Monday, March 7, 2011
Jonathan Harris: Cold + Bold
Let's get personal here. If any of you are thinking about reliant we are on the digital world in our choice of careers, you should watch this. Seriously!
I am sort of a pessimist when it comes to hoping for a long life full of social interaction, love, family health and all that jazz. Mostly because I understand and am totally willing to spend the rest of my life focused on a computer screen. But hearing Jonathan's story really made a memorable mark on this theory.
I am not involved in the intense amount of coding that he was so my case is a little better. But i still enjoyed hearing that others are worried about and have the same problems coping with the rest of the world, the non-designers. This speech by no means made me hopeful for a normal sense of social well-being, instead he made me realize something very important...
When I get to those frequent points of frustration with my work (whether it is the work itself or the lack of human interaction due to my design) to step back and watch. think, really think about who is around me, what they are doing, why they are there, why I am there.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Bruce Mau Design
Wow... Reading Bruce's advice really did loosen up some of those knots that I have been tangled up in when it comes do design. So... here are the bits and pieces that I am going to focus on in the months to come.
I know and understand that studying and being fully immersed in design is necessary for growth, but I have not been practicing that. Since I do have such desire and passion for what I do, I really need to show it through how much I study, look up artists and designers, search for new ideas, check daily blogs.. that kinda thing.
ok I get it... designers are always going. We rarely sleep and that is because we have a strange ability to disregard our health and well being because of our need to finish/perfect things. I definitely follow this to the point of near insanity... and it drives me crazy! So what do I do about it? read on.
this is it! I have been taking an idea, a very small one, and putting it straight into execution mode. What if I step back and THINK about it? What if I, for 5 minutes, deeply wrap my mind around that idea and come up with a more vivd solution? yes... that might be it. I will work on this.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
On Creativity by Andy Rutledge
He takes the idea of being creative away from the people who call themselves capable. In comparison, people don't get creativity or have it... it is not self-expression in the business world. It is the ability to take the restraints of clients and make them see what you need/want them to see or perceive.
defining creativity, the misuse of creativity, over-valued creativity, lack of process, not everyone has creativity, perceptions of the product.
Final book jackets and recent journals
Man, posting all of this stuff can get confusing... I have my stuff up on my behance site (behance.net/noelrivard) and on a pdf for class and printed out and now I think i'll put it up here for those of you who didn't see it.
designers choice
image based
type based
Journal number three
Sagmeister talks about the realization of happiness and not about feeling it. He says that the realization is easy the easy thing to do. That is why the designer who recreated the subway posters was able to evoke such true happiness, because the people who see his work are taken aback with his design, THEN feel the emotions that he has tried to create. more later
Monday, February 14, 2011
Its crunch time!!!
For this project, I chose to go with a different perspective than originally planned. Rather than an all out crazy fest of image, vibrant color and sloppy text I picked a simpler compound word to describe the feeling.
MEANINGFUL NONSENSE
let me know what you think! please be critical!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Good old Dieter Rams... and not so old Don Norman
don norman (design and emotion)
1. beatuy
2. function
3. reflective
Don spoke about the good design... not only pretty stuff or convinient things, but honestly good design. Design as if it were intended to fulfill all 10 of Dieter Rams’ principles. From what he percieved from Rams’ studies, Norman took a twist on that information by exploring the emotional connotations of design. As listed above, good design should make you feel good... feel the beauty, the functionality (that it is doing something that makes you happy) and that it can reflect the feeling back.
If I were to ask Don Norman a question, it would probably invovle the reflective aspect of good design. I am not quite sure as to what he means by that. Maybe something like, “Don, if a product should reflect good design, what does it look like for a product to reflect BAD design?”
audience personas for The Buddha of Suburbia
#1
Amy is a freshman at the University of Virginia majoring in journalism. She is currently living in a dorm room alone because her roommate has recently moved back home to attend cosmotology school. Amy spends most nights listening to country music (mostly Taylor Swift) while reading for her upper-level english class.
Her favorite books include Jane Eyre, Sarah Plain and Tall and other more feminine novels. Her initial intentions were to go to school to be and English Literature professor. Then she joiner her high school yearbook staff and decided to take that route instead.
She eats mostly organic foods and wears only clothing made in the United States; the only exception is when she is running low on cash. She works at a used book store where she reads more than she actually works. Her favorite part of the job is the three-legged cat that roams the store to greet customers. Most of her friends consider this a perfect example of her appreciation for the quarky and uncommon.
#2
Marshall just graduated with honors from Grinnell and moved to New York to begin a career in the fast paced work of finance. He has been so consumed by getting a good education and winning his cross country races that he has yet to consider finding a girlfriend/wife. He finds himself feeling lonely most nights and hasnt mustered up the courage to put himself out there. His parents and most of his co-workers assume he is homosexual. He finds this hard to believe although he has never had a romantic relationship.
He shops at small boutiques and shops in the wealthier areas of town. His outfits are all based on images he found in Men’s Health. He listens to the music his parents always had on as a child, mostly bands like Pink Floyd and The Beatles.
#3
Freida is a 23 year old mother originally from Mumbai but currently stationed in Texas. Her family moved the United States when she was a little girl to avoid the trying financial times. She has many american friends who appreciate and understand her eccentric cultural background and uplifting personality. But when she is alone at home while her husband, Waleed, is at work at the hospital, she finds herself questioning her indian heritage.
Her days consist of caring for her 14 month old girl, preparing traditional Indian meals, cleaning the apartment and watching a few soap operas. Freida’s closet is full of her mother and grandmother’s tunics and head dress in beautiful colors and patterns.
She dreams of someday going back to India to travel the country at her own accord. Yet, she is perfectly accustomed to the american lifestyle.
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