31/7
Text issues
We spent the whole class today working through our text. We got too caught up on minor wording issues and ended up going off on a tangent and essentially starting again until Tim talked some sense into us.
We went back to the original version and worked on that until we were happy with it.
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We got really disorientated with our text, we just couldn't find the balance between being not too specific and not too broad. It took all class but we felt a lot better about it in the end so we were pleased overall with having that sorted.
Having a pair of fresh eyes on the text (Tim) helped a lot too. We were getting to caught up in details and didn't realised that we were basically there, we just had to reshuffle some things.
Harry 358 Reflection Diary
Week 3, Session 1
30/7
Imagery
We started the class with a lecture on photography so that we can use it well if we end up using it for our projects.
At this stage we were just critiquing and working through our text. We also attempted to create some imagery for each spread.
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We found creating images really hard as we felt the text still wasn't quite there so we just kept working through that.
The lecture was really useful but at this point we are pretty keen to not use people or actual objects as we feel it is too easy to get across emotions and, as we found from today's class, imagery can end up disconnecting people if they see something and can't relate to it. We were using images of businessman to represent the city and straight away everyone disconnected with the spread as they had assumed it was talking only about old businessman. We are thinking abstract images might suit us best.
Imagery
We started the class with a lecture on photography so that we can use it well if we end up using it for our projects.
At this stage we were just critiquing and working through our text. We also attempted to create some imagery for each spread.
—
We found creating images really hard as we felt the text still wasn't quite there so we just kept working through that.
The lecture was really useful but at this point we are pretty keen to not use people or actual objects as we feel it is too easy to get across emotions and, as we found from today's class, imagery can end up disconnecting people if they see something and can't relate to it. We were using images of businessman to represent the city and straight away everyone disconnected with the spread as they had assumed it was talking only about old businessman. We are thinking abstract images might suit us best.
Exchange 1
24/7
First meeting with the group
After class we had the first meeting and got to meet everyone in the group. There is a good mix of disciplines so I got a lot of varied feedback and some interesting ideas were brought up.
There was a lot of talk about potential solutions from the rest of the team. They had a lot of ideas about spatial intervention and how installations can be used to distract people from the stress of everyday city life. The group brought up the idea that anything out of the ordinary would achieve this as the city can be a very dull environment. Even though a city is a very busy and bustling place, city dwellers can quickly grow used to the chaos and tune out everything, residing within themselves, this is not good for mental health.
The team also brought up the concept of 'leading engagement'. It was the idea of having engagement along a path where people could keep moving as they engaged with an installation. There is also opportunity to lead them along a new path in order to really mix up their commute. We talked about how rather than trying to stop people in their tracks and get them to interact and engage with something we could lead this engagement along a certain path. City dwellers are busy people and would not feel they had time to stop as they would most likely be on the way to something.
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I feel like even though the exchange was based a lot around solutions I could still work back from their ideas to see what inspired them.
I found that instead of talking about 'breaking' routines it might be better to say 'affecting' routines as breaking routines is quite forceful and many people may not have time to change up their day.
First meeting with the group
After class we had the first meeting and got to meet everyone in the group. There is a good mix of disciplines so I got a lot of varied feedback and some interesting ideas were brought up.
There was a lot of talk about potential solutions from the rest of the team. They had a lot of ideas about spatial intervention and how installations can be used to distract people from the stress of everyday city life. The group brought up the idea that anything out of the ordinary would achieve this as the city can be a very dull environment. Even though a city is a very busy and bustling place, city dwellers can quickly grow used to the chaos and tune out everything, residing within themselves, this is not good for mental health.
The team also brought up the concept of 'leading engagement'. It was the idea of having engagement along a path where people could keep moving as they engaged with an installation. There is also opportunity to lead them along a new path in order to really mix up their commute. We talked about how rather than trying to stop people in their tracks and get them to interact and engage with something we could lead this engagement along a certain path. City dwellers are busy people and would not feel they had time to stop as they would most likely be on the way to something.
—
I feel like even though the exchange was based a lot around solutions I could still work back from their ideas to see what inspired them.
I found that instead of talking about 'breaking' routines it might be better to say 'affecting' routines as breaking routines is quite forceful and many people may not have time to change up their day.
Labels:
Exchange
Week 2, Session 2
24/7
Working through 8 points
We came to class today with a researched and worked through 8 points for our topic: Urban Anxiety. We quickly found that people were unsure about our desired action of 'breaking routines'. They found it to harsh and forceful and felt that people who live in the city may not have time to break routines in their busy lifestyles.
—
This was really useful as we had become so immersed in the topic we had taken the act of 'breaking routines' to be a lot more passive. Through having fresh eyes and a new angle on what we were saying we realised that we needed to do something about the wording and explanation of our desired action.
Working through 8 points
We came to class today with a researched and worked through 8 points for our topic: Urban Anxiety. We quickly found that people were unsure about our desired action of 'breaking routines'. They found it to harsh and forceful and felt that people who live in the city may not have time to break routines in their busy lifestyles.
—
This was really useful as we had become so immersed in the topic we had taken the act of 'breaking routines' to be a lot more passive. Through having fresh eyes and a new angle on what we were saying we realised that we needed to do something about the wording and explanation of our desired action.
Labels:
Test
Week 2, Session 1
23/7
Refining direction
We came to class today with our current topic researched and split into the 8 sections:
- Background
- Issue
- Audience
- Audience needs
- Client
- Client motivation
- Desired action
- Barriers
From here we shared our ideas with our peers in small groups to get feedback and develop our ideas. After we had a fairly developed idea we summed it up into the generic topic (mine was anxiety and isolation) and shared with the rest of the class so we could pair up with people who were interested in the same topic.
We could then pair off with someone who is already thinking along the same lines. We then talked about potential for our project and decided which direction we were going to take it.
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I found this really helpful because then right from the start you are thinking along the same lines as your partner and you already have something in common with them so it is easier to get on with them.
I also felt that pairing up with two already well researched and informed projects to choose from was really helpful as we could pick one and almost get designing straight away.
Refining direction
We came to class today with our current topic researched and split into the 8 sections:
- Background
- Issue
- Audience
- Audience needs
- Client
- Client motivation
- Desired action
- Barriers
From here we shared our ideas with our peers in small groups to get feedback and develop our ideas. After we had a fairly developed idea we summed it up into the generic topic (mine was anxiety and isolation) and shared with the rest of the class so we could pair up with people who were interested in the same topic.
We could then pair off with someone who is already thinking along the same lines. We then talked about potential for our project and decided which direction we were going to take it.
—
I found this really helpful because then right from the start you are thinking along the same lines as your partner and you already have something in common with them so it is easier to get on with them.
I also felt that pairing up with two already well researched and informed projects to choose from was really helpful as we could pick one and almost get designing straight away.
Week 1, Session 2
17/7
Life hack workshop
The Lifehack team came in today and ran a workshop during studio time. We did an exercise where we named a variety of different situations where mental health could be an issue. We split the situation into three sections; audience, the reason/what is happening, and the mental health threat.
—
This was interesting as we were finally starting to identify potential topics for our projects. It was also really interesting to see how differently people had approached the exercise; there was a huge spectrum in terms of seriousness, everything from being body-concious to suicide.
I felt that this really helped me in terms of realising where I would like to take this project. At this point I felt that the topics that really interested me were the ones that didn't even occur to me earlier.
The topics that got me particularly interested were the ones focussing on 'transition'.
Life hack workshop
The Lifehack team came in today and ran a workshop during studio time. We did an exercise where we named a variety of different situations where mental health could be an issue. We split the situation into three sections; audience, the reason/what is happening, and the mental health threat.
—
This was interesting as we were finally starting to identify potential topics for our projects. It was also really interesting to see how differently people had approached the exercise; there was a huge spectrum in terms of seriousness, everything from being body-concious to suicide.
I felt that this really helped me in terms of realising where I would like to take this project. At this point I felt that the topics that really interested me were the ones that didn't even occur to me earlier.
The topics that got me particularly interested were the ones focussing on 'transition'.
Week 1, Session 1
16/7
Lifehack lecture — wellbeing
We had a lecture from the Lifehack team about wellbeing and how mental illness is no longer considered a straight line — you're either ill and need help or you're fine. Now days, wellbeing is split into 5 different sections that all contribute to a better mental health.
In groups, we then talked about some questions that Lifehack provided, such as; what are times that I felt positive/well and what are times that I felt negative/struggling. Through conversation with the rest of the group we also tried to delve into why these times made us feel this way.
—
It was interesting to hear what others had said and I feel like I got a good picture of what things affect my wellbeing in positive and negative ways.
This was interesting as I've never thought about this before and don't really think about wellbeing but I feel like I already knew a lot of it subconsciously. I know that if I work to hard I need time to do absolutely nothing and how a holiday or even just going out on a saturday night gives me a mental break. It was definitely useful though to bring these thoughts to the front of my brain and actual realise them and try to break them down and I feel like this will help me on the rest of the project.
Lifehack lecture — wellbeing
We had a lecture from the Lifehack team about wellbeing and how mental illness is no longer considered a straight line — you're either ill and need help or you're fine. Now days, wellbeing is split into 5 different sections that all contribute to a better mental health.
In groups, we then talked about some questions that Lifehack provided, such as; what are times that I felt positive/well and what are times that I felt negative/struggling. Through conversation with the rest of the group we also tried to delve into why these times made us feel this way.
—
It was interesting to hear what others had said and I feel like I got a good picture of what things affect my wellbeing in positive and negative ways.
This was interesting as I've never thought about this before and don't really think about wellbeing but I feel like I already knew a lot of it subconsciously. I know that if I work to hard I need time to do absolutely nothing and how a holiday or even just going out on a saturday night gives me a mental break. It was definitely useful though to bring these thoughts to the front of my brain and actual realise them and try to break them down and I feel like this will help me on the rest of the project.
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