Early Thoughts - Major Project 10/11/22

I need to start thinking about what I want my major project to be about.

To do this I created a mindmap of all the initial ideas that I had.

Looking at these different routes there are two that I am very interested in.

1. Medical illustration

2. Packaging design and branding

Medical illustration has been a significant topic for me as I looked into it a lot when writing my undergraduate dissertation 'Is there a future for medical illustration?'. As well as designing an information pack for neurodivergent children entering hospital for one of my undergraduate final projects.

There are different directions I could go in for medical illustration such as creating anatomic images for the teaching of medical students - I found that as new surgeries are developed and more information on the different symptoms displayed on different body types is found, there is more need for updated medical illustrations.

Another direction I could go for medical illustration is looking into poster design, leaflets, wall murals etc. used within a hospital setting to help patients feel more comfortable and give them more information. This would be a really interesting project as I would have to think about the end user and what they are thinking / feeling in what is probably a stressful time for them. I would also have to think about it from the side of the medical professionals as well as they would be the ones using my designs to help convey information.

Packaging design and branding is another topic I find very interesting as I would love to develop my graphic skills to become a graphic designer, using my illustrative skills to enhance projects.

My major project could be redesigning a packaged product which is quite plain and boring to make it stand out much more. This could be packaging for special festive seasons such as Christmas or Halloween etc. or just rebranding a product so it fits the target audience better. This could involve making the packaging so that it has no plastic or is easy to recycle; or folds in a certain way in which no glue is needed. I would also want to 'show off' my graphic design and illustrative skills by creating a design which will catch the attention of the target market and make them more likely to buy the product.

This project could also include a poster design or some kind of advertising design which can go alongside the product and promote it.

things to consider

- Size of project, how much is realistic to achieve in the timescale

- Is this a viable thing?

- what research can be done for the project to get the best outcome?

- look at how this helps me get my ideal job in the future.

- I know I want to work 'in house' - research what I need to do to get to this point and see what I need to develop in my portfolio to show the skills needed.

To decide what project I want to do I am going to have to research into both subjects and see which one influences me more and would work best with my creative practice.

Experimentation 27/10/22

Enhancing the Spirit of Experimentation

- Acquire creative energy

- Maintain curiosity and interest (1)

- Share your creative space (2)

- Look at problems from as many viewpoints as possible (3)

- Reverse your question often (4)

- Figure out the implications of the problem

- Implement solutions

- Try to be surprised by something every day

- Try to surprise at least one other person every day

- Write down what surprises you and how you have surprised others

- When something strikes a spark of interest, follow it

- Produce and remember as many ideas as possible (5)

- Try to produce unlikely ideas

Ways in which the Experimental Spirit might be cultivated

- Wake up with a specific goal to look forward to (6)

- Remember if you do anything well, it becomes enjoyable

- To keep enjoying something, look to increase its complexity

- Develop habits of strength

- Take charge of your time (7)

- Make time for reflection and relaxation

- Find out what you like and hate about life (8)

- Start doing more of what you love, less of what you hate.

- Develop what you lack

- Shift often from openness to closure (9)

- Find a way to express what moves you

From 'Creativity: flow of the psychology of discovery and invention' by Mihalyi Csikczentmihalyi.

(1) Maintain curiosity and interest - Find out want makes me curious and interests me and follow these things - do this by researching more about these interests and experimenting with the things that make me curious.

(2) Share your creative space - Last year I tended to work more at home and although this is a comfortable space for me it became 'too comfortable'. To push myself further I will make better use of the spaces I have been provided with - such as the studio space where I can work with people from the same and other design practices, and the library where I can talk to friends and other students who may be on other courses and provide completely different insights.

(3) Look at problems from as many viewpoints as possible - I can do this by getting opinions from others, whether this is from course mates, friends and lecturers, contacting people from the industry, or doing surveys to find out what a larger group of peoples' opinions are. Research will also help me to go from different viewpoints as it may bring up new ideas or problems. Changing the question, or challenging certain parts of it will also help me to look at the problem from different viewpoints.

(4) Reverse your question often - To do this I must fully know and understand what my question is. I need to continuously look at the question as my project develops and consider whether the question will change as my project evolves. If my project goes in a new direction it will be important to reevaluate the question and change it if necessary. Having this question in mind will make it a lot easier to reverse the question and look at it from new directions

(5) Produce and remember as many ideas as possible - Keep a record of the ideas I come up with, even if they seem stupid or insignificant. By having a record I will have something I can go back on and look at.

(6) Wake up with a specific goal to look forward to - Write a plan each night of the aims I hope to achieve the following day. Set a few goals and aim to achieve at least half of them. These could be small goals or bigger ones. Include the priority of the goals on the plan. This will allow me to clearly see what I have set to do each day!

(7) Take charge of your time - Following on from (6) by planning what I want to achieve each day I can take charge of the time I have. Setting tasks I aim to get done can work better than a strict timetable for me personally as if something happens to change this timetable I can feel 'stuck'. Therefore having a general list of things to do and vague times to do them - which can be changed (excluding fixed times such as uni and work) will help me to take charge of my time.

(8) Find out what you like and hate about life - There are certain things I know I like, such as netball, water sports (sailing), cycling, illustration, painting, baking, chocolate!, etc. and certain things I know I don't like such as the dark, uncomfy socks, sweetcorn, unnecessary drama etc. However, there are a lot of things that I don't know if I like or not - some of these things are due to having anxiety about trying new things - this is something I am challenging, by attempting to try something new a couple of times a week.

(9) Shift often from openness to closure - In my creative practice during my undergraduate course I realised once I had an idea I focused very closely to it. I need to remember to take a step back every once in a while to evaluate whether this is still the best approach. I'll re-evaluate the brief and do more research. I will also take this time to ask others' opinions as they may have good suggestions and incites which could take me down a different route.

Yvon Chouinard - Patagonia

Distinction between Discovery, Invention and Innovation

Discovery - Something completely new.

Invention - Making something work from scratch through finding new discoveries.

Innovation - reconceptualising the links between the way you currently do things and how they can be done differently.

Lateral thinking 27/10/22

Lateral Thinking Definition - The solving of problems by an indirect and creative approach, typically through viewing the problem in a new and unusual light.

source: Oxford Languages / Definition / Lateral Thinking

Don't need to use maths to solve this problem; which at first glance you think you do

Use lateral thinking... If the trains are both travelling at 50m/h they will reach each other in 1 hour. The fly has travelled 967 miles in that 1 hour!

Lego

• First, we were just given a box of lego and I randomly started looking at the pieces with no beginning thought as to what I wanted to make.

• I found some wheels and a window and immediately thought of a car so this is what I began making, I also found a person which I used for the scale.

• Part way through I realised how 'boxy' it was looking and wanted to make it more streamlined.

• This was the point at which Jim (lecturer) asked us to start thinking about what we were making and have a thought process behind the decisions we made. It was here that I took a look at what I was making and re-evaluated it.

• I decided a car was a bit too boring and looked at how I could make it into a spaceship by changing the shape and looking at what sort of wings I could add.

• I wanted to make it able to hover and have the ability to fly backwards as well as forwards, therefore I looked at the shapes that could be used and found some blue blocks to represent jetpacks as shown on the back of the image.

• There are still things I would change about it, such as taking the base apart and making it less square, but overall I am happy with the process that took place.

• We were given a piece of paper with a 'thing' on it and had to make it in as few pieces as possible. I had been given 'horse'.

• I included the lego person on the horse as this gave some perspective as to the size; with everyone getting what it was straight away, however, it would be interesting to see if that was still the first guess if the lego person was taken away.

• It would also be interesting to see how much more I could simplify it by removing some of the pieces from the head/ neck.

• I was really interested in how Josh managed to create a 'shark' in 2 pieces just by making it look like a fin poking out of the water. You couldn't really see the shark, but we all got what it was straight away.

• We found the next word we all got given wasn't a 'thing' but an emotion. I got 'love' and decided to use 2 blocks to make a heart.

• I used the colour red as this is a symbol of love and I don't think the shape alone would work.

• It was interesting to see how a lot of the others also used colours to convey what their words were. such as 'anger' also involving red and 'cold' being presented by a transparent blue piece of lego.

Triangulation

Using triangulation (multiple ways to get to answers/ end results) also known as cross-examination makes the final answers more accurate or stronger because the different routes have all come up with the same output.

If the answers had all clashed the question may need to be rethought.

Question whether I have a problem in search of a solution, or a solution in search of a problem.

The story of thrale cress.

- Cress seeds modified to turn red when roots hit nitrogen (just an experiment done by scientists with no end goal)

- these seeds are used to detect unexploded land mines!

One group had a solution in search of a problem and the other had a problem in search of a solution. It took someone to research and find these two different groups and connect them.