OUGD503: Responsive - Collaborative Practice Session One

In preparation for our first session of Collaborative Practice we were asked to bring along three briefs which we were interested in. Myself and Charlie who is my collaborative partner both particularly enjoy the idea generation aspect of the design process and therefore, playing to our strengths chose three briefs which we felt would allow us to be as creative as possible.

We were also asked to bring in our first draft of the collaborative sheet which we had completed individually stating why we had chosen our collaborative partner and what skills we felt we could bring to the brief.

From the three briefs we brought in we were asked to choose one which we would like to apply for, the help us make this decision we started the session by making a list of pros and cons for each brief.

BEAR

Pros

• It is a very open brief, we could perhaps just do vowels?
• The brief gives us an opportunity to be creative
• There is a emphasis on the idea generation for this brief
• The brief plays on our strengths
• The is possibility for expansion on this brief

Cons

• Quite of lot of work to do for the brief
• We'd need to think outside of the box, do something different
• How can we be different to what already exists?

BOOST

Pros

• We get to decide the flavours, therefore have more ownership of the brief
• Get to try something new; packaging
• Brief can essentially be split into jobs

Cons

• We get to decide on flavours, might take up too much time
• Target audience is indecisive
• Terrible tone of voice

CATH KIDSON

Pros

• An illustrative brief
• The brief suits our style
• Opportunity to do something different; pattern
• Could expand the product range

Cons

• Limited concept ideas
• Target audience is too specific
• Not a lot of work for two people

After much consideration of this list of pros and cons we decided to choose the 'Bear' brief which not only suited both our design style giving us plenty of opportunity to explore designs and concepts but also was substantial enough for us both to produce a substantial body of work in response.

Once we had chosen our brief we were then able to fill in a second draft of the collaborative brief, this time in our pair and being more specific about the roles and responsibilities each of us would take.

This second draft of the collaborative sheet would then act as a contract or agreement of what we will each contribute to our chosen brief.

We then as a class had a discussion of the difference between the roles and responsibilities we will take on in relation to our brief.

ROLES

• Time Management (Project)
• Resources
• Contacting / Communication

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Style / brand guidelines
• Research activities
• Fulfil your agreements
• Working to Deadlines
• Maintaining clear communication

For Next Week (Concept Crit):

• Our individual roles and responsibilities
• Our joint roles and responsibilities
• Begin the idea generation for brief
• Pitch for initial concept for the brief