Step 10: Jury&Exhibition

This is it. We arrive to our final step. Next Thursday 30 May we'll celebrate the Summer Jury&Exhibition at the COAM. Joaquín and I we've both thought that the special methodology we've worked with in our Unit deserves a special final effort to try to show it to rest of the School. Therefore we were thinking about organizing a little bit our work in order to present it at the Exhibition and, perhaps, in the critical session. If we only showed the Final results achieved by each Design Team, we consider we'll not be really fair with all the work you've developed. 

Organization needs a little time. So it's absolutely compulsary that we all discuss different possibilities and strategies. We appoint EVERY STUDENT in the Unit, tomorrow morning at 12.00, in our usual classroom. We'll tell you our ideas, discuss them largely, and we'll sort out different responsabilities and tasks for EACH STUDENTS towards the Jury and Exhibition organization. It is VERY, VERY IMPORTANT that everyone attends so the good work we've done so far is completed and presented as best as possible.

Therefore, first important issue in this entry: IMPORTANT CLASS tomorrow, Thursday 23 May. Everybody there please! We need all of you to have success in this final Step 10. If you meet any student in the unit in the Campus today, please remind him/her of tomorrows' appointment just in case he/she doesn't read the blog

Apart from organizing this basic aim, if anyone wishes to, we might speak about your presentations on Monday, or the completion of some individual work we've already comment with each one of you. We need and ABSOLUTE COMPROMISE from everyone of you for this last semester week. Just one more week!

Quoting the basic tasks each student in the Unit must complete along this last  week:

1. Complete/Correct INDIVIDUAL WORK of previous stages

2. Prepare DESIGN TEAM PRESENTATIONS on Monday 27 June (a couple of students from each team)

3. SPECIFIC TASKS sorted out tomorrow for the FINAL JURY on the 30

One last effort! See you ALL tomorrow morning.

Let's work out a good presentation of our Re_loading m3 Unit!!!!

Assessment Step 8

Much better! I must say the Unit as a whole has certainly improved on this Step. Congratulations to all of you, and specially to those Teams who where having more difficulties on lastest stages. The difference is pretty obvious: you've finally decided to work a little bit, both individually and as the teams you were supposed to be. I hope benefits of this type of attitude are clear for all of you as they are for us. That'll mean you've really learnt something.

Of course there are still differences between the quality and quantity of the design developed by each group. And by each Team Member, certainly. But as I said, every Team has improved as has most individual work. Anyway, don't relax just now, because there still some work to be done, preparing presentations for next Monday and completing and/or correcting your documentation for the jury on May 30. All comments made to each Team and Team member should be included in the Final Semester Documentation presented on the Jury. If you have any doubts about what we expect from each one of you, we can repeat our indications next  Thursday during our normal class.

As on previous steps, we'll now make our Team and Individual assesment:

TEAM WORK

Design Team 1: Excellent. Great work during all semester with a really difficult proposal. We feell specially proud of your behaivour as a Team, making members who might have started with much less confidence on their individual skills, complete an excellent semester, really improving their work. Well done. You just need to complete a few things... Do it!

Design Team 2: Good work. Still some too big differences between the tasks developed by each member. It's time that people who have contributed less to the team, work hard and really complete a very truthful and interesting proposal.

Design Team 3: Good work also. Pity you've lost one member, but the proposal has finally found it's way out, after a few weeks where you seemed a bit lost. Now that you can see it, run to the finish line.

Design Team 4: Again, good work. Very good final weeks. But you need to complete the proposal. You started late. You've caught up the rest. But now you have to finish well. Don't stop.

Design Team 5: Good improvement. You seemed almost completely lost last steps, but now you've found and appropiate way to complete your design. We think you've finally solved your initial difficulties. Congratulations. But now, really complete and correct all those aspects we've spoke about these past weeks. Everything with "fit" in your design much better right now.

Design Team 6: Really good work. Difficulties with team work, late proposal, new model,.... But you've got there. If you are able to complete it you'd have designed a very good project against all kind of difficulties. 

Design Team 7: Good work. It should be excellent, but it's not. At the moment. We know it's difficult, but you must kind of press the pause button for a second and re-think, re consider, re-visit the initial model, and then decide the very special and particular values of your proposal. After that, design to achieve those goals. You've done the difficult part: Understand the possibilities and behaviour of the type of morphology you choosed. You must now explore and design with it's strenght. Don't walk back to previous or different type of buildings. Anyway... very good effort.

Design Team 8: Good improvement for you also. For a moment we thought we had lost you. You've sprinted well and you might make it. Complete your design and work as you've done these couple of weeks. Just a little more,come on!

INDIVIDUAL WORK

As on previous stage, we'll assess by tasks, rather than teams. We think you'll have a clearer idea this way:

Models:

Excellent: 1, 2, 4, 6

Good Work: 3, 7

Enough: 5, 8

3D Images:

Excellent: 1

Good Work: 6

Enough: 2 (complete and print), 5, 7

Must improve: 4 (solve your problems), 8, 3(out)

Plans, Sections, Elevations:

Excellent: 1 (but complete documentation requested or I'll personally kill you: All plans and elevation)

Good Work: 3, 4, 6, 7 (anyway, all four have to complete documentation)

Enough: 2, 5, 8 (quite a lot of work to do for the Jury)

Concept:

Excellent: 1, 3

Good Work: 2 (messy, clarify your ideas and presentation)

Enough: 4, 5, 6, 7 (have a look at previous examples. Remember, concept panel, not resume panel)

Must improve: 8 (not really presented)

That's it. see you on Thursday to solve any doubts you may have about these or any presentation step's topic.

An interesting interview... Toni Segarra

I've always loved the world of advertising. I've just read this long interview to one of the very big gurus we have in Spain, Tony Segarra. Pretty interesting if you have some time to go through all of it.

http://www.jotdown.es/2013/05/toni-segarra-las-buenas-campanas-cumplen-la-mision-higienica-de-eliminar-productos-horribles-del-mercado/

Enjoy...

Step 9: Presentations

Next Monday 27 May we shall celebrate our Final Presentations Session, starting sharp at 12.00.

Each Design Team has to make a 5 minute presentation of their work during this semester. You may use any kind of visual material you find appropiate (.ppt,  video, panels, ...). But the main part of your presentation, and the issues that will mainly be assessed on this Step are your Oral Presentation Skills.

This means you must deeply focus this aspect: prepare what you are going to say and how you'll present it.

You've got plenty of information, advices and examples on the internet about how to make good presentations. Both in it's visual and it's communicational aspects. I suggest you have a careful look at some of them before you start preparing yours. If you just write "How to make presentations" on google you'll find tons of information on the topic. 

There are quite a few different strategies. But most of them come to enphasize the same 4 or 5 basic rules. I'll quote some of them for you (but please do your own research):

- I've liked one that builds the acronime ACT as three basic clues for good presentations: A for Audience, C for Clarity and T for Timming.

- Structure your presentation: Introduction / Development / Strong conclusion.

- You may find some advices for thse three great stages of the presentation: 

1. Clear, brief start. Present yourself. Expose the topic you'll be speaking about. And comunicate the basic structure you'll follow. 

2. Go through your designs with a clear and structured presentation of the basic streghts your proposal contains. 

3. Make sure you end with a strong conclusion that the audience is able to understand after your presentation.

- There are many useful rules for visual material: 8 seconds rule (the audience will only pay real atention to a slide for a maximum of 8 seconds); 6 lines (nobody reads more that 6 lines on a slide); 6 words (nobody reads a title with more than 6 words); 3 ideas (nobody remember more than three ideas in a presentations)... I must say that, surprisingly, these rules really do work.

- A lot of advices deal will common errors in presentations: Reading, being too monotonous, not using different entonations to engage audience atention, etc... 

- And all experts confirm the only way to achieve a good presentation is PRACTICE. Rehearsal. They usually tell us to practice several times with a cronometer: In front of a mirror, to your dog, to a friend, to your parents... Practice and practice.

Go for it and we'll see you on Thursday to continue speaking about all these topics. It would be advisable that all Design Teams brought a sketch of their intentions to our session to discuss their accurary. Good luck.

Una puñaladita..... :)

Photofinish

I've always loved these photo finish pictures... I don't know why really, but I find them fascinating. Real frozen instants...

Well. Today we've had our last correction. I've been able to have a look at the work of design teams 1, 2 and 3. All of them have still a lot of work to do during the weekend but I think it's useful that I remind everyone of a few aspects related to each one of the documents requested.

Concept Panel/s: 

They are not resume panels. They are mean to clearly show the most important decisions you've made along your design process. So, remember where you started, what you thought and what decisions you made on the 9 differnet steps we've had. Then communicate them clearly and briefly. As if it was a story board. Use text, images, diagrams, drawings... whatever mean is best to trasmit your ideas.

Models: 

The eight model will have to be presented at Final Jury and Exhibition on May 30 at the COAM. So take your time a produce a persuasive and atractive object that focuses the strenght of you design.

Plans/Sections/Elevations: 

It is not enough to draw simple coherent 2D documentation. Each one of your documents must have a hell of a lot of information presented with a complete communicational strategy. Of course they must be a description of the material appearance of the proposal, but they should also include as must information as you are able to: heights, activities, textures, contructive materials, use, surroundings,.... Everything physical and even not physical that might be important to understand your proposal.

Images: 

The most difficult one is the interior space description. Do struggle with it. I've seen a couple of approaches today. Choose an interesting and significant point of view with your 3D rendering and, after that, concentrate in the post production of the image. A collage can be much more effective than waisting time in great preciseness with 3D modelling.

Good luck all of you and we'll meet on Monday at 12.00.

Changing some plans...

Unluckily I've been not able to go to Greece this week. Pity. 

Hence, next Thursday I'll be available for any Design Team at the School as usual. If anyone has a special interest in speaking with me on Thursday, please make a comment to this post to let me know.

Anyway I update all of you with latest changes in our timetable and final activities until the end of the semester:

Thursday 17 May, final design corrections

Monday 20 May, deadline for step 8

Thursday 24 May, discussion step 9, final presentations

Monday 27 May, final presentations

Thursday 30 May, summer jury

And, that will be all folks...

See you on Thursday if you wish (not compulsory)