I decided to tackle the issue of communication. Identifying the three main subject areas of discussion and helping people in the first week of term get to grips with all the new people they are introduced to. My aim was to get people with similar interests in a comfortable environment discussing the things they want to talk about, to people they want to talk to. The three suject areas I narrowed it down to where: Small Talk, Personal Discussion and Topical Banter.
What evidence did you find to support your decisions?
The main starting point for my project was my own personal experience at the beginning of the year. I remember small talk cropping up alot, exchanging polite head nods at people I didn't know and most of all repeating the same lines over and over again. Things like 'how are you?' and 'how are you finding it so far?' are things I suppose I have to say to seem polite and welcoming, but I don't think I listened to the responses once. I carried out a quick informal questionnaire just asking people if they have ever engaged in small talk and if they liked it. An overwhelming 100% said they had engaged in a small talk discussion, and in terms of if they liked it the response was pretty much 50/50.
What methods did you use to gather your evidence and what forms did it take?
Well at first I carried out an initial questionnaire just to gage if their was enough interest in my proposed idea. If people didn't seem at all that bothered about the topic of discussion then I most probably would have headed in another direction. However people did seem responsive, it was though it was a subject that the majority had been involved in but no one had ever really thought about. That led me to the conclusion that most people aren't as bothered by the small talk as I am. Something that I wanted to address.
Following my initial research I realised that I couldn't just address the issue of small talk and instead would have to combine it with several other problems. This was mainly brought up in timetabled crits and in discussion with John, he helped me move on if ever I got stuck at a certain point. This led me to identifying that small talk was not enough on its own and therefore I researched the basics of communication using the internet I narrowed it down to personal discussion and topical banter. Now I had a topic that I hoped would suit everyone. I carried out alot of brainstorming to try and come up with an interesting product that would work within the realms of my idea. This was important because unlike all the other projects I had carried out I wanted to try lots of different ideas before I settled on one that would definitely work. I think this helped my project all in all because I landed on a realistic product that works well after a long experimentation period.
Secondary research included design context along the lines of illustration, text and image layout, product variety and colour experimentation. Most of that can be found on my blog and in my sketchbooks.
What methods of research did you find useful and why?
The most useful form of research would have to be initial primary research and questionnaires. This is most probably because the brief is so personal to our year group and if anyone where to understand the direction where I was coming from it would be us. However the idea of communication within new groups of people isn't exactly specific to just us, so therefore I also asked other people I know from our age group. This included people from LCA but on different courses including fashion and advertising, and also students from the University. I think this gave me a well rounded outlook on the matter with several ways in which to address it.
How did these inform your response to your problem?
From the point shown above onwards I was able to assign characters to each of the three subject areas and successfully communicate my idea. After asking people what their preferred topic of discussion was I could create characters that best represented each of the subjects. For example the small talk guy was not necessarily superficial, but more 'on the surface' than others whilst the personal stuff one was female, although not to seem sexist. After I had the ideas I could start to draw and from there on I could work on layout and composition.
What research could you have carried out that would have proved more useful?
I probably could have carried out more questionnaires that asked more specific questions, maybe in regards to the products that would be found within the pack. I just decided to put in what I though was necessary, however if I had asked around I could have come up with some really creative ideas using other peoples input. I also could have found a way to personalise each pack in a unique way.
Five things I have learnt about the design process over the last five weeks:
- Not settling on an idea at the very beginning of the project, but instead continued brainstorming and concept building has helped me to establish what ideas work well and what ideas don't
- Working in a sketchbook really does allow me to track my progress well, and at the end of the project I can look back and see where certain ideas come from and how I have evolved
- All the different types of crits in front of a variety of groups has helped me become more confident about my work and making sure me ideas are fresh and exciting
- Making sure that I do work every single day outside of college time. It might seem obvious but adding that extra bit of time at the weekend or in the evenings and documenting it constantly really helps it build up
- College work is important but sometimes circumstances arise which mean it's not the top priority, every effort should be made to keep on top of it though
Five things I would do differently next time:
- Keep on top of my blogging. I say it everytime but it somehow always manages to get pushed to the bottom of the to-do pile. I need to get motivated
- Turn the TV off when I work, it distracts me and I think my work ethic can be directly related to what it is that I am watching. Music's alright though
- Get more primary research done, don't be so afraid of asking people their opinion, but also don't be afraid of scrapping a piece of work if it isn't panning out
- Post more design context on my blog, I have some that relates very closely but more would probably be handy
- Make sure I book a print time about a month in advance, or otherwise I'll end up going to Staples to print something out at an extortionate price
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