DXB101 Archive 2

Soon following the design task we had presented in Week 7, the whole cohort of DXB101 had to attend a practice session for our design charrette. This four-hour activity was called the mini-charrette as a result. Toward the end of the brief that introduced us to our task I had grouped up with three other previously unknown students by the names of Amanda, Sophie and Hugh. Us four were to create a comprehensive presentation to give our ideas as to how the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) could use the Botanical Gardens next door to QUT Gardens Point to advertise their business. The task proved difficult to start, but once we determined our goals and got into designing a solution for the problem at hand, my group and I found it simple to progress.

The basic point of our presentation was to suggest a seating area in a relatively under-utilised section of the gardens. From a certain angle, these tables and chairs would line up to spell ‘GOMA’. An example of such a setup was modelled in Google Sketchup by Hugh, and is shown below.

Unfortunately, despite the process that went into creating the core part of the task (i.e. Our presentation), the group was not able to get around to making an accompanying campaign pitch. In that respect, we failed a critical criteria for success – but luckily this task does not affect our grade. Instead, it was supposed to prepare us for the major charrette that would be taking place in four weeks’ time. The mini-charrette indeed taught me that this upcoming task would not be easy. But I suppose I’ll see how my two new group mates (Dijana and Sonia) and I will handle the big fish! My final blog post will be after the charrette, and I can’t wait to find how we will perform!

So, the final blog post for DXB101! I’m excited to share the news of what went down during the past fortnight.

Final Charrette Reflection

It all began with group formation during a studio lesson with Anna. There were two people in the studio group that had not gotten into a charrette group yet – their names were Sonia Djeng and Dijana Duricic. Within the week we’d received the brief on what we needed to do – improve the aesthetics of the GOMA restaurant through adding our own changes to the bland atmosphere. My group of three got to work immediately with determining how we could spice up the environment from a drab white affair to something more inviting and comfortable. A visit to the restaurant gave us the opportunity to make a floor plan as a basis for prototypes. Thank you to the staff of GOMA for briefly allowing us in outside of business hours, by the way!

After our visit to the restaurant, our concept began to take shape. We would enhance the environment of the place through adding comfortable booths, hiring walk-around musicians on select evenings and redesigning the menu. We split up our responsibilities according to each of our skills. Sonia organised the presentation and concerned herself with the theory we needed to address, while Dijana drew up sketches and took some great photos of the venue. I found myself creating the video and using Lego Digital Designer to represent our prototypes. All of us got together on the Thursday prior to the charrette on Friday to finalise our work into a Powerpoint – hosted here and on QUT Blackboard for reviewing purposes.

Time passed quickly to the next day, when we had to arrive by noon to present – although we were the last scheduled to showcase our material, we were to be the audience for the others. About a third of the entire cohort were to present from noon until 4pm with the supervision of the tutors, who were marking the work presented. Due to Sonia suffering illness, we were actually the second group to present after she talked with the tutors. Our presentation was not such a great success – mostly due to a miscommunication earlier in the unit where I assumed we were told not to use a script. This assumption turned out to be incorrect, as we were the only ones in the cohort to ad-lib our work. It was fortunate that we knew the material enough to present for ten minutes. The ending video apparently entertained those present – I suppose they weren’t expecting Lego stop motion to be in the pitch! The tutors gave us feedback on how to better plan our ideas, since some of the concepts were in their opinion unnecessary or based on unfounded claims of customers needing such things.

Although the critical evaluation of our final charrette presentation was disappointing to say the least, I greatly appreciate Sonia and Dijana for sticking with me throughout the creative process and driving us all to do as best we could.

Speaking of the creative process, I recall Anna telling me that despite my skills with Lego I should not use it to present a prototype. The riskiest move I pulled while in this unit was probably going against that advice and exploring a medium that nobody else did. In that way, I’d like to think that our presentation was unique amongst those students that used more typical forms of prototyping (sketches, 3D modelling, digitisation, etc). The downside to this was almost immediately pointed out by an inquisitive student during question time – this presentation was likely to not be taken seriously as a pitch by the GOMA staff due to the comparatively elementary prototyping method. Unfortunately with that feedback, it seems as though this risk may have been better not taken.

Before this whole charrette thing became a concern, the tutors of DXB101 asked all of us what design meant to us, and what interests we had to make design a primary facet of our education at QUT. I responded at the time by saying that I was once completely uninterested in design of any kind. I was a guy that was interested solely in computers and everything to do with them. As time went on though, I started to wish I’d been learning the basics of art earlier, as recently a creative side of me has come out. I felt the best way to enhance my newfound interests was by delving into a double degree at university – not completely dropping my interest in IT but at the same time facilitating my new fascination with design. Over the past semester, I feel that this has worked out well. I can sketch better than I ever could, and visualise ideas much more easily.

With the past and present out of the way, now I look to the future. What will this double degree – and indeed the rest of my life – hold for me? In the short term, I hope to improve my design skills by participating in any opportunities that come my way. Over the break I aim to practice my artistic skills to the degree where I can much more easily express my ideas. In the long term, uncertainties arise in my mind about how I will look like in 5 years time. Perhaps my interest in the subject will have decreased from how I feel now, but I’d like to think that through another few semesters of design challenges, I’ll be confident in my newfound skills and become a better person through this art form.

Thank you to Sonia and Dijana, my Mini-Charrette group, tutors and Jaz for showing me how great design can be to learn about collaboration, individual progress and the fundamentals of design.