OUR COLLABORATION
CONSTANCE'S REFLECTION
Regarding the external collaborators, Yuhan successfully contacted two other designers at the RCA. I reached out to Kaman (final-year Interior Architecture student at UNSW Sydney) because I believed it would be interesting to work with someone across the globe. Yuhan and I planned and arranged meetings depending on our collaborators’ availability and through channels most convenient for them (i.e. texts, voice messages, voice calls, in-person). Due to the time difference with Kaman, we always had to plan ahead of time.
Between Yuhan and I, we get along well, communicate effectively, and have complementary skills. We worked on many parts of the project together, but also used our strengths differently throughout the project. In the research phase, I focused on analyzing the information we had and tying them back to the brief, as well as conducting secondary research on the selected medicinal plants. Yuhan contributed with her conceptual thinking and model making experience in the ideation and prototyping phases.
For prototyping, we made the models together but divided certain tasks. For example, Yuhan prepared the file for laser cutting because I’m not as proficient with Illustrator. As we started creating our visual mockups, I was surprised to learn that I was more proficient with Photoshop. This gave me a chance to teach Yuhan some new skills while also practicing my photo touch-up and manipulation skills.
Towards the end of the project, I was responsible for arranging the structure of our presentation. I also took the lead in writing the shared content for our report because of my strengths in written communication, but I was able to introduce Yuhan to use Wix so that we could take turns editing the website layout.
YUHAN'S REFLECTION
In this project, I enjoyed the time working with Constance. During the project, I was mainly responsible for creative idea collection, drawing model templates. Because I’m a visual person, so I am very good at creative work. Constance is good at information analysis and organisation, this is also something I really need to learn. So. our project can be completely designed. We have some works we did individually. For example, I am responsible for drawing model document, because I am good at Illustrator, while she is responsible for conceptual organisation, we do our work efficiently. We also have completed a lot of research, idea development, model making together. I learned a lot from her. She is very good at Photoshop. When we made mockup, she often taught me how to use photoshop to make pictures better.
At the same time, we found three designers related to our project area, I found two students who studied interior design and moving image in RCA to help us, and Constance also found one student studied in UNSW Sydney. They gave us a new way to think about our project from different angles. I think this is the most positive advantage of collaboration.