Design Iterations

     The first practical unit of my second year at university is Design Iterations. The aim of the unit is for students to document their understanding of design processes in the form of a blog. Their are various project life cycle which are applied to interactive design projects however it's my role as a student to apply a method which I believe would  be the most appropriate. I have a previous experience working to a business development mode,  a typical business project would consist of various different stages of development such as; specification, feasibility study, design, analysis, testing and maintenance. This business project model is a linear development process which required stages of the development to consume a fixed amount of resources and time however the development process for a  design project  wouldn't  be as linear as it would involve adapting and improving the product to feedback multiple times over until the client is happy with the final product. Feedback is typically conducted in a focus group made of people who you consider your target audience.

     In the Design iterations unit we have initially been asked to design a poster which conveys the message of an "independent Dorset".
  For this task its important to consider what makes Dorset different from the rest of the United Kingdom. My group initially conducted research into significant county landmarks and people in history in an attempt to identify places or people which could be used to represent independence. We also conducted research into national statistics and could identify trends such as Dorset has larger than the national average of older people and tourism plays a big role in the county's income.

   As a group we designed two posters which share the same message and theme but have different slogans and images. One of the posters is dominantly blue with the image of a sinking ship which  works cooperatively with the slogan "The UK is a sinking ship, vote to stay afloat." The technique we applied to this poster is a slight scare tactic which was used by the campaign group "Against the independence of Scotland". This scare tactic did prove to actually work on voters.

The reference to " A sinking ship" is to simply convey that the UK in general is on a social and economic decline and if the voter were to vote for independence they would save themselves from this impending disaster. On that poster we also included a lighthouse which is in fact a unique Dorset landmark known as Portland Bill which can be identified by the single stripe of red.

This is an image we included to signify that Dorset is a "Beacon of hope". (Panek 2010)

This is the design we are going to present and will adapt our design to feedback.

The significance of this initial task is so we get an understanding of how people move and interact in the foyer space as this is the location where our interactive displays will be installed. By understanding the space it will enable me to get an understanding on what's feasible for the interactive display. It will also enable me to get some insight on possible issues or hurdles which I might encounter due to factors which I might preconceive as insignificant such as lighting or traffic.



Panek, J. (2010). A Seeker's Thoughts. Available: http://www.aseekersthoughts.com/2010/01/lighthouse-as-symbol.html. Last accessed 8th Oct 2014.