5.2.3 Workflow
Part 1: Reflect
What parts of your practice make you feel most engaged and creative?
I feel the most engaged when I am generating ideas for a project and experimenting with different software or processes. I also feel very engaged when it comes to mood boarding or if a specific project needs it I like to do mock-ups to see what something could look like if it was 'real'. It is the best feeling for a designer when everything you have worked hard on starts to become one.
When do you ‘actually’ feel like you’re designing?
I feel like I'm 'actually' designing when my design process starts after most parts of the research stage are complete as I feel tat you are never done researching with your working on a new project, there are always new things to find. When I feel that I have enough information to work from I will then start to expand my ideas and build them into something. This could involve things like moving onto finding a colour scheme, thinking of logo designs or mapping things out on mood boards.
What pain points do you identify in your own workflow?
I believe that my work can become a bit staggered if the project becomes a little to repetitive or if it is something that I am not exactly too interested in. I feel that this causes me to lose a little bit of focus and I find it difficult to stay on track if I'm not invested in a project as my views may not align or I struggle to find something to work on.
What tasks or steps feel like obstacles to designing?
I believe that an obstacle for me would be when a projects requirements or information is unclear and not exactly direct. This can make it difficult for me to understand what is being asked of me as I would have to attempt to find out on my own or ask for help. This also take up valuable working time and puts a little bit of stress on me. When creating things for a project I want to always be on task and something like this can slow me down or effect my outcomes as a whole.
Part 2: Research Tools
What tools, techniques, or strategies did you find in your research?
When researching found things that was able to help me with the design process of idea generation. I found that mood boards and stetches being done in the beginning of a project can lead to your work being neat and makes sure that you have all your ideas in the same place when you need to refer back to them. This can be either digital or physical. I also feel that mind maps can help generate ideas as well as making a checklist to make sure you can stay on track, having notes also helps someone be able to go back on things and make sure that they are doing the right thing and that they have the right information.
How could these be integrated into your practice?
I would of wanted to add more of these mood boards, sketches and mind maps towards the beginning of my work process as I feel that I would of been able to stay on track more and possible experiment with other things if I thought of them during idea generation. These tools and strategies would help generate a lot more ideas that are strong and can be built up when exploring them more.
Part 3: Question
How do emerging tools (including AI) challenge or change what it means to be a designer, and how might your workflow need to adapt?
I believe that in the design and art industry AI feels to be changing how designers and creatives work. This could involve creating shortcuts or helping with idea generation. AI isn't always a negative thing however if the use of
AI is abused then that's were it changes as being a designer revolves around creativity and you lose all of that if you have AI do all the work for you especially if you say its your own work. Design loses its meaning and impact if its done by AI, AI cant think how designers think.
