What did you learn?
During this project, I learned more about critical lenses and more about critical experiences themselves. I also learned while doing my research that many cultures do not realize that they are similar in so many ways, and that we can also learn from each other to change the future.
What feedback did you receive? Any reflections on the critique itself?
Change some of the wording in the prototype to make it more obvious what the whole idea is. Also, “I feel like it would be interesting to see ways in which existing weapons can be slightly modified for a nonkilling purpose similar to how there are those pistol-shaped lighters.”
What might you do differently in terms of process or content?
I would add more functions to the prototype in terms of adding buttons and information.
What was inspiring? What parts?
Learning about how weaponry advanced and is continuing to do so.
Revisit the assignment prompts: how did your project relate to the original prompts, in terms of critical lens, audience, tone, etc…
The project did relate to my original prompts, however, I needed to fixate on one central idea, instead of the wide spectrum. My tone stayed the same in terms of keeping it light, I wanted people to be creative in their ideas for future weapons. My audience was paleoanthropologists (people who study human fossils), students, and cultural anthropologists (people who study culture). Those still stayed the same.
How did you balance research and experimentation? Which is easier for you? How can you focus more on the areas that you shy away from?
I did more research than experimentation. In my case, there was a lot of information I had to research in terms of history and evidence rather than working on the prototype itself. Depending on the project I think that experimentation would be more required than research.