Dialogue Ignites Change Brief - Water

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewSmN4rua6w

Just one of the things I looked up recently in my research into the latest brief, the floods that have recently devastated villages in Cumbria.

Colloborative Project Retrospective

Having now finished the colloborative project, I think it went very well. I really enjoyed working with the people on my team and I think we produced a good peice of work. I certianly enjoyed coming up with ideas as a team, as I think sometimes I can get stuck in a rut when generating ideas solo. I think the main success of the project was that we all put an equal amount of effort in, it reminds me of something Louise Vormittag of ContainerPlus said in her lecture, that it was necessary for each member of the team to have the same level of commitment, I think this was the case and that this was one of the keys to the project working well. Altogether I thouroughly enjoyed the project and I am happy with the final result.

Andy Martin

We recently had a presentation by illustrator Andy Martin regarding illustration in general and also the nature of collaboration. Andy gave some real gems of wisdom, he commented that it was good to have a bit of conflict in our projects, as it will prepare us for similar situations in real life.
Also he described how sometimes art directors can ask for too much in an illustration, and then the piece just becomes a description of the article it was meant for, rather than a good piece of illustration. This related to me as sometimes I will think too literally and try to include too much in the illustration, when it can be conveyed in a much simpler, more subtle way.
The presentation was very interesting and Andy was a genuinely nice guy with a great sense of humour.

www.andy-martin.com

Louise Vormittag - ContainerPlus

We recently had a lecture from Lousie Vormittag of ContainerPlus, which was very informative, enjoyable, and a good insight into the ups and downs of collaborative work.
Louise had some gems of wisdom, such as having the same level of commitment is necessary to a healthy working relationship and that it is good to learn from the strengths and weaknesses of the different members of your team. She also commented on how making your group bigger can be a mistake as it is harder to come to decisions with many different peoples opinions.
Louise also said that it is important to have real conversations with your team members when discussing ideas, and that there is no room for a big ego in a team.
Also a she said something that I think would apply to anyone taking on commissioned work; "sort out money issues before money becomes an issue".

Altogether a very interesting lecture and a thoroughly nice lady.

www.containerplus.co.uk