Life's A Pitch: Presentation & Evaluation

For the layout and flow of the presentation it was decided that each of us would cover different areas of designing the new building. My focus was on the concept of 'The Creative Room' and The Student Union re-brand. 

I designed the presentation to include clear and bold images that best exemplify our concepts, and translate the concepts through simple colour swatches and short titles. 

The idea was to look at aspects of the University and challenge ideals within design. The broader concept of stimulating senses mirrors the ideas of the University being full of creative minds. What we see, hear, taste, smell and touch all impacts on the way we learn and experience. It's harder to get inspiration from staring at a blank white wall, so this is what we wanted to challenge. Literal vs lateral.

• How practical is it for a wall to be made of said material?
• What products are relaxing? (e.g. lava lamps / soothing music)
• How do we boost creativity and productivity?
• How can we ensure the redesign is sustainable? (recycled materials / electronics over print outs / solar power)

We wanted to physically pull together and produce a model in order to gauge a better understanding of colour and texture. Our research centred around idealistic visual identities that create a cool and collective atmosphere which would in practice motivate creative students to spend time there. Our university holds wacky out-there, unique and interesting characters at every corner, and we wanted to produce a space which reflects that, considering design for the intended target audience. 

Our main motivations were to build a community, so when considering furniture it needed to be both comfortable and sociable. The bonfire area with stalls around encourages people to sit together. Humans naturally gather around a fire, and a circular setting means we are more likely to interact with the people around us. 

Additionally, vibrancy an natural elements are important for our piece of mind. Having plants and a nice outside area that students can engage with, helps not only with de-stress but to build a more sustainable environment. We teach ethics within the courses so surely our building should resemble sustainable ideals socially, environmentally and economically. 

Evaluation:

I found working in a group to be a really enjoyable experience. Knowing that you have people supporting your ideas and building on them, allows you to have more confidence in what you're producing. If a group of 5 designer who you trust to do their own thing, are all supportive of your work, there seems to be a lot more momentum behind both the work and ones own ability to pitch it. 

Despite expected issues with people really not pulling their equal weight, the overall outcome was exciting and had a relevant flow and consistency. In a group it is important to listen to everyone's opinions and ideas, and in stead of shutting one you don't like down, trying to constructively build it until it is more appropriate and successful. This is what I feel I achieved well in this collaborative project, as well as giving people the confidence to pitch, as this is something I feel has always been quite natural for me if I am sure of well-informed of its topic. 

As the brief clearly states 'NO RESTRICTIONS' I found this freedom to be extremely refreshing. Challenge every idea with its counter, meant the end result can be both informed and romanticised. When at first the reactions seemed a bit safe, by throwing 'what-ifs' at each other, we were able to get more excited about the project. 

Building the final prototype / mini-model of the student union was by far my favourite part of the brief. We all came together and contributed something to its production, meaning it had a bit of all of us in it, which was translated by its overall appearance. Getting off our computers and cutting and sticking (for the first time in a while) showed us all how much you can achieve working with others, as well as how sometimes manual approaches can be more effective.