DEGREE PROJECT PREP

one idea for helping you to organize your thoughts about your degree project is to think in terms of broad categories in which you're interested. then you can mix and match each of those categories to form a design problem or question.

media
ex: mobile screen, books, television, environmental, packaging, etc

design topic
ex: interaction, identity, kinetic typography, narrative

audience
ex: mountain bikers, salsa dancers, soccer moms, high school history teachers

so, questions/statements could be the following:

how can interaction on a mobile screen serve mountain bikers?
how can identity for salsa dancers be expressed through a book?
what is the potential for relating to soccer moms through kinetic typography on the television?
how might narrative be used in environmental design to help high school history teachers better do their job?

of course some of those sound a bit wacky, but you get the point. you can also start with your content, as many of you have done. that still needs to be rounded out with a couple of these categories, audience probably being the most important one. then the others would fall into place.

if you have content (problems with puppy mills), you need to decide who needs to hear that message (audience). then the media and/or design topic would be determined by how the audience prefers to receive messages.

the main point being that your final proposal will end up including basically all of these categories, so it may be helpful to start brainstorming on them now.

GREAT CONCEPT

check out yoxi.tv, who pose an interesting question: "what if changing the world could be fun?" they are starting to do creative awareness-raising competitions around an issue. looks fun.

PROTOTYPE PRESENTATION

wednesday, oct 20 we will split into two groups to present the results of your prototype feedback. we will have some guests from rosedale community partners to provide feedback. here are the basic specs:

5 groups per room -- futura and garamond
5-7 minute presentation
suggested content: quick re-cap of the problem, show prototypes, report on findings/experiences, tell how that influenced your current direction, next steps
10 minutes for feedback
media: open, but make it professional.

COMMUNITY ADVOCACY PROJECT :: QUICK THOUGHTS

i'm pasting some thoughts below from an email conversation i had with tom tonight regarding testing prototypes. maybe you will find them useful...

on a related note, one model for our projects that may (or may not) be instructive is software revisions. software is never really "done" and new updates and refinements are always in the works. google is known for their "continuous beta" i think it's called, where they are constantly making tiny updates to live software almost daily.

with that in mind, you might think of your prototypes as the project even now, and each time you take them out they get bigger, better, and have more components accompanying them. more sculptures this round, less type next round, more web content later on, etc. and it continues to get better all the time...

READING :: NEW DESIGN PRACTICES

for wednesday, october 13, research the following studios or designers in preparation for a 5-minute presentation for class. both sections will meet together so everyone has the full benefit of seeing the range of work undertaken by these designers.

this is not a full, formal presentation, but some level of planning, outlining, and visual representation of work would be helpful. any digital presentations should be loaded onto a single computer before the start of class for quick and easy transitions between students.

we will do all presentations, then use whatever time is left over to discuss the work as a whole.

mo – moxie sozo
abby –  local projects
micah – backspace
tom – free-range studios
johnna – addis creson
luke – ALR design
jessica – celery design
sean – jonathan barnbrook
kate – favianna rodriguez
bryan – eyebeam
dustin – piece studio
lance – worldstudio
amanda – empax
dmitri – citizen scholar
carly – 501 creative
tammy – john bielenberg / project M

BLOGGIN'

not a lot of process documentation happening on the blogs. keep in mind that it not only serves as a reflection tool and way of thinking through your process, but it also proves to your instructors the breadth and depth of the work you've done.

to that end, here are a few posts we'd like to see:

• reflections on any external conversations you've had
• a re-cap of your brainstorming from the past week
• your final three directions you'll be prototyping
• images of the prototypes before in-class review

remember to label all of your posts "va" or similar, so they are easily found. thanks!

RAPID PROTOTYPING

before friday sept 24 class, read through the following information to gain a better understanding of what rapid prototyping is, where it came from, and how it can be useful to graphic design processes.


"designing better and faster with rapid prototyping" from smashing magazine.

rapid prototyping tools, by dan harrelson of "the adaptive path". read the intro and the first section, "making effective prototypes".

"rapid prototyping: an overview" read the section titled "why rapid prototyping".

SUPPLEMENTS TO "CULTURE JAMMERS" READINGS

related to shepard fairey's tendency toward "appropriated" image use
"shepard fairey admits to wrongdoing in associated press lawsuit"

more thoughts on fairey's appropriation
"obey plagiarist shepard fairey"

postering tips from robbie conal's site. note the amount of information dedicated to politeness. the video is kind of interesting also.

further info on true-cost pricing, based on the kalle lasn interview:

wikipedia entry

DESIGN INFLUENCING BEHAVIOR

i found a great post on design observer recently that fits in really well with recent readings about objectivity vs authorship/influence. an informative read.

"design influencing behavior" on design observer

LINKS FROM SECTION 1 DISCUSSION

situationist international

posters from paris 1968 general strikes

adbusters

(for shockley)
jonathan barnbrook
barnbrooks' foundry, virus fonts

GRADING BREAKDOWN FOR COMMUNITY ADVOCACY PROJECT

20% // deliverable: presentation of research summary and problem / question statement.


20% // deliverable: present design prototypes and feedback.


20% // deliverable: in-progress work for group crit.


40% // deliverable: "design ignites change" case study & application. final presentations and written crit. turn in all relevant files/mock-ups for grading.

COMMUNITY ADVOCACY PROJECT :: PROBLEM-FINDING PRESENTATION

this friday, a visual-verbal presentation of your problem-finding will be due. each student, or student group, will have three minutes to present, and will have six minutes for feedback (9 minutes total). 

this presentation is an important part of the design process and should be treated as such. it should be made as if the presentation audience has not been privy to any of the previous discussions. it should clearly take the viewer through the entire thought and research process in a clear and concise way.

include the following in your presentation and turn in for grading.

- problem statement or question 

this is a concise statement of the issue you have researched and determined to be a problem. it may be phrased as a statement of fact -- “too many teens are being bullied in the classroom”, or it may be phrased as a question to explore through your design process -- “how can graphic design help eliminate bullying in the classroom?” either approach is acceptable. 

- audience definition and characteristics 

include basic demographic info such as age range and other relevant factors (possibly gender, socio-economic status, etc). 

more importantly, include qualitative information that explains the “whys” and “hows” behind your issue. ideally this is gleaned from your initial interviews and audience observations. explain their relationship to the problem, mentioning where they fall on the receptivity gradient (handout on the sidebar of the blog) as well as specific input you have received from your audience contacts.

- what social behavior you want to change 

be as specific as possible here, framing it in terms of behavior and not in graphic design artifacts. ex: “i want to eliminate bullying in the classroom by making potential bullies realize the emotional damage they inflict on others.” 

- how you will measure the results of that change 

list any ideas you have for how to evaluate the effectiveness of your design work. how will we be able to tell your project did what you intended? again, be as specific as possible. ex: “at westport high school 9th grade classes, the number of bullying incidents will decrease, as opposed to the increases from previous years.”

RESEARCHING RESEARCH

at the sidebar to the right you will find three links to help you think about your audience and hopefully understand them better as a result.

• a lecture on audience research
• a "receptivity gradient" handout
• audience analysis worksheets from kathy mccoy

take a close look at each of them and utilize them as you continue researching your audience. there should be some new ideas in there for you.

18 BROADWAY PROJECT

18 broadway, initiated by dst systems with the help of 360 architecture, is intended to be a public space that showcases the best practices in environmental stewardship and sustainability in the areas of water, food, shelter, and energy. learn more about the developing project here.

content-related links

additional research about childhood obesity can be found below. this isn't totally necessary for friday's meeting, but will certainly be helpful as the project moves forward.

post additional links in the comments for the benefit of the entire class.

article about richard louv, author of "last child in the woods"

children & nature network

a good little article chris found in the online new york times called "fixing a world that fosters fat"

ROSEDALE RESEARCH LINKS

please visit the following links to be prepared for our initial meeting with the client for friday. no need to read every single page, but look through to get some solid background information, particularly the first link.

http://www.healthykidsinitiative.org/assessments
password rosedalehki

http://www.rosedalefarmersmarket.com

http://rosedale.org

TYLER IS DELICIOUS

here is my digital sock drawer, exposed for you all to see -- my delicious bookmarks.

look specifically at tags like
- visual advocacy
- sustainability
- social design
- editorial films

there are lots of other little things buried in there, but those are the larger tags. have fun!

ABOUT THIS BLOG

1
all project descriptions, objectives, specifications and deadlines will be posted here. it is your responsibility to check regularly for important updates, new assignments and topical references.

2
we intend the blog to function as an ongoing dialog and extension beyond the classroom. If you have project-specific questions that arise outside of class please ask. everyone is welcome to reply and we will respond on/before online hours or in class.

3
required readings and discussion topics are provided to clarify and expand your knowledge of issues addressed in studio and design in general. we will discuss these either as a class or you will be asked to post responses to this blog.

4
visual & creative inspiration abounds online and i encourage you to embark upon serendipitous or purposeful surfing. once you find something share-worthy post it to this site. you are all authors of this content, so use this space freely to share ideas, discussion, and inspiration.

5
occasionally i will assign an online crit in order to provide an alternative forum for classroom feedback and collaborative effort.

if those reasons aren't enough to get involved, remember, your online presence does count toward your online participation grade. i evaluate post quality and quantity, which is factored into individual project grades under the "process" and "participation" sections.