::] and suddenly it was there [::

Landscapes reveal themselves in the most unexpected places.

::] Gateways ][ International Book Cover Exhibit [::

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… [::

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… [::

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…
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][40][ jumping into the ocean… [::

While walking I stumbled with these kids jumping into the ocean. I wished I was jumping in with them…
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][39][ stumbled with this… [::

::] Nice ][38][ Nice's beach [::

Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][37][ Nice's tram [::

After having designed the Tram exhibit for Banco Popular, how could I have not photographed this one?
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][36][ downtown Nice [::

Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][35][ the final group dinner [::

Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][34][ Around Grasse [::

Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][33][ Grasse Perfume [::

After the closing ceremony at the Moulin, we came to Grasse, where Cynthia took us on a tour of a perfume factory which was very nice.
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][32][ A tradition is born [::

Cynthia and Armando begin a tradition of planting an olive tree with every seminar they host in the Moulin. Here Massimo, Lella and Roger begin the tradition by symbolically helping in the planting of the tree.
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][31][ the closing ceremony [::

We all met together for one last time at the Moulin des Trois Arcs.
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][30][ goodnight Moulin [::

After our presentations we watched the Helvetica movie with Massimo and Armando.

::] Nice ][29][ my presentation [::

Hello!

The MAEGHT Foundation.
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][28][ our time to present [::

After a week working on the identity system, it was our time to present our work.

::] Nice ][27][ Massimo Vignelli presented [::

Design without structure is anarchy.

::] Nice ][26][ back to work [::

Yup, poor Denise had to sit next to me. I hope that by now she has recovered from all of my bad jokes… hahaha!

::] Nice ][25][ Crepe time! [::

Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][24][ pretty [::

::] Nice ][23][ at the market ]::

Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][22][ a church [::

Why do medieval churches always photograph so damn well?
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][21][ the living room [::

The incredible living room of the Moulin.
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][20][ playing with projections [::

Lella on Cynthia!

Lella on Lella!

::] Nice ][19][ Lella Vignelli presented [::

We had the great opportunity to hear Lella Vignella speak of her great design work and philosophy.

::] Nice ][18][ bedtime [::

The view of downtown Nice on our way back from Antibes.

::] Nice ][17][ Taking in the view [::

Tom, Marion, Silvano and John taking a deserved break.

::] Nice ][16][ who are the people? [::

So far I have not mentioned the others here with me. Standing up we have Denise Lowery, Maureen Lynch, Elisabetta D’Affara, Petra Müller, Silvano Vidale, Greg Cunneyworth and Dan Pocock. The rest of us squatting are: Marion Digel, Elle Yoon, John Walsh, Tom Gloesener and Angela Haggman.

::] Nice ][15][ Antibes ]::

What better way to celebrate the logo presentation than by going to a city on the Mediterranean Ocean? Armando, Cynthia, Petra and Beti, our usual drivers, took us to the city of Antibes where we walked around for a while, saw some incredible yachts, and ate mussels and french fries.
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][14][ Armando Milani presented [::

It was Armando Milani’s turn to present his work and design philosophy. He is clearly a master of metaphorical interpretations in graphic design.

::] Nice ][13][ my logo proposal [::

This was my logo proposal for the MAEGHT foundation. Having worked with architects for a while now, I really did not want to use the building’s architectural detail in a separate iconic manner. Instead, I brought the detail into the name of the foundation, creating more of a symbiotic relation between the foundation and the architecture.

::] Nice ][12][ towards the first crit [::

After having done research at the MAEGHT foundation, it was time for work. Our project… create a new identity system for the museum, starting with the logo and moving out to cover all possible applications. Originally, we were all supposed to work on an individual logo, to later have one selected by the group and worked on by everyone. In the long run, we each ended up working on our own projects with our own logos.
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][11][ it's working time! [::

::] Nice ][10][ St Paul [::

After some of our research at the MAEGHT, we went to the nearby town of St. Paul. I was betrayed by the sun yet again… cloudy, cloudy and more cloudy. Nonetheless, it was a great town.
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][9][ our work place [::

::] Nice ][8][ Pretty [::

::] Nice ][7][ MAEGHT [::

As part of the project this week we have to design a new identity for the FONDATION MARGUERITE ET AIMÉ MAEGHT. As such, we went to document and research on site.
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][6][ the kitchen [::

This is the kitchen where Cynthia Milani cooks for us everyday. Ain’t it cool?

::] Nice ][5][ Moulin des Trois Arcs [::

This is the setting for this Dialogues in Design experience with Massimo & Leila Vignelli and Armando & Cynthia Milani. This is Armando Milani’s home in France which he calls Moulin des Trois Arcs because of three arcs that supported an old aqueduct system that ran through the property in the 1500′s…
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][4][ Getting acquainted [::

The second day was about meeting the people, seeing Armando Milani’s home for the first time, and meeting the chicken who keeps the water for us… ;)
Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][3][ the vicinity walking left [::

Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][2][ the vicinity walking right [::

Read the rest of this entry »

::] Nice ][1][ Exploring around [::

Upon arrival, my room was not ready so I decided to do a small walk around to see what was around. Honestly, I thought we were closer to Nice in a way that would allow me to visit the city, but such was not the case.
Read the rest of this entry »

::] You know you have arrived when…[::

You know you have arrived when you are told you have to carry all of your luggage up these stairs… and 15 mins later, when you explore through the hotel, you realize that you had another option that was easier and shorter… ;)

::] Luis Muñoz Marín Airport… u suck [::

Another wonderful 5:07am scene at the American Airlines terminal at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. For those who have been here, doesn’t this image feel like home? Don’t you feel hopeless and desperate? Are you already anticipating the next great irrational idea coming along?

Like my friend Jorge would say, this airport gives me “piquiña“.
Read the rest of this entry »

::] row, row, row your boat [::

[flashvideo file="http://blog.estudiointerlinea.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/RemandoRetiro.flv" width="580" height="325" /]

::] PhotoShoot ][ Madrid [::

And so the sun betrays me yet again. After a few days of anticipation, I finally arrived to Madrid, only to experience 6 days of grey cloudy skies. My original intentions of spending my time there making beautiful photographs had to be tweaked a little… Here a first sample of some of the images made…

Read the rest of this entry »

::] CatchingUp ][12][ StudioLife [::

A little bit of fun while we counted down to final review with Marty Maxwell Lane, Rebecca Tegtmeyer, Sam Kim and our temporary studio mate, the air conditioner.
Read the rest of this entry »

::] CatchingUp ][11][ Representation [::

My concept map on representation.

::] CatchingUp ][10][ BlogScalability [::

As part of the independent study, I had understand how to scale a system such as a blogging platform across the NC State curriculum. This chart presents one of the proposals suggested for a possible implementation.

::] CatchingUp ][9][ BlogConceptMap [::

As part of the independent study and seminar work, I delved into understanding more about some various communication platforms. This is a concept map developed to explore existing relationships and key players surrounding the blog.

::] CatchingUp ][8][ Independent Study [::

As part of my academic charge this semester, I underwent an independent study with Santiago Piedrafita. In it, we explored various possibilities on how to develop, build and maintain a common curricular system between the different faculty members and the students of the department. What follows is just one of the many presentations since the final work is still underway.

Read the rest of this entry »

::] CatchingUp ][7][ StudioWork [::

The way the semester’s work was structured, we worked on smaller segmented explorations which lead to the final piece of interaction leading to learning. Depending on how we worked during the semester, we each ended with a complete project or with various smaller projects. In my case, I redesigned the earlier explorations to make them fit under the same umbrella. I realize that it is hard to understand what I did without undergoing the user interactions, but here I made some screenshots of the overall system which show the general aesthetics and parts.

Read the rest of this entry »

::] CatchingUp ][6][ CommunityExchange [::

After spending some time with the community and the information derived from the concept map, it was the moment to understand how to define an exchange of information between some of the members. This insight lead to a crucial part of the semester’s design work.

::] CatchingUp ][5][ Symposium Recap [::

A small break from the semester work. At the end of February we played guests to the candidates of next year’s incoming graduate class. I was asked by the department to do a recap of last semester’s symposium.
Read the rest of this entry »

::] CatchingUp ][4][ ConceptMap [::

Concept Map of Play by Hugh Dubberly.

My concept map of undergraduate students engaged in software learning.

As each of us began to research into our chosen communities, Meredith and Amber introduced us to concept mapping. We read Joseph Novak, D. Bob Gowin and Hugh Dubberly, all proponents of using this strategy as a mean to create understanding between members engaged in performing a common task.

::] CatchingUp ][3][ CommunityCharter [::

In order to carry out the projects of the semester, we were advised to select a group or community with which we would want to work all semester long. Since I am currently a co-instructor at the sophomore level of the undergraduate program, I am particularly interested in the student’s software learning curve. Illustrated here is the charter that I devised after spending some time trying to understand this group. I found it interesting that one could look at the group solely based on the physical interactions between the members or take their online interactions into account and experience a completely different audience.

::] CatchingUp ][2][ Communitas [::

This semester is about learning communities. It’s about using interaction to bring together a group of people performing a common task.

To kick start the creative insights and interactive explorations, Meredith invited the design anthropologist Elizabeth —Dori— Tunstall to make a presentation on her work on communitas. As part of her visit, we had to select an online community that we thought could be analyzed thru the lens of the various aspects of what makes up a communitas: historical consciousness, life goals, organizational structure, agency and relationships. I chose facebook, and what follows is my study of some of the key features which bring the community together.

Read the rest of this entry »

::] CatchingUp ][1][ StudioSetUp [::

This semester is different, quantitatively different. The 5 month experience of spending every class with 11 other points of view now mutates into a 6 person interactive boot camp with Meredith Davis and Amber Howard as our drill sergeants. As the first activity of our new found family, we had to clean the room and rearrange the furniture. This was our initial render of what the room should come to. We tried it for a few weeks and then decided to change it again. Santiago then came to the rescue with a new whiteboard to help us in our creative transition into the world of interaction and learning communities.
Read the rest of this entry »