Last Day of Class

Well all in all, we are as ready as we can be since we didn't have a lot of time and our materials were spotty, so buying more would have been a huge expense! So we stuck with what we had and we arrived early to set up in a classroom, trying to use the rope line in the middle to support, as well as us not being afraid to help support it while we had to let people in and out. So we'll see how this pans out in the end. My fingers are crossed that I didn't fail....

Part two work day

We worked really hard Friday, and Saturday to find that we were having extreme difficulties in making our inflatable room stand up by itself. And in the end, we think it was the tunnels' fault, though we had to have tunnels or openings for people to get in and out.  So we changed it, to where there was only one opening. Other causes could also be that our dome was very tall and not very wide, so it was having trouble supporting itself and also, our material may have been a bit heavier plastic.
 

Part two

We were tasked with creating an inflatable room that describes our word— surprising or jarring, so we cam cup with three different ideas.



Our first idea was to build a room that had a tropical scene (or some other scene) with music on the outside that was something different than what you imagined the inside to be. For example, if there were rock music on the outside, you may expect there to be a disco ball or strobe lights, except when you got inside, you'd be surprised to see a beach scene.

Our second idea was some sort of crawling maze. Where the people would have to craw everywhere and go through jarring obstacles.

And our third option was to build a dome with tunnels on the sides and there be something surprising, like balloons or something on the inside.

Part 1

After small exercises, we started brainstorming about what we wanted to do to convey about the video in a way that made a heart tug. So we created a plastic gravestone. The gravestone symbolized the dying of humanity and plastic bags taking over.

We spent a lot of time on the first part of this project. 

Final Project

We were assigned to create an inflatable scene based on a video we watched in class about a plastic bag. The plastic bag video displayed a plastic bag floating through the wind, wishing it were dead because it's owner has disregarded it.

So we created models of our rooms to show spacial value and positioning of features in the room. 

 I spent such a long time creating this chipboard model, glueing and re-glueing, until it stuck together. We brought it into class the next day and we barely even looked at it. It was purely just for learning spatial positioning. So frustrating and useless.

Note to the Editor

Here's what my addition said:

As this semester started, I had no idea what I was getting into. I knew I would like the concepts of design but I did not really understand what it would take or the process to become a designer. My mother is in business as a marketer and sales director and my father is in engineering, so I have not had any previous experience or influence in design. Since this is the last process book for the semester, I can truthfully say it has been challenging and a lot of late nights were put into this class, however, in the end, I loved it. Of course there were those nights where I hated staying up to construct small three-dimensional letters and working on process books and taping giant three-dimensional letters together, but like I said, at the end of the day, it was a class I enjoyed. At the end now, I feel like I have learned a lot about design and it as been a fulfilling process overall. Given the outcome, I am glad I chose design and I am glad I will be working with it throughout my lifetime. 

I hope you have enjoyed this book! 

Editor

Maddie Hughes

 

Beautiful Solutions Layout and Addition

I thought my layout kicked ass!
 
Here are just a few images from my process book. 

I even made an editors page at the end, not only to add a page but to also say something about myself and about my time in the design class.
 And it's so cute! (:

Beautiful Solutions conclusion

This project has been fun and successful overall. I have greatly enjoyed all of the activities and have learned a lot. To create an object, a lot of thought goes into every aspect to make sure the user can use it according to the original intention as well as in another ways. As a designer, I brainstormed many different possibilities and avenues for each project and discovered the most important ideas where the ones that involved collaboration or interface with the item. The most challenging part was the fruition of our ideas into useable projects, and in the end, we did not have all of the available resources to make our prototypes just like we had planned. Just as well, I learned that the evolution of an idea or concept is very important to the final product, especially since during the evolution, most of the aspects are refined into better variation or striped of their original function altogether. Additionally, IDEO’s concept of collaboration learning meant a lot to me and was the basis of my desk drawing and will continue to inspire me with future projects, because I have learned that collaboration of ideas is very important to any process in any workplace. These skills will be applicable in any setting, whether in a group or just completing something by myself, I can utilize the importance of craft, collaboration and design in any manner.

Hallmark Symposium #2 Design Egg

The design egg is a non-profit organization operated by a husband and wife team— the Wickstroms. They met and college and moved to Chicago upon graduation to fulfill their dreams of working in jobs that they love. As climbers however, their commute to the worthy Red River Gorge crag was up to 8 hours away from Chicago and the long drive to do something they both love to do was wearing on their happiness. This lecture really meant a lot to me personally, since I am also a climber and I love to design like them as well. They had larger dreams and they fulfilled them. After 11 years in Chicago and one fateful fire, they couple decided enough was enough and the time was right to quit their respectable jobs, buy a trailer, and follow the climbing season while helping other non-profits around the United States with their company marketing items. They travel to different parts and to different clients to take pictures in order to create t-shirts, special event design, catalogues, books, videos, wordpress websites and email campaigns. They live freely working whenever they can while also spending a lot of time climbing and being outdoors, soaking in nature. This they said, has been a successful venture and a dream that has been fulfilled everyday. As an original one-year plan, they’ve extended it to two-years. The couple went on to talk about different aspects of their life and travels as well as logistical things and non-profit information, however, I was so excited about the concept that I could only soak so much in. Afterwards, another climber and friend of mine, went up to talk to the Windstroms and as any climber would know, there was an immediate bond of friendship over life at the crag and the sense of family as the span of the climbing community grew. We talked for a while about the different places they have been and compared our notes as well as gave advice on where to go. They live a dream I have that I never knew could be real or possible. It was a truly inspiring lecture and I am happy to report that we are friends on instagram and facebook, with a hearty invitation from both parties to keep in touch!

Hallmark Symposium Rania Matar

Rania Matar when to school for architecture however, upon picking up a camera, her life changed. Through the lens of a camera, she started seeing the world in a different way. As a Lebanese, she returned to her home country and noticed the startling amount of refugees and their sad eyes, mirroring their sad tales. It was then that she first picked up a camera and started photographing the different women and children around the camp. At the end of her stay, she realized she had only captured the women and children and thus began the focus of her project. She took pictures of the ordinary lives of those in refugee camps to show how they were living and adapting even after leaving many things behind in their home country. Through this, she was inspired to take photos in America as a contrast to those in Beirut. Eventually, the evolution of her photographs came as her identity was at stake and she had trouble perceiving where she belonged— the Middle East or the United States. Though eventually, through the help of her camera, she discovered she could be both Lebanese and America, which led to the project where she contrasted mothers and daughters in both settings. As a photographer, she said it was important to always look at the whole frame, every part of the image means something on a larger scale. Wile she was photographing the mothers and daughters, she noticed that the mothers were often the self conscious and would look away or be nervous, whereas when she took shots of the daughters individually, they would turn into the ones who became self conscious. So essentially, the mother and daughters roles’ switched, consequently displaying how the daughters grew in confidence and strength while standing next to their mothers. In another project, Matar chose to photograph teenagers going though the transformation to women in a setting that embodies their identity and makes them feel more comfortable to be in. She took pictures of them in their rooms to display a girl’s individuality in changing times. 

Inside/Out of the Box

For our final small project, we were tasked with the job to create a package for a light bulb. Nowadays, usually a light bulb is stored on the shelf in a store with at least on side of the bulb exposed so the consumer can visually assess the bulb, the manufacturer uses the minimal amount of chipboard to make this happen, as to conserve costs. However, as the consumer, I worry more about dropping the box and then the light bulb shattering. So as designers, my team took the practical side and general consumer concerns to heart. We decided that the bulb’s casing should protect the bulb in case of an accident, so we created a cardboard box with newspaper insulation around the bulb, in the case if it fell, the newspaper would act as a cushion, weathering the fall. Newspaper and cardboard we decided upon so that it would be as environmentally friendly as possible and could easily be reused or recycled. In addition, as consumers, we noted that often times, the packaging often opens with the bulb side up, making it difficult to grab the bulb in its container without fear of it falling, so as a solution, we made the packaging where the blub in facing down, with the base upwards, allowing for an easier grip by the consumer. Furthermore, light bulbs are difficult items to recycle and throw away, so we added a shipping label onto the box, enabling the consumer to place the old bulb into the packaging of the new bulb, tape it up, and send it back to the company, ensuring a more environmentally safe disposal method. Inside the box, we created instructions for both the application of using a light bulb and how to ship the old one back to us. The outside of the box we made green to convey our environmental standpoint, even if our product is not environmentally friendly. And finally, to make opening the box as easy as possible, we proposed for it to have a perforated tab at the base. All of our characteristics display our consideration and value of consumer and customer experience.

Improvised Drawing Tools

Reflection of the Improvised Drawing Tool Exercise

To gain confidence in creative ability, we performed a series of small, successful tasks to get our creative juices flowing. We were given instructions in class to create tools using only the tools from our toolboxes and the given Dowell rods. The tasks were difficult at first but then grew easier as we understood what we were supposed to do and as we became more familiar with the materials and the best ways to attach them. We started by creating a tool that would draw a perfect circle in the center of our paper. We did this by attaching two Dowell rods together at almost a 45-degree angle so that when we moved the center rod, the outside rod moved and the pencil would drag along and create a circle. These simple designs, though effective, were not perfect. After this original design, we built off of it. So when we had to create the outline of the circle on both sides, we just attached another Dowell rod and then with both together, they would create a system that would make two circles at the came time on either side. Throughout the project, we worked through different avenues and through discussion, and trial and error, we discovered different ways to make each item.