Monday, March 14, 2011
Course response 10
When I signed up for this class, I didn't really know what to expect. I wasn't really sure how an introductory course to such a broad subject would be formatted. I was pleasantly surprised by the class though. Both the books we read and the class discussions were extremely thought provoking. It really made me think about what a significant impact design has on all aspects of our world. In addition, our assignments were really fun and I felt they really encouraged creativity. I really like submitting all of our assignments on a blog, it made doing homework simple and straight forward. OverLl, this class was a great introduction to design and I look forward to taking more design classes.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Journal 09
Group
Adam
Carl
Jeremy
Telina
Considering we are presenting today, it is rather fortunate that we are done with our project + presentation. Things went pretty smoothly on this project, and although everyone might not have been super psyched on the product we designed, we managed to come to a compromise and finish the project. Everybody worked on their part of the project at home, and we used our in class meetings to show and discuss what we had worked on at home. We only had to meet outside of class once, last night, to finalize everything before we presented. To help give our project focus, I made a summary of our ideas based off of the rubric that we are going to be graded off of. I figured it would be useful as a sort of reference sheet for the main points we need to make during our presentation. I also digitized Telina's design for our kiosk. Overall, despite my usual distaste for group projects, I think things went rather well.
Adam
Carl
Jeremy
Telina
Considering we are presenting today, it is rather fortunate that we are done with our project + presentation. Things went pretty smoothly on this project, and although everyone might not have been super psyched on the product we designed, we managed to come to a compromise and finish the project. Everybody worked on their part of the project at home, and we used our in class meetings to show and discuss what we had worked on at home. We only had to meet outside of class once, last night, to finalize everything before we presented. To help give our project focus, I made a summary of our ideas based off of the rubric that we are going to be graded off of. I figured it would be useful as a sort of reference sheet for the main points we need to make during our presentation. I also digitized Telina's design for our kiosk. Overall, despite my usual distaste for group projects, I think things went rather well.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Heskett's Extremely Cloudy Crystal Ball
When reading the title of Chapter 10, "Futures", one should pay particularly close to the pluralization, as that one "s" establishes an pluralized, inquisitive tone, rather than a singular, declarative tone. As in previous chapters, Heskett writes in a style that, rather than strictly defining design, raises thought provoking questions about design, leaving the reader to come up with the answers. Rather than predicting one definite future for design, Heskett outlines issues in design that will lead to any number of possible futures, for the world of design and the world it shapes.
It seems that the underlying issue that will determine the future of design is a question of puppetry, "Who will be pulling at the strings of designers in the future?". Will the puppet masters be corporate bigwigs? Will designers, as Heskett puts it, "be merely technocrats, devoting their skills to the highest commercial bidder without consideration of the ends they serve"? Or will designers respond to the pulls of less physical entities, serving environmental or social issues?
One quote, concerning the significance of the growing trend of designing "experiences", particularly reverberated with me: "It also suggests that life is so meaningless for people incapable of experiencing anything for themselves that they have to be supplied with a constant flow of artificial, commercialized, and commodified experiences that take on their own reality. " The recent emphasis on "viral" marketing campaigns is one such example. By removing advertisements from TV screens and magazine pages and making them real-world experiences, the response to advertisements has changed from changing the channel or flipping the page to telling your friends about it on Facebook. I feel that such willful participation in marketing campaigns is a bit unnerving, and I sincerely hope that design instead focuses on the needs of the 90 percent of the world's population that lives "in the so-called 'Third World', in 'Developing' or 'Peripheral' countries".
However, Heskett manages to slightly take off the gleam of that dream, as he questions: "if basic requirements become more completely satisfied, will the whole world turn to conspicuous consumption, and with what consequences?"
Let's just hope McDonough's "Industrial Re-evolution" has happened by then, and the consequences are minimal.
It seems that the underlying issue that will determine the future of design is a question of puppetry, "Who will be pulling at the strings of designers in the future?". Will the puppet masters be corporate bigwigs? Will designers, as Heskett puts it, "be merely technocrats, devoting their skills to the highest commercial bidder without consideration of the ends they serve"? Or will designers respond to the pulls of less physical entities, serving environmental or social issues?
One quote, concerning the significance of the growing trend of designing "experiences", particularly reverberated with me: "It also suggests that life is so meaningless for people incapable of experiencing anything for themselves that they have to be supplied with a constant flow of artificial, commercialized, and commodified experiences that take on their own reality. " The recent emphasis on "viral" marketing campaigns is one such example. By removing advertisements from TV screens and magazine pages and making them real-world experiences, the response to advertisements has changed from changing the channel or flipping the page to telling your friends about it on Facebook. I feel that such willful participation in marketing campaigns is a bit unnerving, and I sincerely hope that design instead focuses on the needs of the 90 percent of the world's population that lives "in the so-called 'Third World', in 'Developing' or 'Peripheral' countries".
However, Heskett manages to slightly take off the gleam of that dream, as he questions: "if basic requirements become more completely satisfied, will the whole world turn to conspicuous consumption, and with what consequences?"
Let's just hope McDonough's "Industrial Re-evolution" has happened by then, and the consequences are minimal.
J08: Coleman Project Personal Documentation
Group
Adam
Carl
Jeremy
Telina
What would it be like if Coleman expanded into the indoor home goods market? How could they apply their established design principles to appliances, furniture and the like? Or would they come up with a completely new product? These are among the questions our group have been trying to answer during our time in class last week. While it has been somewhat difficult for our group to come to a consensus on what our product should be, I believe we are going to go forward with Jeremy's idea for a better window insulation material. While our whole group is not in wholehearted agreement with this idea, I feel that we should pursue it due to the interest of time. Although I have never used this stuff, I know many people who have, and after hearing Jeremy describe all the problems with the standard plastic sheets commonly used, I feel that there is a gap in the market for this type of product. We still have a lot of work left to do before next Monday, so today in class, I think we should figure out who is gonna work on what, so we can each better focus on what we each have to do.
Adam
Carl
Jeremy
Telina
What would it be like if Coleman expanded into the indoor home goods market? How could they apply their established design principles to appliances, furniture and the like? Or would they come up with a completely new product? These are among the questions our group have been trying to answer during our time in class last week. While it has been somewhat difficult for our group to come to a consensus on what our product should be, I believe we are going to go forward with Jeremy's idea for a better window insulation material. While our whole group is not in wholehearted agreement with this idea, I feel that we should pursue it due to the interest of time. Although I have never used this stuff, I know many people who have, and after hearing Jeremy describe all the problems with the standard plastic sheets commonly used, I feel that there is a gap in the market for this type of product. We still have a lot of work left to do before next Monday, so today in class, I think we should figure out who is gonna work on what, so we can each better focus on what we each have to do.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Chapters 4-6: A New Hope
When I think of the future, I often imagine a vast, deserted wasteland, inhabited by roving gangs of vicious nomads scouring the countryside for resources and sustenance. While Hollywood's apocalyptic versions of the future are certainly partly to blame, it also doesn't help that we humans are going through our natural resources like rappers blowing through dollar bills at a strip club. But reading the second half of Cradle to Cradle was a burst of sunshine through my gloomy visions of the Earth's future.
In our current state of affairs, it is practically impossible to remain a member of the modern world and not contribute to the beast that is rapidly consuming our one and only world. So it is really encouraging to read how we may be able to have an "Industrial Re-evolution" to dramatically alter our deeply flawed industrial infrastructure. Although it may be impossible to curb our insatiable materialistic appetites, its good to hear that we may be able to someday consume sustainably.
In our current state of affairs, it is practically impossible to remain a member of the modern world and not contribute to the beast that is rapidly consuming our one and only world. So it is really encouraging to read how we may be able to have an "Industrial Re-evolution" to dramatically alter our deeply flawed industrial infrastructure. Although it may be impossible to curb our insatiable materialistic appetites, its good to hear that we may be able to someday consume sustainably.
Charles and Ray Eames
Wednesday's class introduced me to Charles and Ray Eames, a thoroughly interesting couple of many hats. (And apparently they were so inseparable that they even share the same Wikipedia article) I was really interested to see how influential they were in several different fields. As one with many pursuits, it's cool to see others excel in so many different areas.
The Do-Nothing Machine was really whimsical, it reminded me of a Rube Goldberg contraption, but instead of doing something poorly, it did nothing really well.
The interview by the French woman was also really entertaining, it seemed that Charles thought her questions about the meaning of design were a bit silly, and I would have to agree. I feel such restricting exercises are a bit pointless, as it seems to focus on what you can't do, rather than what you can.
The Do-Nothing Machine was really whimsical, it reminded me of a Rube Goldberg contraption, but instead of doing something poorly, it did nothing really well.
The interview by the French woman was also really entertaining, it seemed that Charles thought her questions about the meaning of design were a bit silly, and I would have to agree. I feel such restricting exercises are a bit pointless, as it seems to focus on what you can't do, rather than what you can.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
one three five thee five three
1 definition
An indoor home good is a product intended to be kept and used inside the home, with purposes including cooking, cleaning, relaxing, etc.
3 indoor home goods
5 indoor home goods links
Bed Bath & Beyond
HomeGoods
Pier 1 Imports
UncommonGoods
Crate and Barrel
3 indoor home goods trade show booths
5 outdoor camping/recreation links
Cabela's
Coleman
REI
Gander Mountain
Cousins Army Navy
3 outdoor recreation/sporting trade show booths
An indoor home good is a product intended to be kept and used inside the home, with purposes including cooking, cleaning, relaxing, etc.
3 indoor home goods
BONUS 4TH HOME GOOD
5 indoor home goods links
Bed Bath & Beyond
HomeGoods
Pier 1 Imports
UncommonGoods
Crate and Barrel
3 indoor home goods trade show booths
5 outdoor camping/recreation links
Cabela's
Coleman
REI
Gander Mountain
Cousins Army Navy
3 outdoor recreation/sporting trade show booths
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