#unitx1

[kaitlintaylorbrack]

UNIT X: Overall Review

In reflection, I think I contributed to the success of our group an awful lot. I mostly enjoyed working in a group. I created many sketches, created the film, assisted the model-making and was heavily involved in the initial, sci-fi idea for the project. At times, collaboration became stressful, the biggest issue being people not allowing other ideas to be heard and cutting people from communication. During the start of the project, I think everyone was really having a good time exploring ideas and this started to dwindle as the project progressed. People forcing their ideas became necessary to a point, so that we would have a finished idea, so perhaps timing was more the issue. As for people being cut from communication, I’m unsure whether this was purposeful. Some of the group members began to meet privately and plan the exhibition without consulting others, which was detrimental as not everyone held the same knowledge of the project. I doubt that these meetings were malicious, but they were counter-progressive to the harmonious group atmosphere that was once instilled and to the progression of the project. 

I would work with this group again, but would probably try even harder to be heard. Even though our final exhibition result was very commendable, I wish I had more of an idea of what was going on later in the project. In the final exhibition, much of my work was showcased, so I don’t feel as though I was not heard at all, I just wish that I had been more clued in so I could of continued to leave my mark on the project when possible. Natalie was easily one of the strongest players in our group, as she was brilliant at organising everyone and drawing attention to how the project ideas relate to the brief. I would certainly work with her again, her work ethic is praiseworthy. Jodie is extremely innovative and has an inspiring imagination when it comes to model-making and sketching. My experience was Gareth, Emma and Bébhinn was all quite similar. All three of these people have wonderful ideas, but can be obstinate at times, which although led to the success of our project, left me feeling in the dark at times. On the other hand, as a group, we were very good at listening to our lecturers comments and applying them to our work, as well as sticking to deadlines and being professional. 

In regards to the exhibition itself, I think we were very successful. We fully manifested a believable paper town, phantom settlement-esque story which people could place themselves within. The story had a strong backbone and I think the gaps in the story helped the exhibition feel more mysterious and real. The plot was understandable yet fluid, and I think we mirrored Jamie Shovlin’s work excellently, especially through the use of the film I made. The full premise of the project was superb. The film was very sophisticated and using only VHS footage in blue tones to give an eerie, DIY, thriller atmosphere. When I pondered which briefs I would be receiving when studying Interior Design, I never considered having the chance to work on something as conceptual as this, and am pleasantly surprised.

I wish that I had had the opportunity to work with 3D Design more, as I would love to try glass-blowing or another unorthodox creating method that I am unfamiliar with. Hopefully during the next Unit X I will have the opportunity to work more closely with people from different courses. I enjoyed the map creating task, but the sharing skills activity felt lacking in organisation and reason. One of my favourite activities whilst working with 3D was being taught how to model-make by Mark. I truly value this session and still think about it when i’m designing now. It helped me to gain confidence in model-making and inspired me to explore materials even further. I think Unit X could be improved through even more collaboration between subjects, and possibly being timetabled in more often. Overall, I found the full experience to be valuable as it let me grow as a designer in unexpected ways, as I was given the opportunity to use new skills like film-making and 3D drawing.

[kaitlintaylorbrack]

UNIT X: Week 7

In a way, this week was probably one of the most challenging. On Monday, everyone met up to discuss any final queries. I still felt quite out of the loop in regards to the final construction and curating of the exhibition. I decided to focus instead primarily on creating the diary with Jodie, which was to be featured at the exhibition. Lots of printing was done throughout this day and everybody equally pulled their weight. On Tuesday, the day before the show, everyone met up again and people were mainly printing final pieces to be hung and I played a role in deciding which materials would be more suitable than others, so that the film projection could pass through. I burned the film to disc and everyone was on track and knew what they should be working on. Emma took all of the hanging pieces home with her to bring in on Wednesday whilst the technical equipment and models all resided at my flat for Jodie to collect in the morning. Unfortunately, when carrying the models back to my house, I sprained my foot which led to me being almost useless on Wednesday morning when we set up the exhibition. The full team was patient and understanding to my condition and I am extremely thankful for that. Setting up the exhibition took a few hours as it involved hanging the trelis and constantly running out of supplies such as thin rope and bulldog clips. Altogether, the final set up looked fantastic, when I left I was excited to be returning later to see other people’s reaction to our group creation. On the evening, I received much positive feedback, particularly from my lecturers, which was a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, the music from the projection was drowned out by the public, but the eerie vibe was still achieved through lighting and colour in our work. When it came down to it, the diary that me and Jodie created would of been excessive in the exhibition. To me, the project already felt a little too busy, and I felt that the addition of a diary would only subtract from the composition and comfortable lack of information we provided. Seeing the work come together was a fantastic feeling, I simply wish I could of been more involved in the construction of the exhibition, meaning the idea for showcasing work and actually piecing everything together. 

[kaitlintaylorbrack]

UNIT X: Weeks 5 - 6

Week 5:

This week we were told that our exhibition would be in Chapter One, in the Northern Quarter of Manchester, and we had to decide which area we would like to use of the space. We discussed two different locations as a group and proposed them to Simone at different points in the day, but she could neither confirm or deny either of them. Also during this week, I went to a film workshop where I learned how to properly use FCPX. I’d been making our film on iMovie, so this workshop wasn’t particularly useful for this project, but has helped me for if I use this software in future. After this video making workshop, our group met with Simone to discuss technology needed for the show e.g. projectors. At this point, I felt confident that our project would come together coherently, but also felt a little lost within all of the ideas that my group members were discussing. On Thursday, myself and Bébhinn represented our group at a tutorial with Helen and our new staff member Paul to review what area of the café we would like to use for our exhibition. Confusingly, Bébhinn insisted to the lecturers that we were to use a different area to what we had all decided on, as it was larger, so I attempted to get a majority agreement from everyone. We agreed on this new location. 

Week 6:

This week was primarily about finishing things and refining. I completed the film I’d been making towards the start of this week, so had time to assist Jodie with the construction of the models. On top of this, I helped map out the curation for the space and decide which of our drawings and such would be showcased. Myself and Jodie also worked on creating a diary to showcase at the exhibition, but decided this would be too excessive in context. During this week, when I had already finished my film, I had another film making workshop. Lots of new ideas were being explored towards the end of this week, and I think that’s because the jobs were not properly distributed, which led to group members making unnecessary posters and hangings in addition to what we all already had. Communication lacked during this time, and to be truthful, I felt like I had been cut out of discussion at times and literally didn’t know what the exhibition was supposed to look like. Me and Jodie continued to work on the models over the weekend and are very pleased with the result.

[kaitlintaylorbrack]

UNIT X: Weeks 3 - 4

Week 3:

At the start of this week, we were split off into new mixed groups of Interior Design and 3D Design students and were set with the task of expanding our skill-set by teaching something to someone else. I was placed in a group with Minty, from Interior Design, and Laura, from 3D Design. After chatting, we came up with the idea that Laura would teach myself and Minty how to do gel nails and in return we would help her learn to use Photoshop. This task was fun, but felt unneeded, as after this task I never worked with these two people again. It would work as a great icebreaker in group circumstances, but otherwise lacks purpose. Everyone shared their new skills in a group presentation the following day. On Thursday, we got put into new groups, of just Interior Design students, and were briefed for our project, which focused on “Urban Intervention” in Manchester. My group was myself, Jodie, Natalie, Gareth, Emma and Bébhinn. After a meeting together, we soon fed off each other’s energy and decided to pursue a murder mystery, horror, sci-fi genre incident based in the 90s, themed around a shared enjoyment of Twin Peaks and The Blair Witch Project. Later that day, we had a tutorial with Simone and Helen, who encouraged our idea and led us to more references like Jamie Shovlin. After this tutorial, we discussed our thoughts as a group. I feel as though my group is a collective of mixed ideas and skills, but we are all on the same path. I am excited to progress further. 

Week 4:

On Monday morning, we met up at Manchester Central Library and tried to determine the nature of our exhibition and who would focus on which area. It soon proved difficult to settle on one idea, so we decided to leave the mystery open ended, letting our audience dictate what occurred within our theory by leaving some clues. I have decided to work primarily on creating a film for the project, which will assist the spooky atmosphere we are trying to provoke. The following day, we met up again but at All Saints Library and worked on piecing together a presentation for the next day to explain our ideas to Simone, Lucy, Helen and Mark. We practiced our presentation multiple times prior. They were mostly pleased with our ideas and seemed enthusiastic that we follow this creative path. Mark questioned how our project could be measurable in regards to success - for this Lucy suggested we should have post-it notes at the event for people to write their ideas on to. We all agreed with this idea as a group but said we may refine it further and have a small form or questionnaire for our audience. 

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Reflection

Unit X has from the beginning been about collaboration. It has been an amazing opportunity and great experience, which helped me to gain skills much-needed in the design industry, where collaboration and communication is the key. Despite the fact that this group work has not been very successful, the final outcome has perceived our idea to the fullest, due to the rest of group taking a professional manner and taking a lead. I understood the importance of communication within a group from discussing our strengths and ideas, giving out responsibilities to problem-solving. I have improved and found my way of presenting my ideas to my peers or other people clearly while taking criticism professionally but also not being afraid to criticize other's work. Working with peers from different disciplines gave me a different approach on to my designs and have expanded my creativity. I have also learnt to think creatively and out of the box though many workshops and talks during this project like with for example Dominic Wilcox or Aaliyah Hussein. It was great to work within a real space and being able to complete our designs from start to finish. However, our space was quite unusual, challenging and have caused us many difficulties. Our group chose to work within a staircase which happened to be a fire exit as well which has massively restricted our designs due to health and safety issues. We changed our ideas many times trying to adapt to space in the best way possible. I have improved my problem-solving skills while thinking about the budget and health and safety but still trying to perceive our idea, which are key problems a designer has to face during life projects. I have been a part of every creative workshop, tutorial and attended most days I could in the building, I took a constant participation in our group and I contributed well. I decided to improve my knowledge in this unit by researching about perspective and the way we could manipulate the space to make people feel certain way. Our Interior Design group have decided to take last stage of our museum journey which was a depression stage. We tried creating a dark, clutter space which would symbolise emotions felt while having a depression. We also wanted to empathise the lines of the space, how graphic it looked so we decided to use many straight lines in our designs. Materials we decided to work with and develop were nails, thread, and light, because it perceives our idea best. Light gives it effective look by creating shadows and make's the installation look much effective. Light it's something I wish we could have develop on more if we had more time, trying out different types and colours and If I was going to improve on anything I would have definitely try to get even darker with space, giving it more of a feel. As interiors we also made sure everyone's work had their own space while making decisions we always had in mind to create this journey for the audience. A key motivator was to make this space into experience or a journey, with all of our different disciplines touching on different aspects of mental health and depression.