Throughout this module, I enjoyed most tasks set and found them all very useful as well as educational. They were academically challenging, interesting and taught very useful skills for research and writing. Although I did not enjoy them all, they provided me with new skills and knowledge relevant to the course which is also helpful for the future in studio practice as well as RCS.
The tasks have definitely improved my ability to research as well as shown me new ways to seek out sources and ensure they are reliable. The Online Resources task, as well as the Academic Integrity and Plagiarism task, really pushed me to seek sources and information elsewhere, through books and articles rather than relying on websites and other virtual sources. They have shown me not to rely on the internet to seek relevant information/inspiration for my work, even if it is easier and potentially faster. I have been incorporating this idea of varying my sources throughout my practical work and design project by looking for references in books, articles and also trying to find inspiration in sources like documentaries. Using greater sources also means my research is more in-depth rather than brief meaning plagiarism is unlikely due to my inspiration coming from a variety of places.
The visual research task I initially found challenging but very useful as it really pushed me to read beyond an image and really study something to interpret a meaning/inspiration. This skill would be very useful for the future as I would easily be able to unpack a collection by a designer that I like and easily find their inspiration/meaning behind it and perhaps use it to influence my own work and discover something new. This is also relevant to the Ethical Issues task as it really allowed me to deconstruct an image in order to pinpoint various meanings and messages as well as learn for the future in the industry what to be aware of when publicising my brand and advertising my work to the mass public. It gave me the ability to use a reflective eye as well as to debate and discuss with others what their thoughts and opinions were about a matter/ proposed image in the lecture which I found very interesting.
The Reflective Writing task I found the most challenging out all the tasks, however it was once again very thought provoking and pushed me to think and write academically as well as view both sides of an argument and varying opinions inbetween. I struggled most with the initial understanding of the text so it really deterred me from doing the task as I mentally was blocked and always tried to avoid the task. It took me a while to figure out a method that worked best for me but once I understood the writing and what they were discussing in the texts, I found it very easy to complete the task using skills I have learned or grown in previous tasks.
Overall, I have found this module very enlightening and useful in regards to my practical projects; the RCS tasks have pushed me to seek out various sources for references and inspiration as well as consider varying opinions between people by also considering ethics in regards to imagery as well as work.