This post is going to get a little introspective so let me start by saying, I'm not complaining at all about the opportunity but.... My merit award presentation has killed me over the past few months. Here are a few reasons:
Pressure: Many people are looking at SCAD in particular this year and I want to represent not only myself but the school as best I can. I also tend to be very critical of myself which adds more pressure no matter what I create. As a result I've redone the presentation numerous times.
Direction: The merit award has forced me to decide what my work means to me and also think about the future of design (something I think Jon Kolko tired to show us back in studio one). These are questions I tend to block out because I dig into projects and forgot about life, outdoors and sometimes food. So for me to take a break and look inside myself is a bit scary. It has lead to a more compelling story but it was challenging.
Outside Opinion: This one was tricky. Generally I love to get peoples feedback on all of my projects and working in groups has always helped me. But in this circumstance I believe it hindered my creativity and somewhat distorted what I wanted to say... In other words I received such great feedback that I wanted to use it all. But somewhere along the way I lost connection with what I was originally trying to accomplish.
That being said, I've reworked most everything this spring break. The content of the presentation will be somewhat familiar but the story is all me this time. And I am EXTREMELY excited to tell it in New Orleans.