Well, I'm finally finished....
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Saturday, June 4, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
last day of class
Today was officially our last day of instruction. We spent time in class talking about all the things we liked and didn't like about the course. Jimmy had each of us name either a plus or a negative about the 10 weeks we spent in his class. There were many assignments that people listed as pluses including game day, the word assignments and many of the Ted talks. Some of the negatives were blogging and the rendering of the mandarins. Personally I enjoyed the days when we got to work in groups with other classmates and learn from each other. As the quarter is coming to a close I think this class has helped me not only with the development of my ideas but with my social skills. I am not a person that usually speaks a lot in class and even though I didn't do that much speaking in front of everyone I at least feel a lot more comfortable around my peers when having discussions. Another nice thing about this quarter is that as we are all starting to take a lot of the same design classes together we are becoming closer and enjoying the time we spend on campus because we are all becoming friends. I like that I have made so many new friends this quarter that I will be seeing again in my next classes. It becomes much easier to produce work and speak up in class when you are comfortable with the people that surround you. This quarter for me has been the hardest as far as work and projects but it has been much more enjoyable then any of the previous.
xo
xo
Saturday, May 28, 2011
stage 6 communication
The main responsibility of a designer is to be able to clearly communicate an idea or a design. To be a successful designer one must be able to communicate to different types of clients. There are many different modes of communication that can be used depending on who you are trying to communicate with.
- corporations
-manufacturing
- associates
When presenting a design there are four different levels on which the information you deal with can be:
statement- who, what, where and why
concept- concept boards and sketches to flesh out ideas
detail- turning the idea into a physical object
planning- directing information about design into the future
The methods, media and presentation style chosen by a designer to communicate to a client are very important and a designer needs to be well prepared in order to know what they are talking about and believe in their work 100%. Presentation is key.
- corporations
-manufacturing
- associates
When presenting a design there are four different levels on which the information you deal with can be:
statement- who, what, where and why
concept- concept boards and sketches to flesh out ideas
detail- turning the idea into a physical object
planning- directing information about design into the future
The methods, media and presentation style chosen by a designer to communicate to a client are very important and a designer needs to be well prepared in order to know what they are talking about and believe in their work 100%. Presentation is key.
MAY 25
Today Jimmy gave us the opportunity to work on our final projects. He gave us the choice of staying in class or working on it outside of class. I along with a few other classmates chose to stay in class and work on my project. I am having a hard time deciding how I want to film my final project so hopefully with a little bit of research and some inspiration I will be able to figure it out this weekend and start working on it. I cant believe the quarter is just about over.
a what? a who?
class today was pretty exciting. We played a game that focused on paying attention and communication between each other. The object of the game was to pass around an object and ask the person next to us what it was. They key was to go slowly and use a certain tone in our voices when asking and answering the questions. We surprisingly did pretty well with the game at first but as it got more difficult we had a harder time. The game was fun and i think that most of the class had a good time playing it based on all the laughter during the game.
The second part of the class we watched a talk by Sir Ken Robinson. I liked what he had to say, he was pretty funny and interesting. One of Robinson's main points was to make sure you are doing what you love. Personally I am so happy that I chose to follow my gut and change my major to art. Growing up I always took art classes and enjoyed painting but when college came around I felt like I needed to do something more then just art. At first I had no idea what I wanted to do and slowly I started to get into psychology and social work. My first year at CSULA was spent majoring in social work until one day I realized that there was nothing more I wanted to do then create art. I realized that this hobby I loved could be much more then a hobby and that I should take a chance and do something that I was really in love with. So with that being said I am so happy that I am doing what I really want to be doing. No money or degree in the world could ever change that.
The second part of the class we watched a talk by Sir Ken Robinson. I liked what he had to say, he was pretty funny and interesting. One of Robinson's main points was to make sure you are doing what you love. Personally I am so happy that I chose to follow my gut and change my major to art. Growing up I always took art classes and enjoyed painting but when college came around I felt like I needed to do something more then just art. At first I had no idea what I wanted to do and slowly I started to get into psychology and social work. My first year at CSULA was spent majoring in social work until one day I realized that there was nothing more I wanted to do then create art. I realized that this hobby I loved could be much more then a hobby and that I should take a chance and do something that I was really in love with. So with that being said I am so happy that I am doing what I really want to be doing. No money or degree in the world could ever change that.
Monday, May 16, 2011
DREAMS- Akira Kurosawa
Today in class we watched the film Dreams. The film was compiled of 8 short films. Each short story contained some of the same reoccurring characters but each one was a separate dream. I really enjoyed the one where the man sets out to meet Vincent Van Gogh. It starts off in an art museum where he is sucked into one of Van Gogh's paintings. As he travels through the painting he encounters a group of people who tell him where he can find Van Gogh but they warn that he has gone mad. The man travels through a field where he finally encounters Van Gogh. Van Gogh speaks to him and tells him that he must continue painting. Throughout the remainder of the film the young man travels through all of Van Gogh's paintings as if he is a part of them. That was my favorite part of this film. I thought the way they made him look like he was part of the painting was amazing and looked great. I think that the film as a whole was very interesting because is mixed art with drama and fantasy. It showed different types of dreams that we have all had and how strange, beautiful and mystifying it is to drift into a semi-concious state. Our homework for tonight and tomorrow night is to plant the ideas of our creative process into our minds before falling asleep and see if we can dream about it. I guess we shall see what happens.....
John Coy
On Thursday evening I attended the seminar put on by AIGA on campus. The guest speaker was a designer known as John Coy. The seminar started a late because they were having technical difficulties with the projector so we had to wait around outside for a little longer then planned. Once we were inside John Coy talked to us about his life as a designer and showed us slides of many designs he did throughout his life. I thought the talk was interesting and I liked when he spoke about finding our own inspiration and motivation. He said that when we find something we love to do we know it instantly and without a doubt. If we put out a certain amount of energy into the world we will begin to receive what we are looking for. I thought this was very interesting and related it back to a book I read called The Secret. The Secret is a book that talks about the power of the mind and the power we have inside of us to make everything in life good. John Coy showed us many slides of his work and things he had designed. My favorite was the invitation for UCLA that had all these paper cutout and looked very detailed and precise. Overall I think that John Coy's message was an inspiring one and that many people felt like they benefited from listening to the challenges he went through to get to where he is today.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
JIMMY WHERE ARE YOU!?
Todays class was interesting because we had no professor. Jimmy was out sick so Dustin ran the show. We discussed our creative briefs and threw out ideas on what they should say. We all decided on a few key points as far as the length of the video and the audience, the goal was left to our own interpretation. It was actually pretty funny that with no Jimmy there we still stayed and worked on our briefs instead of leaving after 5 minutes. Tomorrow evening we will all be attending the talk in the music hall with John Coy so maybe we will see Jimmy there.
Creative Briefs
Class this morning started with us re-arranging ourselves in order from shortest to tallest. After we figured that one out ( which didn't take very long) Jimmy talked to us about professional creative briefs. He read out a few examples that he had. Some were long (3 pages) others were shorter (1 page) but they all presented the same ideas. We then briefly discussed our creative briefs for our final project. Our homework is to come up with our own creative briefs based on what we think our final project should be about and then discuss in class with our classmates so that we can come up with one brief that we will all follow.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Stage 5 Modeling
Chapter 5 is called Definition/Modeling. In this chapter we learn the hierarchy of needs for design and the steps we need to take in order to meet those needs. The hierarchy of design needs is as follows:
Level 1: Functionality- does your design do what it is suppose to do?
Level 2: Reliability- Is it consistent in its performance?
Level 3: Usability- How easy is it for others to use your design?
Level 4: Proficiency- Is the user's experience improved, allowing things to be done better then before?
Level 5: Creativity- Design at its most creative level crosses disciplines and changes peoples perceptions and experiences.
It is very important to look at the anatomy of an idea to understand how it functions. By breaking something into parts it will be much easier to explain to potential clients, manufactures and others. Details and the correct treatment of details along with creating models and samples is a huge part of modeling a design. Modeling is just another way of sketching out an idea, a different way that will bring out new exploration of your design. Personally, I would much rather make a model or a mock up of a design as opposed to a simple sketch because that way it is much easier for me to see and understand what I am actually making and see what type of issues may come up as far as functionality and construction.
When creating a model it is important to keep in mind that the model is real but it is not the REAL thing. When presenting a mock up it is important that your meaning is clear. What exactly are you presenting. Is it a part of the design? The entire thing, an idea? Make sure this is stated to the client in the begining so that there is no confusion. Other factors in creating models and mock-ups include figuring out the problems that go along with scaling a model and how to fix them. Another important thing is to not get too obsessed with the model, trying to make it absolutely perfect because then the design will fall behind. As long as the hierarchy is understood and followed as best as possible then your priorities should be in order.
The last part of this chapter talks about strategies and time management. I really liked the perspective piece on Ian Cunningham. His story about how he "came in through the side door" without really knowing too much about industrial design and worked his way up is extremely inspiring to me and makes me realize that there are so many possibilities at my fingertips.
Level 1: Functionality- does your design do what it is suppose to do?
Level 2: Reliability- Is it consistent in its performance?
Level 3: Usability- How easy is it for others to use your design?
Level 4: Proficiency- Is the user's experience improved, allowing things to be done better then before?
Level 5: Creativity- Design at its most creative level crosses disciplines and changes peoples perceptions and experiences.
It is very important to look at the anatomy of an idea to understand how it functions. By breaking something into parts it will be much easier to explain to potential clients, manufactures and others. Details and the correct treatment of details along with creating models and samples is a huge part of modeling a design. Modeling is just another way of sketching out an idea, a different way that will bring out new exploration of your design. Personally, I would much rather make a model or a mock up of a design as opposed to a simple sketch because that way it is much easier for me to see and understand what I am actually making and see what type of issues may come up as far as functionality and construction.
When creating a model it is important to keep in mind that the model is real but it is not the REAL thing. When presenting a mock up it is important that your meaning is clear. What exactly are you presenting. Is it a part of the design? The entire thing, an idea? Make sure this is stated to the client in the begining so that there is no confusion. Other factors in creating models and mock-ups include figuring out the problems that go along with scaling a model and how to fix them. Another important thing is to not get too obsessed with the model, trying to make it absolutely perfect because then the design will fall behind. As long as the hierarchy is understood and followed as best as possible then your priorities should be in order.
The last part of this chapter talks about strategies and time management. I really liked the perspective piece on Ian Cunningham. His story about how he "came in through the side door" without really knowing too much about industrial design and worked his way up is extremely inspiring to me and makes me realize that there are so many possibilities at my fingertips.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
May 4, 2011-
Today in class we discussed our ideas for games that we came up with. First Jimmy talked about the actual presentation of the boards. He wanted us to look at how they all looked as far as how professional they were. Some of them were hand drawn, other printed using computer programs, some were mounted really neatly and looked very clean, others had issues with placement, glue and tape. For the most part I would say that about less then half of the boards looked presentable. We then discussed the time management part and Jimmy told us that we must always make things look as professional as possible because in the real working world we are going to have strict time constraints and so if we know how to organize our ideas and prioritize our to do lists we will be more successful. One key thing I learned in class today was the right way to put your name and contact info on a presentation. It must be on a small white tag with everything printed on it. This was something that I didn't know until today.
After we talked about the presentation part of the boards a couple of us got to go up in front of the class and pitch our games. I was feeling pretty confident until I actually got up there and forgot everything I was going to say. With 25 people looking at you sometimes it's difficult to get the right words out. After each person presented we talked about their body language and what it portrayed. Some of us crossed our arms, or put our hands in our pockets, others danced around or didn't make eye contact. All of these things are very important when it comes to presenting an idea to a group of people. In order to get people to listen and pay attention to what you are saying, your body language must be inviting as well as the way you look, speak and interact with the people you are talking to.
The last thing we did was watch a 9 minute movie called The Power of Ten. Our homework for next Monday is to create 2 creative briefs, one for the movie and another for our games. This should be interesting.
After we talked about the presentation part of the boards a couple of us got to go up in front of the class and pitch our games. I was feeling pretty confident until I actually got up there and forgot everything I was going to say. With 25 people looking at you sometimes it's difficult to get the right words out. After each person presented we talked about their body language and what it portrayed. Some of us crossed our arms, or put our hands in our pockets, others danced around or didn't make eye contact. All of these things are very important when it comes to presenting an idea to a group of people. In order to get people to listen and pay attention to what you are saying, your body language must be inviting as well as the way you look, speak and interact with the people you are talking to.
The last thing we did was watch a 9 minute movie called The Power of Ten. Our homework for next Monday is to create 2 creative briefs, one for the movie and another for our games. This should be interesting.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
April 27, 2011- MAD GAB!
Today we spent the majority of class time playing games in different groups. The idea of this was so that we could see how different games work and begin to develop ideas on games. The first game I played was hangman. I played that with 2 other people. The game itself was ok but not too exciting. On the second round of games I played Mad Gab with different people. I was on a team with Astrid and Pen. This game was very exciting. It was a competition, one team against the other. The object of the game was to read out words and have your teammates guess the phrase. The hard part was figuring out what they were saying. This game was easy to understand and fun so it made it enjoyable. We were able to laugh at each other and make fools out ourselves. Our homework is to now create 9 of our own games and bring them to class on Monday.
Monday, April 25, 2011
April 25, 2011 - lets talk about games
Today we spent most of the class time talking about games. We brain stormed different games that we enjoyed and talked about some of them in detail. We spent some time discussing Monopoly, the game and what the theme and idea behind the game is. We came up with the idea that the game Monopoly is a game based on wealth and assets that are owned by a person for a specific purpose. We also talked about the value of something and what that means. For something to be valuable it has to be wanted by multiple people and it has to be agreed upon. Wealth comes from creating value and ownership for something. Wealth is also an idea, a manmade concept. A few other games that were mentioned were things like Taboo, battleship, Sorry and many others. We then discussed what makes a good game. Is it having a theme? Is it when it's based on a movie? Are they the games that have some sort of strategy or just pure chance? There are different reasons why people are attracted to games and enjoy playing them over and over. It is now up to us to come up with an idea, a concept for a game and make is something that will be attractive to our classmates. Before doing that we are going to be playing games on Wednesday to see what we like about each one and this will help us with our next homework assignment.
The last part of class was spent discussing out images of the 7 deadly sins. It seems as though most people understood the concept but only some were able to fully present the idea of a specific sin using one photograph. Many if us had multiple images that we had found on google so those pictures didn't count. I thought that the images I chose depicted all the sins but others didn't agree.Jimmy said that next time he will have his class stage and photograph the sins to show more originality and I think that is a great idea. It will definitely take more time and effort but at least that way everyones work will be original and interesting.
The last part of class was spent discussing out images of the 7 deadly sins. It seems as though most people understood the concept but only some were able to fully present the idea of a specific sin using one photograph. Many if us had multiple images that we had found on google so those pictures didn't count. I thought that the images I chose depicted all the sins but others didn't agree.Jimmy said that next time he will have his class stage and photograph the sins to show more originality and I think that is a great idea. It will definitely take more time and effort but at least that way everyones work will be original and interesting.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
April 20 , 2011
Todays class began with us pushing the tables and chairs off to the sides aying out the images from our homework. We then walked around and looked at all the images and tried to make out the stories. Some stories were easy to read others were a bitconfusing. Then as a class we nominated the ones we liked the best and the from those, we voted on our favorite as a class. We chose the one with the little girl looking at the barbie, then a picture of a woman with lines drawn on her face and then a scary looking cat lady.The story that I got from these images was that in our society today we are being molded at young ages to beleive that we need to look perfect but in the end it does not turn out that way. After we discussed the different means of this story we tried to figure out the stories that were more difficult.
We then layed out all the images together and made up our own stories and posted them on the walls. A few of them were really clever, others a little boring, but by this point we understood the way we needed to put images together in order to tell a successful story.
The last part of class was spent watching a TED talk given by John Maeda.He talked about complexity and simplicity. He used humor and pictures to talk to the crowd and get his message across. His talk was very interesting and I enjoyed his message.
We then layed out all the images together and made up our own stories and posted them on the walls. A few of them were really clever, others a little boring, but by this point we understood the way we needed to put images together in order to tell a successful story.
The last part of class was spent watching a TED talk given by John Maeda.He talked about complexity and simplicity. He used humor and pictures to talk to the crowd and get his message across. His talk was very interesting and I enjoyed his message.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
April 18, 2011 - Tell us your story
Class today started off with us re-arranging ourselves in order according to birthdays. We did this pretty quickly this time and I think it's due to the fact that as we move along with this class we are getting to know each other better and also feeling more comfortable about speaking to each other.
Jimmy then grouped us up next to the people we sat by and we were asked to grab 2 items we were carrying with us and put them on the table. Our assignment was to create a story using these items. We were given 15 minutes and Jimmy left the class. My group decided to make up a story about a purple mouse I had in my backpack. It seemed rather easy for us to come up with our story. We used the items as the characters rather then making up characters. One of us would throw out and idea and as a group we would work with that idea and incorporate it into the story. Each group then had a chance to present their story to the class. Some groups had one story teller and others took turns. We then were given the chance to talk about the stories and which ones we liked and why.
I thought this exercise was fun and gave us a chance to use our imaginations to create the best possible story with the resources we had. Jimmy then talked about how this is something we will need to be able to do as a designer. Sometimes a client will give you a few key points that they want in an ad for example and it is up to us to incorporate those things and make it work successful.
Jimmy then grouped us up next to the people we sat by and we were asked to grab 2 items we were carrying with us and put them on the table. Our assignment was to create a story using these items. We were given 15 minutes and Jimmy left the class. My group decided to make up a story about a purple mouse I had in my backpack. It seemed rather easy for us to come up with our story. We used the items as the characters rather then making up characters. One of us would throw out and idea and as a group we would work with that idea and incorporate it into the story. Each group then had a chance to present their story to the class. Some groups had one story teller and others took turns. We then were given the chance to talk about the stories and which ones we liked and why.
I thought this exercise was fun and gave us a chance to use our imaginations to create the best possible story with the resources we had. Jimmy then talked about how this is something we will need to be able to do as a designer. Sometimes a client will give you a few key points that they want in an ad for example and it is up to us to incorporate those things and make it work successful.
Monday, April 18, 2011
April 13, 2011-
Todays classroom exercises were hands-on and exciting. I'm really enjoying this class because of the fact that we are learning by doing as apposed to by being lectured. I find that most of the time I don't have to take notes for this exact reason. Everything that we are learning is actually being applied to my daily life and sticking in my mind.
Today Jimmy presented our story boards that we did for homework. Our task was to pick an image and use 10 different phrases or words to change the image. It sounded a lot easier then it actually was and as we stood and looked and everyones work that proved to be true. Many people had catchy phrases, others had descriptions using one word (like me) , some peoples were more effective then others and some were not so great. After looking at a lot of peoples work it was apparent that mine was not developed as well as I would have liked it to have been. I liked the image that I chose but I think I could have chosen better phrases to describe and change it.
After looking at different examples Jimmy laid out multiple ads and we got a chance to discuss what was effective and different about each one. The ones that were the most effective were the ones that appealed to emotion, related to real life experiences and represented things we were familiar with.
The exercises we did in class were very useful because as designers we need to always be aware of how things are being presented, how to relay a strong message and how to come up with ideas. Our homework for Monday is to do the opposite of what we did today, this time we need 1 phrase and 10 images. I'm excited to see how my next storyboard will turn out.
-G
Today Jimmy presented our story boards that we did for homework. Our task was to pick an image and use 10 different phrases or words to change the image. It sounded a lot easier then it actually was and as we stood and looked and everyones work that proved to be true. Many people had catchy phrases, others had descriptions using one word (like me) , some peoples were more effective then others and some were not so great. After looking at a lot of peoples work it was apparent that mine was not developed as well as I would have liked it to have been. I liked the image that I chose but I think I could have chosen better phrases to describe and change it.
After looking at different examples Jimmy laid out multiple ads and we got a chance to discuss what was effective and different about each one. The ones that were the most effective were the ones that appealed to emotion, related to real life experiences and represented things we were familiar with.
The exercises we did in class were very useful because as designers we need to always be aware of how things are being presented, how to relay a strong message and how to come up with ideas. Our homework for Monday is to do the opposite of what we did today, this time we need 1 phrase and 10 images. I'm excited to see how my next storyboard will turn out.
-G
Monday, April 11, 2011
April 11, 2011
Class today started with us discussing the elements of a story. Like usual it took our class a minute or 5 to actually start coming up with ideas and the women were called upon to speak because for the most part we tend to be the quiet ones. We discussed many different elements everything from the rising action ( the sequential events leading up to the climax) to what gore meant. After we came up with a list of words we went on to watch to TED talks.
The first one was by Amy Tan. The topic of her talk was " How do we create". The structure of Amy's talk was very engaging as a viewer. She used humor, her own personal tragedy and pictures to get her meaning across. I really enjoyed everything she talked about especially the part about questioning everything. She said that in order for us to create we must question. If we are questioning things then we will be constantly opening different doors and taking different paths to creativity. I also liked how she said that there is no absolute truth in life. For us especially as creative minds this is very true. We have the chance to explore different ideas about life and create from them for the not so creative world to see and understand, for out ideas to get across. We have the chance to make a difference and it is amazing that we get to do this.
The second video we watched was on Elizabeth Gilbert. I thought what she talked about was very interesting and something that I had never thought about before. She first began by humorously talking about artists and how we do not have to go down the mentally unstable path. That creativity should not lead to suffering in the end. She talked about her journey to find creativity and ho she needed to put a safe distance between herself and her anxiety about writing so that she could continue to write. Also she made us think about where creativity comes from and the fact that it is important to use it to its fullest potential when it's there because it can disappear immediately onto the next person. I really enjoyed the two stories she told one about Tom Waits and the other about a poet and their individual experiences with out of body creativity.
The first one was by Amy Tan. The topic of her talk was " How do we create". The structure of Amy's talk was very engaging as a viewer. She used humor, her own personal tragedy and pictures to get her meaning across. I really enjoyed everything she talked about especially the part about questioning everything. She said that in order for us to create we must question. If we are questioning things then we will be constantly opening different doors and taking different paths to creativity. I also liked how she said that there is no absolute truth in life. For us especially as creative minds this is very true. We have the chance to explore different ideas about life and create from them for the not so creative world to see and understand, for out ideas to get across. We have the chance to make a difference and it is amazing that we get to do this.
The second video we watched was on Elizabeth Gilbert. I thought what she talked about was very interesting and something that I had never thought about before. She first began by humorously talking about artists and how we do not have to go down the mentally unstable path. That creativity should not lead to suffering in the end. She talked about her journey to find creativity and ho she needed to put a safe distance between herself and her anxiety about writing so that she could continue to write. Also she made us think about where creativity comes from and the fact that it is important to use it to its fullest potential when it's there because it can disappear immediately onto the next person. I really enjoyed the two stories she told one about Tom Waits and the other about a poet and their individual experiences with out of body creativity.
reading # 3 Inspiration
" No matter what form it takes inspiration is an energy that drives people to be creative and infuses their creations with life."
Inspiration can take the form of many things in daily life. In the reading we learn that inspiration is different for each individual. We all have different muse's that inspire us to work. We must be aware of our inspiration and the force that drives it especially in the beginning stages of a project.
In order for one to find inspiration it is important to experience life, see life, listen to life in different ways then what is "normal" for us. If we are able to take ourselves out of our daily routines the one we feel so comfortable with then we will see things in a different perspective and might be inspired. The great thing about inspiration is that it can come from virtually anywhere so the possibilities are endless. Also it is important to try previously rejected ideas because they can be an inspiration for new ones.
Playtime is necessary for human development. As a designer play time, a time when imaginations and experimentation are explored, is very important. It is necessary to have this time in order to explore the many levels of creativity.
In the end, inspiration is just the beginning of a creative process. In order to come up with something that is physical you cannot get stuck on the inspiration part. As designers deadlines and guidelines need to be met and we need to figure out ways to create imaginatively and meet certain criteria.
Inspiration can take the form of many things in daily life. In the reading we learn that inspiration is different for each individual. We all have different muse's that inspire us to work. We must be aware of our inspiration and the force that drives it especially in the beginning stages of a project.
In order for one to find inspiration it is important to experience life, see life, listen to life in different ways then what is "normal" for us. If we are able to take ourselves out of our daily routines the one we feel so comfortable with then we will see things in a different perspective and might be inspired. The great thing about inspiration is that it can come from virtually anywhere so the possibilities are endless. Also it is important to try previously rejected ideas because they can be an inspiration for new ones.
Playtime is necessary for human development. As a designer play time, a time when imaginations and experimentation are explored, is very important. It is necessary to have this time in order to explore the many levels of creativity.
In the end, inspiration is just the beginning of a creative process. In order to come up with something that is physical you cannot get stuck on the inspiration part. As designers deadlines and guidelines need to be met and we need to figure out ways to create imaginatively and meet certain criteria.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
April 6, 2011
In the beginning of class we had a guest speaker named Renee. He talked to us about a program at CSULA called GAUGE. This program is organized by students on campus and aimed to help designers further their knowledge on design and connect with one another.
Todays class was focused around mind mapping. When class began we were asked to move all the furniture to the back of the room so we could all sit together and look at and discuss the idea of mind mapping and how they work. Jimmy showed us different slides of different types of maps and we discussed each one and how which were the most effective types. Then he asked us to create our own mind maps and left the subject of them up to us. I really liked doing the mind map because it was a great way to get me to start thinking of ideas. Once you start writing your ideas begin to flow and sketching them out on a map makes them easier to think about and understand.
After working on our mind maps for a half hour we got to walk around the room and look at everyones. Some peoples mind maps were basic, like mine, others have really funny ideas and some were drawn out perfectly. The idea of the mind map wasn't so much how it looked but more what the content it contained. We learned that a later in the day when our mind maps that we did for homework were posted on the wall and we discussed why the ones that were hanging were successful. Mind maps can be totally unique according to each individual and how they choose to share their ideas.
Todays class was focused around mind mapping. When class began we were asked to move all the furniture to the back of the room so we could all sit together and look at and discuss the idea of mind mapping and how they work. Jimmy showed us different slides of different types of maps and we discussed each one and how which were the most effective types. Then he asked us to create our own mind maps and left the subject of them up to us. I really liked doing the mind map because it was a great way to get me to start thinking of ideas. Once you start writing your ideas begin to flow and sketching them out on a map makes them easier to think about and understand.
After working on our mind maps for a half hour we got to walk around the room and look at everyones. Some peoples mind maps were basic, like mine, others have really funny ideas and some were drawn out perfectly. The idea of the mind map wasn't so much how it looked but more what the content it contained. We learned that a later in the day when our mind maps that we did for homework were posted on the wall and we discussed why the ones that were hanging were successful. Mind maps can be totally unique according to each individual and how they choose to share their ideas.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
reading # 2 Introduction, perspective, exercises 1-16
This book begins with a map of the process a designer will take on their journey from the world of imagination. The Introduction describes this journey by explaining that we are surrounded by design everyday, everywhere we go. The design process is a relationship that is built up of different stages. These stages include: inspiration, identification, conceptualization,exploration and refinement,definition/modeling and communication and production.
Stage one opens up with the idea of inspiration. There must be a force that drives a person to create. In order to produce a great end result the motivation behind the idea should be strong. Inspiration comes to people in many ways, shapes and forms and its up to us as designers to take the time to find it and understand it. The following pages talk about the author of this book Karl Aspelund. Aspelund graduated from Wimbledon in London as a costume designer. He describes to us the reader experiences he encountered working as a designer in many different fields. He has become inspired to teach design so that it can be shared by many people not just the elites. He has been inspired by so many people and chooses to continue to inspire others.
Friday, April 1, 2011
reading #1 cover-xvii
The preface of this book starts with the author describing the desing process and comparing it to 20 years ago. He explains how desingers in todays world have much more effective tools such as computers and more freedom to explore design. He also talks about his experiences with teaching design and his inspiration. The book is divided into the introductory chapter and seven aditional chapters. The seven stages of design are:
1. Inspiraton
2. Identificaton
3. Conceptualization
4. Exploration/ Refinement
5. Definition/Modeling
6. Communication
7. Production
This book is intended for design students that are working on their own projects.
March 30, 2011
This morning I made it a point to arrive to class 10 minutes early so that I could begin my new morning routine and be on time for our lecture with Jimmy Moss. Once Jimmy got to class we were asked to move to a classroom down the hall. It turns out that this classroom is one that I already have for many of my other classes so I sat down where I normally sit and felt comfortable and at ease. We had brief lecture about Word press and web terminology and then Jimmy Moss asked us to arrange ourselves alphabetically and take new seats. Immediately that comfort I felt in the beginning of class was gone as I was put completely on the other side of the room, somewhere I was not familiar with. Sitting on the right side of the room got me thinking that this was actually a great idea. Most of us had been forced to communicate with each other in order to find our seats and were forced out of our normal comfort zone. Also, sitting in a completely different place made the room I was already so comfortable with seem new and completely different. Something I liked.
Jimmy Moss talked to us about methodology, process,the differences between concepts vs. thoughts and perception. We ended the class by discussing the idea of what if. What if we could fly? What if there was no money? What if this was the moon? We were all given a chance to ask a what if question and discuss how all ideas start with the same question of "what if". Nothing is developed without questions, trial and error, ideas that start out as small thoughts like "what if we could fly" and develop into humans actually being able to fly in airplanes.
For the remaining time in class we were shown pictures and asked us to describe what we saw in each picture. After the facts were talked about then we were asked how the pictures made us feel. What emotions did the pictures inflict on us and how did the person taking the picture convey those feelings to us using lighting, facial expressions, color, repetition and other techniques. The picture that affected me the most, was one that I had never seen before, and according to our professor a lot of people hadn't seen because we weren't allowed to. It was the picture of the multiple coffins holding dead soldiers from the Iraq war in a cargo plane. These caskets were laid down in rows one next to the other covered with a flags. Immediately anger ran through my body. I believe the photographer who took this picture did a great job because immediately I was disgusted and angry. It was completely opposite of the picture shown before of honor and silence for the fallen soldier. This one made me sad and uncomfortable. It portrayed a reality that is never shown to the public. That thousands of soldiers are dying in this war and they are being stacked up in cargo planes and brought back home as if nothing.
I really enjoyed the lecture from this morning and I look forward what the rest of the quarter has in store for us. We are being challenged to think and communicate our ideas something that most of us have never really had to do.
Jimmy Moss talked to us about methodology, process,the differences between concepts vs. thoughts and perception. We ended the class by discussing the idea of what if. What if we could fly? What if there was no money? What if this was the moon? We were all given a chance to ask a what if question and discuss how all ideas start with the same question of "what if". Nothing is developed without questions, trial and error, ideas that start out as small thoughts like "what if we could fly" and develop into humans actually being able to fly in airplanes.
For the remaining time in class we were shown pictures and asked us to describe what we saw in each picture. After the facts were talked about then we were asked how the pictures made us feel. What emotions did the pictures inflict on us and how did the person taking the picture convey those feelings to us using lighting, facial expressions, color, repetition and other techniques. The picture that affected me the most, was one that I had never seen before, and according to our professor a lot of people hadn't seen because we weren't allowed to. It was the picture of the multiple coffins holding dead soldiers from the Iraq war in a cargo plane. These caskets were laid down in rows one next to the other covered with a flags. Immediately anger ran through my body. I believe the photographer who took this picture did a great job because immediately I was disgusted and angry. It was completely opposite of the picture shown before of honor and silence for the fallen soldier. This one made me sad and uncomfortable. It portrayed a reality that is never shown to the public. That thousands of soldiers are dying in this war and they are being stacked up in cargo planes and brought back home as if nothing.
I really enjoyed the lecture from this morning and I look forward what the rest of the quarter has in store for us. We are being challenged to think and communicate our ideas something that most of us have never really had to do.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
March 28, 2011
Hi everyone, I'm Guady and this in my blog.... enjoy
We spent our time in class discussing critical thinking, experimental learning and perception. Jimmy Moss gave us a mandarin and grouped us into pairs. We then took turns telling our partner as much as we could about our mandarin. We were to pretend that this person could not see the piece of fruit and describe it as best as possible. We learned that everyones perception of the mandarins were different, not only because each mandarin was different but also because we as individuals have different ways of perceiving things.
Our task for the next 10 weeks sounds fairly simple. Render our mandarins on a daily basis using different techniques/mediums that show how we perceive our mandarin in its current state. If you know me, then you know that I am freakishly obsessed with eating mandarins already so we shall see how simple this truly turns out to be..
-G
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