Journey of an object -Learner’s journey log

Updated: Jan 29, 2021

PART 1

Note to my future self, I hope you are happy with your achievements and improvement so far. If you are not then just relax, it’s okay to not always be the best. As long as you give your 100% nothing else matters. I hope you are now able to notice the minute details and observe the world around you in a better way. I hope you become a designer that can create magic with there hands, be able to create spaces that others love. I wish you would have improved your sense of design and no longer try to make things that look modest, be crazy and extravagant in your creations. Create things people have never seen before, that break the social norms of what is luxury. Things that break the norm when it comes to aesthetics and functionality. I want you to be able to cater different demographics of people. I want you to be able to adjust your vision and preference of design according to what your consumers desire. Be an active and participating member in your team, I know you don’t like working with others but I am sure you will get used to it. I hope you always follow the path of ethically and fair practices when it comes to sourcing of the material for your creation or crediting others for inspiration. With the tools of creation that you always craved to have make things that create a better, more comfortable and beautiful world for everyone to live in. Also, give your due to the earth and environment by contributing towards its sustenance. Be a holistic designer who is like Midas, turning everything they touch into gold.

PART 2

A) REFLECTION ON TEAM WORK

This project was full of group work experiences and peer learning. We learned how to work individually, in simple pairs and large extensive groups.

ADVANTAGES OF COLLABORATIVE WORKING

The work is divided. There is not a lot of pressure of a single person to carry the weight as everyone contributes to the final product
You get to know more perspectives and point of views. This leads to a more comprehensive learning
Effective problem solving is one of the major advantages of collaboration working. Everyone can brainstorm and solve each other’s problems
Support and encouragement given by the peers in times of difficulty helps to keep the morale high.
Learning new skills from each other. Different members In a group have different skill sets and you have opportunities to learn new techniques from them. For instance I was able to learn the art of stop motion animations from my peers.

However, despite of the advantages, collaborative work can only be fruitful if all the working partners are on the same wavelength. In order to ensure effective team work I’ll definitely keep the following in mind

Listen to everyone. Everyone has something or some idea to contribute to the product.
Communicate well. This presents conflicts and confusions.
Assess the skill set of all the members, divide the work accordingly.
Make sure everyone works equally, there should not be extra pressure on person.
Do not be dismissive of others opinions and ideas.
It’s good to give some constructive criticism to your peer so they can work better.

B) REFLECTION ON APPLICATION OF VISUAL TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

first activity has to be form to formation. Without learning the technique of half cuts on sunboard and without the knowledge of making shapes I wouldn’t have been able to make the sock model.
The knowledge of survey gained from Essence of colour and culture and community helped me with the timeline research and user object association study. Without that experience and knowledge I wouldn’t have been aware of ethical research practices such as mentioning the source.
Fundamentals of visual 2 and isometric types really helped me refine my observation and sketching skills. Due to my experience during FVL project I was able to effectively capture the form of the socks and represent it on paper. While knowledge of isometrics helps me capture the 3 dimensionality of my object
Think lab activities such as slice and dice and stakeholder mapping provided me with the basic knowledge behind these thinking tools. I was able to learn these tools in depth during the sessions and refine my understanding by making mistakes. This prevented me from making mistakes during the actually project
Culture and community provided me with the knowledge of text, context and subtext. This made my work during this project way easier as I already had a basic understanding of context in design.

C) REFLECTING ON METHODS OF INQUIRY

Primary inquiry

The interview done under user object association
Form observation through drawing

Secondary inquiry

Evolution of object- timeline
Understanding making

PRIMARY METHOD

I’d use primary method when I have to solve a problem on hand.

MERITS

It enables us to conduct an in-depth inquiry
The possibility of misinformation is reduced
Primary information is always fresh
We can follow a Targeted approach to research.

DEMERITS

You have to extract information from raw data
It’s difficult to collect information
There can be inaccuracies due to the respondent being biased

SECONDARY METHOD

I would use secondary method to gain information for which there is no direct witnesses or subject to study.

MERITS

You can get information about subjects even if you don’t have direct assess to the sources to them
It is easier to access information.

DEMERITS

The reliability of the sources is difficult to determine
The possibility of misinformation is high
You can not derive concrete conclusions.
The data may be outdated

PART 3

A) SELF REFLECTION ON YOUR OWN PERFORMANCE

PROJECT DELIVERY

I wasn’t quite sure what “project delivery” means. I tried using google and get insights from my friends but that wasn’t really helpful. So here is my interpretation of what I believe project delivery is.

I really enjoyed the observational drawing. I felt like since I was enjoying the process of sketching and rendering. I was able to extract the maximum benefit out of this task.
As a lover of history, making the timeline was really interesting and fulfilling. Once again my interest played a major role in the level of my learning

STRENGTHS

I learned that I work the best when I am under pressure.
I also realised that I always plan ahead and have good time management.

KEY AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT

I realised that I don’t use appropriate design terminology often. Due to this I have started listing down all the new words in my notes. Once u right a reflect i re- read it to see where the words can be switched with a better alternative
My reflections tend to be quite obvious and my insights are based on just the surface level information. I’ll surely work on this by paying more attention to my unconscious thoughts
I think I can improve my drawing and sketching skills. For this I have been doing DDD regularly along with some other drawing practices.

B) Nothing exists without a reason.