Summary
The semester as a whole was challenging but highly rewarding. It took good organisation skills to be able to stay on top of and mange coursework from the specialist module streams as well as the core class task. I think the major thing that helped here was the fact that we were working in groups for our core class. Initially i groaned at the idea of doing a group task, especially one that was worth much as large percentage of the overall mark for the subject. I usually prefer to work alone as it can be difficult to come to design decisions that a whole group can agree on when everyone has such different approaches and design styles. However, in this case it was great. Being able to share around the workload meant that tasks were flexible and we were able to manage the coursework without stress and put adequate energy into each little task.
Having the support of good friend/ workmates took the stress out of what could have been a very stressful last few weeks of the semester.
The specialist streams were great. I really enjoyed having a specialised class every few weeks to break the repetition of some other work we’d been doing. These condensed classes were a terrific insight into three different design streams that i didn’t have much knowledge of previously. Out of the three classes:
-craft
-strategies
-futures
I would have thought that i would enjoy the craft module best. However, it was the strategies module that really interested me. Learning about the groundwork put in behind great design was inspiring and intriguing. I think it is an area that i would really like to pursue and further investigate over the next two years of the course as i think it is a great combination of physical design and strategy where human centred design would be applied. ( an area that interests me greatly)
This is why i think the specialist streams are so good. They give a condensed taste of three totally different areas of design and can really highlight the best bits.
Th futures stream proved to be most difficult. I didn’t time manage well and this led to me creating a design artefact that was clumsy and didn’t reflect what i wanted it to. This was a real shame because i saw good opportunity to actually create a really nice piece. It was a learning experience on doing progressive work instead of cramming.
Ultimately it was a successful and fun semester in communication design studies. Thanks to all of the teachers/ lecturers for making it a dynamic and exciting educational experience. I took a lot away from this semester and am more than glad i was able to take part in the whole process.
Happy holidays.
