- Support with Gillian:
- Fimga Board Continued:
- Extending Design:
- Prototype @ ISO:
- Woodworking:
- Show & Tell:
- Finishing the Video Doc:
- Assembling the media:
- Collecting the laser cutting:
- Building the Prototype/Chat with Jen:
- Implementation with Pav/Quick Iterations:
- Ticking things off the list:
- Recording the final piece of audio:
- Tidying up the scenes:
- Reflection – 8th May 2026:
Support with Gillian:
For the support, I had a finished version of the Video Doc, but I just wanted Gillian’s feedback and expertise. I think I could read a thousand books on video editing and visual design, but just doing it and learning is the best way. Trusting your eye can get you to a decent point in editing, applying what I’ve seen in other works and expert feedback, and then just taking that forward in the more visual work and editing I do is the only way I can get better.
Gillian pointed out some fixes, like the tone of the captions, and just polishing everything up, and will give further feedback after sending her the rough cut for marking/correction.
Fimga Board Continued:
Throughout the progress after the WIP, I’ve been working on and updating the same Figma board to work with images and aspect ratios in a digital space, as well as exploring layouts.
I think the digital space of a Figma board has been useful in several ways. Firstly, my ongoing problem of trying to keep everything clean and perfect all the time, which is easier in Figma but still allows me to experiment quickly.
Extending Design:
After letting everything run away from me a bit, getting a bit frozen, and then realising that the first draft of the extending design PDF was due the next day, I spent another day just putting on my headphones and bashing it out. Now, I am not condoning my actions, but it was important for me to note that I can now sit down and produce something in one day, be truly productive.
And after doing the same with the DeSimulate poster and social media, it wasn’t just a fluke.
Extending Design Review:
I’ll discuss this more in my Extending Design post, but that project really helped me solidify that this is what I can do and what I want to do after my course, this being client-facing design work.
At the end of this week, my main focus was sticking to the landing with the side project I’ve been working on, DeSimulate. Friday night was the first proper opening of the exhibition, so most of the day was coordinating with people involved, Pav at work and sponsors.
Prototype @ ISO:
After the madness of Friday and then a day of rest on Saturday, sitting in the sun against a tree with the music on was what was needed, but then to ISO on Sunday to get more done.
With lots of help from Pav, we were able to get the project framework up and running and responsive on the touchscreen, and make some changes to the style and movements. I felt it should adhere to the style I’ve already established with the research and the design language developed for the WIP.
Attractor Screen Writing:
- Initial Call to Action
- Info on Robert Trotter with second call to action
Initial Call to Action:
- Touch the screen to explore the work of Robert Trotter
Info on Robert Trotter with second call to action:
- Robert Trotter used his camera to find the character and charm of Glasgow.
- Select an option to explore what he found.
Woodworking:
With the plinth designed way back at the start of spring break, which feels like months ago, I got an email saying it was finally ready, so with the next available time booked for Monday, I was in to at least get it assembled.
I used to be confident with woodworking, actually making a physical thing, but I found myself again, frozen, worried I was going to mess it up. Andy was helpful and kind, given that I had said I knew what I was doing, but for some reason didn’t start.
After a helping hand, talking it through, and spending way too much time measuring, I fianlly got into it and it all came back to me, I stopped trying to think about what I was doing and just doing it, what was logical and obvious and maybe some times overly cautious when thinking about security but I just didnt want to get this down to London and open the van to scrap wood.
Show & Tell:
With Show and Tell today, it was just a progress report that came so much easier to me now that I actually felt I had something to report and show.
There was some good feedback on the button icons, and again, just making them as obvious as possible, so it’s clear which one does what.
At this point, everything seems almost ready for the hand-in. I think everything has one more 3rd, just to stick the landing.
If I have a few more days of how productive I’ve been recently, then I’ll be fine, one day to finish extending design, one to fix the Video Documentation and then the rest of the time is finishing the studio project as well as getting into the habit of chipping away at the learning journal and improving the existing things on it as I am now.
Finishing the Video Doc:
With the detailed and appreciated feedback from Gillian, I was ready to finish it off, and with Pav in and ready to help me, I was again ready to get my head down and sort it out. I feel like my abilities of the last couple of weeks have just clicked into place after the last three and a half years. I know I can do it now, so I did.
As I have the framework for the video documentation now, I can swap out the WIP footage for the footage I record at the Degree Show, and when I do, clear documentation after the degree show, and then, if need be, I can work in any footage I get at New Designers for my portfolio.
Assembling the media:
The Visuals:
Then, after a morning of assembling physical parts, the assembling of the digital parts came easily. I don’t know why I kept putting it off, and it feels like I’ve wasted so much time now. I don’t know why I wasted so much time instead of just doing it.
So, armed with all the parts and a checklist, I assembled the media for my project, just like the wood in the workshop.
I think sometimes I just need a hand to start, and then I have no problems at all.
The images are approximately the right size for the projection; the writing was taken from the Figma board; all were assigned to their respective scenes; and the final touch was the audio I had collected beforehand, again all assigned to the scenes they were intended for.
The Audio:
Some of the audio was either not good enough, due to strong winds on the days of recording, or the scene would be almost impossible or very unlikely to recreate without it being a project of its own. So with some minor layering of ambient noises and freesound recordings, it seemed to paint the picture I wanted.
With almost all the media assembled, it felt that I had really done something today.
Collecting the laser cutting:
After not being able to get into the studio, either being busy or the woodworkstudio its self being closed, I finally got in and got a chance to speak to Andy in the lasercutting room who saved me by double checking with sizes and doing it right there with a free bit of scrap wood, I’ll look into this more when I’ve handed in and have time to focus on the degree show.
Building the Prototype/Chat with Jen:
After collecting the laser cutting from Andy, I was free to assemble the prototype again and get Jen’s opinion on it. For the most part, she seemed happy with it, but did make a great point of tying the mounted photography on the wall to the selections on the touch screen.
I also kept it running, just to see if there were any problems, stress testing it as I worked on finishing Extended Design. The second and third years came down, as they do, to go for lunch, and all got a shot of it, and it seemed to be quite a positive response.
Implementation with Pav/Quick Iterations:
With Pav keeping me right, it was another productive day of finalising, exporting and plugging in the scenes I had made on After Effects, whipping a USB back and forth while listening to music and getting things done. I find I can make the best and quickest decision when I have someone asking as if I’m the expert, which is my project, so I should be, but with no time to second-guess myself, I knew what font, what spacing, the timing, everything just clicked.
Another thing I noticed was how long I was taking to do the paralaxing shots. I just built them up so much in my head and kept putting them off, but when I needed to, I just did them. Now, I would like to spend more time on them so they are perfect, but given how little time I had, I was pretty proud of them.
I owe him big time for elevating my work to where I’m happy with it. I need to get to that level on my own, though, a one-man army that can do both sides.
Ticking things off the list:
Recording the final piece of audio:
On Sunday, I finally got the chance to make the trip to the Barras and record my final elusive piece of audio: the noise, hustle, and banter of the Barras. It also worked as some rest; I’ve been working consistently on all the projects, and I’ve been forgetting to slow down at times.
It also felt as if it was a poetic summary of this project, I started to feel on track with this project when I seen Robert Trotter’s photography and fell in love with it, how beautiful he made Glasgow seem, how he found the stories and framed them beautifullly and one of the shots that first caught my eye was the one in the Barras the two men surrounded in net curtains and the final piece of the puzzle that I’m collecting is in the same place. As I stood there enjoying the people, the sights, the smells and the fantastic madness, I felt a little bit closer to Robert Trotter and everyone who loves this place.
Below are the two audios from that day of the noise of the space and the man that seels pies in the Barras, and I think it’s exactly what I was looking for:
Tidying up the scenes:
Last night, just to put my mind to rest I wanted to look over the scenes for the projection and ist good that I did, I guess in my stress and speed I didn’t notice all the small mistakes, like the kerning being off, the edges of some masks not being perfect, just a lot of small little things that would have been obvious projected onto the side of a wall.
Reflection – 8th May 2026:
Before handing in, I want to look back at the whole project and reflect on each step of the process now with the hindsight that I have at the hand in date:
All of it was coming to a head this week; all I had in my head was to ‘stick the landing’ and to finalise and produce work that I’m proud of. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been writing to-do lists constantly, just trying to keep myself on track, but they kept growing. Every time I rewrote them the got longer and longer, but in weeks 11 & 12, I felt like I was finally getting things off. The list kept getting smaller, which gave me even more motivation to keep going and power through.
I’ll be honest, it was exhausting at points, but that’s because I cared about it so much, and it’s not as if I had a team of people. I had the lectures and Pavs’ help, but they have their own things to worry about. But looking back at it now, I wouldn’t change anything about the process. I learned so much in such a short time, and I loved it.
Nicholas McLaughlin Blog 
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