Visual Communication: Studio Brief 1 (Feedback, and Evaluation)

During our reflective session of discussion I was unsurprised to find that the group was unanimously disappointed in our response to the project as a whole.

The most prominent difficulty we faced was communication, though we were certainly a pleasant bunch we had vast gaps of confusion and loss of direction. I appreciate that despite being a randomly selected group we should have resolved to work properly as a team. Only temporary activities were dispensed to group members, meaning that our individual skills weren't exploited to great extent.

Additionally, I found that I assumed the responsibility to do a large amount of the groups' work, and other group members agreed that the work load was disproportionate. 

It would be simple write off the experience as a fluke event, but that would displace blame. It was a 

joint failure to catalyse each other into engaging with the brief. Personally, I feel responsible for presumptuously taking upon myself to do a higher proportion of work, leaving others with less to do.

 

During the peer evaluation we assembled with the groups that we initially pitched our ideas to.
This process again revealed that I too easily assumed command of the group, as I ended up presenting the narrative of our project and our resolution.

It was apparent early in the session that several other groups had not prepared their A2 prints, I would put this down to a similar lack of internal communication that our group was blighted with.
Luckily I had prepared the print earlier, unfortunately the quality was thwarted by dodgy lighting and unfamiliarity with my new camera.

The other groups gave praise to my constructivist posters, perhaps I should have pushed for the aesthetic to fully realised in the final pieces, but I already felt contented with my influence over the design of the hand and typography.

Additional praise was given to the final .gif... which admittedly had not been seen by another group member, again highlighting my own poor communication in the project.

Other groups members appeared to share a similar self-critical attitude that no doubt is tangible throughout this review. Will was concerned at his lack of contributions, and felt responsible for some of the shortcomings of the group.

Despite the generally negative sentiment I was rather pleased with the final .gif and the short period of productivity on the day of performance. The burst of collaboration was enough to restore my faith in group work.