How to... live with people you don't like? Evaluation.

We all played a number of roles in the group, one of my roles was to create a variety of slogans that related to tea and then the rest of the group picked their favourite 2 to be used. Another of my jobs was to design and create the packaging to put the tea bag in; I also helped with the printing of the sticker sheets and mug holder. We all put input into the design of the mug holder, so we all had an equal say and it wasn’t just one person that was responsible for it all.

I feel I performed my roles within the group to the best of my capabilities; the jobs I took part in were successfully completed on time, and matched the criteria which was set by us as a group, and fitted the criteria from the brief. I also tried to help others where possible in order to make sure our product was completed on time and to a high standard.

As a group we did have a few obstacles to overcome, which involved being one team member down, which seemed to make us work even harder and come up with an idea that hasn’t been done before, compared to our ideas earlier. We all worked together, everyone had a say in what everyone was doing so it wasn’t just a case of, ‘You go away and do that and we will stick it together at the end’, and I think from the final product, it is evident that it was a team effort.

The positives of working in a group are that when we originally sat down to think of ideas, we seemed to just bounce our thinking off each other, as someone would say an idea and then another person would take that idea even further. Also, we each had different specialist areas which made us even stronger, whether they were illustrators or good at designing packaging, and we all said that if we had have been given this as a solo brief, we probably wouldn’t have come up with this idea, which really shows 6 heads are better than 1, in this case.

The negatives of working in a group is that sometimes, people want different things and work in different styles which can cause issues, especially if all but one person agrees on something, it’s awkward knowing what to do next, as you can’t bully a team member into agreeing on an idea, and we did encounter this issue.

Next time I would manage time a little differently, although we met the deadline and had a final product we were pleased with, there were a few minor flaws physically, as the card that was used to create the mug holder would not have been strong enough to be carried around. We should have experimented with different weights of card to see which would be more practical.

I think our attempt at coming up with a resolution to the brief was good as we had acknowledged the fact that we physically can’t make people get on with one another, however with our product, it could be a point of socialisation and communication, which may help ease the problem, so I’m not sure how the resolution could be improved as it’s down to the individual whether the situation is resolved.

The overall product I feel was to a high standard and I think we produced something that was original and light hearted yet serious as it is a common problem and is not easily resolved. The colours of the products and the whole feel of it in general was very appropriate, we used tea stains as the background, a font created out of tea stain/texture and the ‘peace’ sign on the mug carrier was also created out of the ring that mugs sometimes leave on the surface it stands on, which may seem like it is a little over the top, but visually it fitted together really well. The tea bag envelope was also created in a similar style, and the stickers for the mugs were created from the ‘tea font’.
As a group we all felt proud of the product and we could all step back and feel pleased with the hard work we had put in.

Our presentation was interactive as we got the audience to feel the brief by making cups of tea. I feel the presentation went quite well, we had one person presenting the product, and two people talking through the idea, which may have seemed as though the other two and me were just stood there, but we decided if we all took it in turns to speak, it would look a little bit school-like.

Ten things I want to achieve by the end of this year...

In no particular order...

1. Gain confidence in my work- I struggle to see my work as being good, which can make my ideas seem weak.

2. Learn new software- I would like to learn bits of Fireworks, InDesign and Flash.

3. Be able to manage my time better- I do sometimes leave things until the last minute, a bad habit that needs breaking urgently!

4. Be more competent on Photoshop- I can work on it quite comfortably with knowledge of a few shortcuts but I would like to learn more.

5. I would like to learn how to create a short film- in the digital media suites, this could be very useful in terms of advertising etc.

6. I would like to find some form of work experience- I'm not bothered whether it's paid or unpaid, everyone needs to start somewhere.

7. I would definitely, definitely love to pass this year!

8. Make contacts with people- acorss courses, or even outside of the College altogether.

9... I will have to think a bit longer for the next two, it's tricky to think as these need to be attainable yet they need to challenge me.