Week Three

1) Identify what you personally have completed since last week

This week I have continued to communicate with the rest of my team, both online through Facebook, as well as in person. Though we haven’t received very many project requests just yet, the sponsorship team has asked us to create a sponsorship package for them and I have agreed to be the one to work on this task. Aside from the fact that the team needs this document created by the graphic design team, they haven’t given us any information on what they would like the final product to look like, when they need it completed by or any of the content that needs to be included, so I haven’t been able to start assembling it just yet. All I really know at the moment is that this package is going to need to be created in InDesign, so until I receive the information I need, I’m going to continue sharpening my design skills, specifically dedicating most of my time to working with InDesign.

2) How you accomplished those tasks including any resources you used such as tutorials, meeting with group members, meeting with other groups, books, etc.

         As a team, similarly to the past couple of weeks, the most necessary resource was meeting up in person both with the other graphic designers, as well as with members from other teams (particularly the art direction group), to discuss what needs to be done. In addition, Facebook was another resource that was used for communication amongst the graphic design team members. Furthermore, I’ve also personally continued to use the Adobe design programs as a resource for enhancing my design skills.

3) What your team has accomplished in the last week

During the time that we met up in person, we decided to have a few brief meetings with members from other groups. First we met up with the social media team where Kirk discussed what he is going to be requiring from us and we unanimously decided that it would be best for one graphic designer to create all the social media graphics; Adam volunteered himself for this position. After we finished talking with Kirk, we met up with the art direction team where we all gave our input on the colour palettes that they had come up with. Once the colour palette was finalized, we were able to start talking about the different projects that we need to work on. As a group we decided that the first thing that needs to be created is the logo, as it is going to be included in most, if not all, of the work we produce, so Alex decided to take this job. From there we delegated the requested tasks that we have received, however we decided that it would be best to wait for the logo to be created and approved before we start producing any other work.

4) The biggest difficulty in the last week

     The biggest difficulty this week was, unsurprisingly, the lack of communication. I tried a few different times to get the information that I need, along with the approved logo, however I haven’t received anything just yet and am therefore still waiting to start working on my assigned task. I’ve never been a fan of procrastinating and always like to ensure I give myself plenty of time to do just about anything, so I find trying to wait patiently for communication from others before I can start my work somewhat frustrating.

5) What you personally aim to achieve before next week

Ideally, I would like to have the sponsorship package done before next week, however as I do not know when I will be receiving the logo or the information I need to create it, there’s a possibility that this may not be realistic. If I am not able to fully complete the package before next week, I hope to at least begin assembling it and aim to have as much done as I possibly can.

Week Two

1) Identify what you personally have completed since last week

This week I have been communicating with the other members in my group about a variety of topics, such as what each of our individual strengths and weaknesses are and how we’re going to divide up the projects, as well as trying to get in contact with other groups, especially the art direction team, to try and get the ball rolling and find out if there is anything that is needed from us either currently or at a later date, as we would like to have as much notice as possible to delegate and prepare ourselves. In addition, I have also spent quite a bit of time this week playing around with the Adobe programs that I believe I will be working with the most frequently throughout the semester in order to refresh my memory and potentially expand my knowledge. 

2) How you accomplished those tasks including any resources you used such as tutorials, meeting with group members, meeting with other groups, books, etc.

Meeting up with the other members of the graphic design group, as well as with members from a number of other groups, were the resources that were used for this week. Gathering together in person allowed us to communicate both more efficiently as well as effectively. Talking face-to-face versus trying to explain something over a text message or an email eliminates many communication barriers, which in turn, typically allows a group to produce better work in a shorter amount of time. Although we haven’t received any projects yet, I think meeting up and discussing things in person slightly helped with getting us on the same page about what we’re doing this semester and the approach we’re going to take. Furthermore, I also used Adobe programs, including Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator, as resources to sharpen my skills and make sure I’m fully ready for any project that I am assigned.  

3) What your team has accomplished in the last week

This week my group met up for a fair amount of time, and as mentioned earlier, we discussed a number of different topics revolving around what this semester is going to be like for us. We also briefly met up with various members from other groups and we began discussing what we will require from other teams in order to complete their requested projects as well as what will be required from us and how to submit a request for a graphic design task. As I said above, there are no requested graphic design tasks at the time being so the most we have really been able to do is try to communicate with other teams to attempt to get an idea of what they will require us to produce for them this semester.

4) The biggest difficulty in the last week

This week there hasn’t been any real difficulties. Communication could be better, but it’s really not a big problem… at least not just yet. For the purpose of writing an honest blog, I’ll admit (based on some patterns that I’ve noticed so far) that I think it will become problematic for us this semester, and probably sooner than later. We all have a lot going on outside of this course, so it’s understandable, and probably inevitable, that communication will be something we’re all going to have to work hard at.

5) What you personally aim to achieve before next week

I would like to start working on some projects that other teams need completed, however we have not received any requests yet, so until we do I intend to continue honing my design skills using the Adobe programs that I referred to earlier on. I also plan on doing my best to communicate with other students, both on my team and on other teams, to find out what needs to be done so I can either begin working or prepare myself for the forthcoming task requests. Essentially before next week I would like to have a better understanding of what the other teams require us to create for them, and possibly even start producing some work.

Week One

1)    Identify what you personally have completed since last week

During this past week I met up with the other graphic designers on my team and we spent our time as a group brainstorming and trying to plan out the upcoming semester. On top of meeting up and communicating with my group members I also worked on a few possible layout designs for our semester plan.

2)    How you accomplished those tasks including any resources you used such as tutorials, meeting with group members, meeting with other groups, books, etc.

I found the most necessary resource for this week was meeting up with the rest of the graphic design team. Getting together in person gave us the best opportunity to communicate our thoughts and ideas about the upcoming semester to compile a unanimous semester plan. Additional resources that I personally used were Adobe programs, such as Photoshop and InDesign, to create layouts for the semester plan.

3)    What your team has accomplished in the last week

During our meeting we collectively had a number of discussions revolving around what we anticipate the semester is going to be like for us as graphic designers. Topics of these discussions included an overall description of our graphic design group and our project scope, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of individual members, the main functions we will be performing (including a list of deliverables and a rough timeline), how we think each deliverable should be evaluated and how we plan on interacting and working with other groups.

4)    The biggest difficulty in the last week

Although I wouldn’t say it was too difficult, I did find trying to predict and plan out what the semester will be like for us a bit tricky. I think one of the toughest parts was trying to come up with a timeline since many projects will be given to us through the request of other groups throughout the semester. Furthermore, trying to determine parts of the ‘Interaction With Other Groups’ section such as when we need to receive content from other groups in order to complete tasks and when we need to deliver content to other groups was also a little tough for similar reasons. I think certain things (like dates and timelines) will have to be determined on a case-by-case basis, as it’s likely that the time required to produce each individual project will vary.

5)    What you personally aim to achieve before next week

I intend to combine my skills with those of the other graphic designers on my team to create a visually appealing, well-written semester plan.