Let me tell you a thing or two about Tile Vaulting....

Blog 12

Wk 12 - Podcast Assignment

Everybody loves a good podcast. I have always enjoyed a range of shows that I would listen to frequently enough. I like the Blindboy podcast, I find him quite enjoyable to wind down to at the of the day. I have about three sports journalism podcasts that I listen to throughout the week while I walk to and from college. I also listen to the 'Design School' and 'Change Lab' podcasts, However, I to listen to these podcasts after the college semester as I find that surrounding myself in design theory and psychology every minute of every day can become too much, or at least, take the enjoyment out of it.

For our final assignment in our Contemporary Design module we were to record a podast on a chosen country's design culture. What a nice way to finish the module, by talking about design with classmates in a podcast. This sounded like a walk in the park at first. I was SO wrong. The amount of preparation needed and time spent discussing with group mates was something I was not aware of.

Our group’s (Keelan, Alan, Ko and I) brief was to discuss the design culture of Cuba. Our research was difficult. We found no iconic designer. There were no iconic products or inventions that we could discuss other than the old Cuban cars and Cuban cigars. We wanted to do something slightly different to these. Our research always leads back to the revolution led by Che Guevara.

We decided to orientate our podcast topics around this revolution and how it has affected Cuba’s innovation, for good and for bad. Both are equally as interesting.

I then prepared the outline of a script for the guys to then fill in with their research topics and their prepared lines.

The Podcast

Ko was our host and he prepared some great ques and links between our topics. He did a great job on the photo for the podcast too.

Alan discussed the famous photo of Che Guevara and how it was shot by an Irishman and then spread across the world. I never knew that an Irishman could be so closely linked to Che Guevara, and be responsible for such an iconic image too. I thought this piece was fascinating. I would then discuss Cuba’s architectural design features and how in the modern age Cuba is resorting to traditional methods of construction due to the fact that trade embargoes from the revelation are still affecting the country. I touch on how this has actually halted development and how essential new technologies are to getting the country back on track.

While I was researching this then I came across an interesting piece about how Cuban gamers were hacking to get the internet connection to the island so they could play together. I did some further research. Knowing that this was fantastic for our podcast, I asked could Keelan look into this further. He did an excellent job.

Keelan also did the editing of the podcast, and included a comedic advertisement for his band ‘ The Toot Toots’. I thought it was very funny and glad he included it in the podcast.

Reflection

When I reflect on the styles of podcasts I like to listen to, they are casual in their presentation and conversation. I note that this is because they are skilled presenters and actually quite used to presenting and remembering their research. Whereas we had points of information and descriptions we were focused on communicating clearly. This is perhaps we came across as more slightly scripted than we would like. However, I think this was a common thing with most groups and the podcasts. Perhaps if this were something we were to regularly do we would achieve this state of comfort by recording ourselves discussing design topics.

I was happy with the enthusiasm of the project. The research was difficult but we did really enjoy the recording experience. It was quite fun showing off what we had each learned. One of the weeks had booked the recording studio and practised there for a few hours. This was great as we had to quickly get over the cringe of listening to our voices. We made huge strides of progress after this.

Final thoughts

I really enjoyed having a go at a podcast. It has always been something I wanted to try. I have a new respect for the people involved in them as they require so much behind the scenes preparation I have now found out! I did enjoy working in a team. As I think the outcome from a whole team is of such a higher quality than that of one person. I have included our final script and our prep notes for those who are curious about how we prepared our first ever podcast!

Cuba Podcast Script.pdf

Download PDF • 325KB