Week 8

Knowledge Gained

Reflect on what you have learned about the design process while working on your three (3) cubes. How did your research, planning, receiving feedback and exploring design elements and principles influence your creative approach? 

Researching – I have a tendency to get carried away with the open-endedness of possibilities, the divergent thinking.

Planning – felt like a newer skill for me, I usually spend more time on the stages prior and following it (researching and design experimentation).

Feedback – I think I was surprisingly ‘good’ at receiving feedback, as in, I did not feel my back arch up when receiving constructive feedback. I think I’m in an open phase of my life, a phase of learning, where I can accept that I do not have all the solutions and answers yet, that I am really at the beginning of a new journey.  

Design elements and principles – Creating this cube felt a like a novel exercise at the time but, on reflection, was informative and influential on how I assess the success of creative work and design I come across.

Challenges

Did you encounter any challenges during the design process, such as ensuring consistency across the cubes or transitioning from an analogue to a digital approach? How did you address these challenges, and what insights did you gain from overcoming them?

For my pattern cube – I found layering line work with background images quite challenging as I needed to tidy up my lines and remove negative space in Photoshop (which I haven’t used in a very long time).

Success & Strengths

Reflect on your achievements throughout the assessment task. What aspects of the creative process did you feel most confident about? Which elements of the design process (like concept development, material selection, or visual composition) did you find most natural to work with, and why?

I felt most confident about my ability to develop concepts once I was aware of the materials I had available at hand.

Application

How does the work you have completed in this assessment connect to your broader learning journey in design? How do you plan to apply the skills and knowledge gained from this task to future projects? Consider how the creative methods, design principles, or techniques you have explored might influence your approach to other design challenges going forward.

I’ve learnt that brain-storming, thought divergence, and even planning are great skills but that actual hands-on experimentation and simply beginning the design phase, whether I feel ready for it or not, is just as important a component.

Areas for Improvement

Reflect on areas where you feel you could improve or need more practice. How did the feedback you received from peers, learning facilitators or self-assessment influence your design choices? Are there any specific design tools, techniques, or principles you would like to explore further to enhance your skills?

I could get better at seeking multiple sources of feedback, though I feel comfortable asking my partner for what he thinks, it was beneficial as part of this assessment to ask more people in my network. The feedback I received tended to steer me back towards my initial theme/mood boards after I had strayed a little and to reign in my creative solutions.

Goals

Based on your reflections, what study goals can you set for preparing for the rest of the trimester?

Seek feedback on the regular for any and every assessment involving creative problem solving.

Comments

  1. HannahAugust 10, 2025 at 12:37 AM

    Hi Susan,

    Thanks for sharing! Giving and receiving feedback is certainly something that just takes practice, but I'm really glad that you see the value in it as a design tool. When used resourcefully, it can really help to take your work to the next level.

    Something that really struck me from this reflection was your statement, ' I think I’m in an open phase of my life, a phase of learning, where I can accept that I do not have all the solutions and answers yet, that I am really at the beginning of a new journey'. What a beautiful place to be! There is so much power in understanding that you don't have all the answers, and I think as a creative this mentality will really serve you and will shine through in your work.

    Hannah

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