7.11.2011
Group Assessment
Parker Exercise Evaluation
In today’s lesson we were asked as a class to work together on a brief for the Parker Fountain pen. The outcome was to have at least 1 working campaign that reaches out to people who believe that cheap is easier on their pocket .Many people such as students and young professionals today don’t see the need to buy one. The idea was to encourage people to use the parker fountain pen rather than disposable pens such as biro's.
So as I sat down with the group my role was immediately to lead in some shape or form. Organisation is very important when running a project and its easier on my mind if I know all tasks are completed. My role was to make sure that time was not wasted, if a problem occurred I could try and fix it and overall it was to make sure the studio time was being used effectively to produce the outcome on time with all the work from the day ready to present. I reflect on everything I do in class every evening in my own time. It came to me that maybe I take on this role and don’t explore other roles within a design team.
As mentioned, I think if I could do it differently, I would explore another role within the design team, and stick to it throughout the day. I am curious as to know whether I can sit back and watch someone else lead. I suppose any role within a design team has its place, but I do feel I may have discouraged others. It is in my character to always want the best, and I snap the opportunity up so quickly that I do not give others the chance. I could even question whether people want the chance as much as I do.
My role within the team today made me think about how I have a natural ability to stand up and assign a task to someone, or make sure everyone is focused when we discuss our work. It made me consider the possibility of what would happen if I were to sit back and let someone else take the responsibility. I know my class as a whole, and judging on character I believe many people are happy where they are in the side lines. I have been left questioning whether people feel they cannot challenge me in the class for a certain role even though they are given the chance, or are people just using studio time as a place to chill out and not motivate themselves to do the best they can in class.
My role was a success at times because the outcome was delivered at 4.15pm with 15 minutes extra time included. Any issues that occurred I tried to help and motivation was handed out left right and centre. I found myself going to each individual asking how they are getting on, and when it came to discussing work we all explained our ideas to each other. I cannot say that the whole day was productive and that all individuals were professional because again, a lack of concentration from certain people in the group distracts others. Many went off task half way through the day and as the day went on it got easier to pick out who cannot concentrate and those who were motivated to stick it out.
I tried to use every individual for their strengths, for example when it came to the idea generating many people the group already know their roles as idea people which lead to fantastic concepts. However some had a lack of interest in the project. In an ideal world we would love to work on briefs that excite us, but some individuals do not like the advertising side of this course, I included. I do however deal with the task and even though I like to think I don’t enjoy advertising, as each class is being taught my understanding on how advertising & graphic design come together is growing stronger.
I learnt some interesting things today, one being that the computer is relied on far too much. The studio time we have is not taken serious and if we were in a professional environment all working for a company, and the studio time was exactly like today then some individuals need to tone it down. I also learnt that I will explore the other roles within the design team, and see how comfortable or uncomfortable I feel. Overall the day was a learning curve for me. The project was a success and if anymore time had been spent it could have been even greater.
