Page 60 - Claudia Nevin

Reflection
Project 1 I really enjoyed doing this redesign project. I found it particularly
interesting this year how we were mostly left to our own devices. I was so used to getting
feedback and sign offs on every design decision I made. Whereas this year the decision
process was left completely up to me.
This was quite daunting, and I noticed how little confidence I have in decision making
as I found myself doubting a lot of things. The amount of research I conducted however
regained my confidence and ensured I was making the right decision as I had something
to show why I made each decision, and I could back myself up. I learned a lot about user
experiences and how important it is to undrstand your user.
I found it to be a lot of fun, and I particularly enjoyed my learning on data visualisation and
the importance of presenting data in a visual way to make it easier to understand. I feel I
really benefited from that information and I know it really helped toward creating my design
book.
Project 2 Overall, I found this project very interesting. I particularly enjoyed
working together with a chosen subject to gather research and design a solution together.
I thought it was an interesting project due to the fact it was based on covid-19 which is an
ongoing problem in all of our day to day lives at present. It was very fun to be designing a
solution to a very real problem.
The provocative, emotional and playful side to this project really help to keep me engaged
in my design process, I chose playful as I was working with children and want to make a
medical device designed for children with fun learning elements as well.
I think I did very well on this project, and I had greatly improved on my presenting skills
however in the future I will need to practice the presentation a little more, so I don’t rush it
and forget to say important details.
Project 3 I chose the Crude Design topic because it is something I was always
interested in. With the current state of our planet and the amount of effort that is required
by everyone to try and restore the earth, I felt this would be a very interesting project to
try and achieve. I had never done a project with such a high amount if research before
and I found it to be very helpful to know in such depth what you are designing for. I found
it really difficult in the beginning, trying to pin point what feature I should have and how
to make my product more appealing and so on. Towards the end I really began to enjoy
designing my product and I am very proud of how it turned out. Despite the challenges this
year with COVID-19, I am very pleased with my work output considering how difficult it was
to work at home, without a lot of resources I would normally use in the college.
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Additional Projects The swatches project I found to quite
challenging, It was difficult to find the materials needed due to the lockdown and a lot of
places being closed, so of the materials had to be bought on line which slowed the whole
process down waiting for delivery and with the added stress of limited time in the workshop
due the the oandemic it was a very difficult project to try and do from home. In the end I was
very happy with how it turned out and i think I did a very good job at replicating the materials.
The Red Dot project was realy not looking forward to as I was very rusty on Solid works and it
is one of my weekness’s. However, once I began to try, it was realy enjoyable and it improved
my solid works skill immensly. I am now a lot more confident in using solid works that I would
have been.
Covid-19 The pandemic made this college year realy difficult for everyone
involved. It was okay in the begining, I was motivated and excited to be doing college at
home, but as the days went on I found it more and more difficult. I already suffer with anxiety
and the isolation just made me want to hide away. Everyday it seemed harder to find the
motivation, it was very difficult trying to work from home with so many distractions and loud
family members. I was working from a small desk in my bedroom and so it was difficult to
seperate college from relaxing time as I never really got to leave my bedroom. I also think
that design is a very difficult thing to do on your own. I always flourished by finding inspiration
from classmates and seeing how other people weree going about designing but working
in an isolated state is very difficult when you are just looking at the same four walls and my
own work. I found it quite difficult to be creative. Overall, I think I did very well considering
the difficulties faced, I am very proud of the work I produced and how I managed to get it all
done.
Thesis Abstract For my litterature review this year I chose a topic
which I felt would be interesting to do my thesis on next year. My topic is to se if the study
of biomimicry could be incapsulated into the design world to create more sustainable
packaging materials that could fade back and become part of life’s cycle once again I want to
discuss the importance of understanding the difference that sustainable materials in product
packaging can have on our planet. If designers considered the effect the materials have on
the environment, and the life cycle of their product as well as its packaging they could choose
more eco-friendly materials which in turn would solve much of the waste problems we see
in the current climate. The purpose of this topic is to encourage the thinking around how we
can continue to live in harmony with all living things without creating damage to a world and
planet we rely so deeply on. It is important that in order to have a sustainable future we must
first begin by designing it right now.
Claudia Nevin | c00240981 | Industrial Design | 2021