Assignment

Aim

On completion of this activity, you will have engaged in a Studio discussion to share work, exchange ideas and gather feedback that will inform the development of your creative work.

Objective

During this activity, you will upload your completed Visual Project Map to the Studio along with your short written statement. You will participate in discussion and comment upon the work of your peers.

Duration

The suggested time allocation for this activity is 5 hours.

Guide

There are four parts to this activity.

1: Visual Project Map

I would like you to prepare your Visual Project Map in a JPEG or PNG format, ready for upload to the Studio.

2: Written Statement

I would like you to write a short reflective statement (approximately 500 words), articulating your thought process and explaining your response to the recent tasks:

Walk

Event

Map

Take time to carefully consider why this work appeals to you and how it has inspired you. Prepare your response as a short written statement to add as description of your work.

3: Share and Discuss

I would like you to upload your Visual Project Map and statement to the Studio for your peers to view and reflect on.

4: Tutor Review

I would like you to upload your Visual Project Map and statement for tutor review and feedback

Guide: Reflective Statement

500 words +/- 10%

• What are the main points in these feedback?
• Which parts attracted positive feedback?
• What parts attracted negative feedback?
• How can I use this feedback in a future assessment?
• What did I do well and where can I improve?
• In what areas do I need additional support and advice?
• Which elements can I apply to other assessments and future work?
• How can this feedback help me to plan my approach to future activities?

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Realisation

I’m not a great believer in creative chaos. I think it’s just an excuse made by people, who don’t know what they are doing, and much as I tried, I couldn’t make a more organic mind-map without it just being a representation of the chaos that I try to avoid.

Over the years I have largely reduced my “mind maps” down to simple lists, the words in the list are keys to unlocking visual ideas stored in my memory.

Several years ago I studied Multi-Media management and learnt all about the dark-arts of ISO 9000, it’s a system of constant Quality-Management, and it changed the way I work, I instantly saw its potential and I have used it ever since, especially as when used correctly, it dramatically increases the amount of work possible by an individual.

Just the process of keeping everything up to date is enough to guarantee that the developer is always aware at which stage a project is at, and what still needs to be done – it’s an ever-evolving framework onto which any project can be hung. 

Rather like an evolving recipe for a cake.

On a micro level, as a developer, a project’s definition is kept in one document, in one folder – there’s no more wasting time looking for missing images 10 minutes before a submission deadline – and this main assignment document is constantly updated ,extended and revised as a project progresses.

My mind-maps are therefore rather sober affairs, and very logical, but I find this conducive to the creative process, as it frees up the enormous amounts of brain-function all desperately trying to hold lots of very basic structural and rather boring project information in memory.

Offloading all this information in a structured way onto paper, which can then easily be shared, frees up the space required for creative thought, especially with regard to the subconscious.

1: Visual Project Map

Mind map of a project

Starting with this initial mind-map, I have tried to visually represent the workflow of a project and simplify the required inputs, resulting in the required output.

Mind map of the creative process

What is the creative process, and what is required for it to function well?

This is mine: I analyse the project assignment, and try to understand what the problem is, what exactly is the problem the client wishes to have solved?

Once I have ascertained this, I do lots of research, both in and around the subject, and together with past experience, drawing on creative and practical skills, I see what ideas my mind throws up, often using a process more commonly known as “daydreaming”.

I rarely adhere strictly to the resulting plan, as I’ve found that being receptive to the charms of Lady Fortune, can often provide inspired results.

Timeline of proposed project

This is my projected timeline for the rest of this semester

2: Short Written Statement

Walk

I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment.

Initially I had no idea how to tackle it, because satisfying the requirements I needed to go on a real walk, and yet still include career relevant aspects of a huge city.

But it struck me that I could do both, go on a relaxing stroll through my favourite wooded park, and treat the info about Berlin as the “thoughts” I had while on the walk.

This was the framework I used, and although it required twice the work, I felt that it was worth it.

The only aspect of the project that needed special attention was the sequencing of the images to form a coherent story, but once I had a robust framework worked out, the story largely wrote itself.

The only real problem I encountered was, that the remnants of a childhood stutter unexpectedly came back to haunt me, and made recording a trial by fire, 6 minutes  of audio required 12 hours to record.

I’ve had only positive feedback about it, which although being a boost to the ego, wasn’t as balanced as I would have wished for.

Event

I wasn’t expecting much from this assignment, but contrary to expectations, I found it very rewarding, because  one of the exhibitors, Gao Shang, had juxtapositioned images in such a way that they were like chapters of a visual novel.

The emotional impact of it spoke to me in a way the other work there didn’t, and I realised that using similar techniques could provide a solution to the problems I had encountered with a street-photography project I have always wished to try.

An Odyssey.

Homer’s Odyssey could provide a good framework onto which to hang a photography project, and as it’s actually more a psychological study of the hero, a journey of personal growth, rather than a series of fantastic adventures, it seems a perfect fit for a visually based project dealing with personal exploration.

But street photography isn’t the right medium to explore a theme such as this, it’s too diverse, too reliant on chance.

And also due to something Matt, the online tutor wrote to me – probably a misunderstanding on my part – I now have an idea for the main project, something I am extremely pleased about, which should provide me with a vehicle to develop my photography into an area I have great interest in.

Map

Normally I wouldn’t bother with mind-maps, because they take inordinate amounts of time to create, but now I have them, they have focused my mind on everything required.

It’s extremely important to plan such a project out, with particular emphasis on the submission date.

It may be a university project, but it’s just as important to finish to a required standard as any commercial assignment would be, because any delay will always be penalised.

Conclusion

I have hated parts of this module, specifically analysing past events and experiences, which I can’t change now anyway, I could quite happily have not been confronted with it again, because it’s been emotionally extremely stressful.

The parts of the module dealing with the future however, have been extremely rewarding, it has been a pleasure to work on these other assignments, I feel that they were exactly the challenges I need for my own personal development.