Second-year so far

Hello and welcome to my blog!

This is my first-time back writing since last year. I am looking forward to sharing my second-year experiences and life as a university student.

Second-year so far has been both exciting and challenging. We have learnt more about the structure of a building and the construction of furniture and fittings. I have enjoyed thinking about how components work and the different structures of a building.

In one module we were asked to complete a fire escape strategy referring to government documents. Designers in practice need to ensure that a building is safe for its occupants, therefore, learning these skills is vital. As I learn more about interiors and building regulations, I am enthusiastic about my career as a designer. I expected government guidelines to restrict my creativity, however, in this module, I designed a self-supporting, spiral-shaped desk (Figure 1). Thus, regulations create safe environments and shouldn’t limit imaginative concepts.

Figure 1: Spiral reception desk created for the New Adelphi Building, Salford.

I've discovered that I prefer design-led projects over technical reports. As part of a module, we had to create a group feasibility report of Ordsall Hall, a grade 1 listed building in Salford. Heaps of information could be found within the building itself, but I had chosen to research elements which required a google search and a trip to the library. It was difficult to find reliable and reputable sources online. Consequently, I was unsure of the accuracy of some parts of my research. In future projects, I will ask for help from a tutor if I struggle to find data for a report.

We were asked to produce a physical document for submission. We chose to ring bind our pages together to create a professional aesthetic. Our group used InDesign to construct our report. We didn't have any previous experience using this programme so made several mistakes. As we didn't account for these mistakes whilst planning how we would manage our time, we fell slightly behind schedule. To prevent problems like this occuring again, I will practice using InDesign.

The design section of this project was only short, so I wasn't able to develop my ideas as much as I usually do. As a result, I feel as though I didn't fulfil the project to its potential. There are not many mistakes you can make during design projects, as they can be reported as development. However, informative reports need to be correct. I prefer designing as I love being creative and exploring spaces.