OurBlood Sickle Cell Disease Education

View the final project video presentation compiled by the whole team > or scroll to see a more personal project breakdown of the

Studio Setup & Background Info


  • Spring 2020 Interactive Media Studio - an on campus studio setup that moved to a virtual setup by mid-semester.

  • Our professors brought in real clients from different industries and areas, from inside Texas A&M and outside of university, too.

  • Groups of 3 students per project (2 juniors and 1 sophomore for our group).

  • 13 weeks of project work, minus class & project introductions and presentation days.

Fred Freeman from Thomas Jefferson University was our client and introduced us to his partnership with Nemours Children’s Hospital. Fred is working on developing medically-minded interactive media and digital environment programs for Thomas Jefferson and Nemours. So, while he was a client for our studio and had a project for us to develop, he was also learning how Texas A&M Visualization Interactive Media Studios worked and the process behind our undergrad student work. Our professors felt our group and project idea was the perfect showcase of the TAMU studio workflow.

Turns out you can’t just google ‘How To Draw a VR Storyboard’ and get a standard answer…

Skillsets Developed


ONE

Experience with a more detailed research stage. I scoured educational sites, medical journals, and various study reports. I also learned how to interview field experts (medical doctors and hospital staff) to gather information for program development. It’s all about the right keywords, the right questions, and an open and curious attitude.

TWO

Major project flexibility experience. We had to rebound in a phenomenal way when virtual classes became the new normal for the rest of the semester. The development of the take-it-one-day-at-a-time attitude I had to call upon to complete this project with my sanity in place was a hard lesson for a perfectionist like myself. I definitely walked away with a more relaxed project approach for future projects.

THREE

Working on your own work while also monitoring a team and teaching skills to others as needed. When you realize a teammate may have gotten in over their head on a task for which they volunteered, a good leader needs to point them towards the finish line with solid examples, constructive feedback, and a little extra patience and help. I think myself and this teammate were happy at the end of studio with our growth, knowing that we had truly put our all into our tasks.

< I really enjoy physical sketching in the beginning stages.
Using ink helps me to be definitive in what marks I make and to iterate instead of erasing. Wide swipes of oil pastels help me test the color ideas swirling in my brain, too.