is how it would be done  in order to keep costs down for the campaign, however, in regards to being presented and being put in a public realm to promote the company, I would have quite liked to have it done in a better quality and stock. As a group, we could have perhaps done more to build and bulk up our campaign by adding more aspects to our product and maybe done some more primary research as a group.

What were the strengths of your presentation?

The strength of our presentation was that it was clear and direct with a specific message to give to our audience. This meant that we could easily explain where our ideas came from, the specific aspects of our product in detail and the overall final product itself.

Design Process: 'What is Research?' and 'The Process of Doing Research'

Going beyond your comfort zone

"Process is more Important than Outcome"

- 'Incomplete Manifesto for Growth' (2006) by Bruce Mau Design Inc.

Building on the confidence of getting it wrong

Intuitive Approach- Thought process base don own knowledge and perceptions systematic approach subconsciously

Stimulated Approach- Finding inspiration for an external resource

Systematic Approach- Systematic Collection and Modification of Components, Characteristics and Components- Structuring and Re-structuring, Enlarging and Reducing, Combining and Subtracting

4 Stages of Research:

Phase 1- Assimilation

Accumulation and Ordering of General Information and Information related to the specific problem at hand

Phase 2- General Study

Investigation to the nature of the problem

Investigation of possible solutions

Phase 3- Development

Development and Refinement of 1 or 2 solutions

Phase 4- Communication

Communication of 1 or more solutions to people inside or outside the design team

OR

Phase 1- Analysis

What's the problem?

Materials?

Functions?

What do I need to know?

What already exists?

Phase 2- Research

How many ideas?

Phase 3- Evaluation

What fulfils the brief?

What looks the best?

What the client prefers?

Phase 4- Solution

Usually a compromise- feasible, affordable, skills, materials

Make sure its accessible to feedback/Crit

Be prepared to go back to Analysis and Research

Research is- finding out by asking the questions, How? Why? What If?

Research involves collecting information about a subject from a variety of sources including Books, Journals and the Internet

OR

By Collecting and experimenting- It is a process that is done by using what is already known

Types of Research:

Primary- Developed and Collected

Secondary- Generation of Research collected at an earlier time

Quantitive- Facts, Figures, Statistics, Data, Measurements

Qualitative- Non- Numerical- Interviews, Documentaries, Subjective Response-How we percieve the world

Information is the result of collecting and organising data

Data is used to create meaning

Any communication or representation of knowledge

Information should be sufficient, competent, relevant and useful

- Fulfils assessable outcomes

- Essentials for Informed ideas and Solutions

- Toolbox of Opinions, Practical Skills and Specialist Knowledge

- You get paid for it 

Within our 'How To...' Groups, we had to use the research we had collected to evaluate it.

Group Sheet

10 Reasons why Research is an important practise and why it is effective:

1. Helps give you an informed opinion on the subject matter
2. Helps you discover new directions in solving new problems
3. It drives your motivation to solve the issue, the more you know about it
4. It sets standards on previous projects where you have tried to solve a similar issue
5. It helps you to understand and engage with the audience your aiming at
6. Body of research helps inspire and develop ideas
7. It can push your work into new directions
8. It can highlight restrictions or obstacles in a brief before the design process starts
9. It can help determine the value of the end product being developed
10. It can assist the planning, development process and time management
11. Research helps narrow down your focus into a particular route via development

10 research methods to effectively generate a breadth of source material:

1. Go to the library to find relevant publications
2. Get up-to-date information on a daily basis on current topics by reading broadsheets
3. Conducting Interviews to collect first hand information
4. Going to lectures to develop an understanding on a subject matter in an academic setting
5. Exploring exhibitions and shops to research current trends/ competition/ inspiration 
6. By visiting retail environments to research whereabouts your product will be used
7. Primary Source Photography to gain a visual stimulus to the world around you
8. Perform surveys and questionnaires to gather public opinion, facts and statistics on the subject matter
9. Attend events to get first hand experience in the relevant market/ subject area
10. Watching Films/ Documentaries/ TV Shows to get a better understanding in a visual way 

Then, as a class, we came up with a list of research methods we could use:

1. Visiting exhibitions to identify trends, competition and influence
2. Setting up focus groups to gain feedback on final outcomes and products
3. Questionnaires to gather facts, figures and opinions
4. Interviewing Specialists and Professionals 
5. Experimenting with media or production
6. Reading design publications/ Viewing design blogs
7. Observations of Real Life, The Universe and Everything
8. Photographing People's behaviour/ Architecture/ Documentation
9. Collecting current or historical examples
10. Watching a film/ TV show/ documentation
11. Market Research into the context

Material Gathered from research methods as a class:

1. Quotes
2. Opinions
3. Statements
4. Knowledge
5. Facts
6. Statistics
7. Feedback
8. Documents
9. Analysis
10. Visual Material
11. Information? (Only when data becomes useful)
12. Data
13. Examples
14. Samples

As a group, we needed to list how much source material we have gathered and how many methods we have used:

1. Produced Questionnaires 
2. Took Primary Source Photographs
3. Notes from Publications
4. Observational Source Material
5. Found relevant websites 

• Watching Documentaries
• Photographing People's Behaviour
• Collecting Current Examples
• Questionnaires
• Observations of Real Life

Then we needed to list 10 ways of improvement as a group to research processes and end product:

Group Sheet

1. More physical, Going out to get research
2. More visual watching
3. Inclusion of Market Research/ Going out to see other available products
4. Interviewing members of the public in order to determine their views on the subject matter (Target Market)
5. Continuous gathering of feedback in order to improve the eventual final outcome
6. More experimentation of media and development of production choices and stock (needs consideration)
7. Splitting up and delegating specific areas to specific people to cover the subject matter in more detail
8. Needing to have more variation in regards to the types of research processes done
9. Looking at specialist publications for more in-depth research
10. Need to put the possible end product into a physical context

A List of things that will prevent you from researching:

Group Sheet

• Time Management and Prioritising- having to juggle several briefs at once
• Not knowing where to start
• Geography- Restrictive time scale

A List of How would you deal with them:

• Do the least time consuming first or the one with the nearest deadline first
• Plan out time
• Create initial assimilation and go from any questions that arise