Category: DSGN320

I came out of this experience with a portfolio-ready piece that I am proud of thanks to Justin, Ariel and Jolanta from We The Collective! I enjoyed the last 2 weeks the most out of this entire process because, at this point, I just had to sit down and design the screens and continue to iterate on them after feedback. What I love most about this design process is getting to the point where it gets nitpicky because it means that the design is almost there. Next week, I will be giving a client presentation to them as if I were trying to sell my product to Playland themselves. When I was building my presentation for class, I struggled with trying to find a way to present all my screens, as they are all vertical and very long and could not fit on a 16:9 presentation slide. What I decided to do was move away from Google Slides and instead present through Figma. I would say it made for a seamless presentation as I did not have to switch windows in order to present my prototype. I would give my final project a 9/10.

During this phase, I had many learnings. When it came to coming up with concepts, I learned that moodboarding for UX and digital products is different than moodboards for branding. Instead of choosing images and words that gave a strong visual direction for the product, I was told to instead aim towards utilizing images and descriptor words that described experiences, and how my user would feel after using the product. I found that piece of advice incredibly helpful as doing so helped me visualize how the app would turn out and how the tone and language of the elements like buttons and callouts would be like.

I also had difficulty presenting my work as phone screens are tall and unable to fit within a single Google slides page as my mentors did not use Figma. It felt super rewarding to get such thorough feedback and to get to see how my project develops under their guidance. Overall I’m having a great time and I’m excited to continue working on the next stages of this project. I would give myself a 9/10 for my performance for this phase.

For this phase, under the guidance of Justin (creative director), Ariel (UX  design lead) and Jolanta (design manager), I completed my brief, set milestones and collected research to put them into a presentation. I learned that the creative process is both different and the same as I expected. At first, when I presented my findings, I was told that I had too much information, which was a relief, as I was afraid that I didn’t have enough! I was afraid of disappointing them, which is why I felt the need to put everything I found onto the slides. It was challenging to condense all that information into very few slides but it was way better than having nearly 20 slides of content. They told me how to properly format and present my research so that it could take listeners on a journey. It felt great to get input from industry professionals such as the We the Collective mentor team and it was rewarding getting to hear feedback on my hard work. I would give myself a 9 for this phase.

Of the three logo concepts I had, I chose the first concept.

I am very satisfied with my final logo and I don’t think I see myself changing it when I graduate. I would give myself a 9/10 overall. While I got stuck from time to time when it came to ideating, I was able to get myself out of those ruts pretty quickly because I was so excited for this project. Here’s the final logo!

Reflect on your mood board process. What did it teach you about yourself?

I LOVE finding images for mood boards. I find all my images from Pinterest, which is great because Pinterest automatically suggests similar images from the ones I choose, which is super helpful when I want to find more of the same kind. When I start mood boarding, I start with an idea in mind and start diving into general searches until I begin to get an idea of what exactly I want in an image. I am very specific and picky when it comes to choosing pictures because I want them to convey the exact mood I am going for. This used to be a very long and painstaking process, but after having created countless mood boards over the past few years, I know exactly what kind of keywords to type into the search for the perfect image to come up, which speeds up the process by a lot.

From this mood boarding assignment, I learned that I am predictable and know what I like. I found some images that I had saved a few years ago and found that I still resonate with those images. I am into graphic, bright, and bold designs but outside of work and design I really dive into my introvert tendencies and go for more still and calm images— and both give me a sense of joy.

I would give myself a 9 for my mood boards. I feel like they accurately describe my “vibe” as they say. 

How did you find this research and analysis process—excruciating, fun, etc.? 

I enjoy doing the research before starting a project to get a solid foundation to work off of, but since this project was about ME, I felt indifferent and even a little frustrated. I don’t like talking about myself, so having to ask people to perceive me and as well as doing some self-reflection to analyze my desires and goals was a little weird. It wasn’t awful, but I did not like having to come up with the EXACT words that described me.. there are so many words in the world and I am only one person. I had trouble keeping a straight face while my peers listed out my strengths and weakness– I know everyone has an opinion of me, but it’s strange hearing them out loud. I felt a little shy and bewildered knowing that people notice how I work. 

How long did it take you to complete this whole project, research, ideation and execution? 

I think it took me about 7 hours in total to complete this project? I work slow, and I had some difficulty writing about myself.

What grade would you give yourself out of 10 and why?

I would give myself a 9. I feel like I was thorough in my research, planning and execution.