Monday 8 February 2016

OUGD502 - Taking Care of Business - Evaluating The Project

'Taking Care of Business' was an interesting study task for in a number of different ways. It was positively challenging as it forced me to work in a team which is something I don't often choose to do. It also pushed me outside of my comfort zone in terms of presenting to a group and researching topics/areas that I had very little previous knowledge of.

Evaluation of the relevance of this project:

Personally, I viewed this project as being very relevant to my future development within the creative industries. Thinking about the future is something that scares me regularly, but that is a good thing. Resting in a comfort zone tends to get boring and dangerous, and I feel that this is something I need to avoid doing. Now is the best time to begin to get out of my 'comfort zone' and make the effort to reach out/get in contact with people in the industry, making useful contacts and researching possible avenues to explore on graduating from college. Taking care of business definitely got me thinking about the future and how exciting it could be, if I want it to be. It made me realise that a lot can happen through hard work and research, especially in Leeds. There are multiple opportunities in this city and the UK available to young creatives which can catapult you in a positive direction. It put a lot of things into perspective for me in terms of the opportunities and options that are out there and can be taken if you seek them.

Evaluation of the group as a whole:

Working on a project of this nature allowed me to realise that I can definitely function and work well in a group of five, but appreciate working individually or with one or two other people. I felt at my best, most productive and motivated when working with one other person during this project. This prompted me to realise that this is probably how I see myself working in the future, especially if I am to start a business from scratch with a fellow creative. If I were to create my own studio, ideally I would look to do so with a maximum of three other people, but ideally with two. I don't particularly enjoy working in large groups as I find it challenging for a number of reasons, mainly organising time and settling on design choices/aesthetics. Having said that, I did really enjoy working with each specific member in my team. We came together because we admire each others work, and because we are mates. This worked well, as there were no arguments or fall outs, the dynamic of the group was consistently good. Hypothetically, I believe if we were to actually set up a business as a group of five, it would function and be successful because of the relationships we have, the varied skill set and diverse interests we have in visual communication.

Evaluation of my own performance within my group:

I definitely feel that I put a lot of time and effort into the research aspect of this task, as well as organising the presentation slides and preparation of the notes. I also helped out with the overall branding and identity for the group. I contributed consistently throughout the project and found this genuinely useful to my own development. I would say that I contributed more to the preparation of presentation than a number of the other group members and this could have been avoided if we had delegated responsibilities and tasks more efficiently throughout the project. Organising responsibilities is a challenging task, and of course we are still quite inexperienced in that department. This will be something to work on in future group projects to avoid unequal contributions.

Future hopes?

I worked well with my group members and I think that our idea for a start up business could go somewhere if we all put the work in to get it off the ground. The idea of starting up a studio does excite me and is something that I would potentially invest time and money in, however, I do have other ideas and ventures in mind that I would consider looking into.

Recently I have been considering looking into starting up an arts-cafe/bar in Leeds that would cater towards artsy people as well as a wider target audience. The cafe side would serve a range of foods, specifically catering for vegans and vegetarians. I have a few good mates outside of LCA that would potentially be interested in this venture and working collaboratively with myself and other creatives.

I would aim to sell prints, paintings, personal publications, ceramics, household goods and so on. I would have to find a niche and have a defined USP in order to make the cafe a success, because there are of course existing set ups that provide similar products/services. I like the idea of working with my friends providing food and art, combining our passions and interests to form a business. This is definitely something I will look further into.

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