Writing Initiative #8
Writing initiative #8
In doing this self directed assignment I learned that I needed to learn how to make executive design decisions when working on self directed assignments. There were so many times I had ideas of what I wanted to do, thought of different mediums Iâd like to attempt, but with so many options because of the nature of my word being so ambiguous I kept getting paralyzed to hone in on a narrative and try to make them work. I learned I need to stop being so fickle and comparing my progress with others as it was holding me back from even trying to make. I learned that I canât design in isolation and collaborative environments are almost necessary for producing something of substance.
I found almost all of these aspects difficult for my chosen assignment. I kept running into creative blocks, found it hard to find research as I was having trouble focusing on a topic that could relate to my project that I cared about, connecting my designs to research initially was difficult when I was exploring themes of unity, love and design process. Finding out different methods I havenât tried before made craft difficult, 3D modelling is definitely not my strong suit and Iâve learned this now, packaging design was also hard initially but thankfully I had friends that were knowledgeable in both aspects and were willing to show me how these things were done and help me out in the process. My organizational skills initially were really bad but in the past few weeks I felt like I was more locked in due to the time pressure and how little margin for error I now had. My time management was abysmal and I began feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work I had to do and felt like I kept failing and falling behind. Overall I found this course to be difficult not because of the work but because I honestly kept getting in my own way. Once I had my friends literally talk sense into me and give me the push and support I needed I was able to get back on track.
I enjoyed the opportunity to do whatever I wanted in a semi-structured environment. I liked the fact that I was in charge of my own brief even though I found it difficult to manage. I think I enjoyed this opportunity because it also taught me that in a self-directed assignment like this, Iâd really have to make it something I care about or obsessed with in order to have the motivation to push through it. Usually courses have assignments that are just 3-4 weeks long and you donât really get a chance to sit with them, rework them, or completely redefine them. But even though most of my iterations up until the final critique were failures or just non-existent, once I really found a topic I was interested in and became obsessed with, I felt more driven to get the project done.Â
Oh man. Over the course of the semester Iâd honestly probably fail myself. I think I kept trying and failing and getting discouraged seeing everyone elseâs projects flourish while mine kept running into roadblocks or kept getting redirected (with myself to blame). In the end I feel I figured it out but the road to getting there was long and tough. I learned my lesson in the end, but it took me quite some time to get back on track.Â
If I had the opportunity to work this way again, I would have a more rigorous research process initially, and from there keep making and iterating without aborting the topic. I feel like thatâs what I struggled with the most over the semester, I would have a narrative, iterate on it once or twice, then abandon it the second I felt it stopped working. It wasnât until these last few weeks that I remembered design process doesnât feasibly work this way, and I just have to keep making and iterating and taking feedback until it works. Iâd also fix my attendance in class and try to bring more work to show to get proper feedback in class rather than resort to asking friends outside of class for critique.Â