MAPPING - WEEK ONE REVIEW

The design project is already clearly extremely structural as opposed to the fine art project in terms of the creative process, in that there are stricter guidelines within the brief and needs within the mark scheme which was not always a prominent necessity within fine art, such as the need for more general research on top of artist research. Moreover the progression of the design process which, although limits distraction and has an emphasis on time utilisation, also limits the experimental stage. However it did mean my work within the process was very organised and controlled, learning how to do this, i believe will help me in my future studies to organise my work in a more logical and through through way, enabling me to show clear progression and therefore hopefully increase the quality. This also helped me to have a clear path for a final piece and have it consciously in my mind at all times which made my final piece more refined and logical within the context of my project. However i did very much miss the fine art expressive, experiential and ‘go with the flow’ feeling that comes along with this. I have similar emotions towards the way of working within the design process of using pieces of paper as opposed to sketchbooks and blogs. I feel that this strategy was practical within this style of work, however i doubt i will carry on with this technique throughout my further studies as i feel a blog and sketchbook is an easier more convenient way of working for me.

I feel that the most imperative skill i picked up from last week is the idea of lateral thinking as it has informed my design project immensely as i have been able to think in a more conceptual and broader way, making my work potentially more interesting and original.

I feel that the work i made was a successful design as there was clear progression from my initial ideas and thumbnail sketches to my final outcome which shows that i did research and adapted my designs as a result of educated problems. For example after doing research about how other companies have tried to help women when breastfeeding, i can now use this to adapt my designs to put a practical twist on my original designs to make them unique and push them to a higher level. I feel that the most imperative skill i picked up from last week is the idea of lateral thinking as it has informed my design project immensely as i have been able to think in a more conceptual and broader way, making my work potentially more interesting and original. Consequently another highlight from the first half of this project is how i have responded to the words given to me, ‘a child’ and ‘communicating information’. By thinking laterally i gained the idea of motherhood from the words ‘a child’. This made my project authentic and allowed me to look into strong social problems that inspire me and enthuse me to make good quality conceptual work.

However it is clear that there is room for improvement, therefore next week i intend to do further research into how mothers feel about this, and therefore primary research in the form of interviews. Therefore i will be able to push the quality of my designs further and have a better, more informed final piece. Furthermore it is clear when looking through the work i have done that i must do some colour and material samples in order to heighten my design as although i know what i want in my head, i need to put it on paper and explore other options.

Despite my changed opinions of design as something i would be able to do, i still would not wish to change my pathway to a more design based route as i am still keen to do more expressive and experimental work within the fine art styles i feel this is where my strengths and my passion lies, thus meaning i still plan on doing the fine art pathway.