This module has been up and down for me. One minute I feel like I’m getting somewhere and the next I felt like I was straight at the beginning again. Due to personal issues affecting my education, it caused me to go off Plan and become unorganised and lose track of time often. I dealt with my time management unsuccessfully and therefore eventually lost motivation and enjoyment in the module as I was stressed and overwhelmed. This evidentially caused me to lack creativity and pride in my work.
However, I am proud to say that I can reflect back on my negatives clearly and can identify the issue. I have learned in this module how important time management and organisation is. It allows me to get certain tasks done in a realistic time schedule while allowing time for other things like work and socialising. This clears my mind and allows me to think more creatively without other negative emotions. Although it is unfortunate my circumstances through out this module and obstacles that were in the way, it has taught me how to deal with them efficiently where I can put my wellbeing first while also putting my all in to education. I have understood that depriving myself of either University work or social time / time to myself is damaging and finding a balance is the correct response.
As for the Module itself, I learned the technique of creating collages digitally. Although it may not be the most professional approach, I feel like I have gained more confidence in this area and can create successful collages when my full attention is focused on to it. I learned this from reflecting on my first collage, which is easily the most successful compared to the other ones as they were more rushed and my effort was lacking. I can definitely see myself using this technique for mood boards and title pages in the future, as when you spend a decent amount of time on it (usually 45 minutes to 1 hour ) they come out very well. I also feel very proud with my close up image of my Apple I took during my photoshoot. I captured a lot of detail and it was a strong page in my zine. I learned how to create focus on a certain object while blurring the rest of the image. It also helped me to experiment with lighting and how to achieve certain affects.
Working as a group has always been more challenging than working independently for me. I must admit I can come across quite stubborn when my ideas and creativity is involved. I see more successful outcomes when working independently and I think this is because I feel comfortable being in full control of all areas and working to my pace and standards. However, I do enjoy group work now and then as it helps me develop this skill and teaches me how to incorporate my ideas with someone else’s to create even better and bigger ideas. I understand that in the Fashion Industry, you do have to be strong in this skill as team work / group work is very common.
Overall I believe this Module has been a learning curve for me, mostly with my personal skills as that is what affected my creative skills and techniques. I have learned to accept areas of failures and turn them into positives where I can learn, accept and understand. Not everything goes to plan but that doesn’t stop me from reaching my full potential in other areas! I believe that taking what I have learned with me into the next module will help me succeed even more! I also understand the importance of research, as I know I lacked in this specific area, and researching is usually my favourite part of development and the whole project! Stronger and more research leads to stronger and more successful outcomes due to the wide variety of inspiration and ideas.
