Well I found the overall experience of the exhibition to be quite stressful. I managed to have one day off but I believe by offering my support on so many days made it a lot easier for the people around me. Decisions had to be made and I believe these were made easier by having me there. Some people required more leadership than others but the hardwork put in by Dan, Kiel, Martin, Teresa, Jon and Craig really made the completed layout a success.
The feedback recieved throughout the week has been in valuable and allows me and im sure the others to improve for the future.
I believe if the exhibition was done again, then we would need a more successful way of displaying the work as towards the end of the week the work started to warp and fall down constantly. I believe this should have been planned for but like many other tasks it was overlooked.
Looking at the main event I am still unsure whether invitations were sent out succesfully as it was hardwork getting answers out of those given the task. I believe my downfalls throughout the week was allowing stress to get the better of me, I believe this was due to a lack of trust in the ones around me as I don't believe the support of the other team leaders was adequate enough. But seeing as though this was the first exhibition put on by many of us it seperated the men from the boys as to who would rise to the occasion of making it a success. As a team leader I believe it is key to highlight those who made it a success, and those previously stated in this entry made themselves available at all times, whether it be a phonecall for advise; solving problems as well as being on hand at the exhibition to greet the public. I believe that my previous management knowledge helped me during the past week and although not everyone agreed with my decisions, I believe they were the right ones to make.
Sunday, 30 May 2010
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Sunday update
It seems as though money is becoming short for many students and this is starting to show in what people are willing to pay for. We have found that due to the way the work is hung the pieces are starting to warp, this may become an issue later in the week so the group will have to keep an eye on this.
I have also noticed the variance in attitude towards the Exhibition from some of our Designers, some are willing to do all that it takes whereas others appear to require nursing with every small task. This is leading to wasted time.
Most of today consisted of rehanging the displays as well as looking for new ways to hang the work so that it doesn't keep falling as often. Even though the amount of visitors today was less than yesterday the feedback from the public has been terrific. I was proud to talk to someone that liked my Demon work and it felt good knowing that people out there appreciate the hardwork and time that some of our Designers are putting in.
I have asked Craig to complete the 3 A3 boards that have been requested to state the purpose of the Exhibition.
Even though I am not on the rota for tomorrow I have decided to go in and help get the name tags completed.
Due to the work rate of some it has lead to some of the alterations not being fulfilled today. Even though I am a team leader I found it difficult to motivate people working alongside me exhibiting.
I have also noticed the variance in attitude towards the Exhibition from some of our Designers, some are willing to do all that it takes whereas others appear to require nursing with every small task. This is leading to wasted time.
Most of today consisted of rehanging the displays as well as looking for new ways to hang the work so that it doesn't keep falling as often. Even though the amount of visitors today was less than yesterday the feedback from the public has been terrific. I was proud to talk to someone that liked my Demon work and it felt good knowing that people out there appreciate the hardwork and time that some of our Designers are putting in.
I have asked Craig to complete the 3 A3 boards that have been requested to state the purpose of the Exhibition.
Even though I am not on the rota for tomorrow I have decided to go in and help get the name tags completed.
Due to the work rate of some it has lead to some of the alterations not being fulfilled today. Even though I am a team leader I found it difficult to motivate people working alongside me exhibiting.
Saturday, 22 May 2010
Is amazing really...
No financial support from the University, if it wasn't for the determination and hardwork put in this exhibition would not be worth alot. But considering the tight constraints I believe the final setup that we have produced is looking very good. We've had the public getting involved with the drawing board on the wall.
Some visitors asked how much we had for budget, and to be honest its quite embarrasing to say that we did not get backed. Everything coming out of our own pockets. I am hoping the rest of the week follows much like today but I am proud to be involved.
Even though descriptions were added 2 hours late, we believe the current layout works. The triangular displays allow the visitor to rotate the work so they do not have to walk rounbd a fixed display making it a lot easier to view the exhibits.
We did have problems with displays not holding and falling down but after using tape with stronger adhesive the movement has now been restricted.
Some visitors asked how much we had for budget, and to be honest its quite embarrasing to say that we did not get backed. Everything coming out of our own pockets. I am hoping the rest of the week follows much like today but I am proud to be involved.
Even though descriptions were added 2 hours late, we believe the current layout works. The triangular displays allow the visitor to rotate the work so they do not have to walk rounbd a fixed display making it a lot easier to view the exhibits.
We did have problems with displays not holding and falling down but after using tape with stronger adhesive the movement has now been restricted.
Friday, 21 May 2010
Exhibition setup
After long old day the people that turnt up for todays setup have been doing a very good job, there are still minor adjustments that need to be made but its taking shape. After a look at ways of hanging the work it was decided to hang them in a triangle (3 pieces of work) instead of 2 pieces back to back. This was because it allowed the work to hang better and didn't look as boring.
A full update will be given tomorrow.
A full update will be given tomorrow.
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Website & Exhibition setup
Website
To start with Tom from the Exhibition group had been in contact with the Media company that design and run the High Chelmer website. I have been informed that they will display an advert upon their site but in return we will have to promote their website upon ours.
I have agreed to do this as it is important for us to get as much notice as possible. Their request was simple, stating that any text stating "High Chelmer" should be set in bold and be a hyperlink to the High Chelmer website.
I had initially setup the links to load the High Chelmer website on the current page. But I realised that our Exhibition is the most important piece of information being displayed so I decided that the hyperlink should open the High Chelmer website in a new window. That way our site will still be on display and allows the public to switch between the two. It also means that High Chelmer are getting what they require.
Another decision that I have made is to not set the High Chelmer logo as a hyperlink upon the welcome page. This is because I do not believe that the viewer (when visiting the website for the first time) should have the option to lose focus on what is important before finding out about the Exhibition.
Exhibition Setup
With the Exhibition just days away the proposed help on producing the tshirts with Dan and Jon from the Exhibition group has changed. They have stated that they believe they can do a high quality job without the exdtra support and we both agreed that training me to produce the same high quality designs would cost time.
Tomorrow (Friday 21st May) is the setup day for the Exhibition, I have informed both my group members (Kiel and Ryan) that I would like them there to assist with the setup to make it as easy as possible for Savva to complete the task. It will also make it easier to make the timetable known to each member of the group. We will be meeting at 9am to start as early as possible.
To start with Tom from the Exhibition group had been in contact with the Media company that design and run the High Chelmer website. I have been informed that they will display an advert upon their site but in return we will have to promote their website upon ours.
I have agreed to do this as it is important for us to get as much notice as possible. Their request was simple, stating that any text stating "High Chelmer" should be set in bold and be a hyperlink to the High Chelmer website.
I had initially setup the links to load the High Chelmer website on the current page. But I realised that our Exhibition is the most important piece of information being displayed so I decided that the hyperlink should open the High Chelmer website in a new window. That way our site will still be on display and allows the public to switch between the two. It also means that High Chelmer are getting what they require.
Another decision that I have made is to not set the High Chelmer logo as a hyperlink upon the welcome page. This is because I do not believe that the viewer (when visiting the website for the first time) should have the option to lose focus on what is important before finding out about the Exhibition.
Exhibition Setup
With the Exhibition just days away the proposed help on producing the tshirts with Dan and Jon from the Exhibition group has changed. They have stated that they believe they can do a high quality job without the exdtra support and we both agreed that training me to produce the same high quality designs would cost time.
Tomorrow (Friday 21st May) is the setup day for the Exhibition, I have informed both my group members (Kiel and Ryan) that I would like them there to assist with the setup to make it as easy as possible for Savva to complete the task. It will also make it easier to make the timetable known to each member of the group. We will be meeting at 9am to start as early as possible.
Monday, 17 May 2010
Update
Since the completion of the sketchbook and portfolio I have been in regular contact with Team Leaders Craig and Savva.
The main issues that were arising was setting up a meeting that all group members could go to tht would allow us to discuss display information; getting A3 boards printed as well as discussing how the Exhibition will be implemented such as meeting times, furniture and regulations and terms of the agreement to using the building.
For the display information we had to discuss fonts, sizes and colour. We have decided to use A5 pieces of paper that will be displayed below the image. The font to be used will be Century Gothic as this will be kept inline with the fonts used upon the website. Teresa has setup a template that will be emailed to each designer and to be complete ready for print on Friday 21st May.
Today the A3 boards have been printed, but due to the poor interest shown by some within the group it lead to myslef, Savva, Dan, Jon, Theresa, Richard, Craig and Martin to source everyones work and get it printed. With only Adams work to wait for now, if it has not been recieved in time to print for the Exhibition we will have to make the decision not to include his work.
The uniforms will be designed by Dan and Jon, each designer was asked to supply a tshirt that will be painted upon. This idea works well and I believe will keep the theme throughout each part of the exhibition.
We will be informing each Designer by email what time to meet at High Chelmer on the day of the setup. It has been provisionally decided to meet at 9am to get as long as possible on the displays.
The main issues that were arising was setting up a meeting that all group members could go to tht would allow us to discuss display information; getting A3 boards printed as well as discussing how the Exhibition will be implemented such as meeting times, furniture and regulations and terms of the agreement to using the building.
For the display information we had to discuss fonts, sizes and colour. We have decided to use A5 pieces of paper that will be displayed below the image. The font to be used will be Century Gothic as this will be kept inline with the fonts used upon the website. Teresa has setup a template that will be emailed to each designer and to be complete ready for print on Friday 21st May.
Today the A3 boards have been printed, but due to the poor interest shown by some within the group it lead to myslef, Savva, Dan, Jon, Theresa, Richard, Craig and Martin to source everyones work and get it printed. With only Adams work to wait for now, if it has not been recieved in time to print for the Exhibition we will have to make the decision not to include his work.
The uniforms will be designed by Dan and Jon, each designer was asked to supply a tshirt that will be painted upon. This idea works well and I believe will keep the theme throughout each part of the exhibition.
We will be informing each Designer by email what time to meet at High Chelmer on the day of the setup. It has been provisionally decided to meet at 9am to get as long as possible on the displays.
Monday, 3 May 2010
Evaluation
When I started this module I didn't know what to expect, all I knew was that we would have to setup some kin dof display as a group. We were initially split into small groups to try and design a theme that could be used to base the exhibition around, and immediately I wasn't enjoying the work one bit. I was elected group leader for a task that I initially had little confidence in. I found I was leading a group of people that had no belief in what they were doing and I struggled to motivate them, looking back I possibly wasn't as firm as I could have been, in past modules I have been known to have a firm stance of when I want work completed by and I was starting to feel let down. It lead to much of the research collected for the group being completed by me and this extra stress I felt really hit my quality of work.
When I found that the groups would be swapped once the initial presentations had been completed I realised that instead of losing confidence in myself and eventually losing credibility in the work being completed I decided that I would use this bad patch as a way to learn and imporve for the future. I was teamed with Ryan and Kiel with the purpose being to design the website for the Exhibition. Even though I took a firm grip on the tasks I initially set out to get the most from both of them. To do this I decided to meet with the team leaders and try to understand what they would want from the website, after relaying this back to my group I decided to produce a mock plan of how the website should be laid out.
I was making the group stick to tight deadlines, giving us half the time as the Exhibition and Graphics team (6 weeks) to get it online. This decision was made as I believed that advertising the Exhibition would require a head start if we wanted maximum coverage to get people to come.
I noticed that I wasn't getting the most out of Kiel, I asked him to initially join the group as I know that he can come up with stunning ideas but I knew I would have to try something to inspire him to do his utmost for the project. For this I decided to build their confidence by giving every one the task of producing a mock website and from their discuss whose would be ideal to put forward fro implemtnation.
I was planning to put it to a class vote, but I decided to backtrack on this idea before being made public. I believe as team leader this was the best thing to do. It is my job to get the most from a small group and get a completed product. I believe that the voting during the theme presentations was badly undertaken as many showed their immaturity, some giving people no respect when talking. Due to this I decided it would be best for me to discuss with Kiel and Ryan key aspects and I would choose the design to implement. With Kiel still struggling to find inspiration I decided that his design would be used. It wasn't too dis similar from mine or Ryans concept but I believed it would motivated Kiel and give him the conbfidence to increase his quality of work. This is exactly the result that I got. I believe the class vote would cause a strain on such a small group and it was proven when we successfully completed a website that I believe details all the key areas of the Exhibition.
Another key decision that had to be made was how to split the work within the group, I asked for honesty at all times from Ryan and Kiel and found that they had little confidence in coding the website. This is where I decided to split the tasks, I would use Kiel and Ryan to produce the information, pictures and other materials to the website while I implemented and displayed it by coding the website. This allowed us to work efficiently and as people stuck to deadlines it eventually made up for itself by allowing us to complete the website earlier than predicted.
At many points throughout the project the Team Leaders would offer feedback to each other to make sure that we were all moving in the right direction. I expressed concern over the logo, it initially displayed a camera lens, after much interaction the Graphics Group agreed to redesign it as I do not believe it expressed the Design Studio idea in the right way.
Throughout the project the website team had to take their fair share of criticism. Often finding that ideas had to be explained as they were not obvious. What people didn't realise was the fact that neither me, Ryan or Kiel are coders, we are graphic designers so to ask us to be able to produce a website was a big ask. I believe it is a challenge that we successfully confronted as other groups offered ideas of what they'd like to see but I did not seem them as relevant or even plausible.
I have learnt a lot from this project, it has made me realise that you can't always make the decision that everyone wants you to make, you do what's best for the project not for the people and I believe this is why the website is successful.
It allowed me to explore ways of displaying work and the importance of fonts and colour schemes. Realising that you can't just pick a random one because I like it. It has to be relevant and easily fit in with its surroundings. The selection has to be easy on the eye. In terms of the website we decided to use fonts, colours and graphics that were relevant to a Design Studio, so using ones that represented handwriting seemed a good idea. The only problem was that not all letters were readable so we had to explore alternatives which are highlighted within the sketchbook.
I believe that throughout this module I have managed to develop my skills to take much more into consideration when answering a brief. I have realised that what I like should no effect the project itself as their could be better alternatives. I believe that the group still need to work hard through to the Exhibition for it to be a success. To do this I will stay in contact with the team leaders and through this we can communicate it to our team members what is required.
When I found that the groups would be swapped once the initial presentations had been completed I realised that instead of losing confidence in myself and eventually losing credibility in the work being completed I decided that I would use this bad patch as a way to learn and imporve for the future. I was teamed with Ryan and Kiel with the purpose being to design the website for the Exhibition. Even though I took a firm grip on the tasks I initially set out to get the most from both of them. To do this I decided to meet with the team leaders and try to understand what they would want from the website, after relaying this back to my group I decided to produce a mock plan of how the website should be laid out.
I was making the group stick to tight deadlines, giving us half the time as the Exhibition and Graphics team (6 weeks) to get it online. This decision was made as I believed that advertising the Exhibition would require a head start if we wanted maximum coverage to get people to come.
I noticed that I wasn't getting the most out of Kiel, I asked him to initially join the group as I know that he can come up with stunning ideas but I knew I would have to try something to inspire him to do his utmost for the project. For this I decided to build their confidence by giving every one the task of producing a mock website and from their discuss whose would be ideal to put forward fro implemtnation.
I was planning to put it to a class vote, but I decided to backtrack on this idea before being made public. I believe as team leader this was the best thing to do. It is my job to get the most from a small group and get a completed product. I believe that the voting during the theme presentations was badly undertaken as many showed their immaturity, some giving people no respect when talking. Due to this I decided it would be best for me to discuss with Kiel and Ryan key aspects and I would choose the design to implement. With Kiel still struggling to find inspiration I decided that his design would be used. It wasn't too dis similar from mine or Ryans concept but I believed it would motivated Kiel and give him the conbfidence to increase his quality of work. This is exactly the result that I got. I believe the class vote would cause a strain on such a small group and it was proven when we successfully completed a website that I believe details all the key areas of the Exhibition.
Another key decision that had to be made was how to split the work within the group, I asked for honesty at all times from Ryan and Kiel and found that they had little confidence in coding the website. This is where I decided to split the tasks, I would use Kiel and Ryan to produce the information, pictures and other materials to the website while I implemented and displayed it by coding the website. This allowed us to work efficiently and as people stuck to deadlines it eventually made up for itself by allowing us to complete the website earlier than predicted.
At many points throughout the project the Team Leaders would offer feedback to each other to make sure that we were all moving in the right direction. I expressed concern over the logo, it initially displayed a camera lens, after much interaction the Graphics Group agreed to redesign it as I do not believe it expressed the Design Studio idea in the right way.
Throughout the project the website team had to take their fair share of criticism. Often finding that ideas had to be explained as they were not obvious. What people didn't realise was the fact that neither me, Ryan or Kiel are coders, we are graphic designers so to ask us to be able to produce a website was a big ask. I believe it is a challenge that we successfully confronted as other groups offered ideas of what they'd like to see but I did not seem them as relevant or even plausible.
I have learnt a lot from this project, it has made me realise that you can't always make the decision that everyone wants you to make, you do what's best for the project not for the people and I believe this is why the website is successful.
It allowed me to explore ways of displaying work and the importance of fonts and colour schemes. Realising that you can't just pick a random one because I like it. It has to be relevant and easily fit in with its surroundings. The selection has to be easy on the eye. In terms of the website we decided to use fonts, colours and graphics that were relevant to a Design Studio, so using ones that represented handwriting seemed a good idea. The only problem was that not all letters were readable so we had to explore alternatives which are highlighted within the sketchbook.
I believe that throughout this module I have managed to develop my skills to take much more into consideration when answering a brief. I have realised that what I like should no effect the project itself as their could be better alternatives. I believe that the group still need to work hard through to the Exhibition for it to be a success. To do this I will stay in contact with the team leaders and through this we can communicate it to our team members what is required.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)