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Day 72

Friday flew by. Friday breakfast went quite peacefully until the department manager informed us about new conditions for qualifying to be associate professor. I didn’t really understand what ”the new” was, but one kept asking questions and commenting. It seemed like a shift in balance between research and teaching for the benefit of research. The department manager emphasized the importance of both. I’m not sure where it’s relevant for me. Maybe not. At the following review meeting my supervisors and Casper (senior researcher) presented a new master-level course. I don’t feel competent to contribute with feedback. I’m not sure about their approach to change management. I was reminded about an interview with Edgar Schein. The review meeting was followed by another meeting about a course I’m supposed to teach. Sue is getting ready to let go as her pregnancy progress. I have to find a guest lecturer, but received a rejection Friday afternoon. I’m considering other options. Finally, a supervisor meeting. Pete (Main supervisor) participated in 20 minutes and Christine (co-supervisor) ended the meeting sharp on time. It was the last of the meetings she had arranged. They were planned to start 12.30 just after lunch, but it was difficult to get started on time. I’ve arranged the coming meeting. We went through status of my project and Christine encouraged me to apply for a scholarship for a course in Lausanne. I visited former colleges after work.

Today I’ve spent the day writing resume’s on literature. It’s a bit cumbersome though I think it sticks better when I’m taking notes on applicability. I’m considering whether I should make a form so that I can do it while reading. I have a backlog right now and it delays my reading. Furthermore, I’ve been writing on a scholarship. Got it all ready. I just need a recommendation from my supervisor. I’ve included a trip to Sweden and company G in the application. I’m unsure whether I qualify for the scholarship because of my previous income.

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Supervisor feedback before assessment 2 presentations

Hi Phoebe,

Your presentation looks really good. Note you have the 'developing samples' slide twice though.! Also you don't need to use quotation marks for your own writing (in this context at least). Obviously it will depend on what you say alongside the images too...It would be really useful to refer to / talk about how/why you have selected certain things over others, so what was not so successful and why, (especially in design terms) + what different considerations relate to different markets. Make sure you are clear about what your aims are looking forward. (Be specific about priorities etc)

Also, It would be useful to look into how people like tactility factory work- the kinds of projects (as well as the product itself).

I'd just check the learning outcomes (I know you have done this!) - might be useful to reflect on these alongside the presentation to check you are signposting the listeners to these/how you are addressing them.

Sorry it's late, nuts day yesterday!

My own thoughts and critical analysis

I have made a list from the email above noting what I need to take on board and get done before the presentations commence. I will need to:

- research into tactility factory, who they are? how they work? projects?

- They redefine the traditional relationship that exists between architectural design and textiles, by infusing concrete to create sensory expectation for interiors worldwide.

-how I will reflect on learning outcomes alongside my presentation, signposting listeners to them throughout

- How am I going to address these learning outcomes and tick them off as I go along?

- I will need to be critical through my presentation and make sure I am clear on how, where and why I am hitting certain criteria within my design practice.

- How do I intend on being clear about aims and objectives looking forward

- I aim on creating a slide that specifically targets what I aim to do moving forward, showing samples and examples of what I am going to do next by a round up slide towards the end of my presentation.

- How will I take into consideration the different markets and which specific designs relate to each one.

- I will clearly state this through imagery and labelling on separate slides that are separately linked with a particular market to make it clear to the audience.

- Why have I selected certain design techniques and processes over others?What was successful and what wasn't so successful?

- Again by using imagery and graphics to signpost people to what has worked and what hasn't so through visually.

#supervisor meetings

Supervisor meeting 6

Todays meeting was a long and very productive one. I came t the meeting with a breadth of development and visualisations playing around with varying environments for my target market.

Fo and I came up with a plan and way of organising all of my information and development ideas so far into an orderly fashion, showing that I have a particular direction I am going to go down in the final phase.

See plan below:

Categorize prints in regards to - Scale - colour - pattern (repeat, readymade) - Placement (bespoke, made to order) - Tactile print focused (textured wallpaper with tactile silicone embedded elements) Technical focus (Further research) - printed silicone / fabric wallpaper - grade design / silicone for casting (differences in types of silicones used) - think about design approach (why it promotes bringing the outdoors in and helps promote wellbeing through stimulating the senses & how it may work, be installed, who & how many people needed) - health and safety standards of silicone – (baking standard degrades slower)

Design ideas - connect images/design visualisations with relevant target market environment - keep asking who I am as a designer? (where I want my brand to be, how i want to be perceived, am i a designer and maker, a brand who collaborates with businesses, or a bit of everything, where I want to be in 5 years time ) - specific links & directions? Wallpaper – designing & selling?

Production - who for? - quantities of stock? - made to order stock? (Time this would take, rough price it would cost) - Needs to be seen in the right places? (cheap commissions at first to get my business name out there) - Installation – who is needed to this? (builder, myself, fitters, professionals) - Commission basis? (more bespoke, made to order work) bespoke range where I design to order, takes longer and costs more (will be every now and then) - Commercial range – digitally printed range of wallpapers & fabrics? (bread & butter income) - Collaboration – working with brands and designing with my brand identity for a big company such as Velvaere for John Lewis?

Ideal vision for my business would be made up of - 4 people (interior designer, business man, marketer, manufacturer)

Business model - Designer / maker - Consultant - Collaboration – working with key brands – show examples of brands and designers doing the same thing

Powerpoint presentation assessment - Split into categories - Explaining I am considering a varied amount of directions and markets as I don’t want to limit my target market but instead have a broader market.

#supervisor meetings

Supervisor meeting 5

Today I had my 5th supervisor meeting with Fo. This is our first catch up since before Christmas.

We discussed many areas including design development as this is an area I really need to start developing more now since my change of material process. We talked through my samples and built on areas to develop further when I go onto do the silicone and resin workshops that Fo has set up for me in a few weeks.

I am, at present happy about my project and where it is going, but still have a lot of work to do, mainly visualising my designs and development. I am going to start developing on walls to visualise my designs playing with scale and working with my finalised chosen shapes and colour palette as this way i will be able to start envisioning the way my designs will look in their proposed environment. It will be a lot easier to start experimenting, sampling further and developing visualisatons form the samples I produce on the workshop once I have been introduced to the professional processes in the casting silicone workshop in a few weeks time. Untill then I will be working further on rough design ideas and jotting down ideas to experiment with for my sampling. I also need to start collecting materials to use in my silicone experiments in seperate pots organised so I can use them to make my samples during the workshop.

I need to take a more minimal approach to my silicone tiles and samples as otherwise the tiles become too complicated and wont work together in a pattern on a wall surface, so I need to use one embedding process for each individual tile sample so they are minimal and stand alone with the design whilst also working together with the bigger picture design.

Key Words For Progress - Minimal approach - Develop design ideas and visualise them - Silicone and resin workshops - Embedding various materials including hand dyed fabric to my colour palette cut up + hand screen printed fabric in circular patterns + fabric/paper cut outs and spices + pigment powders + fragments of metal and plastic + nature, leaves, flowers + beads + threads + embroidery + knit + crochet + clay + paint/ink + chalks + stones - Clay/silicone moulds that are tactile and textured - Develop a design for a wall surface that has a nature inspired background digital or hand printed or white/coloured background, I need to play around with this, then on top of this I envision my mixed silicone/resin tiles displayed on top of this background weather it is wood/paper/fabric/plastic this is also something I need to play around with to see what works, the tiles will be displayed together in some way mainly in a circular mandala form as i have established this for wellbeing, with varying scale and varying space between each tile to create pattern, each of the tiles will display a different technique with different materials which will all work together as a whole. - Collect materials and fragments to use for embedding during silicone and resin workshops. - Think about the samples I create and don’t just chuck lots of mediums together, but have a more minimal approach to the design. - Keep to my specific colour palette and circular shapes - Work with varying scales on a wall - taking into account corners in walls - silicon wall hangings/surfaces/wallpaper/fabric - look at alternatives

#supervisor meetings

Meeting 4 with supervisor

- After my meeting with my supervisor i took on her advice and developed further samples using silicone. Instead of mixing the collected items in the samples i was advised to instead simplify my apporach and use a seperate process and material to embed in each silicone sample at once to create a minimal effect to the tiles because my previous samples were too disjointed and not properly thought out and for them to soothe the senses and promote wellbeing we concluded they needed a more minimalist approach, so they can stand alone whilst equally work together in my apposed larger wall surface designs.

#supervisor meetings

3rd supervisor meeting

The meeting with Fo was to the point and under an hour as it was just her and I discussing my progress before the presentation. I am now at the point where mixed media surface design and inerior styling is what I am developing through exploration. I am firstly concentrsting on wall surfaces as directed by Fo as this is the main area of interest to me at the moment and also so i can start developingnsome designs before the presenation. I am in the process of creating some explorative cut outs from foam paper and wood working from my minimal drawings concentrating on the intricate lines and cut out shapes that I can then take forward in lazer cutting technique. I am going to then also intrigate this with scent and dye and the possibility of using natural dyes and spices to add colour to the materials as well as adding texture and scent to them. I am working in the right way and I have got lots of explorative and experimentive work but as Fo made me aware I now need to start using my time choosing the most successful work and then using this to develop further concentrating on playing to my strengths, which is now what I am doing. I have identified the minimal line botanical drawings are the most successful as well as subtle colours and tones and the basic message throughout is simple is better so I aim to keep my designs simple esthetically but the mixed media and surface innovative and conceptual. Before my first presentation on Monday I am planning on getting some developments done to show the apposed direction I am working towards so far to shown am moving in the right direction for my project. I am going to get all my work together so far and display the best things in my wall before the presneation and I just need to add a few images into mt proposal and then upload this as a live document via Dropbox on Monday ready for our first scary assessment.

#supervisor meetings

1st & 2nd supervisor meetings with Fo - Introduction and getting straight into it.

First meeting was a brief intro into my project ideas and any research i had found, so Fo could get a better idea of my project.

The second meeting got straight into it and was a long meeting but i feel like i have been given very construction critique and i now have more of a focus concentrating on my skills.

I need to do lots of practical before Next meeting with supervisor Fo - 7th november 11.45 - 12.00

-Project proposal and presentation delivery on the 14th November - interim assessment - feedback of the direction of the project - PowerPoint presentation

- Main commercial product being Wallpaper that I can include on my website shop that can be manufactured quickly and digitally when needed

- Printed digitally with the print designs inspired by collages and layering textures made up from compositions usimg organic forms such as branches and flower petals

- or actually including natural textures such as bark/conkers/leaves to create a tactile wallpaper experience but I need to look at the health and safety issues around this in a hospital doctors waiting room

- from a business perspective looking at what my products will be - think about wallpaper or hangings made from a collection of conkers sewn or drilled together or in a pattern. Sculptural Hammock wall hanging made from conkers / wood ect that had been printed on

- to coincide with this look at creating an object that is less commercial and of a installation piece such as a chair that works with the commercial wallpaper but that is more tactile and upcycled, making sure the objects work as a collection to stimulate wellbeing and tactility.

- Looking at embedding natural objects into an eco innovative fabric - researching how to eco resin for wall hangings - wipeable tablecloths ect

- Looking at how to preserve natural objects to use for interiors. Embedding in resin to stop it decaying and going brown.

- Working with scale, layering, photography and digital maipulation to create some prints.

- Putting interesting sections of my drawings/textures of wings and leafs and putting theae together to create some print desigms using varying scale ect in repeat and random prints. Also do this with my photos and cut these up and do so interesting collage layering with them to create patterns to then digitally manipulate.

- look at interior design from a interior textile design styling direction as well as an installation direction and at spacial design as well as product design to inspire my ideas. Basically look at creating a space and environment that helps towards wellbeing and where I could place my collection of items in a domestic environment bringing the outdoors in.

- don’t concentrate on embroidery or quilting as these are techniques that are not my strongest and that is evident in my work so I will stray away from this as it isn’t as relevant now to my project ad before my meeting with fo. Instead I will now concentrate on print design and how I can incorporate nature into my products in an innovative way such as sculptural and installation pieces that can be used in various setting such ad retail and maybe even a special hollistic room used for therapy to help wellbeing.

- considering hollistic qualities throughout and how my business idea can help towards healing,

Looking at the process as a whole and how the journey of incorporating nature into interiors and enviroment can actually help heal and help towards ones wellbeing - which then coincides with the idea of offering creative theraputic ecotherapy workshops for wellbeing as a part of my business idea which also broadens my business idea. Workshops that are abut collecting natural resources and reusing them to create beautiful things for your home whilst being creative and helping towards ones wellbeing.

- I also need to categorise my research folder in sub sections with dividers in importance of order so I can then add to these and then start identity which particular sections I am going to focus on more.

- start working our of my sketchbook and on to separate sheets of paper to work with varying scale and on various materials.

- keep up with reflective blog and just research research research and lots of samples.

#supervisor meetings