Week 24 Final PDF

PDF development

• At this stage I did a ‘summary’ but not a ‘next steps’ section at the end of the document

Final PDF Submission

• Have ensured to only use my student ID for final submission
• Included the ‘next steps’ summary at end of document

SWOT analysis summary

Strengths

The research topic for this project was immense. Knowing I had 24 weeks to put a studio practice project, a written 5000 word report, liaise with stakeholders and identify an industry problem to develop a proposed solution, was a big task. This was partly down to the topic of sustainability being a very broad area.

One of the key strengths for this project is down to management and organisation with weekly agendas. I created subheadings for each week on my research journal (blog) and initially in a project plan. My project plan did evolve, along with the research question to become more refined and better suited to what I had been researching.

Weaknesses

The challenge has been partly down to researching such a large topic and keeping it within manageable boundaries.

I found the more I researched, the more contradictary it became. For instance, how far can a company go regarding sustainable practice before encountering a wall? I did not need to get far in my research before I learnt that a lot of the issues with sustainability is consumerism and legislation.

The world we has grown to be the opposite of sustainable practice. Trying to reverse many years worth of damage is always going to be a difficult challenge. My outcome only scratches the surface of how changes in the manufacturing industry could benefit the planet.

Opportunities

Each week during the module I felt that I had the opportunity to expand in many different directions, which at times made me more confused in which direction to head in.

However, the turning point was developing my project from a customer experience perspective. It is because of this that I feel that there are plenty of opportunities to develop this project further.

One of the key areas to develop further would be the idea of a collaborative community where clients, manufacturers and graphic designers not only work together but operate without a support system. This would mean the industry could support itself and would transform the creative working world.

Threats

It is always going to be difficult trying to compete with other sustainable companies, especially ones that are aiming to alter the industry just like Eco-Collective.

However to combat this I think collaboration is the key, encouraging competitors to work alongside one another and not against another. There is always a risk where a company will not want to collaborate and work independendtly, but for the sake of the planet I feel that these companies would be in the minority. Companies working together to tackle one of the most complex industry issues  such as sustainability through manufacturing and design, will always benefit from being collaborative.