Reflection inspirational kit:
Think about your audience
I want to share with my fellow audiences that design is a thinking process. The initial idea was a sparkle and very immature. We have to dig deep and craft it to perfection.
Think about connections and crossing paths
Anything, even extreme non-relatable things, can be our inspiration. Learning cross-disciplined contents can open our minds. Through combining ideas, we are able to create innovative projects. The themes in my kit is compassion and human connection because the cosmos is imperishable with love. In the future, I want to explore more topics related to light, neuroscience, and performance art.
Think about the notion of “constructed environments”: what is your take on this notion?
In the beginning, I thought constructed environment is just architecture. Later on, I discovered constructed environment is everything including all mediums human created. I realized the world surrounded me is carefully designed in any way possible. Things don’t happen by accident, everything is carefully constructed.
Think about the nearest future: what is it that you have learned and how are you planning to use your skills/knowledge acquired?
First of all, I will definitely pay more attention to things around me. To perceive objects and environment through the lance of a designer is very interesting. I also learnt how to transform an idea in my head to a presentable, visible message. It is evolutional for me because I found it very hard to let others understand what’s in my head. I gave up communication for a period of time. Now I have the courage to improve my communication skills verbally and through visuals. My passion is one day can help everyone see and appreciate each other’s visions and creativity.
Think about failures and mistakes: we all make them. How can we also learn from them?
I have made many mistakes throughout the process. Most of them are the details I neglected. Details are essential in design. It’s definitely normal to make mistakes but the importance is to refine, refine and refine.
Think about good practices: what in your learning/working process was really effective and should become your habit?
It’s helpful to sit down and time myself while brainstorming. The SCAMPER exercise is also very helpful to create and eliminate ideas.
Timeline Reflection:
Be specific: what specifically are you better at? What specifically have you learned? Reflect on the starting point (January) and the endpoint (May). It is an important skill to be able to assess one’s progress.
Bridge 1:
It was my first learning about constructed environment and how designers are able to create feeling for users in certain environment. I also learnt the entire process of presenting a design work including mood board, technical drawing, 3-d rendering and final prototype.
Bridge 2:
I learnt how power data visualization is through watching the Ted talks and doing bridge 2. I got better at organizing and categorizing data. However, I definitely have so much more to improve on in term of clarity and creativity in data visualization.
Bridge 3:
The fundamental task of a designer is to tackle problems and create a better life for others. Therefore, finding the right problem is essential. I learnt how to do research ,find the right problems and display them in a visual way.
Bridge 4:
Absolutely very challenging. Finding the right solution took me enormous a mount of time, including trials and error. It is clear to me that getting inspired by other people’s work from different areas in very important. It is a great way to open my mind and make the final decision. I also challenged myself to explore the area I am terrified of which is technology and it surprisingly turned out well. Self-studying through Youtube and external sources are important especially in this situation. It is also an important skill to obtain. Through bridge 4, I learnt the basics of Google Sketch up and using Google Earth which is absolutely rewarding.
Other assignments that impact my decision making:
Making a wallet: It gave me a mock trial to interact with my future customer. I learnt to respect and understand their needs instead of feeding my own aesthetic ego.
Videos:
CNN, series Videos – ‘City of tomorrow ‘ absolutely inspired me to look into current and future technologies.
Why Design should include everyone, by Sinead Burke reminded me the responsibility of designer. We need to design for everyone and help people feel inclusive not elusive from the environment.
SCAMPER (Substitute; Combine; Adapt; Modify; Put to another use; Eliminate; Reverse) is a great exercise that helps me to organize during the design process.
Two success:
- The process of researching and learning the fundamentals of a neighborhood is a success. This class taught me how to utilize the resource, generate them to useful information and design what is needed.
- I was so surprised by my ability to learn a skill in a short amount of time. I am no way near an expert at 3-D rendering, just a beginner. However, I am very proud to make the image in my head to a 3-D form.
Two failures:
- My instructor Aviva has high expectation for us. She tells us to focus on every single detail. In the beginning, I didn’t even thought of or noticed the details I have missed until she pointed out.
- Communication. During the final presentation, I was not able to deliver all my thought processes and the reasoning behind the design. Sometimes, I assume people already know certain concepts in my head. I need to capture my own thoughts and deliver them in an accurate and comprehensible way. I need to work on this a lot.
