PSE Report

Reflective Report & Journal

Paul Milburn
Professional Skills & Enterprise
Module DES4021-N
MA Future Design
University of Teesside
03/02/09

List of Contents

Cover Page 1
Contents 2
Acknowledgments 3
Abstract 4
Introduction 5-6
Exposition 7-10
Conclusion & Endnotes 11
Appendix 12
Acknowledgments

I would like to make a formal acknowledgement of the help and guidance received gratefully by tutor Alison Johnson and give grace to my immediate peer group for their support and encouragement throughout.

Abstract
This report for the Professional Skills and Enterprise module highlights thoughts, inclinations, personal development and adaptation to the course over the past three months. It will refer to the learning agreement completed at the beginning of the year, to uncover whether or not targets set by myself have been reached. The report will also bring to light any difficulties faced and issues overcame throughout.
The personal targets set within the learning agreement were to develop professional skills in hand rendering as well as digital design applications in order to produce future professional presentations. Looking briefly into sustainable urban regeneration, to obtain background knowledge was also a suggested target to assist with the enterprise section.
Noted in the learning agreement were facets to enhance personal ability in order to produce high quality presentation work with the use of both hand rendering/sketching techniques and digital innovation, solely to demonstrate and communicate a project effectively.

Introduction
At the beginning of the Professional Skills and Enterprise (PSE) module it was required that a skills audit was completed to highlight the areas of improvement that could be addressed and developed. A learning agreement was also required to self identify a proposed plan of action.
Professional Presentational Methods and Sustainable Urban Regeneration were the aspects self imposed onto the learning agreement. Feeling somewhat apprehensive that my hand drawing and rendering skills were not my forte, I opted to take advantage of this opportunity and enhance my developmental skills from post works, in turn producing new ways to improve my work. With the increasing demands for digital imagery in the architectural world, it seemed appropriate to develop digital skills on applications such as, SketchUP, Adobe PhotoShop and InDesign. The layout of presentational work was too in need of attention; this was addressed and re-mastered with the use of InDesign. Subsequent to modelling 3D visuals in SketchUp, and manipulating them in PhotoShop, it soon became apparent that the quality of the digital visuals after enhancement was paramount.
Sustainability in urban regeneration and good environmental practice; included in my learning agreement as an area to touch upon in the enterprise section, ascertains the region for investigation; promoting the key features for a possible feasibility assignment. Being extremely passionate about green design, I felt it would be beneficial to touch upon the area with a little background research this semester in order to provide me with a starting point when continuing research into the feasibility assignment.
Within the art and design arena; contrasted with socio-science, there comes a constant underlying aspect for rehabilitation to society and its builds, known as urban regeneration. As an area of design which is of great interest to me, I felt it necessary to grasp a basic understanding of urban regeneration to apply sustainability and green architecture to.
Optional attendance to several external seminars presented by a range of professionals, namely, ‘Sustees’ and ‘Regenerating our town’ , really captivated me. My interest in eco-friendly design/research has leaded me to investigate a prominent fore-thinker, the late R. Buckminster Fuller and his philosophies of futuristic green living. To further my understanding on such a contemporary arena, I hope to look into aspects of Carbon Neutral Homes, Co-designing and Aristotle’s ethics of Eudemonia and human flourishing.

Exposition
After constant practice and experimentation with hand sketching and rendering techniques, I arrived at the premise that this presentation method was not one of which I was comfortable with, particularly for final work. Considering the diminutive timescale required to produce a wide selection of detailed hand rendered sketches it seemed to be a rather impractical, inefficient method to pursue. Developing and flourishing my digital design ability is, in my opinion the rational and most practical direction to follow; digital representations can offer so much more to the client market and the business by means of higher quality visuals, animation, interaction and sound. Not to mention the option to deliver in a variety of forms such as x-ray perspectives, textured or greyscale within a more efficient timescale, saving the client and company time and money.
Once decided that a digital outcome was best suited for my intentions, I continued to expand upon knowledge and experience with digital packages such as PhotoShop and InDesign, both of which I have vaguely touched upon in previous projects. First impressions of the Adobe Suite were discouraging and complicated. After numerous frustrating trials to produce a digital sketchbook on InDesign, I discovered a much simpler program called OneNote within Microsoft Office, which proved more appropriate for documenting web based interactive research more efficiently. InDesign, on the other hand, I feel is better suited for accurate presentational purposes and professional layouts.
Working throughout the Creative Interaction and PSE modules this academic year; through sheer dedication, effort and experimentation, I have taught myself basic skills on how to use the following tools and design packages to create well presented digital outputs. Not only were the electronic applications new to me, but also it was not until enrolling onto the MA had I used anything other than Windows. To my fortune I have had the privilege and the inclination to use a Mac. However, a PC continues to be my preferential choice.
RefWorks was introduced to the course this year, It is a referencing tool I have now came to understand well with every intention of using throughout the rest of the MA to document resources and findings digitally.
Adobe Suite has always been a problematic application to utilise, especially, Photoshop and InDesign which are packages I have had previous difficulties with. After dedicating hours of practice, I have finally managed to obtain a firm understanding of the basics, allowing the finer details to flow naturally. Adobe packages are, in my opinion, vital skills for today’s designers to have; despite them being troublesome and time consuming. Therefore I intend to continue developing skills until feeling extremely confident of my abilities.
In order to collate self referencing research material quickly and easily, I found OneNote was an ideal package to incorporate. It is the first time I have used the package and found it much more appropriate and user friendly contrasted with similar programmes.
Throughout the past three months within both modules, there have been occasions when I have struggled with self confidence and found it increasingly difficult to maintain a positive outlook. Adapting to the structure of the MA was a core issue I faced. The transition from undergraduate to postgraduate study was one I feel I underestimated after realizing the pedagogic differences between the levels of study, with particular reference to the lack of prescription in the defined outputs and open ended nature of the modules, where it was down to me to define the route for progression. As a result of this, it was not until week six that I began to understand the implications of the programme. As a spatial designer, in all previous projects I have been issued with an extensive and somewhat exaggeratory brief and client specification to work from. Whereas, at this level of study, I failed to recognize a higher calibre of work is required and the freedom given in the open brief had overwhelmed me. With the structure of the course being somewhat elementary, having such an extensive brief with the possibility of being taken in many directions, paradoxically felt confusing. In turn causing me to doubt the direction in which I progressed, was the right one.
When I eventually found a pathway of interest, which related to my discipline, I felt I was beginning to finally see the light. For the first time I felt I was really progressing well. I had managed to produce two highly detailed, analytical sketchbooks on InDesign, which took almost several weeks to compile. I was devastated when my work from both modules became corrupt pre Christmas break leaving me with only my basic notes and files to work from. To exacerbate the situation further, I had to present my portfolio to Alison, Olivia and Ben later that week. I felt dismayed and undeserved; having only three 2D images to show. I did not want to begin my presentation by stating I had lost my work as it would have portrayed me as futile. It felt to be a poor excuse for poor organization on my part. At this point my spirits were deflated and confidence was knocked. In order to bounce back, I forced myself into overdrive to be able to make up for lost time. Unfortunately; during the month of hand in, I faced numerous software issues when transferring my work from my laptop to the university computers.
As an undergraduate, I primarily focussed on building regulations and architectural perspectives; therefore I never really took the opportunity to learn PhotoShop or InDesign. I used to use Microsoft Publisher for everything, so when I started the MA I felt at a slight disadvantage. I began to use packages the others had been using for years and had moved onto digital animation and web based design.
It is within my humility to admit I have struggled with the MA over the past three months. Despite making every effort to produce the best possible work I could, I feel I have let myself down this term. However, I strongly believe I could have done much better if I had acted sooner and took more caution by backing up my work regularly, despite being well motivated and hardworking.
It has been quite stressful and very tiresome managing two jobs and the full time MA. Not only do I supply teach three days a week but work in Tesco three evenings and all weekend, leaving me little social or university time. As a result of this I have often found myself working until the early hours of the morning in the Phoenix building, which has proven very demanding, especially with me trying to catch up. During the two hand-in weeks, I was finishing work at 11pm then working in the Phoenix all night through.
After attending the official opening of the Phoenix building, and listening to the address made by Sir George Cox about creativity in business, I considered self employment for a brief period. However, it was not until the talk from Neil Hannah about academic enterprise and business development, I realised; it was something I found very interesting. Combined with Peter Reid’s talk about entrepreneurship, it really opened my eyes to a new line of business that I was previously ignorant to.
Working in a team, this year has proven successful so far within the Creative interaction module. I feel by continuing my experience with team working and continued interaction for the enterprise section of the module would be beneficial. Some colleagues and I decided to team up and produce a combined detailed business plan and SWOT analysis as we were aiming towards similar sustainable outcomes for urban regeneration.
Since attending the ‘Sustees’ seminar, and having an in depth discussion into co-design and how it appears to be an up and coming trend in the design arena, The mentioned colleagues and I decided to manufacture a multi skilled design team, with sustainability being our epicentre. After speaking to a cross-disciplinary panel and taking onboard their advice and thoughts, we have already each created a Blog space to record and share findings and industrial contacts.
Alastair Fuad-Luke advised us that it would be a positive move to tackle the business world as a united group, to give each other support and encouragement. From this we have set up a joint email address, which is imperative for maintaining a link with established companies. I feel much more confident and excited about this; it lies within my comfort zone which gives me the opportunity to prove myself.

Conclusion
Throughout this brief, I have faced many problems, setbacks and emotional distress trying to understand the Creative interaction module and how it differed from the PSE module. Time management and software issues have been problematic for me.
As Alison once said to me “You are the kind of person who likes to have everything completed and tied up in a little neat box and tucked away safely” I have finally realised that I am allowed to have an ongoing progression of work without having to brand it finished. The main thing the MA has taught me is that design is never finished; I am going to bear Alison’s comment in mind for future projects and step out of my safety zone and just enjoy it – Over the past three years I feel this is what I have lacked, which has resulted in me restricting myself.
With this theory in mind I attended the Sustees seminar last week. I felt much more positive about the course, I have overcame the worst of it by adapting my small minded, stubborn way of working, I feel I have evolved as a person and am much stronger and more confident than I was three months ago. In a way I am glad I had such a hard time and defeatist attitude in the beginning as I now feel proud of myself for sticking it out and proving myself wrong, it has made me a more determined person who wants to succeed.
Something was said to me which really brought things home, “the MA is to make you the best in that discipline and not to expect your tutor to know it all, to use initiative and become the master of that topic.” Which has inspired me to continue with my presentational development and bring my skills up to date by incorporating web based design and continuation of my blog, as well as becoming a good team member. I no longer have concerns over my ability to continue with the MA but on reflection I do have concerns that I may have already exacerbated for myself.