Action 11: Reflecting Back
For the final blog before the end of this semester, I want to reflect on all my actions I have done so far. Through Action 1, I got to know a new culture. Talking to Iris for a week I learnt how our cultures are very similar in some aspects and though very different in some others. With the pandemic going on it was relatively easy to find a common ground between the two. Not just Iris, but over the course of this semester, I have come to learn a lot about so many different cultures and it has definitely widened my spectrum of thinking.
Action 2 was my first experience of getting to cook a foreign cuisine. Marcia’s offering of Brigadeiro is definitely something that will stay with me forever. Also, given that all our actions were being done online it was challenging to get all the ingredients and come up with a way to offer the right experience of the offering.
Moving on to Action 3, I realized for the first time how I am not comfortable working with ambiguity and how I need a problem statement or clear set of instructions to work on something. But after completing this action I learnt to put a totally different perspective on anything which has helped me develop my creative thinking.
Action 4 was an extension to the previous action. Only, this was the first time where I started working with different materials. Looking at things with a different perspective and then using them to visualize something totally different really helped me in getting out of my comfort zone and try something new.
Action 5 was the first time I reflected on my previous actions. Through the method of video sketching I learnt how to come up with a storyboard and then portray it in a different medium. Although I did not have a chance to repeat the same process again, but I would like to work more with video sketching as I move forward with my masters.
Looking back at Action 6 I realize that I should never come up with a problem statement that is very broad in itself. I have learnt that it is always better to start small and go big rather than doing something just for the sake of doing it. Although I did try to do justice to my problem statement for this action in the next action.
Action 7 was again an extension of the previous action. Now that I reflect back on it I do realize that it was executed poorly. Initially I wanted to change it, but later on I wanted to keep it with me as a mistake and learn from it for my future actions.
For all my actions so far, I had been working a lot on my laptop and using the internet. So for Action 8 I wanted to do something that did not involve the use of any technology. Stepping out further from my comfort zone, for this action I worked with paper. The high point of this action for me, was that this action was done without a plan. Completing this action further motivated me to explore different materials and move away from working on screens and softwares which by now had become monotonous.
After having spent most of the semester in lockdown, I was finally able to step out of my house for Action 9. Having worked with paper in the last action, I took this opportunity to explore some more materials. Completing this action out of my room, I realized I was now more comfortable with working with materials, ambiguity and providing different perspectives to things around me.
Throughout this course coming up with new actions every week, I have reached a point where I am constantly trying to find actions in everything that I do. Action 10 resulted from something similar. It formed while reading a book on type explorations. Completing this action I can finally agree that I am now comfortable in exploring different materials and working with ambiguity, which personally for me is a big step forward in developing my design practice.
Writing about my experiences of the actions for this semester, has helped me in reflecting on how I have grown as a designer. Moving on to the next semester, I wish to take these experiences and incorporate newer design practices.