I really wanted to get stuck in this year and make things i am proud of.
In order to do this I wanted to focus on 4 different areas; the brief, research, development and final outcomes.
In order to keep the design process focused, I found it very beneficial to spend a good amount of time writing a specific brief that had an overview of the brief, aims, deliverables and a time scale.
This allowed me to keep on top of time management as i had an estimation of how long each project would take, nearing the end of a time scale, in could assess how close I was to the end and adjust the time scale, wether that be managing my time in order to give me more time on a brief or if I finished a brief sooner than expected, adjust my time plan by pushing forward projects I hadn’t intended to start yet, or go back and develop certain elements.
I’ve always avoided research, I’m not sure why but as it was imperative to completing my dissertation, I have a new outlook. I now believe research has the power to make or break a project, a small amount of time researching a project could mean you find that one piece of information or that one price of Work that gives you that spark to complete an idea. For each brief no matter how simple, I have made sure to spend at least a small amount of time doing some research.
Rather than rush to only pursue one idea, I wanted to make sure I considered different outcomes and avenues and therefore this year spent a lot more time on development and exploring more than one concept. This meant that when I finished a project I could be confident that I made the best design decisions, and there wasn’t something that I could have tried or something I missed.
The final part I wanted to focus on was my outcomes. This meant finishing things to a high standard that is ready to show if need be, wether at a talk or conference or whether to send over a portfolio. Spending this extra bit of time on my briefs has allowed me to gain so much confidence in my design work.
Gaining confidence in my design work again has allowed me to take on work and engage in opportunities that I wouldn’t have chosen to do before hand.
Time management has been a huge issue for me this year as I have been working 30 hours a week along side my degree.
