Q4 Project Reflection

4th Quarter Project Reflection

          This quarter, we were assigned to create a product in a group with three to four other students. Alongside the product, we had to bring all of the aspects we've learned so far in eComm to create a "Shark Tank" presentation. We started by creating a commercial, then the graphics, followed by the animation, and finally making a website to showcase our creations. We spent everyday since the moment we thought of the iPillow creating and perfecting all of our advertisements. It was difficult to get done in time toward the end of the project, since there was the pressure of quickly writing the presentation, knowing we were going first. We were also challenged toward the beginning with thinking of a product that we all liked and agreed on. It took multiple days, but we finally decided on the iPillow. 

          The iPillow is a device meant to help your sleep, with three main features. Built in A/C helps with heating and cooling, an alarm feature works to wake you up on time, and the added melatonin makes you fall asleep easier. Along the way, I learned more about working with a group for such a big project. It's definitely a challenge at times, but it does force you to learn more about the styles of people you're working with. 

I asked for feedback from a member of another group about some of my work for the project , which helped me learn that I need to tweak some of my lines on the 3D box animation, as well as adjusting some of the website from a design aspect. As you could predict, I went in and made some changes such as changing fonts, and redoing the curved lines on our box. I really liked how my work turned out for this project, my designs for the graphics were of my simplistic design, so they matched anywhere I had to use them throughout the project.

          Throughout the duration of the project, I created the graphics, commercial, 3D animation, and the website. We started out in video, one of my stronger skills in eComm, which I think helped my commercial get chosen to represent the iPillow. We then moved on to graphic design, and I designed the logo and we again ended up choosing my work. Animation was a struggle for me, it's definitely not something that I'm strong in. Although, I was able to pull through and create something in SketchUp that I actually liked and had confidence in. I worked on the website for a lot of the final week and a half leading up to the end, and embedded all of the needed videos and changed the color scheme to match the product. 

I never finished early, and was constantly working for the whole quarter. My group members seemed to have time to do other things when I was working toward the end. At the end of each class rotation, I would always make sure to go back and make sure that the work I had done in that two weeks was something that I genuinely liked, and not just something that I made because I felt like I had to. 

          After a year of eCommunication, my strengths have undeniably shown in the video and graphic design fields, which I'm going into next year. They both are something that I enjoy doing, so when I was working on the logo and commercial, it didn't feel like a chore. 

My areas of improvement have shown to be in the animation and web strands. I  wasn't and still am not confident that the website was my best work, but for the amount of time that I was given to work, and the destined road blocks that were meant to happen with my luck, I don't think that I did terrible. As I mentioned before, I actually liked my box animation. I had plenty of difficulties with building the house during third quarter, so I was hesitant with the 3D animation.

My favorite part of this quarter was making the commercial, something about condensing our once one minute and forty five second long video into a thirty second commercial was like a puzzle to me. If I could go back and change anything, I would spend more time on our website. From a designers standpoint, I don't think that it's very attractive. My main takeaway of the quarter would probably be that working with a group can be challenging at times, and that communication is key to creating the best product possible. Next year, I think that my goal is to make sure that everything that I create is something that I'm confident in. The things that I've learned from this project will undoubtedly stick with me for the rest of my eComm career.