Ok, hands up, I admit it - completely a clickbait title - but for me this week’s experience has genuinely felt like a new job. Given the fact that once COVID-19 hit the Higher Education sector in March 2020, I lectured and assessed online for a few weeks, before going on a full-time secondment to the National Forum as an Education Developer, all meant this last week was essentially my first lectures in almost 20 months.
So after this time away, here are 10 aspects that have struck me after my first full week of in-class teaching:
People & the buzz in the corridors
The impact of masks in the classroom
The quiet class (but not with tech)
The power of Menti and Socrative
The first year foundation
How much I remain fascinated by my subject area
The impact of Covid on technical skills
How much I need to enhance and change elements of my teaching
Reflective Practice and a motivation to improve
An enthusiasm to work with my students, around decision making processes
Caveat - I write this piece in awe of colleagues nationally who identified solutions, collaborated to share best practice and given the huge constraints, delivered an exceptional level of education for their students whose success they deeply care for. Creativity, dedication and commitment has been evident during every interaction and conversation I have about the adaptation online during the pandemic.
A box full of small, scrunched up pieces of paper was being shared around the room. Each student was asked to pick one. ‘What d’ya get?’ echoed around the room.
I looked down, and slowly unfolded my piece of paper. There was one word typed on it. ‘Bodoni’
The above event took place during a graphic design course at the Dublin Institute of Design. This assignment was to learn about a particular font or typeface, and to design a poster to showcase and promote the unique characteristics of that typeface. When I reflect on the work I undertook, I can see it really did follow a design process which in the end yielded an output I was proud of. Since the course, I have used this process across various initiatives, even outside of graphic design. Filled with reflection, creativity, feedback, action and experimentation, below you can see the flow of events in this particular example, as well as some images from the various stages to see the development (just click to enlarge any of the images).
Before I outline my process and examples from each stage, I wanted you to firstly realise you have already encountered the Bodoni font! Think of how ‘Nirvana’ appears on their albums, how ‘Vogue’ appears on the top of a magazine cover, or the ‘cK’ of Calvin Klein. Bodoni is a font used quite broadly, and familiar to many already.
Step 3 - Mindmap Generation
Step 4 - Initial Sketches
Step 5 - Exemplars
It’s good to be aware of the typeface ‘in action’, in society. Looking through examples and indeed the various typeface letters/alphabet in a bit more detail at this stage can assist when you are looking back over what came from your early creations.
Step 6 - Revisit Sketches, Concepts & Shortlist
Step 7 - Bring a Selection of Sketches to be Mocked Up Using Software
Step 8 - Get it Down to Final Designs - and Experiment
Step 9 - Feedback & Action
Step 10 - Final Version - Presentation & Reflection
|
|
Ronan BreeEducation Developer,Science Lecturer, Archives
March 2023
Categories
All
Any opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.
|