Attendant

Timeline (13 weeks)
Inspiration Journal: Weeks 1-4
Working Brief: Weeks 4-5
Design: Weeks 6-13

Communicating my creative experiences of fulfilling the synchronous roles of bottle shop attendant and observant experience designer

I completed a self-directed graduate project in my final year of Communication Design at RMIT, serving to reflect on transitioning from a design student working in a bottle shop to a professional designer through the format of a publication. By sharing my creative experiences while fulfilling the role of bottle shop attendant in this publication, I was able to reconnect with the creative and empathetic part of me that I felt I was losing touch with due to feelings of self-doubt and orient myself towards practising as an observant experience designer.

INSPIRATION JOURNAL

Before thinking of a final design outcome, I spent 4 weeks composing an inspiration journal, reflecting and experimenting to get my creative juices flowing 

The scope of the inspiration journal is fluid, allowing for a playful approach to guide the project's direction and giving free rein to my divergent thinking. Most of the content was not directly relevant to the final design but was instrumental in directing a unique outcome.

WORKING BRIEF 

Creating a working brief to guide the scope and timeline of the project

Short description

A publication centered on recording my experiences as a bottleshop attendant.

Long description 

A 64-page saddle-stitched publication translating my routine experiences, unique conversations and creative interpretations of my role as bottleshop attendant.

I intend to source the content of this publication from memory, physical artefacts, sensory experiences and notes I have collected.

To evoke a feeling, photography, collage, oil pastel rubbings, hand-drawn illustration, and cut-outs between pages will be used. The implementation of unconventional materials such as tape and cardboard may be utilised to surprise the user and engage multiple senses.

Purpose and relevance

This publication aims to capture and reflect upon my simultaneous experiences of being a bottleshop attendant and communication design student at a time when both roles are coming to a close and a new chapter of my life is unfolding. Through the design process, I aim to process aspects of my personality and empathise with the customers I have served while utilising and evolving what I have learnt as a student to design a compelling and memorable story that ties these simultaneous experiences together and hints at future roles. Furthermore, this project will allow me to experiment with printing after a couple of years of limited access to resources and tools due to the pandemic.

DESIGN

The final design outcome

A 72-page, A5 publication communicating my creative experiences of fulfilling the synchronous roles of bottle shop attendant and observant experience designer

The front cover provides insight into the subject matter of the project, using packaging symbols to prompt intrigue and encourage a desire to investigate the contents of the publication. The explanatory text "open this end", also sourced from packaging, reinforces this messaging and assists the effective and timely discovery of the story's beginning.

The back cover uses another packaging symbol translating to "this way up" to playfully prevent readers from opening the book from the wrong end. This symbol also communicates that through the creation of the project, I found a sense of grounding in my purpose as a designer and am ready to move on to the next stage of my career.

The use of scanned imagery throughout the publication signifies the beginning of sections of the narrative in a way that augments my experiences to provide visual evidence of how my interpretations came to be.