hi, i'm marty.

Bye Bye Blog

2011-09-17T18:19:00.000-04:00

This blog served as the online repository for my grad school experience. I continued this blog throughout my first year of teaching, periodically contributing, as I tried to determine it's new role.

The format no longer suits my needs, so the door will close for new posts. You can find me collecting statements, images and curiosities on my tumblr: mml likes

bye bye blog

2010 Parse Contributions

2011-01-21T19:08:00.002-05:00

Excited to announce that I have been asked to continue my contributions to Parse on a monthly basis in the new year.

My 2010 Parse Contributions:
Failure: It's Not That Bad
Be Selfish. Make your Presentation Work for You
Explore Interface Possibilities. (With Marshmallows)

Writing

2010-08-30T21:10:00.004-04:00

Delighted to be a regular contributor to the new online magazine/blog, Parse.

The official launch date is in early September, but there are few posts to get you started.

Upcoming Conference

2010-06-25T12:31:00.003-04:00

In early July, a paper I co-wrote will be presented at Design & Complexity, a conference hosted by the Design Research Society.

The paper, Interactive Tools and Online Communities that Support Media Literacy, will be presented by Assistant Professor Gretchen Rinnert who was the co-author.

I know this is going to be a great conference. Hopefully, there will be some twitter, or other web, updates throughout the conference.

The paper will be published and I will post that information as soon as I have it.

"design research" explained...

2010-03-07T18:34:00.004-05:00

I found a blog post today by Louise Sandhaus at CalArts where she attempts to define, or explain, the new buzzword "design research". While her description is rather specific to CalArts (making comes first in their thesis process), I found the post helpful. As an educator, I often wonder how other educators use the term design research in the classroom. I also wonder how current undergraduates and graduates understand the term.

"What is design research and what does it mean to design practitioners?"

Spotlight

2010-02-26T12:06:00.003-05:00

Very excited and honored to be featured in the MacArthur Foundation's Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning. They got our titles wrong, but I hope that will be fixed soon.

Here is the feature:
Toward a New Ecosystem of Learning: Reflections on the Digital Media and Learning Conference

Links for MeCCSA 2010 Conference Attendees

2010-01-02T18:15:00.007-05:00

Direct links to the projects shown during the presentation given by me (Trust It?) and Gretchen Caldwell Rinnert (Video Book).

Trust It?

Video Book

"cultivate a spirit of inquiry"

2009-12-02T19:44:00.004-05:00

I have been re-reading Emigre No. 65, If We're Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants, What Are We Reaching For? Of particular interest is You Mean We Have To Read This? by Anthony Inciong. Emigre 65 was published in 2003, but this article reads as if it was written today.

On a holistic approach
"Graphic Design education, now more than ever*, must address the broader issues facing the profession. Amidst sociopolitical upheavals of late and ever-advancing technologies (for better or worse), it is vital that undergraduate programs take an holistic approach towards teaching graphic design that will surpass purely formal concerns in the service of industry. Educators must cultivate a spirit of inquiry within their classrooms that will transform their students into highly motivated and capable designers who are incisive critics of their work......"

On audience
"A foremost concern of many graphic design programs is that its graduates be well rounded and capable of providing competent, sophisticated service through visual language of design in a professional environment. "Service" implies that designers have a responsibility well beyond their own penchants and that to design for an audience means that they are communicating messages visually to and for a particular community of people (society) whose culture (way of thinking, beliefs) they inevitably influence. However, issues of audience and culture will not be a concern to students if they are not emphasized or brought to bear upon projects and lectures within the classroom......"

The author goes on to discuss the role of technology and the question of whether or not to teach it, pointing out that students may begin to believe that the "answer" lies in learning software. "There is a misconception among undergraduates that technology will solve the issues for which they are accountable. Sadly, that frame of mind is also content to eliminate the pleasures of exploring ideas through sketching, research and writing, all of which are part of the design process....."

On the point regarding the elimination of sketching, researching and writing, I wonder how much of the blame belongs with us as educators. Are we continuing to pile on more and more objectives, thereby reducing the amount of time to work through concepts all at the expense of exploration? Change is hard, especially in academia, where things move as slow as molasses (southern reference, stay with me).

Despite the 7 year old date on this article, I will (have to) remain hopeful that we can continue to s l o w l y broaden the scope of design pedagogy.

* i hereby vow to never again write: "now more than ever"

Pillows for A Good Cause

2009-11-17T07:49:00.001-05:00

This summer my friend Rebecca, founder and designer of SOWN, asked a few designer-friends to participate in a charity event. Using her strategy, of using old feed bags, we all designed and created pillows. You can see my design and the whole series. The pillows will be sold at the Piecing it Together Foundation website.

Upcoming events

2009-11-09T10:24:00.003-05:00

Gretchen Rinnert and I are in the process of co-writing a paper, Interactive Tools and Online Communities that Support Media Literacy. Our abstract has been very well received thus far, with acceptance to the MeCCSA 2010 Conference in London (January 6) which will explore "Media, Communication, Policy and Practice."

As well as The Society for Applied Learning Technology's conference (March 3) New Learning Technologies

We are hoping that one of these conferences will manifest an opportunity for publication.

from twitter

2009-11-09T10:00:00.003-05:00

love it

Alternative formats for conferences

2009-11-06T18:19:00.003-05:00

While at NC State I participated in planning a graduate symposium. Denise Gonzales Crisp encouraged our graduate class to keep the idea of a symposium in mind, versus a traditional conference. It took me a while to get my mind around what the differences really were as I had not been to many conferences myself. Now, as a professor, my time spent at conferences is increasing. What makes a good conference? And what makes a bad conference? Are there alternatives that really work? What do you do if one person from the audience dominants the conversation and what they have to say just really isn't that interesting? It happens. How do you balance speaking times? Pecha Kucha is an interesting option, but certainly doesn't work for everything. I realize I am posing more questions than answers here, but I'm at a hotel after a conference and my brain is in a fairly mushy state.

This article by Valerie Casey explores some of these issues in a more coherent manner.

Now to skip the conference dinner and seek out a cool local joint. I am 'conferenced' out.

Upcoming events

2009-09-29T15:31:00.004-04:00

October 7th I will be presenting my research, Teen Independent Learning Online: Visual Literacy Tools for Assessing Credibility, to an Interaction Design class taught by Professor Rebecca Tegtmeyer at Michigan State University. I look forward to presenting my explorations regarding credibility in the online environment as well as asking the students some questioning regarding their own online research habits and perspectives.

November 5th I will also be presenting Teen Independent Learning Online: Visual Literacy Tools for Assessing Credibility, at the International Digital Media and Art Association’s 7th annual conference. I'm looking forward to the iDMa conference -- the keynote speaker is Tom Kelley of IDEO.

A few pivotal videos

2009-09-09T18:44:00.008-04:00

During my thesis explorations, I came across many videos that helped shape my opinions, ideas and design work. It sure is a pain to cite videos in bibliographies!

Here are some of my favorites:
Sex, Lies and Photoshop.
Why magazines should let readers know if images have been retouched.
BY: Jessie Epstein

The 21st-Century Librarian
School librarians like Stephanie Rosalia have transformed into multi-faceted information specialists who guide students through the flood of digital information that confronts them on a daily basis.

Dove Evolution

Media Smarts:Kids Learn How to Navigate the Multimedia World
BY: The Edutopia Foundation

Eeny Teeny Maya Mo - Simpsons Episode

clip: 4:14 - 6:32

Teen Independent Learning Online: Prototypes

2009-09-09T13:19:00.011-04:00

I would like to share my final explorations. Below you will find three videos simulating each scenario that constituted the project: Teen Independent Learning Online: Visual Literacy Tools for Assessing Credibility. I will not post the full text, but if you are interested please contact me.

Main Researchable Question:
How can online interfaces encourage students to analyze, interpret and judge the credibility of visual language?

Scenario One:
What aspects of visual language and originating sources inform and educate students to the credibility of information?

Thesis: Study One from marty on Vimeo.

Scenario Two:
What online activities encourage students to critically analyze the visual language they view, create or alter in informal learning environments?

Thesis: Study Two from marty on Vimeo.

Scenario Three:
In what ways does understanding the history of an image inform a student’s ability to critically analyze visual language?

Thesis: Study Three from marty on Vimeo.

I am currently taking a step back from the project and thinking about where I would like to take it. There was only so much I could cover during the 9 months allocated for this project, so I have many threads that need to be followed, untangled and explored.

transition

2009-06-04T22:15:00.001-04:00

from jessica helfand at design observer.

"Your education will not end the day you graduate: on the contrary, what you're doing is learning how to learn, and how to think, and how to visualize the ideas that percolate in your brain. So here's what you do: never stop thinking. Never stop asking questions. Never, never stop reading, looking, imagining what else can be done. And don’t be afraid to start small. You’ll get there, eventually..."

Props to Microsoft, say wha?

2009-03-19T20:01:00.007-04:00

Well, I never thought this day would come. I have had a typically infuriating day attempting to write in Microsoft Word. (This is not the unexpected experience) "No, don't make this a list!" "YES, just return, NO number! NO bullet!" Ok, so this probably sounds familiar to all you designers out there. This is not the software for visual thinkers. Amidst this torture, I was sent an email about an exciting addition to Microsoft. My brain crush, Danah Boyd, has just joined Microsoft's New England Research & Development Center. Danah has done great research in the area of teens and online culture (to name a few). Her research has served as a major foundation for my thesis work. It will be interesting to see the mark she makes at Microsoft.

After hearing the news about Danah, I was feeling better about my lost hours from my Word debacle this morning. And to top it off, I just came across a video called Microsoft Sustainability. It's a speculative video from Microsoft that is pretty amazing. So many ideas packed into this 5 minute video. You can see so much potential for education applications. I particularly love the brief extension in the garden!

Intercom Research Exchange

2009-03-16T09:58:00.004-04:00

Today I will be presenting at the 2nd annual College of Design Research Exchange, Intercom.

It will be my second time to present in the Pecha Kucha format.
I made my presentation into a movie, so you can see what I am showing. I didn't include a voice over, b/c that would just be too weird. ha.

Pecha Kucha: Thesis from marty on Vimeo.

Graduate Research Symposium

2009-03-16T09:45:00.004-04:00

This Wednesday, I will be presenting my thesis at the University wide Graduate Research Symposium. Here is the poster that I created for the symposium.

Paper Based Visualizations

2009-02-16T14:06:00.002-05:00

Love the paper based explorations from Information Aesthetics

image pulled from information aesthetics

inspiration from a friend

2009-02-16T09:11:00.002-05:00

i stole this from cady's blog. i had to....

Graduate Research Symposium

2009-02-11T13:17:00.008-05:00

I will be presenting my thesis at the 2009 Graduate Student Research Symposium on March 18th. The abstract for the symposium was due today and I will share my poster presentation as it is completed.

abstract:
Online tools that assist high school students in determining credibility when researching online.

According to research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University, teens tend to rely on the look and feel of the presentation of information online to determine the content’s credibility. As design technology has become more available, average users can create content and websites that look just as “professional” or "trustworthy" as traditional expert sources. This issue of side-by-sideness becomes problematic as teens look to the web as a source for research and information, not just a social activity.

Many teens utilize the Internet for academic research because they desire the multiple perspectives it can provide. My current investigation seeks to develop online tools that assist high school students in critically sorting through the complexity of the visual presentation of online information. How can online collective research teach students to analyze, interpret and judge visual language and attribute it to the source and the credibility of information?

Researchers Shawn Tseng and B.J. Fogg state four types of credibility assessment used in the online environment: experienced (relationship over time), reputed (third party recommendations), presumed (cultural or media based assumptions) and surface (look and feel of information). One of the goals of my investigation is to incorporate these assessments into the design of online environments.

This investigation seeks to explore ways in which high school students can be prepared to critique the multiple perspectives that the Internet provides. While this project focuses on high school students, the development process ensures transferability to other age groups and scenarios.

Online Mind Mapping

2009-02-05T19:03:00.004-05:00

This online tool would be great to use for a collaborative research project. It could also be really helpful for a fun collaborative brainstorming session between people who are not in close physical proximity. The interface could be better, but it works.

MindMeister

more explorations

2009-01-27T11:30:00.007-05:00

last year i was encouraged to explore analog 3d modeling and i found that it works very well for me in the beginning stages of a project. i've picked this method up again this semester for thesis explorations. with nothing particular in mind, i started making things. i am interested in what credibility looks like, what it feels like and how you might interact with credible sources differently than with non-credible sources. i'm interested in making a users path visible, allowing them to visually see the connections as they move from one website to another. the connections are important; the journey and entry to information.

i'm interested in the relationship between 2d and 3d representations online. we are in a definite state of transition into a more 3-dimensional online world. exciting times!

the models are all very abstract and therefore i was able to project several scenarios onto each one. they served as a great point of departure for discussions in my thesis meetings.

rapid explorations

2009-01-19T20:52:00.013-05:00

tonight i wanted to do some quick thesis explorations. i was curious to find out if seeing images at a larger scale might effect how i wanted to interact with them. i was also curious to see if the play with the projection and objects would reveal any formal ideas. i'm trying out new ways of sketching...

thinking:
what if you want to see the history of an image?
what if you want to get a deeper understanding of an image?
are there multiple viewpoints surrounding an image?
what if you want to focus in on one element and discuss it in relation to the larger context?

i want to do more with multiple projectors to explore a user moving from one website to another, but that will have to wait for another day.
all images from flickr

words of the day

2009-01-14T20:32:00.002-05:00

thesis thinking in the form of words and phrases:

assemblage
malleable
contrary
curious
critical
entering into...
lens
didactic vs intuitive
search path
relationships between
multiplicity of source
layered sources
recency
confusing multiplicity
credibility markers
fiction section vs non-fiction section online
proximity
evolving with user
alternate ordering
compound messages

Thesis Map

2009-01-12T10:01:00.005-05:00

I've been working on this concept map for my thesis. I needed to get out the new developments and realizations from my reading over break. I wanted to show a scenario that I am imagining my thesis will operate in. Also, I wanted to make it clear that I am focusing on the different online environments in which teens need the skills to be critical when engaging with visual language. I'm starting to focus in on specific environments and consider the different ways of looking and interacting that are needed and used.

Collective Intelligence. Collaborative Design.

2009-01-06T09:46:00.004-05:00

In the Spring of 2008, I was selected to curate, edit and design the College of Design’s student publication. This student publication serves as a venue for graduate students, faculty, alumni and professionals to express their ideas surrounding a selected topic. The publication, Collective Intelligence. Collaborative Design, focused on exploring collaboration and co-creation in design. Working collaboratively with two other designers(Rebecca and Alberto), I led the team to create a publication that explored the ways in which participatory culture is changing the design field. The book is comprised of three smaller books that are bound together by rubber bands. This flexible binding allows the audience to take apart and reorder the books if so desired, but more importantly it hints at the audience’s role with the artifact. The publication recently won an award from the AIGA Raleigh/Charlotte Boom! Design competition.

Student Work (Summer 2007 – Fall 2008)

2008-12-30T15:40:00.006-05:00

Pdf featuring selected student work from the past year. Each page features a brief description of the student's design artifact and/or process.

Junior Systems Studio | Fall 2008

2008-12-29T16:32:00.003-05:00

During the Fall 2008 semester, I had the opportunity to be a teaching assistant for a Junior Level Studio, instructed by Martha Scotford and Silas Munro. click on images for detail or download the full hi-res pdf that is located on the left side of my blog

The junior level studio at NC State focuses on exploring systems. As a teaching assistant for two sections of the junior studio, my role was to assist students in brainstorming, ideation, concept development and refining their visual language. In addition, I was a full participant in class critiques and developed a class blog to facilitate collective research between the two groups. To begin the semester, the students worked as a team to build an analog concept map of food systems in the United States. The students then identified an area of interest to further explore for the entire semester. By allowing the students to choose their subject matter, it increased ownership and motivation in regard to their work.

The students worked to develop individual concept maps that would function both as a research tool and as a “road map” for all of their remaining projects: Information Design, Identity Design, Packaging Design, Student Choice and Presentation Design. By requiring the students to always go back to the concept map when beginning a new project, it ensured that the students were sticking to their identified system. Students went on two research trips to a local farm and restaurant to explore the social and cultural conditions of their sectors.

The individual concept maps were considered works in progress for the entire semester to allow students to add information as they learned more through research. These particular concept maps were designed to function as evolving research tools more than refined artifacts. The concept maps were used to define and develop the sector of the general map of special interest to the student. Research and resources were to be shared among students in both sections using the class blog. For the chosen food sector, the student researched natural, cultural and economic (and other) systems in which their specific system operates. These systems are those where the design work and developing system operate. Research and map building informed each other and the map helped students understand what they were learning and directed further research. In this concept map, Helen was exploring the affects of different methods used to raise cattle. She was particularly interested in the affects on the cattle themselves and the humans who consume them.

When creating the illustrated explanation of one time-based process within the students chosen food sector, they were to combine multiple types of information design and use cited research. The students had to identify the designer voice, audience and context for the design artifact. These requirements introduced the idea that design does not exist in a vacuum and is dependent on cultural and social settings. Here, Helen was exploring how to illustrate the differences in meat and eggs that result from various farming methods.

The students created a basic visual identity system for a food-related business, organization, institution or event (existing or invented). Minimum design requirements included: mark, typefaces, colors, application to various scales, surfaces and a design manual. They imagined the total system and selected what to implement. Student writing defined entity, location, vision, core mission, audience and potential competition. The packaging project could extend the identity work or be used to explore a new area within their identified sector. The packaging project was opened up to include the packaging of goods, services or experiences.

For the identity project, Helen created a fictional “Pay What You Can Cafe” that serves only local free-range foods. The cafe allows customers to pay what they can and operates on the collectivist ideal that people will actually pay to benefit the greater whole. For the packaging, she wanted to extend the identity and create to-go containers. It was important to her that they further supported the ideals of her fictional cafe, so she designed a system that allows customers to re-use their containers when possible. When re-use is not possible customers are offered 100% recyclable materials.

In this information design artifact, Rachael explored how gender affects service in a restaurant and how much time and energy is wasted when following the proper gender based etiquette. She envisioned this piece being used by the typically upper and middle class clientele that frequent high end restaurants.

Rachael created a fictional childrens party planning service for her identity project. She was interested in creating a kit of parts for the company that would operate both as the advertising materials and as the artifacts at the parties themselves. She worked to create characters that would cross typical gender lines and function both for boys and girls.

For the packaging project, Rachael used her previously created characters (created during the identity project) to create dynamic patterns.

In this concept map, Teresa researched food packaging. She was curious about why packaging is needed in the first place, how social and economic conditions affect packaging and finally how it is utilized in marketing.

For the information design project, Teresa analyzed cereal production in the US. She designed this to operate as a folded booklet or a flat poster.

For the identity and packaging projects, Teresa created what she jokingly called the “Netflix of Cereal” or Trik My Bowl. This company allows customers to go online and customize cereal and receive samples through the mail. Once they are finished with the cereal, they return the container for another order. While the project is fairly speculative, Teresa was exploring timely issues such as how Web 2.0 and the desire to collaborate and customize may be changing our everyday lives.

The student choice project allowed students to explore any medium, intent, voice, context and audience that they desired. The only requirement was that it fit into their identified food system sector. The students were required to write the project brief in order to define the design problem. Many students used this as an opportunity to explore a strategy that they would normally not employ or to challenge themselves by defining a problem that would push them to work on self identified weaknesses. For the student choice project, Teresa chose to challenge her process by starting out the project with no real vision in mind for what the end result would be. She created these light-hearted posters as an exploration of how juxtaposing highly artificial cereal with natural landscapes may affect an audience’s interpretation of the cereal.

For this information design piece, Shaade set out to make a poster that would exist in a school classroom. She was interested in layering different types of information and creating an informative, yet lively, artifact the explored the differences in natural and artificial honey production.

Taking a playful turn with her research on artificial or genetically modified foods, Shaade created a company, MODO, that creates toys inspired by genetically modified organisms for the identity project.

For the packaging project, Shaade extended her identity work to create collectible toys and packaging that appealed to young adult audiences.

For the student choice project, Shaade wanted to create a complex, dynamic information design piece that asked people to interact. It is a print artifact that is comprised of three different panels that are hinged together on one corner. Information relating to the impact of genetically modified crops on world hunger is hidden and then revealed as the audience interacts with it.

pdf portfolio

2008-12-20T19:54:00.001-05:00

selection of work available as a pdf

The History of Prosciutto

2008-12-20T19:50:00.003-05:00

The History of Prosciutto from marty on Vimeo.

it is playing fast. sorry, you'll have to pause it to read the text. i'm still figuring out these compression issues with vimeo.

The Slow Food Learning Community

2008-12-20T16:28:00.006-05:00

I finally got around to making movies to demonstrate how my prototypes for the Slow Food Learning Community works. For some reason it plays really fast the first time and then will play normally. Go figure.

Community Identification

The Slow Food Learning Community_1 from marty on Vimeo.

Exchange

The Slow Food Learning Community_2 from marty on Vimeo.

Collective Task (Part 1) For those of you who don't know about this part of the project, it was a rapid exploration into how this might work. I just wanted to visually explore how a student might connect their analog garden work with the online collective tool.(sub text = it was quick and is kind of wonky)

The Slow Food Learning Community_3 from marty on Vimeo.

Collective Task (part 2)

The Slow Food Learning Community_4 from marty on Vimeo.

words of the day

2008-11-20T08:42:00.004-05:00

i've had very little time to contribute to my blog lately due,to well, a life known as grad school. today, i am starting what i hope will be a series called Words of the Day. These words may reveal to me and to anyone who cares: potential patterns, new directions or random off-shoots in my research. At the very least this will serve as a documentation of my thesis related thinking path.

today:
participatory journalism
collective research
context aware chat applications
wikiwiki web
credibility
valuable source
through the process of...
mosaic
shared

mica photos

2008-11-04T08:58:00.006-05:00

This is a little late, but I wanted to post some photos from the AIGA Education conference that I attended. We had a large group from NC State that presented: Me (grad), Rebecca Tegtmeyer (grad), Alberto Rigau (grad), Silas Munro (designer in residence), Denise Gonzales Crisp (prof), and Deborah Littlejohn (phd). I think we all did an excellent job of contributing some interesting ideas to the conference. It's always nice to step outside of our own circle of discussion to see what other educators and students are up to around the country. I was pretty impressed with the presentations overall. Particularly, Scott Stowell from Open Design, the design director for Good Magazine.

As I have previously mentioned, Rebecca and I presented on the MFA panel. Our goal was to demonstrate how NC State focuses on designing the conditions for experiences vs isolated artifacts. It was also important for us to show how all of the research, mapping, reading and writing informs our form making process. This is not to imply that all research happens and then we make things, rather it is an ebb and flow relationship and a lot of thinking through making.
(ALL PHOTOS BY ALBERTO RIGAU)

Raleigh Revealed

2008-10-26T09:22:00.005-04:00

I just finished a group project with Robert Ruehlman, Daniel McCafferty and Caroline Prietz. Our goal was to create a web experience that revealed something about Raleigh, utilizing schemas outlined in Kevin Lynch's book, Image of the City. This is a prototype for an interactive web experience with the goal of revealing the history behind current raleigh locations. we focused on history related to the civil rights movement.I will post the process work soon, but wanted to test this video. I have figured out how to record a flash animation with a cursor in it. So, here is an animation of simulated user interaction with our site.

Raleigh Revealed from marty on Vimeo.

off to MICA

2008-10-15T22:32:00.003-04:00

friday morning, a few of us grads will be heading to baltimore. we are going to attend the AIGA Education Conference at MICA: Social Studies: | Educating Designers in a Connected World

Rebecca and I are presenting together on the MFA panel.

thesis development

2008-10-10T22:31:00.005-04:00

my thesis process has been going well, i am trying to embrace the inevitable twists and turns as i believe that to be a strong part of the process. i have narrowed my focus to be around the issues of integrating media literacy across curriculum in public schools. this is my current thesis problem:

How can the design of web-based activities teach students to analyze, interpret and judge the contribution of form to attribution of source and the credibility of information?

sub questions:
1. What aspects of form should students use to judge the credibility of information and how can these visual clues to trustworthiness be generalized to an overall strategy for forming critical positions?

2. How can the design of an online experience encourage students to debate and compare viewpoints with peers?

3. What can online activities do to encourage students to apply judgment in formal and informal learning situations in which they are making and receiving messages?

I have developed a "source visualization" for my own research process. it has been growing and evolving weekly and has turned out to be very valuable to me.
here is that madness:

Design Thinking Exhibit Wrap up

2008-10-10T22:16:00.004-04:00

Our design thinking exhibit has come down, but the posters will live on on the Cooper Hewitt website. They will be scaled down to 8 1/2 x 11 and be used by teachers who want to implement design thinking in their classrooms. Always happy to be involved with education! Alberto took some great photos of the exhibit, and I thought Kelly B. would like to see the final version of my poster and her cameo!

Design Camp | Summer 2008

2008-09-30T20:15:00.000-04:00

Every summer high school students from across the country come to NC State University to participate in a week long design camp where they can explore Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Art and Design, Industrial Design and Graphic Design. This program is organized in conjunction with cam, the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh. As an instructor for the Graphic Design component, I was responsible for developing and carrying out a project that would allow students from varying backgrounds, skill levels and interests to explore Graphic Design and achieve closure within the fast paced timeline. To begin the project, the students randomly chose a word or phrase from the cam mission statement. Some examples were diy, community involvement, intersection of art and science, etc. The groups brainstormed how those phrases could be interpreted both conceptually and visually. The students then worked individually to create analog image compositions, analog type compositions and digital type compositions. In an effort to encourage self-authorship, the students authored one of the type compositions. The writing was to further explain, respond to or challenge their phrase from the cam mission statement. In the afternoon, the students worked in groups in the projection studio. Taking their composition from earlier in the day, now scanned into the computer, they projected it along with a peer’s composition. By using two projectors and projecting directly onto the same space, the students were able to see how their work was changed by layering. The students had to communicate with each other to zoom in, zoom out, move left, etc. Once the students were happy with their new composition, we captured it in a photograph.

Examples of individual analog and digital compositions that is then layered in the projection studio. While in the projection studio, the students discussed how the layering was changing the visual composition and the meaning of the message.

The students used props such as t-shirts, foam board, cardboard and body to explore how the projection interacted with different surfaces.

Design Thinking Exhibit

2008-09-16T11:42:00.001-04:00

Our recent graduate project is featured on the New Raleigh Blog

check it out....

mixed messages

2008-09-04T12:54:00.003-04:00

i came across this logo today while doing research. is it just me or do those red lines look a bit scary? like they could be used on a horror movie poster?

maybe the sub title is "ahhhhh! no more testing!"

thesis development

2008-09-02T19:10:00.005-04:00

last week we met with md to present our thesis "lists" that we have been developing over the summer. along with the lists, we were to attempt to write 7 – 8 potential thesis questions(this is hard!). the lists are content interests, ways of working and future goals.

content interests:
• educational collectives
• collaborative interactive educational tools
• culturally diverse groups needing to learn same information
• multiple perspectives building educational collectives
• student to student learning
• learning complex histories or information
• teaching beyond dominant subject matter: how to include it all
• incorporating other (alternative)sources
• collections and dissemination of current world issues to students in next 20 yrs
• online tools as effective and valued as a text book
• achieving greater understanding,not just memorizing,providing context and situating subject
• interactive tools that allow students to become teachers
• individualized education
• co-creation web 2.0 informing how data is collected in research in schools
• learning from remote tools: integrating non-school life with school
• creating collective research beyond blogs, delicious, etc (still viewed as non-academic)
• interactive systems that combines book resources and online resources
• student-centered learning: allowing students to adapt lesson for themselves
• time based learning
++++++++++++++++++++++
i'll keep my ways of working and future goals to myself, but here are the rough ROUGH questions...

1. In what ways could an interactive system allow for diverse users to learn same information through empathy?

2. How can collaborative interactive “mapping” allow for alternative sources to be included in upper k12 cultural studies classes?

3. How will design affect the way in which current history is recorded and disseminated for future generations?

4. How can an interactive system that allows students to explore multiple connections help students achieve a greater understanding of complex material and move beyond memorization?

5. Could students become teachers by utilizing online tools that allow them to research and present approved research to class?

6. How can design bridge the gap between formal and non-formal learning techniques?

7. How could design assist in the development of collective research and expose unexpected relationships to users?

8. How can an interactive system allow students to modify their assignments to meet their learning styles, cultural settings, etc?

9. In what ways can time based tools assist in the learning of information by revealing information and relationships over time?

i am far too general and need to get specific. tomorrow we present 3 questions with 3 – 5 sub questions for each. i go back and forth from being super excited to terrified and back again...

situatedness_round one

2008-09-01T07:56:00.003-04:00

here is the first version of my poster (typos and all). i received some great feedback that i am working on incorporating now. the exhibit is shaping up nicely.

situatedness

2008-08-27T19:54:00.005-04:00

this is what i am currently working on. this is not the final form or text, but a way to visually understand and represent situatedness. i'm planning to merge this with a contextual photo of someone interacting with a subway map — something both annotative and explanatory...

design thinking

2008-08-22T19:33:00.003-04:00

the first project of this semester is for the graduate class to work together and collectively "unpack" design thinking. as we know, this term as become a buzzword, very much like sustainability or innovation. through this process, the word has lost meaning. what does design thinking mean? what differentiates the process from other modes of thinking?

to begin, design thinking has been broken down into:
• hand/mind connections
• metaphorical thinking
• situated plans and actions or "situatedness"
• pattern finding
• visual thinking
• concept mapping and diagramming
• innovation process
• rules and constraints
• brainstorming
• modeling and sketching
• lateral thinking
• scenarios
• schemas
• framing context
• prototyping
• morphological thinking

for the next week, we will each be intensively researching one of these concepts. the research really began wed, but we are just now getting to the meat of things. following the research, we will work together to design a system to display the information in an exhibition — both physical and digital. the digital version will be displayed in two online spaces. (more to come on that later)

i am researching situated plans and actions or "situatedness" which actually connects back to a project about motivation that i was involved with in my first semester.

as always, more to come…

welcome back!

2008-08-21T09:35:00.003-04:00

first week of many new experiences. i can honestly say, I AM EXCITED! i actually couldn't wait to get up to studio today and get to work.

i'll begin posting this semester's work and thesis very soon.

radical cartography

2008-08-10T13:42:00.006-04:00

i wish i would of found this site last semester. take some time and look around the site.

visualization of the scale relationship between us and europe:

visualization of land value in nyc:

worthy of a blog post

2008-08-01T09:58:00.004-04:00

my friend rebecca tegtmeyer has opened a little etsy shop. she is crafting pillows from vintage seed sacks and designer fabric. within just a week of opening her modest etsy shop, she has been mentioned on decor8 and featured in a full post on design*sponge!

i'm just so proud of her. :)

the death of the mouse

2008-07-17T19:28:00.003-04:00

i found this (Say Goodbye to the Computer Mouse ) article today on bbc.com. a researcher is predicting that computer mice will soon be a thing of the past. "A Gartner analyst predicts the demise of the computer mouse in the next three to five years.

"Taking over will be so called gestural computer mechanisms like touch screens and facial recognition devices."

"gestural computer mechanisms"!!!! glad to be hearing this in mainstream media. take the shackles away!

social studies conference

2008-07-17T09:01:00.002-04:00

who is going to the aiga social studies|educating designers in a connected world conference at mica? (any of you graduates?)

i'm going.

here's to you

2008-07-07T21:13:00.003-04:00

happy birthday, pork!

shopping

2008-07-07T17:31:00.005-04:00

i found this website today and i've been debating about what i like the most. i really love the design and feel of these earrings in particular:

the entire collection is beautiful
The creator, Laura Su, is a RISD alumna.

more design camp images

2008-06-30T12:24:00.004-04:00

design camp - week one

2008-06-30T09:47:00.006-04:00

last week i taught for the first time. it was a summer design camp for high school juniors and seniors. everyday they attended a different design discipline and had to finish an entire project in one day. rebecca t. and i co-taught the graphic design project. it was an amazing experience.

in brief the project:

using phrases chosen at random (ex: DIY, street art, etc):
1. design an analog graphic composition
2. design an analog typographic composition (using given phrase or self-authored phrase)
3. design a digital typographic composition (using given phrase or self-authored phrase)

4. create collaborative mash ups using two projectors.

so, basically, each student created compositions and in the afternoon they combined the work using two projectors.

here are some examples. remember, most of these students have NEVER had a graphic design course and some have never had an art class.

design camp

2008-06-25T07:19:00.003-04:00

i'm currently fully consumed teaching design camp. i'll post about it when it's over, on sunday. until then, send me all energy you have. a project a day with 16 high school students is pretty exhausting.

it's also pretty amazing...

save polaroid

2008-06-17T08:23:00.002-04:00

i'm mainly posting this for alberto.

SAVE POLAROID

90 books

2008-06-16T19:05:00.003-04:00

today i found out that a grad student is allowed to check out 90 books at one time. not that i have that many checked out, but i thought it was a good factoid going into thesis.

and... the design library is amazing right now. empty, quiet, and all of the books are in! i walked around campus a little today and it hit me — i am just really happy. i'm so glad that i took a chance on grad school. i think it's one of the best choices that i have ever made.

urban counterfitters*

2008-06-10T21:17:00.004-04:00

alberto thought i just spelled urban outfitters wrong in my last post when i wrote urban counterfitters, so i thought i would explain. last year i became aware of a problem with the design ethics of urban outfitters. designers, especially freelance designers, rarely have the monetary backing to protect their work from being stolen. urban outfitters has, allegedly, stolen design work in the past. i know it's hard to say what is stolen vs. inspiration, but i've seen some strong examples to make the case.

i try not to shop there b/c of this. it's hard for me, but it's the right thing to do. you guys can decide on your own: urban counterfeiters blog

proud

2008-06-07T19:38:00.009-04:00

shepard fairey designed a limited edition poster of obama that quickly sold out. i've been bummed for a while that i couldn't get my hands on one. well, this weekend, i was at urban counterfitters* and saw that he had made shirts! pork and i each got one that we will not wear on the same days, i swear!

so,
alannah, here's my shirt:

obey giant

Design for Democracy

2008-05-28T21:35:00.004-04:00

One of my classmates posted a query on her blog about Design for Democracy. She stated that she is interested in "challenging AIGA's design for democracy in the hope that their focus is not only on the redesign of ballots (I need to find out more about the initiative)…"

I was unable to post a comment because I wasn't a registered user, so I thought I'd move my response here. Design for Democracy is about much more than redesigning ballots, although that alone is something to be proud of. When I was lucky enough to work with Design for Democracy in Chicago in 2003 (as a student), we worked with cultural anthropologists and others to explore how to engage disenfranchised voters in Chicago. We focused on a few different diverse cultural communities in Chicago, sending out culture probes to several people from each group, and utilizing other user research methods. After researching, we narrowed down the scope of what our focus would be. After the design process, we introduced the materials into each cultural neighborhood in hopes that it would have an effect.

In addition, another group of graphic design students worked with industrial design students to improve the voting materials — much more than the ballots — really looking at the entire voting experience. From the ballots (yes), to the tool used to fill out the ballot, to the stands, etc.

To find out more about Design for Democracy:
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/design-for-democracy
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/press-080110

"Established in 1998, AIGA Design for Democracy applies design tools and thinking to increase civic participation by making interactions between the U.S. government and its citizens more understandable, efficient and trustworthy. Independent, pragmatic and committed to the public good, Design for Democracy collaborates with researchers, designers and policy-makers in service of public sector clients and AIGA’s goal of “demonstrating the value of design by doing valuable things.”"

slowness and reflection

2008-05-28T21:15:00.005-04:00

i came across the best post i've seen in a long time on the design observer. it's the cranbrook commencement address from this may. in it the speaker, Julie Lasky, touches on craft, technology and reflection.

"As a writer, I can tell you that, although the hand is identified with craft, materiality can be thought as well as felt — you can hear the click of a well-constructed sentence being assembled in your head; you can feel the stretch of a good mental workout. You don’t need to get your hands dirty to be a craftsperson; you need to get your minds dirty. And where I will point an accusatory finger at technology is in providing shortcuts to the slow deliberative process of acquiring a skill, which is guaranteed by working the hand. If you’re not careful, technology, with its immediacy and high resolution, swaps the illusion of mastery or wisdom for the real, hard-won thing. As the sociologist Richard Sennett recently wrote, “The slowness of craft time serves as a source of satisfaction: practice beds in, making the skill one’s own. Slow craft time also enables the work of reflection and imagination — which the push for quick results cannot.”

For Sennett, the value of practicing a craft is not just improved technique but also an ability to make imaginative connections to other parts of culture. In a recent interview with I.D., he discussed a widely held belief that 10,000 hours of practice are required to build expertise in any discipline. For the first 5,000 or 6,000 hours, the student simply learns to ingrain the physical gestures associated with his or her craft, whether glass-blowing or cello playing. “But,” Sennett cautions, “if your habit is fixed, you never get better.” So, somewhere between the 6,000th and 7,000th hour, the student begins to apply lateral thinking to develop new habits that are influenced by other areas of culture and work to enrich his or her own. There are social and ethical, as well as aesthetic, dimensions, to this process, in Sennett’s view. And he makes a very convincing case for it.

So you see, I’m not disputing or opposing the reawakening of a hunger for craft — and certainly not picking that fight on this campus. I am disputing and opposing the easy polarities that pit craft against technology, materials against ideas, and the hand against the mind."

as some of you know, my research this past semester focused on exploring reflection in interaction design. i wrote a paper, "Opportunities for Reflection: Selective Slowness in Design". (i've been encouraged to not post my papers here, but if anyone wants to read it, just let me know) i'm really glad that i came across this post today. it's so easy to put your research aside once you complete a semester, but tonight i felt that fire in my chest again — that flutter of excitement. i don't think i'm done exploring the implications of reflection in design, learning, and making just yet.

world food in pictures

2008-05-20T18:54:00.006-04:00

i have come across these images several times in the past few months while doing research. i find the people and context just as interesting as the food itself. the amount of packaging in almost all of the scenarios is troubling. i doubt even a portion of that gets recycled.

what the world eats

garden progress

2008-05-20T09:51:00.005-04:00

this is our garden in the backyard. i took this photo last week sometime. we have already extended it a bit more.

planted in and around the garden:
cayenne peppers
red beauty peppers
golden summer peppers
yellow straightneck squash

herbs: chives,sweet basil, sweet tia basil,golden lemon thyme, kentucky colonel spearmint, chocolate mint, curly mint, fresh market mint, cilantro, and rosemary.

tomatoes: german johnson, chery red, mister stripey heirloom, juliet hybrid, rutgers, brandywine amish heirloom, grape cluster, and lemon boy.

last year we discovered that we have really great soil b/c our neighborhood was the "gardening neighborhood" back in the day. i'm not sure what that means, but i can imagine lots of southern belles in big hats, beautiful flowers, and mint julips.

random beauty

2008-05-13T11:20:00.005-04:00

artist alastair heseltine

2 weeks and counting

2008-05-12T20:26:00.007-04:00

i can't wait to sit in the same room with my arkansas friends, share some wine, and catch up. it's been way too long. i always love that moment when i step off the plane in arkansas and take a deep breath. things really do feel different at home.

i've decided to maintain my blog over the summer. we'll see what types of things i end up posting. i know there is at least one person out there reading it, so that makes it worth it. despite my scepticism about the quality of online relationships, blogs and email have allowed me to stay closely connected with at least a few friends.

it's funny that we have spent so much time talking about collaboration and co-creation in grad school and now I am looking to spend my summer collaborating with another designer. good thing i like him. see here we are exploring how to subvert technology. ha ha ha:

it's over

2008-05-06T07:09:00.002-04:00

time for reflection, the beach, doggie play dates, gardening, walking, cooking, sitting, reading, sleeping, brunch, the list could go on and on.

final review

2008-05-04T20:04:00.006-04:00

What a crazy crazy semester. I feel like I have developed some friendships that will last far beyond graduate school and that alone is something to be grateful for. I know that people say they don't come to graduate school to make friends, but why close a door on that potential? A good friend is a hard thing to find and the conversations that are the fruit of those friendships may lead you to entirely new directions. I've learned so much and pushed myself farther than I thought possible. It's been a very demanding semester, but I feel like I gave it my all and that is all I can do.

I'm disappointed that we were split up between first years and second years. I know that thesis required a special quiet zone, but I missed having all 12 of us in one space. I learned a lot from the second year students last semester and wish I would have had that relationship this semester as well. (Maybe some of them feel the same?)

Tomorrow it will be out of my hands. I have worked hard, practiced, and slept. I will do my best and that will have to be enough.

I hope tomorrow goes well for everyone.

one week to go

2008-04-27T20:41:00.001-04:00

we can do it.

Boston

2008-04-09T20:52:00.003-04:00

Here are some pictures from our trip to Boston for the AIGA conference. We went to the MIT campus looking for the legendary bookstore, robots, and Henry Jenkins. We found two of those and a great little bar, called the Miracle of Science. Since we are doing some work with the periodic table, it only seemed fitting to sit, have a beer and do some research. :)

Edible Schoolyard

2008-04-09T20:10:00.008-04:00

As you all know, this semester I am focusing my work in studio around the Slow Food Movement. For our last project, a collective task, I am focusing on the Edible Schoolyard project. The Edible Schoolyard was first introduced by chef Alice Waters. The program allows schools to set up edible gardens that are run by the students (with some help). The food is then used in their school cafeteria. Being an educational institution, learning is also a major part of the Edible Schoolyard. Students learn all types of things from eco-systems, food systems, biology, etc. It's really a fascinating project. Once we get settled somewhere it would be great to be involved with building one from the ground up.

My project, the collective task, is to create a website that allows three schools that currently have Edible Schoolyardsto share their experiences and knowledge. By allowing students to draw from each others collected data (and teachers), they are able to learn in new (non-text book) ways. I'm focusing on how students would virtually explore the gardens online and look through annotations, such as photos, data, etc, that students have attached. I'm hoping that by allowing the students to make comparisons with their peers in other parts of the country, the information will become more tangible.

As you'll see in these screen shots, I've also managed to incorporate my neices and nephews (and stella:)) into the design. It's nice to at least see their names on a daily basis, since I can't see them :) (i've still got to work gage and hayden in there somewhere)

*disclaimer: this is not a website that will be built. this is a prototype for educational purposes and should be viewed as such.

Periodic Table

2008-03-24T21:33:00.005-04:00

Chemistry?!?! Oh my have I forgotten chemistry. For the next project in Imaging we are working in groups to create an interactive periodic table. Although I was first turned off by not being able to determine our own content, I am open to the potential of the assignment. Working with Sidney, Sam, and Kelly we are attempting to design an interactive table for junior high school students. We want to make the abstract tangible.

I've spent a fair amount of time in the past few days reviewing k-12 science textbooks. (Both for this project and my studio project.) I have so many memories from those books, but most of them are tied to assignments that involved making models. Styrofoam solar systems, with the mnemonic sentence of My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas, the jello constructed Chlorophyll, the eco-system diorama... I guess I was a maker from the start...

bon appétit

2008-03-17T21:38:00.006-04:00

how do you get foodies in a tizzy? redesign bon appétit, that's how.
OLD:

NEW:

some comments swirling around out there:

quotes from readers at chowhound

"I'm not crazy about the layouts, and I've never liked mixing serif and sans serif typefaces, which the new BA does relentlessly."

"The bottom line is, I just plain hate it. As I was reading (or trying to read) the Febuary issue, I thought to myself, this magazine has been Rachel Rayed..."

"Their new logo looks like "Microsoft 1992". The graphic artist that created it must have been trapped in time at some Starbucks with WiFi access."

from readers at al dente:
"The new masthead is now in a lowercased font (shocking!), and this crosses over into the inside too, where titles of articles and recipes are also lowercased. The inside of the magazine also seems to have a bit of a personality disorder, with different fonts employed in different areas."

"Does the general public care about fonts and lowercasing? Did you even notice?"

"I am not a fan of the "new look". I agree with the previous comment: the old version of the magazine was classy and looked like a magazine for the serious cook.
Not so with the new look, it suffers from, well, just being sheer ugly."

In addition to the issues with redesign, many readers are complaining that it is jumping on the Food Network band wagon of dumbing everything down. I know Patrick feels that way about the Food Network. Don't mention Rachel Ray at our house, please... I'll have to find out his opinion about magazine trends too.

the redesigned 5 dollar bill

2008-03-14T21:02:00.008-04:00

this reminds me of the expansion of soldier field in chicago in 2003. most people thought it looked like a space ship had landed on the old field. but, maybe it's a move in the right direction? adding color? oh my!

now, this could boost the economy:

world bank notes
Dept.of Treasury
more soldier field
soldier field image: Krzysztof Makara

Seminar response 8

2008-03-14T12:03:00.001-04:00

collaboration

looking for new ways to sketch

2008-03-12T21:44:00.006-04:00

this is an exercise that i did yesterday afternoon to explore ways to visualize online conversations. it is no secret that i am challenged by new media, especially the sketching phase. i have a hard time visualizing what i don't know how to make. i've got to work past this. so... i'm leaving my comfort zone....

first exercise: depth

second exercise: interaction

third exercise: chaos?

Seminar responses 5 & 7

2008-02-29T08:59:00.004-05:00

week five: blogs
week seven: interface

nokia future watch

2008-02-27T14:27:00.003-05:00

i saw this video last semester, but have been thinking of it again. i am really trying to think of technology as being more integrated into our lives. i need to think past the expected components: box, screen, click, roll-over, etc...

IDEO

2008-02-26T19:14:00.007-05:00

Last week we had the head of interaction at IDEO, Danny Stillion, in studio. He did a two day workshop with us and gave a great lecture on Thursday night. I really enjoyed his time with us — it was insightful and invigorating. I was having distancing issues between myself and "those users over there". His workshop allowed me to pull the two back together. It was great to go out into the field and do some research. It's really fascinating all of the different methods that work best for user research — exploring things besides interviews. It's amazing what you can learn about someone from having them take photos or "make" things in their environment.

I did a bit of this type of research for Design for Democracy, but had a major disconnect between that time and now. This workshop really brought all of that back into my mind. Am I really that old? What is happening to my memory?

The work they are doing at IDEO, as well as their process, gave me a lot to move forward with. It was perfect timing.

Some images from the workshop, can be seen at Kelly's Flickr page.

sunshine

2008-02-18T18:35:00.002-05:00

ART BY ANNE HARWELL

Seminar responses 3 & 4

2008-02-09T19:21:00.001-05:00

week three: gaming
week four: the body & space

interactive concept maps

2008-02-09T19:09:00.001-05:00

here are my interactive concept maps. the slow food charter functions mostly as a presentation tool — allowing me to hide and reveal information as i wish.

the map showing different member intentions really works better as an interactive map than as a printed one. it allows you to focus on limited bits of information at a time and see similar patterns between members.

flash testing

2008-02-07T18:49:00.001-05:00

concept maps

2008-02-04T22:20:00.001-05:00

to investigate my selected learning community, the slow food movement, i've designed two concept maps. one to explain the community's charter and the other to explain the different participants in the community and possible connections to each other.

i have also made these available in flash for easier navigation and clarity. i'll post those as soon as i can figure out how that works... you can see how the 2nd map benefits from a flash format that hides and reveals information.

both maps are designed to be read as narratives. the text that runs vertically provides the connecting information.

charter:

participants:

Seminar responses 1&2

2008-01-25T09:02:00.001-05:00

This semester we are reading articles surrounding the issues of New Information Environments. Last week we read articles comparing old and new media, technological determinism and cultural materialism. This week we read articles regarding online communities.

Here are my 2 summary and response articles.

week one: introduction
week two: community

authenticity, the real, and copyright...

2008-01-22T21:22:00.001-05:00

all in one article

Dori's blog

2008-01-21T08:14:00.001-05:00

Here is a link to Dori Tunstall's Blog. She summarizes the project much better than I did, so just check it out there :)

Workshop on community

2008-01-14T20:22:00.001-05:00

This past weekend Dori Tunstall, a design anthropologist from Chicago, came to NC State to hold a workshop and give a lecture. I originally met Dori back in 2000 when I was working with Design for Democracy. She assisted us in researching different voter types in Chicago to aid us in designing to motivate people to vote.

Her workshop was built around the ideas of community. We read three articles covering pilgrimages, imagined community, and online communities. The workshop was very helpful as I approach a new studio project involving an online learning community.

I've decided to focus on the slow food movement as a learning community. When thinking of this movement, the idea of imagined community is particularly interesting. A lot of people are interested in the slow food movement to preserve local traditions. The concept that communities are not created by physicality (as maps are mostly empirical and fictional to begin with), but by shared values is definitely applicable.

My next step is to create a concept map in order to understand the various users in the learning community. Based on my brief research(which will get more in depth in the coming days/weeks) and assumption, I've laid out different motivations of people involved in the slow food movement: preserving local tradition, environmental concerns, health concerns, and fair compensation to farmers.

My learning community as a whole is one that is in opposition to something. In addition, the different types of community participants may be in opposition to each other. For example, someone may be very concerned about local traditions, but not about the environmental effects. I will need to explore these dichotomies as I continue...
beginning research on community experience

parsnip

2008-01-08T18:01:00.000-05:00

after getting several inquiries about the new puppy, i've decided it is time to officially introduce her.

introducing parsnip lane:

final review, etc.

2008-01-08T08:08:00.001-05:00

well, my first semester is over. i'm definitely ready to start this next semester — excited for new professors and new opportunities. classes start tomorrow, so it's a good thing i'm feeling ready. during the break, i was able to visit with an old professor of mine from UIC in chicago. i'm so glad that i made the time to reconnect. the professor has always been an unofficial mentor of mine and it was great to speak with him about my graduate school journey thus far. i also was able to spend some time with my brother-in-law who is getting his masters in painting from yale. it was so surprising how much our programs have in common. we are reading all of the same stuff (dare, i say theory). i'm wondering what this means on a bigger scale, the fact that we ,graphic designers, are reading the same things as painters. it's an interesting point to think about.

i've been meaning to post my work from final review for some time now. i'm still not sure if what i presented was what was expected of me, but it's over now. i can only reflect for next review.

here are the presentation slides as well.

light writing video

2007-12-21T11:01:00.001-05:00

here's the final video that we (gretchen, alberto, and myself) presented at symposium. enjoy.

light writing from marty on Vimeo.

Term Paper

2007-12-08T12:25:00.001-05:00

Modern Myth: The Role of Orientalism, Representation of the “Other”,
Infotainment, and Photography in the Marketing of the War in Iraq.

my paper is done! for now. i really enjoyed researching and writing the paper. i hope to find some time in the coming years to revisit this paper and continue to develop it.

Symposium Friday

2007-12-05T11:51:00.002-05:00

Our symposium is over and we are reflecting this week on everything that took place. We had a great turnout of graduate students from other schools; MICA, Cranbrook, Bowling Green, CalArts and Art Center. It was great to get to know them and find out a little about other graduate programs.

Flickr set

Friday night we began the Symposium by exploring the "Continuum of Control", where we positioned Designer Control at one end of the spectrum and User Control at the other end. Each graduate student picked at point on the spectrum to represent. I was way over on the User Control side with Punk Zines.

We had examples ranging from the ultra-modernist Massimo Vinelli to Starbucks customizable gift cards to user generated content in fan films, like Troops.

John Bielenberg from Project M gave a really interesting talk about Project M, Rural Studio, and "thinking wrong."

We finished off the night with a collaborative light-writing exercise conducted by myself, Alberto, and Gretchen. We each approached this project from three perspectives. I was interested in a collaborative experience using analog and digital tools. I'm fascinated with how these different tools interact with each other and how users interact with them. I will have a video to post soon.

light writing

2007-11-26T19:43:00.002-05:00

motivation: workspace

2007-11-15T15:47:00.001-05:00

group: matt, alberto, rebecca, me
title of session:
EXPLORING MOTIVATION WITHIN PARTICIPATORY CULTURES

rough ideation:

This session will explore what motivates participants within collaborative cultures.
Addressing how designers can facilitate or respond to motivation within online lomographic communities, collective publications, political town commons, and substandard living conditions.
Using these four projects as a springboard to generate dialogue of motivation within other collaborative cultures.

+++

This session addresses how designers can respond to motivation within four different participatory cultures centered around: an online Lomographic community, collective publishing, virtual and physical town commons, and substandard living conditions. These projects will serve as a springboard to generate dialogue about motivation within other collaborative environments.

Motivation

2007-11-13T07:26:00.001-05:00

as it relates to participatory culture....

symposium team = matt, rebecca, alberto, marty

questions/thoughts generated in meeting
• how do designers respond to ppl motivated to participate?
• motivations are different for everyone
• what individual motivations exist in participatory culture?
• what motivated ppl to participate in symposium?

more to come

using our projects as a departure point for dialog.

Article Summary and Response 8

2007-11-12T21:49:00.001-05:00

""A World Without Boundaries" The Body Shop's Trans/National Geographics"
by Caren Kaplan

download pdf

Project Four: Artifact

2007-11-08T15:57:00.001-05:00

full project

by quickly clicking through the pages of this pdf you can view the animation simulation of similar pattern behaviors

DEPARTURE POINT
departed from craft culture, but focused on motivations behind that movement and
focusing on DIY participatory culture in public space and how it could relate to activism

WHAT IT IS
• all buildings in the future are required to have space for public use,
similar to the requirement for green space
• what if all of the billboards in Times Square were not used to advertise
and could be used by the public?
messages
• ppl use interface to type in message
• interface could be an iphone plug in or a large touchscreen
with microphone in public setting
• users can access typefaces and colors provided, but of course they can
always add more (like a computer)
• ppl can have site specific messages or a default
(similar to your ichat meesage) that stays with you
• if similar content starts to appear in the same space, those messages cluster
and layer
• possible activist use here: ppl could gather in same spot and type similar messages
• default size is used. if one message relates to nothing else, it may be bigger
on a single screen
patterns
• every person has a pattern. there are default patterns available based on my
system or you can make/buy your own.
• in the future this is something ppl buy, similar to icons, fonts, etc.
• exploring how patterns interact with other patterns. specific behaviors
are attributed to each symbol
• your pattern can follow you around in public
• activated by interface
what would it be like if you were passing someone on the street and avoided looking at them, but your patterns were “dancing” around?

GOALS
• bringing democratic flow of information that exists online into public space
• creating more truly “public space”
• could this be used as an activist tool?
• bringing a sense of play to public space. pattern following you and
interacting with other patterns.

and thanks to everyone who contributed content for the messages

Studio chat with Ellen Lupton

2007-11-04T08:30:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday, Ellen Lupton visited our graduate studio before her AIGA lecture.

I thought we had a great discussion around issues very relevant to our symposium.

• consider ends vs. means with DIYers
• consider who DIY is for — not ideal clients
• level of design expectations has been raised
• people want to make
• should we impose our values?
• providing tools to people who we don't want as our clients, but want to help
• design = education
• providing people with better tools
• fashion as analogy: couture vs target
• in participatory culture are these new templates a possible barometer for mainstream design sensibilities?
• skill vs. cultural impact
• tools
• disseminating knowledge
• empowering clients

possible debate:
are designers fearful of the empowered novice? or does it push us, as design experts, to do better?

Symposium Project Explorations

2007-11-03T16:48:00.001-04:00

Last night a few of us gathered outside of the studio to explore light writing. It was a wonderful collaborative experience that explored many things, including the intersection of analog and digital tools. The act of physically creating forms with light was fascinating. We took video footage of the event as well, which I can't wait to see. My legs are sore today, which is an unusual side effect of a late night working at the studio...

each letter was written by a different individual at the same time. we had to kern our physical space! :)

more pictures to come