Wednesday, October 28

What?

Today we spent some time re-evaluating the calendar and planning. It seems like the deadlines are continuously changing and it is somewhat hard to hold people accountable to do things by the specific dates assigned. This then leads to needing to adjust the rest of the dates, as at this point, most of the deadlines are specifically dependent on each other.

Logos were presented to the group and the logo by Zane B. was selected. I think that having a logo for the project is helping motivate the various groups -- it's almost like the project has a face now; like it's more legitimate with a logo, instead of just some class assignment. The logo was distributed to groups so they can start using it.

The Call for Art group met in order to figure out what exactly are the requirements for art submissions. We decided that we would accept pieces of any medium as long as they featured or related to the apple, spinach, or sweet potato. We also began drafting the needs for the call for entries posts and where we can promote it.

So What?

We decided to create a poster/flyer to enlist artists not in the class. We needed to find a way to convince people to not only stop and read the poster, but to actually understand the project quickly and be excited about participating. Getting visibility is the key -- by simple math, the more people aware of the event/call for entries, the theoretically higher percentage of people going to submit work. We have posted about the call for entries on Facebook, Craigslist, Prudence Knows, Ester Knows, VCUarts, as well as making posters for hanging around the art buildings & campus.

We examined other call for entries posters to determine what elements are most effective to incorporate. We designed the poster to have pulltabs with the planned website and contact email so that people would be able to look up more information online, without needing to try to remember the info or finding a pen and something to write it down with. We need to get the website up and running for when the posters go live.

Now What?

Getting information out is very important in this stage of the process -- information to generate interest in the project altogether, as well as getting art donated and finding sponsors, donors, and partners. At this time, it's also very important to look into what options regarding promotions and press releases are available so that we can spread the word about Project Winterfood. Figuring out the best ways to get the word out about the project and the cause are useful skills for future projects and causes.

Monday, October 26

What?

Today we clarified more about the calendar and group tasks. The focus was on group-work -- everyone is divided into multiple different groups, each being a part of phase one (needing to be completed first) and phase two (can be put aside until more of phase one is completed). I am part of the Budgeteers (the budget and fundraising group), the Art Squad (call for entries and collecting art), and the Recipe Crew (in charge of the free recipe take-away).

The Venue/Date group secured and finalized the date/venue: Project Winterfood event will be held at 1509 W. Main from 7pm-10pm on Wed. Dec 2nd, then will move to be on display at Gallery 5 for the remainder of December.

We have a small budget of $100 from VCU, so the Budgeteers decided it would be a great idea to supplement these funds with a fundraiser. We hope to be able to have most of the supplies for this project either donated or at a discount, but it will be useful to have a bit of a cushion, especially since getting the VCU money might be a bit complex and having pocket money is good. We will be holding a fundraiser on First Friday, November 6th. Kristine A. and I are crocheting bracelets, some other team members are making baked goods, and other students are still deciding what they can contribute to the effort.

So What?

It is a bit frustrating (but understandable) that none of the groups know what supplies they will require or how much of the budget they will need for their group yet. It makes it somewhat difficult for the budgeting group. However, additional funds from the fundraiser may alleviate some of this stress.

Now What?

It is a very different experience working with so many people on one project, since most teamwork is teams of 2-4. This is a good exercise since in the "real world," many projects are group efforts and not everyone will really know what is happening; sometimes you do have to badger people to figure out their in order to do your own job. Since the total budget is a bit unknown, we are going to try our best to use our contacts to get donated or discounted materials -- it's good to network!! We will also expand our own networks, working to find sponsors, donors, and partners, as well as becoming more familiar with the activist groups in the local Richmond area. Hopefully the fundraiser will help raise some funds, as well as being a great opportunity for initial promotion of the event.

Wednesday, October 21

What?

Today's focus was mainly on clarifying the objectives of the project -- discussing exactly what we were trying to say and what we want to accomplish through this project, and how we plan to accomplish these goals laid out in the proposal. Another task we attempted to sort out was the schedule for the rest of the semester. We attempted to break down the rest of the remaining time into group deadlines (for the whole class) as well as attempting to divvy up tasks for everything into smaller groups with their own deadlines. At this point, everything feels somewhat intangible -- we all recognize the project as a good idea, and vaguely what we want to accomplish, but don't have enough of a concrete vision. We set up a very rough (and likely to change) schedule, since the deadline is only about a month away and things need to get started, and start getting done.

So What?

Since the project was somewhat unfocused, it became crucial to boil down the big picture into a more graspable message of what we want to say with this project: "It is easy, accessible, inexpensive, practical, beneficial, and fun to utilize local food options." We also set forth to narrow our target audience, deciding to focus on "those who may have heard about the terms, ideas, or options of eating local, but are not quite sure what it is all about or why it is worth practicing/exploring." It is necessary to be able to sum up the message or point you want to make with your project in one or two sentences, in order to be able to quickly communicate the ideas to individual/groups you want to become partners, sponsors, donors, publishers, promoters, or simply to just come to your event. Being able to precisely pinpoint your target audience allows you to plan how to present your message -- you would plan differently if you were presenting to a group of uninitiated newbies versus experienced experts.

Even if uncertain about all the facets this project will entail, it is imperative to create a schedule first thing. This way, no deadlines will unknowingly get missed and you can plan for how long things will take (such as when things need to get to the printers, or by when you need to submit press releases in order to get them published in magazines/newspapers/online). By dividing into groups, we are able to split up tasks into more manageable chunks then everyone trying to accomplish everything at once (not possible) or some individuals becoming overwhelmed with responsibilities and others slacking or having nothing to do. As smaller groups, we were able to focus on individual tasks and deadlines of the group and be able to work on the tasks more efficiently.

Now What?

Breaking the tasks among different groups is very applicable to future processes. Since many collaborative efforts in the future will involve different people with different skills and backgrounds, it is most likely that tasks will be distributed according to skillsets and interests, in order to get things done efficiently and well. This gave us a chance to learn to work collaboratively in both a smaller group and a larger encompassing group, similar to how might happen in a working environment.

Noah also showed us a way of working with a schedule, especially if you don't know all the tasks that need to be planned out. Working backwards from the hard-fast dates (in our case, the date of the show), and judging the times things will take at the printers, or need to be submitted for press release publications, we were able to estimate how much time we would be able to work on things. This will obviously be a useful skill in the future; it can be difficult to organize and schedule deadlines -- this method lets us know which deadlines are immoveable, and which ones we can rearrange as needed. We can divide our time and attention to projects that will be the most complex or time-intensive or have solid deadlines, while still being aware of all other deadlines.

Monday, October 19

First Journal Entry: Design Rebels Class Expectations

For the rest of the class, I expect to gain experience in collaborating with others, working for a cause, seeing a project through from start to final deadline, participating in an art show, learning how to approach groups for donations/partnering/sponsorship/funding, and becoming more familiar with the Richmond community and activist groups. This will be a great experience in learning how I can actually make differences (even small ones) about causes I am passionate about.

What?

Today in class was the presentation of proposals for the project we will be working on as a class for the remainder of the semester. After hearing from all the students with their proposals and visual aids, voting commenced. From the start it was mainly split between 2 choices (rebranding identities for local Richmond non-profit organizations and a project incorporating an educational art show to raise awareness of local seasonal foods); after discussing the possibility of doing both topics as two teams, the class ultimately decided to select Christina's "Project Winterfood" proposal.

So What?

It became clear that many of the people in the class gravitated to this project, describing it as "different." Instead of involving just rebranding non-profits or giving speeches/classes/workshops, Project Winterfood incorporates an art show as well as informational pieces and interaction with the community. (There may be some rebranding identity projects as well to help raise funds.) I think that people were drawn to this project due to it not being just another brochure or flyer or talk, but a genuine attempt to create change through art and design.

Now What?

As we discuss the details of the project and divvy up tasks, it will be a very different experience. Typically when working in groups for classes, group sizes only range between 2 to 5 people, so a large full-scale project with many students involved is great experience in project organizations and deadlines, which will be useful when collaborating on larger projects in the future. Actually using design and art for a good purpose while working as a group is a great way to learn important skills for doing what I like doing to collaborate for a cause.

Now that we have a topic, we can begin focusing our efforts to complete this project.