Text & Image - Working as a Group, Deadlines, Publication

I have found this project to be one of the hardest and stressful projects I have done. This is due to a combination of things, mainly because it was my first time working in a group. I found myself stressed all the time to meet deadlines otherwise I would let other members of the group down. I also found myself worrying whether other members of the group were going to meet the deadline (which some of them didn't) and therefore the rest of us would be stuck or have to pick up their weight, or our production would suffer and there's nothing I could do about it. I think the fact that the success of the publication wasn't completely in my control was something very new to me and I had to get used to it. 

I also really wanted the whole production to be a group project, so if there were group decisions I didn't like or would have preferred to do something else it was hard to swallow this and go with the group. 

I think because it was the first time this was hard, but I would like to do another group collaboration, maybe not with so many people next time as it would be easier and more enjoyable. 

I think it would have been helpful for the group to meet and work together more often so that everybody was on the same page about exactly what was expected of them. There was some confusion as to how the book was going to be put together as we were meant to get the layout of the book on InDesign in A5 with an inch binding space. So when it came to binding everything (last minute as deadlines kept being avoided and missed) it was made even more difficult and time consuming as things weren't the right size or put onto the computer when they could have just been printed rather than stuck in individually. 

We didn't even agree on a front cover or plan one because the group was never able to meet as a whole, so that ended up being rushed. 

Whilst this all sounds terrible, it wasn't really all that bad. It was just a rush at the end and things weren't as perfect as I would have liked them to be. I did actually enjoy exchanging ideas and seeing how other people worked, setting deadlines made sure I got things done. This is why I would like to try again, maybe with a less imminent exhibition at the end of the project and less people to try and gather together.