Ditto Workshop 2

Ditto Press.
The Method Part 2.
Before this session we were told that we would have to try and think of our methodology that we currently use. This is something that I thought about but didn't actually make or produce anything for. A lot of people, almost everyone had thought about it but didn't have anything to show. Therefore we all took time out to draw up what we thought our methodology is.

I decided that my methodology was to receive the brief then think into my initial thoughts, move on from that to the extended thoughts about the brief, leading from my initial thoughts. From this I start to look into ideas that I could take forward from this. After doing this I would lead with my ideas that I think might work, then create visual research by drawing, doing/photographing, and online imagery.

The Crit.
During the crit we were all made aware that our ideas and what we thought our methodologies are, were very generic and really standard. This is something we were told not to do specifically therefore we went away again to try and change this, or add something to our methodologies so that they were different and individual.

• Do something specific for me that would work with every brief.
• Something that a client would hire you with for their briefs.
• If not everyone will end up with the same research and same things.
• All taught the same methods, therefore we will all work in the same way.
• Its a competitive industry which needs individuality in it.
• Try to go out and experience things but not in a standard way.

I went away and thought about something that would help me decide on what I would do with a brief, adding it to the end of my research method, not just replacing it. The idea is to have this origami idea generator. I would have my normal research methods, but have words and ideas inside, so that I could chose two or three, and put them together, this would create different research that I may have never put together before.

Next Time.
Moving on from this I will refine my idea further and create something that will look nicer as well as do the job. I will also need to come up with a name for my methodology. This is something that no-one else has come up with from the day, therefore I think that it will be unique to me. This is what I will move forward with. For the next time I will make sure it works by testing it on a few different briefs to see how it works in context.

Ditto Workshop 1

Ditto Press.

The Method.
For this brief I have decided that I will look into what people do to research their subject. Doing this means that I will find my own personal research methodology, and create a plan as to what I do when I am researching a subject. To do this I need to find a methodology that would work for any subject matter. After doing this I will test out my methodology with different subjects to see if they will work for each of them. This will be very interesting and will help me greatly with my research methods in the future.

Research Methods.

• Interviewing people, interrogating the subject.
• Googling the subject to see what comes up.
• Reading Books on the subject.
• Reading articles on the subject.
• Finding other things related to the subject.
• Looking at existing design around the subject.
• Photography on the subject.
• Experiencing the subject in some way.
• Asking different audiences about the subject, which will find different view points.
• Find and read different forums online about the subject.
• Mind map my thoughts and what I already know on the subject, what comes to mind.
• Find an audience and what they would like to see on the subject.
• Analyse the brief.
• Focus groups about the subject.
• Structured observation, watching people and how they react to things and their behavior.

Things I need to think about with my methodology.

• How I work and how I think.
• Something that is interesting and works for me.
• Doesn't have to be printed.
• How do I want to work?
• No individual topic - research anything.
• The methodology must work for everything, all subjects I use.

My research process (first thoughts).

1. Analyse the brief.
2. Pinterest/Behance the subject matter.
3. Collect books from the library to read and make notes on.
4. Photograph the subject/Experience the subject.
5. Make a mind map of different ideas.

Anaslysis.
When we were first given this brief, I was confused a lot between the research process and the research topic. This is something that I have been made more clear on. The brief itself is based on working out what our own individual way of researching is, regardless of the topic or theme. I first thought that I wouldn't be able to use the same methodology throughout different topics as I would approach them in different ways, although I have found that I do go through the same process to starting a brief. After reading through the brief I do have initial thoughts and ideas for an outcome, and usually form the research around the outcome I have in my head. This is something I need to stop doing, I need to research further into a certain subject before I find out what I am going to do for a brief. This is how my research methodology will help me. In the future if I use my methodology I will find out more information about the subject before researching my end outcome.

Action Plan.
For this brief I will figure out what methods I use and in what order I use them in more detail than my initial thoughts. I will also try to communicate this in an interesting way that works for me and that is most helpful for me. This will help me with future briefs also.

Tutorial.
The tutorial was really helpful as it clarified why we were doing what we were doing, and that how we currently research isn't wrong and we don't need to change how we do it, but we should be using a methodology within this process, this is what I need to think about so I am aware of what I am doing and how. This will fulfill this brief, and will be something I will think about leading up to the next session of 'The Method' with Ditto Press.