Week 5 & 6
These two weeks were both presentation creation and reflection, so they will be presented as one piece.
Peer Feedback Week Four
This week's feedback was in the form of letter writing. This was an interesting form of feedback, offering more depth than the week three written feedback; however, not as much as the verbal feedback. It was nice to get a look into how people perceived my blog and what they thought I should work on based on that. I also found it a good way for me to give feedback to others, and I hope my feedback was helpful, as I felt I had written well.
Some key pieces of feedback I got were that I should look into the 'why' further and start specifying who I am designing for. I have found this a struggle throughout my experience with wool, because, in a way, I am designing for wool, but wool isn't the consumer, which creates a problem: my consumer target is far too broad. It is definitely something I need to work on.
Furthermore, I got high praise for my shoelace font and my drive for the project. It is interesting to see people gravitate towards the font; perhaps it is because type is a relatable medium for many disciplines, or because it is interesting and engaging. I am also glad that my drive shows through in my work, because above all else, I am too eager to exude passion for what I do, and I find that a great way to get people on board by showing them how much I care.
Finally, I got feedback on how I need to refine. While I agree, I have enjoyed being a bit broader as I explore in DP1, but I will need to come to a more succinct point as I move into DP2 and towards my thesis.
Updated Research Question
How Can Strong Wool And Natural Dyes Create Connections Through Material Narratives, That Connect People To Products?
"Greatest Hits" Presentation
Presentation Feedback
While the majority of the feedback I received on my presentation was about my future directions and my why, it helped me clarify how to answer those questions. I need to think more about my 'why' regarding wool. For the most part, my why is that I want to do two things by doing business and learning- building communities and creating a legacy for myself. This doesn't necessarily tie into wool, so I need to look at why I feel so drawn to it to do a master's project on it and start a business in the area.
Furthermore, my peer Deanna gave me insightful feedback to define what I mean by ‘authentic’. This has been a bit of a buzzword I have continued to use throughout my master's, and Rachel has also brought it to my attention. I need to understand the point I am trying to make with that word and why authenticity is important to me. I think it is more about creating a strong narrative tied to the product rather than a brand that creates it, so the product is the one telling the story.
Finally, regarding my presentation, I got great feedback. I had multiple people tell me they loved my presentation and the energy that I brought. As I have said before, it is so important for me to show off the passion that I have to get people to care, so I am glad I was able to do this with this presentation as well.
Design Practice Reflection
Design practice has allowed me to ideate my way into a better understanding of my master's objective. I started out thinking my project was about bringing wool into wearables, and I have finished off looking into how strong wool can be used to create material narratives that tie people to the product. I believe that through making, I was able to take a step forward in the process and understand how it strengthens your bond with the product, and how sharing that can elevate wool. My goal still remains to uplift the value of wool, but the output has changed.
I now need to contextualise my thinking into a more fledged concept as I began design practice two. I understand the importance of getting more specific now, and perhaps it should have happened a bit earlier, but because I have been working so specifically with my business over the last year, it was great to immerse myself in the making process and gain a better understanding of what I was doing.