WEEK 11 Collaboration

Wednesday October 5, 2011

Today we discussed reflection and criticism within our group.

Group Exercise - DISCUSSION

Reflection

Discuss these questions in relation to a group creating a design in collaboration

01 – What is the difference between reflection and criticism?

Reflection is taking a step back and looking whereas criticism is the judging of merits and the faults

02 – Can you reflect while you are designing?

Not whilst in the actual physical act of designing but during the process it is important to reflect constantly to keep on track

03 – Do you set aside time for reflection?

Not officially. A lot of my reflection is done before going to sleep I go over the day’s progress, the things to plan for the following day/s/week/s.

04 – Do you make notes on your reflections?

I tend to make more of a list of things to tidy up if they are un-finished tasks. I make notes like a to do list either on my phone or paper. The phone is good for portability but the paper is good for memory retainment.

05 – When is the best time to reflect?

I find during certain parts of designing as well as looking back at the final product. Also at night when going to sleep there is less distraction for reflection.

06 – Do you compare your work to work by your heroes?

Yes. We tend to compare our designs with a hero that has spent years and years building up to quality. We must remember they started out like us.

07 – How do you benefit by comparison?

I can see design in simple form. I can see a similar finished outcome of what I am aiming for as well as the standards and quality.

08 – What can be a disadvantage of comparison?

We could make our designs and ideas similar to others and lose our originality.

Reflection

Reference (image above): Deer Reflection http://www.judy-jones-photo-source.com/images/deer-by-water.jpg

Blog Exercise – Moving On / Encouraging solutions

In regard to creative collaboration:

Discuss these questions - write a paragraph on each and use examples

1 . Are you brave enough to move on and adopt new and unexpected ideas?

Yes if someone comes to me as a fresh pair of eyes and asks what something is because it doesn’t not mean anything to them I feel that I need to adopt sometimes radical changes to my work to get the message of my work across.

For example: I Thought I had a reasonable design logo for an irrigation business but then I decided to take a risk and completely turn the design into another form which turned out to be a lot better. I then showed the group my 2 main designs and they liked the second one better. They suggested swapping a pipe icon for some simple grass in which I embraced yet still trying to apply the perfect grass.

2. Describe how you have encouraged others with a solution to their design problems:

I have made sure I tell other what I like about their work before or after I tell them what I don’t like. I think It is important to acknowledge the good so the bad can be addressed without seeming like a blatant attack on them or their ideas.

For example: I told Sunita I like her business card design but I don’t like the look of the text overlapping the image of her leaf design. I said that her choice of colour and design is excellent but the layout incorporating the text and logo needs a better layout from my eyes.

Criticism

Reference (image above): Criticism Banner

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipgdVEXrm0g-rVbWVqTKJfbUwnVjLqktSfmXbmYEjXhzi-3o_A3q8a9tuLYccDXNZOXgSVpBlpGqdmKaNC75Hjc4REhB8nF4j5hNA_jK2wHG-qiI4w-NUgbH5JDAd8MowuKPUq6AB7wIg/s1600/criticism.jpg

YouTube Clip

How to Take Criticism : Do Not Respond Defensively

Commentary

In this video, we are advised to embrace criticism. If we become all too defensive and block out the feedback of others we are missing out on valuable information. Tracy Goodwin
is the speaker. She has a masters in corporate communication and 10 years experience in professional speaking. Her many years of research is summed up in about one and a half minutes of priceless advice. Very useful.

Reflection

This is my reflection on reflection and criticism! I think its very important that we reflect so we keep on track with our desired outcome. We should also criticise during reflection to see if we can improve in different areas. We improve and then reflect again. We then re-criticise to see whether our criticism was warranted. This is constant process that achieves success and saves us from a lot of time and energy reverting back to the aim of our purpose.