Design Process Project, 09/10/09

What have you learnt from this session - to improve your idea development for this brief?

Not much, unfortunately. I was expecting a hand out of elaborate briefing on each of the three divisions we had to choose from and I was hoping for a clearer layout of the time-scale of the project. None of the above happened. On the contrary it seems to me like this is an experiment and it's being structured as we go along, depending on the average needs of the entire graphics group. These average needs may have been satisfied by the last minute introduction to mood-boards and partially by the extensive re-introduction to research-methods that I saw no evidence of in the work exposed around the room at the end of the day. Nevertheless, I've learnt that an hour and a half of post-research development in a room with 24 students and one b&w printer is nowhere near enough to achieve a brand identity presented as finished artwork along with samples of suitable business stationary, but I am still able to produce enough constructive work which can be used from here on to reach the desired results in another hour and a half under the same conditions. I have also learnt that the audience as described by the brief is not the abstract wealthy etc. that I thought I should be investigating into but the people in the room. What I am still puzzled about is the time-scale / budget of this project and what results are expected at which stage, as based on experience of studio and time management. Are we expected to spend three weeks on this or three Friday's only? Are we expected to fund the production of the end product on our own or do the poor also stand a chance? Is this workshop or homework?

What have you learnt from this session – to apply to your MA research project?

I have learnt about Scandinavian interior design values and that they belong to the past so I can rule them out of my MA project, if this is what the question is about. I've also now got a map of Research topics that need to be manifest in my reflective journal.

Is the design process discussed this morning different / similar to your previous experience, and if so, how?

The sense of deja vu was overwhelming throughout the day, especially when, exactly like with the worst clients in the industry, we were made to run for meeting a deadline in a total of four hours including the lunch-break and then we were told that we can have a whole week to think it over and discard the four hours of hype and intense like a killing joke. So I felt quite cheated there. But I love this job. What can I do? I am already trying to improve it by writing this down.