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Week 12
Final week
This week has been one of the most grueling weeks of my time at university, pulling all-nighters and all-dayers to complete all my tasks.
This week was just about finalising all my final plans for my project. focusing on the visually summary. It was interesting putting everything together for the last time, going through my assignment from the beginning of the project to the end. Seeing how its changed and evolved as I went along my process.
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Week 11
Getting closer to crunch time the pressure is kicking in. The end of the year and my degree are weighing heavy on me right now, but again, I am quite excited to see the end of this project.
This week as I mentioned last blog post, I've been focusing on the actual park environment, what's to go in it, and what birds will be using it.
Making this choice based off my own requirements to fulfill my research question "How might we redesign community parks and backyards to create a safe space for endangered native birds to combat habitat loss". This meant I was selecting from endangered birds in New Zealand, that were put in that position specifically from habitat loss and predation.
for example the Forbes parakeet, Crested grebe, and the hihi to name a few.
Using these birds and information found from both the "New Zealand birds online database" and the "Department of conservation", I was able to put together a table of living requirements of which to build my park.
My next challenges I figuring out how to represent this, right now I'm using Ai to try and create mock ups of it.
Lastly this week I began to work on my brand for the project looking into branding, and character creation. I wanted to create a character for a handout booklet that would teach people how they could transform their backyards into bird-friendly places. The character I came up with a friendly egg, meant to represent something fragile to care of, like the biodiversity of birds, as well as represent actual birds through the egg.
This booklet was full of tips such as
Eliminate Insecticides. Don’t spray insecticides. Insects are the primary source of food for most bird species and are a critical source of protein and fats for their babies.
Keep Snags. Standing dead trees called snags pro-vide cavity-nesting birds with places to raise young, shelter from bad weather, and a source of insects for food.
Remove Invasive Non-Native Plants. Invasive plants out-compete native species and destroy bird habitat.
As well as tips that linked more to the designs I had created
Fill a Feeder. Bird feeders can supplement natural food sources and create great bird viewing opportunities.
Add Birdhouses. Install nesting boxes, also called “birdhouses,” to offer cavity-nesting species a place to raise young. Boxes should have the right size entry hole and dimensions for the species you are trying to attract, as well as ventilation holes near the top and drainage holes below. Mount the box at the natural nesting height for the bird species.
These were tips I had found online from multiple resources such as the "department of conservation" and "Garden for wildlife".
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Week 10
At this point in the project I've completed my ideation and my final ideas, and began creating my final outcomes and models of my project.
Completing all three models of the bird equipment including a bird feeder, birdhouse and bird bath. These took me a long time to come to as I was constantly trying to iterate and see how I could upgrade the design, how could I make it safer for birds.
This was also a challenge because I decided to use fusion 360 as my cad software, a software I'm not too familiar with however I was suggested to try using it as it's easy to use and you can use it to make complex shapes. At first it was difficult to use, but once I got the hang of it was quite easy to manipulate my model and understand what to do.
My next step are seeing how I can integrate this with the environment, and what exactly am I putting into this environment, in terms of plants and habitats. To do this I'll have to look into what birds will be put into this space.
My main challenges right now are my time constraints, I feel myself running out of time with the big ideas I have, and I'm unsure if ill be able to fulfill all my tasks and deliverables on time.
To resolve these challenges I'm going to work to better my time management, I've actually began to use my work as another place to work on my assignments, that way I'm maximising all my time as efficiently as possible.
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Week 9
At this point of the project I've begun to ideate really heavy into my bird feeders, houses and baths. Looking at how to make them universal to a multitude of different bird species, different feeding and living heights. Birds of different sizes and living conditions. Also ensuring I keep the environment immersive I've got to figure out how to make sure the devices fit in with the natural environment.
I've also made a start into how I continue the human interaction, looking into how I can move the help into homes using infographics and guides on how people can help endangered birds in their own backyards.
As of right now, I'm just using hand drawn sketches and procreate to ideate my ideas out on paper, which I'll transfer to CAD where I'll generate higher quality renders and concepts of my devices.
This week has been very productive but more than ever I've felt behind the curve with changing my project slightly. This has made me slightly stressed for the coming weeks, however I very excited for the final outcome, because it's all coming together now and looking very promising.
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Week 8
My project has changed in the past week due to the industry partner pitch session, where I got some really valuable feedback on my design project. Before that, I was still very focused on creating this enclosed habitat, a very broad habitat that was not very specific to any species. the partners thought the idea was interesting but concerned that I was just chucking them in this tight space and taking away their freedom in return for safety.
They also had some interesting ideas for how I could progress this project, in terms of partnerships and funding, for example creating a enclosed enclosure as a place for bird nursery to release healing birds back into a simulated "wild" habitat where they can still be monitored and taken care of, while getting back to strength.
However, where I'm at right now is changing my design process to looking into creating a big wide open habitat for birds around the entire park, one that will just attract and keep birds there without forcing them to stay. Using plants and vegetation, bird baths and feeders etc. That's a very broad space to design for, so I've began to choose specific birds to design around, specially birds that are endangered due to habitat loss and predation. That way I still am working towards and designing for my how might we statement of creating a safe space for birds admist urbanisation and habitat loss.
This has given me some new challenges as I'm making some big changes to my project. I've got to select birds that are meet multiple criteria and standards, being safe for people to be around, won't be dangerous to each other, actually endangered and need this space over other birds, ect.
I've also got to figure out how to attract these birds, what vegetation and plants, how can I create this environment of foresting and safety in the open area.
Lastly I've got to figure out how to maintain the human interaction with nature rather than it just being that they're in a human park area.
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Week 7
Currently, I'm in the ideation stage of my project, I have a good idea of my problem and how I want to work to create a solution. I've set on redesigning a part of Barry Curtis Park, specially areas near the walkways to create that human-nature connection/engagement. Adding a sort of bird sanctuary using aviary nets to create a space where we can house native New Zealand birds that are endangered, and give them a place to be safe and repopulate until they are safe to be reintroduced into the wild. Another part of the problem is how predators attack their prey (the endangered birds) which is quite often when their guard is down while feeding, drinking, in their nests (housing), and washing themselves. I've begun to redesign these elements to offer more protection from these predators, these will be placed into the sanctuary, but also introduced around the country.
I'll be using just my sketches for my initial designing as a tool, and then moving towards CAD software such as Blender and Shapr3D to create my 3D models and renders for my final outcomes.
My strength in this area is my expertise in industrial design, this is my strongest point in my design area, and I really enjoy ideation processes.
My weaknesses are my 3D CAD software skills, although I've used them many times, I still find it tricky to get exactly what I want and need from it.
My current challenge will be again using CAD to create these complex shapes, as I'll also want to lean towards more organic designs to fit into the environment better.
To resolve these challenges I'll just look for help among my design peers and friends, as well as countless YouTube tutorials, a design student staple.
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Mid-sem break
Current status of the project - remember this includes connection to the brief
What tools/technologies you are considering/using
What are the strengths and weaknesses of these tools
What current challenges do you have
What are you going to do to resolve these challenges
What part of the project has made you smile/happy
What part of the project has made you sad
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week 6 - ANOTHER presentation
Final week before the midsem break meant was really significant to me. It means that I'm one step closer to the end of my time with this degree, after the midsem break It'll be half a semester before I leave for good. However that makes me so much more determined to make this the best next few weeks here while I have the chance.
In terms of this weeks challenges and tasks, again I'll be completing the what if phase. As of right now for this week I'll be going to the site I plan to design for (Barry curtis park) and really plan out where I can create change for the park.
This week I also have my presentation for 302, talking a lot on ethics in this presentation, I'm unsure what exactly I talk about, and how to relate ethics to my topic brief, however I'll do what I can, I've been researching into how ethics come into play in terms of building on land, or the lives of the birds.
This part of the project is exciting because completing a phase means I get to start the next phase of the project.
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week 5 - 301 presentation week
Week 5 was a great week for me. The only stress I had through the week was through outside things that were not in relation to my project. So working on my project actually helped keep my mind off things, and gave me a great motivation and energy towards my assignment work.
Most of the week was spent preparing for my presentation for 301, which I again got useful feedback from my lecturer, so I know exactly where I need to go to develop my idea and progress from this point on. This week Is finishing up my time for research and planning in my timeline, so I've got to focus on getting that finished so I can move on with brainstorming and ideation.
Challenges for this week is coming to the end of the what if phase. I need to complete the research planning and information gathering portion of this project. Gathering insights from my analysis of multiple pre-existing solutions, what can I take from them, or learn from them.
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Week 4 - Back on track
Week 4 was a much more productive week for me, I managed to get a lot more work, especially breaking down each part of the foundations I made with the 6 key components of the first check-in. However missing out on check-ins with Gabi sucks, as I was looking forward to getting a good idea as to whether I was on the right track or not. This week I managed to get my critical thinking in for things like choosing my methodology, what exactly my project needs (regarding the bird's safety and health), my scope, plans, and deliverables, and finally my final project timeline with steps along the whole way showing me exactly what and where I needed to be. I feel a lot better about where I am this week, not as stressed and anxious as I had been the last few weeks.
My next challenges are to get real in depth with my timeline, what exactly am I going to get done by where. Also making sure its realistic for me, something I can actually keep to.
I also need to update my scope, what do I need to have completed to reach each plan of my project, what deliverables will I have to show by the end.
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Week three
Right now my project is on track and where it should be after my previous setbacks. Meeting with my lecturer really helped me realise what I needed to do to refine my project, and understand where next I wanted to take it. Im still in the beginning phases of gathering information and ideation. As of right now, Im still only using Miro for my project planning and documentation. My current challenges are finding precedents. and pre-existing projects similar to mine. Although there are plenty of bird sanctuaries, it's hard to find examples of projects where there are direct actions taken against urbanisation, or making a stand for it in the middle of a densely populated area. However I suppose that's the point of a sanctuary. Where people are designing in New Zealand to bridge nature and humans. I might have to look beyond New Zealand to find these precedents or stretch my idea to fit other pre-existing projects to find inspiration. I've also decided to create a gannt chart to help me keep on time and on track with my assignment, I've used this tool before in the past and it really gives me something that helps me not to getlost and overwhelmed with my tasks. This week has been pretty busy and stressful with my outside commitments, however coming back to this project, something I find interesting and am passionate about, it actually was something that made me happy, and brought something brighter to my day. The only downside was seeing the long road of work I had leading to my next assignment submission after being put so behind from being sick the week before.
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week two
This week has been a real set back. I've been sick and in bed everyday, missing out on class for multiple sessions. Although I've still made some progress towards my assignment, I haven't had the chance to really make a big change in developing my assignment. This set back has in a way "made me sad" however my challenge from hear on out is just putting my head down and getting to where I need to be
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Week one
beginning this project, I don't have an idea of what tools I'll be using beyond Miro has a tool to document my process and plan my project. My current challenges going forward are narrowing down my broad idea, to a more specific achievable task. To get to that, I'll be brainstorming through my idea, looking at other pre-existing precedents, and talking with my stream lecturer to get to that goal.
Getting back into my last sem of uni has been pretty big for me, this being our last sem I'm quite anxious at the thought of "real life" beginning has been weighing pretty heavy on me. However I'm still really excited to end my degree strong, with a passion project I'm ready to give my all to.
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