::] Back to school [::
September 3rd, 2008
It’s that time of year again… it’s back to school time! The adventures of my graduate class continue as we enter our second year of the master’s program. Exciting times are these…
Last year already came and went. The first semester was intense. The second was considerably busy. The third? I can’t wait to find out! I am not at all worried though, for Meredith Davis and Santiago Piedrafita are leading the way…
This semester is special though. Not that the previous ones were not, but this semester I begin to articulate my research interests towards the development of a final project. This experience will force me to concentrate my interests into a series of researchable questions which I will later investigate and work on. About time I got started on this…
::] Social Studies Conference ][ MICA ][ Abstract [::
August 18th, 2008
Screenshot of the conference website.
This semester’s AIGA education conference, Social Studies Conference: Educating Designers in a Connected World , will be held at the MICA campus from Friday, October 17 through Sunday, October 19 of 2008.
A few days ago I was notified that my original abstract was accepted into the conference. This is my final revised abstract.
Understanding Interaction through People, Settings, and Scenarios
At NC State, the Professional Bachelors of Graphic Design prepares students to understand design from a systems perspective. Among courses that address the issue, three are dedicated to imaging. Last Spring, when co-teaching a three-credit sophomore class —Imaging II: Settings and People (Leading to Activity Scenarios)— with Santiago Piedrafita (faculty member), students were introduced to interaction and time-based media through three key ideas: settings, people and scenarios. Each was addressed through a particular investigation: a “site survey (settings);” a “subject study (people);” and an “activity map (scenarios).”
For the site survey investigation, students were asked to build annotated panoramas through layering techniques, documenting and commenting on a particular location of their daily commute. To visualize the importance of people within a system, students collected ethnographic data of other school members, which they then reinterpreted into one-minute biographical video clips and oversized broadsheets. The semester concluded with an understanding of scenarios, exploring how myriad interfaces found on various mobile platforms shape and affect interactions (scenarios) between users (people) and their environment (setting). This investigation was carried out through hand-made rapid-paper-prototypes, later modeled into stop-animation video clips.
Throughout the semester, concepts were introduced through observation and interpretative methods like annotated tableaus, visual essays, authored journals, video interviews, collaborative ideation techniques, activity maps, paper-prototyping, and stop-animation photography. These “image-making” strategies helped students visualize and actualize key aspects (and phases) of diverse design problems (project-definition-driven, project-building, project-making), understanding issues they will come to terms with when undergoing interactive and time-based media work.
:: ] Del.icio.us ][ 8 ][ Recent Links [ ::
August 11th, 2008
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Get your own stell cast ampersand
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let's look underneath the sink for type
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Nice use of letraset
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Some very nice tote bags
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Letters made from trees. Can be seen from the sky.
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The technology behind the Opening Ceremonies at Beijing
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New and various ways to consider our relationship to the technological world around us.
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This is so worth taking a look at. A new way to envision the internet and its use
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Interesting read on the fast-turnaround logo companies.
::] Social Studies Conference ][ MICA [::
July 16th, 2008
Screenshot capture of the Social Studies Conference’s website.
A typical scene in my life…
April 2008… I decide to submit a draft for the Social Studies Conference: Educating Designers in a Connected World to be held at MICA this upcoming October. Deadline for submissions… July 15th. Yup, I got time.
July 14th: 6:00pm… Dammit! It’s been raining all day, internet connection has been down, and I have to submit the abstract! Tic, tock… Tic, toc…
hehehe
I submitted the abstract on time (see below)(and I even got a happy confirmation e-mail from the conference).
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::] Funny moment in Design Camp [::
July 15th, 2008
::] The Essential Principles of Graphic Design [::
July 5th, 2008
Debbie Millman just announced the publishing of her new book The Essential Principles of Graphic Design.
The book, designed by the amazing Rodrigo Corral, was published by Rotovision and distributed in the U.S. by HOW Books. It contains 35 case studies by designers, featuring a look at how they work and come up with ideas…
…AND SOME COMMENTS OF MINE HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED AS PART OF THE PUBLICATION!
The book is described by the author as both visual and verbal journies of projects from concept to creation. It also includes basic primers to the principles of Graphic Design, written by experts in each discipline. Some of the other designers included are Stephen Doyle, Marian Bantjes, Fabian Monheim, Peter Buchanan-Smith, Vault 49, Yves Behar, Hillman Curtis, Jacob Trollback and many, many more…
I have not seen it yet, but I just hope that I have not embarrassed myself next to all of the other great designers showcased in the publication.
::] and suddenly it was there [::
June 30th, 2008
Landscapes reveal themselves in the most unexpected places.
::] Gateways ][ International Book Cover Exhibit [::
June 30th, 2008
Detrás del Silencio, Gilda Navarra’s retrospective, has been chosen to be part of Gateways, an international exhibition of contemporary book design that will take place in Porto, Portugal. It will open on July 30th.
::] Nice ][42][ That's all folks… [::
June 28th, 2008
It’s a wrap for Design Dialogues with Armando Milani, Cynthia Milani, Massimo Vignelli, Lella Vignelli, Roger Remington and Elisabetta D’Affara.
::] Nice ][41][ waiting for the actors… [::
June 28th, 2008
My friend Seth commented on my previous photos from Spain: “I see your usual fetish for textures.”
(Or something very close to this and the idea that I mostly shoot textures.) So in response to his comment, I decided to place myself upon this setting and wait for random people to become characters or actors in my composition. Some of them came out great…
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