(Also submitted online on the 03.12.20)
A contribution is more than simply being part of a team. It is sharing, learning, developing and helping. Group tasks can be challenging in context to balance and leadership, especially with a group as large as nine people like ours. As we near the end of the module, I am faced with the question of what my contribution was to this project. What hard or soft skills have developed through this project? What did I learn from this process?
The largest part of my contribution was, in fact, also the area where I learnt the most out of this module. This being the augmented reality element of the Unexpected Joy concept. This included augmented reality cards, inspired by user interface and user experience design, that would appear to the user/visitor enabling them to be surprised and learn about Unexpected Joy, the exhibition and about ourselves individually as creative practitioners. The field of augmented reality and designing for that space was unknown to me before this module and, I decided that as part of my MA, to develop my practice as a graphic designer and push the boundaries of my skill set, I would challenge myself to learn new software and create an outcome I have never made before. Although the outcomes were not what I had originally hoped for and conceptualised, I am happy to say that I took the challenge and stepped outside of my comfort zone. Through this challenge, I have learned many practical lessons, for example, to ensure that a backup concept or software is available should any issues occur.
As the module progressed, Covid-19 played a large role in deciding the outcomes and the direction for our team, especially my augmented reality experience. With no physical space now available due to government restrictions, we were forced to think on our feet to ensure that the digital outcome was as strong, if not stronger, than the original exhibition concept. This, in fact, turned out to be a blessing in disguise. This new digital concept and focus for Unexpected Joy meant that more time could be focused on the creation of the work instead of the production of communication for a physical space. This also alleviated any budget and any time scale stresses.
Towards the latter end of the project, I was faced with an issue when exporting the augmented reality artwork as a QR code within the Adobe Aero application. After trying on various devices (iPhone, iPad and Mac) the issue was apparent on the application itself and not the device and after receiving no reply from Adobe Support about this issue, and finding that others were indeed experiencing this issue, I was forced to yet again adapt. After conversations with members of the team, I found a solution that could enable the cards to work as intended, by placing the .real or .usdz file into the website for users to click and enable the augmented reality experience. It was later the same day, that I discovered that Wix, our website creation platform, does not support these file types. After this challenge presented itself, I began conversations with Karolina and Ashleigh who spearheaded the website creation. After sharing and acquiring thoughts on proposed solutions, I made the decision to adapt the augmented reality cards to suit the desktop space and have them appear as pop up windows as you move around the website. Although this was not my intended solution, I feel this experience has developed 'soft skills' in cognitive flexibility and decision making. Skills that will be vital for the rest of the course to ensure that all modules run smoothly.
Through reflection, I have been able to see where I may have been too ambitious with what I wanted to achieve for this module. At the beginning of the project, I had originally planned to create a series of graphic portraits alongside the augmented reality work. All of which was presented in the formative presentation. As time progressed, I soon realised that a decision must be made to ensure a focused outcome for my contribution. Portraits or augmented reality. I believe that if I had taken this focused direction sooner in the project timeline, I could have worked to find a solution for the augmented reality issues, had more time to explore each software I wanted to try in further depth including any recent issues that are affecting the software and in turn my outcomes.
Through conversations with Ashleigh and Karolina about the website and the potential of added content for users to take away, I agreed to create free content such as wallpapers for viewers to download, both for desktop and mobile devices. This was created alongside the augmented reality cards and following that, created the "Freebies" page on the Unexpected Joy website.
I challenged myself to design in a field I never have before and to develop my creative practice. Throughout this project, I believe that I have grown as a creative practitioner. Learning 'hard skills' in Adobe Aero, where I invested time into creating the outcomes and experimentation and in Lens Studio, where I experimented with lenses for Snapchat early on in the project. A noticeable development has occurred in regards to various 'soft skills' through this process too. Skills in communication, teamwork and problem-solving. Through the creation and upkeeping of the blog, I'm in the process of developing my formal reflective writing practice too, which in turn has allowed me to gain new ideas and in fact, feed into the TMA1401 module. One of the most important 'soft skills' I have noticed develop is communication. Through the communication of ideas, feedback on the website development and summative slide content and its order, to the communication of feedback or narrative directing. Communication with team members on a project such as this has required more energy and time than I previously assumed, however, I feel the skills developed here will be skills that continue to grow and follow me into my professional career.
View the Unexpected Joy website here
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