During my first year of University I learnt a range of new skills and techniques that I will be able to develop and work on in the future. When I first came to university I was someone who mainly focused on neat and precise drawings and one area of feedback from my first project was that I needed to show my development of an idea more and show where the idea comes from and why, rather than just producing my final design. For example, the brief was to create a workstation and I arrived at my final idea, to make it reflect a tree house, very early on in the development. This then gave me a tunnel vision and stopped me from exploring ideas that would have created a more innovate spaces. This highlighted just how important initial ideas are and what I would class as ‘rubbish drawing’ are vital in a development pack. In my next project I pushed myself to break out of the neat and tidy drawings and create rough sketches that may not be perfect but get the idea down that I am trying to convey. These quick initial ideas are still an area I will be working heavily on during my second year, but I feel already I am heading in the right direction with my sketching.
Another area that I improved upon was my computer skills with design software such as Photoshop, InDesign and SketchUp. Before coming to university, I had never used these programs before and so I spent a lot of my time learning them both with teacher help and through watching online videos. For example I learnt how to add lighting and shadows to bring to life a design as well as adding people on Photoshop to a SketchUp design. From doing this I was able to produce visuals that I was very happy with considering I had only just learnt it. This helped me to visualise ideas better as sketching is not a strong area for me and so by creating models on the computer, I was able to trace over and change parts quickly and easily. Going in to my second year I am looking forward to developing skills more and how to visualise a space so that it is from a perspective of a person, so learning how to position at eye levels and altering the camera at different angles.
One area that I felt very proud of is my final models that I made in the first year. For example, my model of a tree house workstation was visually strong and brough across the environment that I had intended too which is very important when showing ideas to others as it easily shows the design without having to explain it with words. Using a range of material allowed me to match the model’s materials more closely to the real ones that would have been used, linking back to making it easier for others to understand the concept, as well as giving me structural support needed in my model. This taught me that through using models you can speak a thousand words and show ideas easily, going into second year I want to explore more materials and try to use the laser cutter to create more effective models as a feel using card board can only take an idea so far and the next step is to begin using other materials.
Overall my first year of university was a great way for me to learn the basics and key areas that I can go on to develop in the second year – knowledge of materials, sketching skills, software design and also to have the courage to share my ideas and have the confidence behind them to explain why I think that this design I have made is suitable.