Ben Clark's responses to excercise 4`

I think one of the biggest goals I have for this project are to develop a very comprehensive understanding of branding and marketing something that begins as an idea.. Essentially, everything we design starts as an idea and it is interesting to see it through to a final form.. especially one that is marketable and understandable with mass appeal. I think another aspect of this project I will enjoy/hope to learn from involves working in a group. Finding a common ground and understanding within a group can be difficult, but if you never take the opportunity to work with someone to develop ideas/critique and grow, you will be at a disadvantage in the future when forced to work with others. Next, I want to really focus on research and data to develop trends and topics to our concepts.. often research is secondary to design, but I hope to reverse this thinking and bring myself to a place where research/comprehension is the first step in my design process. Finally, I want to explore the concept of green design and sustainable projects as a whole.

I believe that there are pros to working in a group, especially those that involve bouncing ideas off one another to bring a better / greater understanding of the overall topic.. I think that working with others helps you think of things you might have ignored otherwise, especially when steered in a new direction with your partner. Another pro would be work flow and work load. It's a lot easier to grasp the scope of a project and be efficient if you know you are focusing on certain elements of the project and aren't the only person responsible for the projects final outcome. Finally, i believe the biggest pro is experience. As designers, we're not always going to be creating by ourselves.. groups are the norm.. it's good to develop these social/working skills now, than to be thrown into the fiery pits of hell when we start our jobs.

Cons.. basically, if you don't get along with your partner, there can be a ton of issues. Different views on where the project is going may be one of them. Ideology and beliefs can also hinder a project especially if you feel your views aren't being treated fairly. One member can often get shafted into doing all the work, and that is pretty bogus.

Ultimately, the pros can outweigh the cons, as long as you're partnered with a person who respects you and your ideas.