20.05.21

Evaluation Text Workshop

1. Initiation

How did you initiate and develop your project proposal at the first stage? After Kathleen suggested me the designer, Tord Boontje and seeing his works, I knew what theme I was aiming for and that is how I started developing my project proposal.
What critical and contextual perspectives and approaches did you use? I wanted my design to be able to have narrative or express emotions and dreams because the other disciples like JFFA used poetic references and create dream-like objects a lot which I wanted to bring in product designing too.
Has your project changed from what you initially proposed? If so, why and how. Yes, my project has changed a bit from what I initially proposed. Initially I wanted the product to be narrative and tell stories or poem but now my direction has changed towards bringing out emotions. It changed because my initial idea was quite vague and when I saw Tord Boontje’s work, I was inspired to lean towards emotional design.

2. Research

How did you use research, analysis and evaluation to develop ideas? I did a wide ranging research so the unexpected researches would inspire me to add or remove some ideas from my design. I would analyse each research and would get inspired by it and try to add its features to my design to check if it would work.
Which artists, designers and other sources were most beneficial? Tord Boontje who is driven by emotional and narrative design, VR headsets and the online tutors were the most beneficial.
What theoretical ideas did you employ? Most of my ideas came to me when I was sleeping and thinking about my project. I used to think about my proposal and then think about the outcome I had in mind at that time. Then I would think of ideas to add in my product which would be useful for the user like I had once thought of adding a film holder or improving the grip.

3. Methods

What methods did you use to explore your project? Interaction with the tutors, model making and sketching were the key methods I used to explore my reject to the fullest.
What specialist skills did you learn and employ? I got better at model making and video editing through this project and I used them the most in my project.

4. Integration

How did you integrate practical, theoretical and technical understanding? I would first just draw sketches of my idea and try to connect it with my research. Then I would reflect on it and improve my sketches to make models.
What problems did you encounter, and how did you negotiate them? I was often stuck at an idea and didn’t want to draw it until I had an improved version on my mind. I would even wait for days to advance my idea but then thought about how I should keep exploring and thus changed and improved my idea constantly without regrets.

5. Planning

How did you plan your time over the project? I had planned to work through the workshops in the previous stage but now after developing my final idea, I am focusing on adding more sketches and models to improve my design.
How successful was this? I am still a bit nervous whether I will be able to complete my work till the deadline but I still have around 2 weeks and I have a new rough time plan which I am positive will work out.

6. Reflection

How did your reflective practice help you develop ideas and achieve your goals? I would reflect daily and think about ideas that can be approved. For example, on May 18, 2021, I reflected “After discussing with Tom, I think my camera can have a special feature like being emotionally receptive and changing filters according to that.” After reflecting like this, I thought about how emotions are conveyed by our head and how the camera can be shaped like the VR headsets.
Name at least one ‘breakthrough’ where you recognised an important moment and reflected on it. At one point, I realised how my product was too complicated and had too many ideas forced upon it. When I reflected on it, I had a clear understanding about which were unnecessary like a film holder and which were beneficial like using two different kinds of materials.
What is the most successful and what is the least successful aspect of your project? The most successful aspect of my project is how in the previous stage it wasn’t as related to the theme but at the end, the camera being emotionally respective is a great plus point and relates to the theme very well.

7. Communication and Presentation

What techniques and methods did you use to present and communicate your outcomes? It was mostly verbal with the tutors but then I sketched those ideas. For now I do not have, any models so they aren’t as communicative.
Did you achieve what you set out to do in your proposal? Yes, I think now I have a clear idea of how my project and final outcome is going to be. My camera now is really Emotive through the addition of emotional receptors and the product itself bringing out emotions in people.
What are the strengths and the weaknesses? My strength would be my wide ranging research and sketches which helped me come to a final idea. My weakness would be the models for now and not having research and design sheets.