Key post_ Reflection

This project has opened up a lot of new possibilities for me and has allowed me to explore different approaches and processes. I feel I have engaged well with group and workshop sessions. Having set out a clear concept and context at the beginning, the work I have produced feels more purposeful and directed. The manifesto is something I defiantly will use again and adapt to future projects as I sometimes feel my own work lacks direction. In terms of process I also found our working ideas wall really helpful and inspiring.

I have been lucky to work with such a good group, so have found collaborating really enjoyable and rewarding. We got on well and kept each other motivated throughout the project, we also had a lot of fun. Having a shared working space in 106 helped because we were in everyday and could keep momentum going and developing ideas. A lot of the time we were the only group in there though and it would have been nice to be able to communicate more with the other groups to build a wider support network.

Another aspect we have explored in this project is developing a brand identity and self publishing/ promoting our work. We have used the instagram page to document our progress and begin to make connections with the outside world. I think this was a really good idea and is something that I will take into next year for myself, as audience becomes much more important. We have also worked on posters and promotional material, which I had not done much of before but have a new confidence in this area from the positive feedback we received for them. As we have been working alongside Tamsyn who is a graphics student, we were inspired by the fantastic posters she created for the exhibition.

The exhibition was a success, it was dry so we could have the planter and jean bag out and we set up without any problems. There was a great atmosphere during the evening and it was nice to be able to chat to the other groups and enjoy the outcome of all our hard work. We had quite a lot of curiosity about our work, particularly the jean bag and people seemed to engage really well with our set up. We spoke again to Becca from the Curiosity Bureau, who was on the panel we pitched to and got some good feedback about our development since the pitch. We also discussed potential future projects for the rooftop, which would be really exciting to be involved with. I am so pleased that our work has been received well by the rooftop project team.

In terms of exhibiting our work, I think we did well, we wanted to keep it quite simple so that people could interact with the jean bag and samples. We created some information cards to go in the pockets of the planters and had a slide show playing during the evening, documenting our process. The only thing is we could have made these more obvious to provide people with a better understanding of our concept and motivations as I think people would have found this interesting and it would help make more sense of our work. We could have perhaps created a little working document book to really communicate our concept.

We also had a photographer for the night; Molly's friend Jonathan, who is a photography student came to take some pictures of the exhibition. It was good to have our work captured from a different perspective and I think Jonathan has benefited from having the opportunity to add to his portfolio.

(photo credit: instagram.com/jdrroberts)

Overall I feel very proud of what we have achieved this project. We have created innovative and original products that fulfil what we set out to do. I think we could have improved a bit with the finishing of the products to give a more refined look and take the upcycling process to another level. This is something I will push forward myself in my own work in the future as I am keen to keep exploring upcycling as a design solution. We could have also pushed our concept even further to make our work more site specific and potentially resolved the planter fully to support growing plants; as another area to develop.