City Farm: Week 5: Recap

Week 5 had some big ups and downs, mainly all due to my brain working on overdrive.

My ups came when I finished the details for my "Celebrate" program. Of course I will refine till the cows come home (which is when I have to present) but these are all minor changes. I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I put all of my items together. It gave me ambition to make my "eat" program just as unique and interesting.

So I went ahead and refined the "eat" program. After putting all of the items together I was really happy with how it was taking form. I saw a lot of areas for improvement and my advisor, Matt, agreed. He also pointed out some details that will help it overall. I am excited to get to those and see the work as a group next week.

My down came about mid-week when I called the school to set up my summer and fall classes. It took a lot of back and forth because these are the last few classes I have in my MFA program and I need an extra class in the spring. I had to change up my plan because the last class has to be portfolio, which I didn't know. (makes sense) It was all really simple, but for some reason I got a huge knot in my throat. Seeing my final classes out in front of me as this tiny list, rather than this huge pile was exciting before I actually made my schedule. Now It scares the hell out of me. The back and forth kept reminding me, and I grew more and more anxious.

I began my freak-myself-out-fest by looking at all the work I was proud of just a day before, and thinking there was no way I will pass my final. Is it good enough? Is it MFA graduate level work? Will it inspire people? Will it inspire me? Am I going to get torn to shreds during my final presentation? Will I fail? Am I even a good designer?

Luckily, my advisor listened to me while I discussed the rampant thoughts that go through my head and we set up a game plan for the end of this semester. He is going to call on a few of his designer friends and put me in the final presentation situation. I will present, and they will all tear apart my work like a pack of wild cheetahs at their weekly lunch. This is going to be a great way for me to get brutally honest feedback on my work and also get used to random questions being fired at me. It is also good to get some fresh eyes to view my work.

For now the knot is gone and I feel more optimistic again. I want to keep my final presentation in mind, but I need to focus on the task at hand.

Here are some images of the celebrate and eat programs. These are not final images, but more work-in-progress pieces I use for my critiques. Don't mind the crappy photoshop and presentation work, it is all for placement only.