Final Year Reflection PDP

Personal Development Plan – Reflection

First of all, I had difficulty in product design, particularly in the development process, but working hard motivated my imagination to improve further. I had to choose a product design and create our own brief. A practicing product designer must provide his/her own ideas and build models out of those ideas. My two-year experience wherein we studied techniques on design provided a framework for my thoughts. It was a struggle but it was worth it, because I learned how each part of the product should function and how to make my ideas work.

Continuous learning and interaction for a couple of months with my tutor and classmates allowed me to focus on product design concepts and explore the qualities of my design, whether it was a good design and whether it would work. I also tried new technology, like 3D CAD models and 3D printing to provide a more holistic view of my design. This technology further enhanced my learning of design, but it was difficult at the start. When I came to learn the trade, it was worth it, since 3D printing is one of the newest techniques, which will influence new designs, and other aspects of art.

Understanding intercultural differences is another challenging aspect in the learning process. I had to study and deal with two different cultures, in addition to the language barrier that I encountered. English language is obviously different from Chinese language, and the dissertation is to be in English. I have to learn to manage the ropes, like in the elementary years, but I have to do it. Creating a proposal, doing the research and the dissertation, and composing all these in a dissertation, using the English language, is not an easy job. All these boil down to having a dissertation, which is a product of my sweat and tears, and much effort. I did have to collect information about my chosen topic and spend all my time and strength to think, plan, act, and write all about it.

It was hard from the beginning, but when I learned how to create ideas and put them into writing, I realized it was what I thought of from the start. I remember having a hard time visualising my ideas and putting them into writing. I focused on ideas to create a dissertation that is the product of my thoughts. I had to revise, reorganise, and reconceptualise my thoughts. I struggled for some time – reading, thinking and imagining were important in forming and re-forming ideas, and making original thoughts out of it.

Writing this dissertation helped me fulfill my goal as a student of design. This is important because this will enhance my development as a designer and as a student of Chinese culture, and how this culture developed along with the many influences that students encounter. From the period from “Tang” to “Qing,” the selection of officials through the imperial examinations, students have to create a dissertation and pass it with high grades. The results and quality of my dissertation will reflect my personality as a learner and as a student of design.

In writing a dissertation, we read and analyse the literature, and not the traditional way of reading and copying. We learn from what we read, we study and do not imitate. We integrate our opinion and ideas, and create our independent view by focusing on the information and the evidence. This dissertation includes arguments from accomplished authors, information and data, and important discoveries of researchers. I was under psychological pressure while writing this thesis, as it tested my views to create an intellectual work. With all the pressure however, I have the will to say that I can finish this until all of my ideas shall have run out, although a student of art will never run short of ideas.

There were several faults in my first product design, i.e. I spent too much time on research rather than focusing on the product and my design. It was really a confusing process but I learned my lessons. My tutor and my classmates asked me about my product and its functions, and I had a few incomplete responses. It was a challenging time, because I could not produce a real design and a work of art. I asked help from my tutor in creating my design.

How do I define success? When I get compliments I do not look at it as success, instead I take it as a suggestion for improvement, and exert more efforts to be successful. I feel successful if I achieve my goal that I set before, and see my work with high quality, and other people agree and are impressed with it.

There is always room for improvement. I take every step seriously, for example, I take notes during group meeting and try to recall what my tutor and classmates suggest regarding my work. They are an inspiration when I struggle for ideas. My tutor strongly recommends that I must have a time plan when making a design, emphasising on the completeness of my thoughts and the information from other sources. My thoughts and others’ ideas and suggestions are one of the bases for a good design. There are times I feel satisfied with my work, but other times I also feel I do not know anything. I think this is the beginning of my struggle in being an artist and as a human being. We all have our ups and downs, and how we survive depends on our tenacity and how we react to the environment around us. To be an artist is to experience all these travails. We cannot be successful in our work and in our life as artists if we cannot pass through the test of times. Success is a peculiar thing for an artist, because artists express and view success in so many ways.

Before I came to this University, I passed the B-Tech diploma. I realized that the three years of university life are totally different than before. All information must be given credence now, or you would be grasping for ideas. I understand now what a life of a practicing designer looks like. I enjoyed group work, but individual work is more important. I can understand more how to work as a designer in a technical way instead of just creating random ideas.

The “Constellation” module gave me 66%, 2:1. I was quite satisfied and happy with this result, but I can improve with my dissertation about Eastern and Western design cultures, which reflect in pottery designs. I took my tutor’s advice to define the aspects of culture, and so through research in books and online journals, I explored other’s culture and looked for solid evidence. I also took her advice to make a time line for helping me narrow the research down and develop my research in time. I found that was helpful to keep my research clear and concise, and for doing my thesis step-by-step.

In product design project, the first feedback I received was marked for a VIVA presentation. The result was negative, or my research lacked substance. The presentation should include a product features professional presentation with a concept 3D model. I have done a lot of drawing, and designed outer shape ideas, but I struggled with the function part of my design. I did not have enough time to complete my research. My presentation was not a well-prepared one and for that, I truly regret. I did not take too seriously my tutor’s advice to have a well-researched presentation.

I think it is obvious that I need further help in English composition and grammar. I can have this through more reading and listening the English language. As I struggle to learn more about design, language has become a barrier, but through continuous learning, I will be able to overcome it.

I need to perfect this thing called art, because as said earlier, this is what makes me as a human being. In the course of my work, I have to compare, contrast, and make my own original art. There are rich past and modern ideas about design processes and method, and I can combine them with the ideas from the lectures to assist how culture generates interaction between designer and object. By defining the creation of pottery art, I can illustrate how shapes and decorations become a better-integrated style. Designs depend on the relationship between technologies, marketing, communications, and competitors. We also have to understand the design concept and movement in different centuries to give us the background of how it all started and how all these evolved through the years. Finally, I have to infuse new technology, such as 3D design and the use of computer software, to enhance my work.