Re-Positioning ✲

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This 2020, Session 12

During the final session we responded to/commented on the questions we had prepared as a class. Here are a selection of questions and their responses:

What are you looking for in a mentor?

• Expertise
• Partnership
• Someone to play devil’s advocate

What led you to/inspired your current choice of topic?

• Where I stand right now
• A particular book or author
• Looking at the literature we’ve read
• Fields of study

How do you move from thinking to action?

• Having conversations
• Just do, don’t overthink it
• Get in contact with people
• Act without permission

Reflection & Feedback

If I am being completely honest I had quite the love–hate relationship with this course. On the one hand, I really appreciated having the opportunity to reflect upon our time here at ZHdK and consider our interests before our Bachelor Thesis course in January. It was a chance to take a step back and look at the knowledge and experiences we’ve accumulated so far, and in doing so, attempt to pin down some sort of direction we’d like to pursue. On the other hand, I felt an extreme amount of pressure to have a topic ever since the Free Flow Retreat. I went into these two days thinking it would be more exploratory, but felt pressured the entire way through. Of course this is partially a result of my own perception of the process, but I think there could have been less emphasis placed on already having a topic, and instead on what we have found or currently find interesting.

For me personally, the most useful or insightful moments in this course came from asking ourselves questions such as, “How do we as designers contribute?” or “What is my ambition as a designer?” I found that answering these questions actually led me further away from my chosen topic, which was annoying in the moment, but helpful moving forward. For this reason, I sometimes wished we spent less time on zoom and had more time to research. I understand we have to find the time on our own to research, but this is difficult when you’re trying to find enough time in a day to be in class, do assignments, eat healthy, move enough, socialize, etc. Any extra time is appreciated.

Despite the ups and the downs, I really believe the process we went through during this course helped to prepare me for the Bachelor Thesis.