When I thought my final project process at NC State University was finished, this morning I had an unexpected surprise when I realized that my research investigation has already been catalogued into the library system. I realize this is a trivial thing… but I have to say it made me smile.
Last semester I taught a seminar course at NC State University’s College of Design where I asked the students to identify, as part of a weekly assignment, two instances: one where design thinking had thrived and another where it had failed. Towards the end of the course, students had collected a series moments that proved that only a simple nudge was required, many times at no extra cost to anyone, to set a series of problems right. Recently, I came across one such example.
Last week, due to the birth of my nephew Gonzalo, I got to spend some time in the maternity wing of the Auxilio Mutuo Hospital. It was indeed a short time, yet most of it was spent waiting for the baby to make its appearance. I had time to look around. A few things came to my attention, but this particular emergency door stood out the most out of anything else that caught my eye.
An Emergency Door in the Maternity Wing of the Auxilio Mutuo Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The subject in question is located on a hallway directly across from the nursery of newborns. As you can imagine, a lot of people congregate in this area. Upon further investigation, four things were of interest to me:
1) The standard, internationally used emergency exit sign; 2) An ink-jet printed sign which informs that this door does not provide access to the ground floor; 3) The familiar red sign that indicates to use this exit in case of an emergency; and 4) A photocopy which explains, in paragraphs, what to do in case of a problem.
Can you imagine what would happen, God forbid, if there was an emergency in this space? Read the rest of this entry »
Recently, a few people have asked about the work I carried out in graduate school. Part of my time in the last few weeks has been spent formatting the work to share it online. Today I am happy to share:
You can visit and see a selection of some of the larger investigations carried out, many as part of larger collaborative groups. The final project is the only one not up yet. It will be coming soon.
In the last few weeks I have been moving from meeting to meeting, introducing myself to new clients and re-connecting with some older ones. Face to face conversation has been at the core of most interactions.
During the time, I have become aware of the many identities others bestow on me: artist, graphic artist, digital artist, the creative, the person who makes logos, sign-maker, event planner, the guy who did that exhibit on the train, the kid who makes things pretty, web-site maker, and I have even been introduced as an architect. Not once in three weeks has anyone (other than in the office space from which I now work) used the term graphic designer, or even the idea of design to refer to me or to what I do.
In the Puerto Rican corporate and academic spheres that I have been exposed to, the practice of design (even if called by other names) is still seen as, talked about, and referred to as an icing on a cake which provides decoration (and an extra boost of sugar) to an already functional product. Designers are not at the decision table, and I have yet encountered one example of design included in a larger strategic process. The techniques, strategies and tools of design thinking are nowhere to be found. The idea of graphic designers having a process and knowledge of specific strategies that might foster innovation is scarce. Inspiration, creativity and talent are still at the core of the generally accepted understanding of how designers work and come up with ideas. Read the rest of this entry »
I am a designer. The term, today employed across various contexts and business models to signify different things, is actually not as hard to understand as many people make it out to be. It basically means that I like a few essential things: sexy typography (this is like the one ring made to rule them all), apple equipment, black t-shirts, fancy eyeglasses, ergonomic pencils, reading about the implications of structuring information, funky-colored shoes, colors, markers, anything Italian, and the smell of old books. (among others) This list is easy to assemble since most of these are stereotypical images society can associate easily with this professional path I have chosen to investigate. And yet, there is one aspect of being a designer that is not as obvious (and sad since it is the best part): as a designer I am in the constant search of problems.
Sounds interesting right? Well, in reality, it is. Yet, being on a constant search for problems to solve brings about a series of problems of its own. The best way I can describe it is that sometimes I find myself in an alternate reality; others talking about the color red and me asking why red?
On May 9th 2009, NC State University’s College of Design carried out its graduation exercises. The event recognized undergraduates, graduates and PhDs who successfully met the degree requirements in one the disciplines of Architecture, Art and Design, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, and Landscape Architecture.
As part of the event’s protocol, students were individually called onto the stage to receive a diploma from Dean Marvin Malecha, FAIA, and each of the department chairs. In the case of the Graphic Design Department, Santiago Piedrafita was there to give us an official hug.
When each student is called, a photograph is projected on a screen in the stage, and as you can expect, the master of graphic design graduates came together and agreed on a template*:
Thanks to Sidney Fritts and Cady Bean-Smith for having the initiative for these colored-sunglasses images. Without them, we would not have been able to pull this off.
Thank you Rebecca Tegtmeyer, Marty Maxwell Lane and Kelly Murdoch-Kitt, it was a good run!
* It is also important to share that the undergraduates in graphic design also came together and created their own little system for the graduation slideshow. They made 3-D images of themselves and handed out red/green glasses to the audience. Pretty cool.
At the end of every spring semester the College of Design hosts a Student Awards Ceremony for the current graduating class. This is an opportunity for each of the departments to hand out a series of awards to both graduate and undergraduate students.
The graphic design department has traditionally handed out the Book Award. The basic idea is that a faculty member in the program awards a student with a book that will be of benefit in life after graduate school. This year, I shared the graduate book award with Rebecca Tegtmeyer and Marty Lane. Each of us was awarded a different book by a faculty member… I was given The Design Dictionary: Perspectives on Design Terminology (Board of International Research in Design). :)
During the graduation ceremony of the College of Design I was awarded with one of the three Wings on Wings Dean’s recognitions. Better than explaining what it was all about, I have included the original text as read by the College’s Dean, Marvin Malecha, FAIA:
On occasion there are individuals who stand out among the graduating class for outstanding citizenship in the College community and academic excellence. For this reason I have established the Dean’s Award known as Wings on Wings. It is inspired by the constructivist painting of Natalia Goncherova depicting the Archangel Michael, the good citizen angel, astride Pegasus, the ancient symbol for opportunity. It is a fitting symbol to recognize individuals who have taken advantage of the opportunity that the College presents and acted as a good citizen.
It is the practice of the College that nominations come to me from the academic units and since it is the dean’s award I make the final choice. There have been ceremonies when no award is made, very infrequent thankfully, but our usual custom is one, maybe two recognitions. Perhaps I am becoming soft this year because I could not make one, or even two choices. I have chosen to recognize three outstanding individuals from our graduating class. This is a reflection of just how good our students are!
The third recipient is graduating with a Master of Graphic Design, Mr. Alberto Rigau. In the nomination Professor Denise Gonzales Crisp observes, “Alberto has been a tireless contributor to the design community as a T.A., a teacher at the College Design Camp Program for aspiring design students, as a designer for the Student Publication and for the University undergraduate information publication The Brick. His enthusiasm is responsible for new curricular ideas in the Graphic Design Program. He was a student leader in 2007 for the Graduate Graphic Design Symposium, Option-Shift-Control. He has consistently had papers accepted at professional conferences around the nation. Most recently, he has won the first prize at the NC State University Graduate Research Symposium for the Humanities.” Alberto, please come forward to accept your much-deserved recognition.
On May 4th 2009 I carried out the last of three formal presentations related to my Final Project at NC State University’s College of Design. Even though the step is a required component of the academic requirements at the graphic design program, I enjoyed the opportunity to share some of my interests, ideas and research with faculty, students, and other members of the community.
The presentation was a 25 minute summary of the research and work carried out on my final study at the graduate program: Design as Choice Architecture: informing consumers about debt-related behaviors. The following video is a recording of the original May 4th exposition.
In retrospect, having worked on this final project felt more like a rite of passage than anything else, signaling a transition into a deeper and meaningful design life. I am happy to report that all requirements for graduation were successfully met and I have been granted the degree of Master of Graphic Design. :)
Myself in front of my research poster. Photograph by Rebecca Kirkland.
As I have written before before, this past week was the Fourth Annual NC State University Graduate Student Research Symposium. Marty Maxwell Lane, Deb Littlejohn and I were asked to present our current research at the event. In retrospect, it was just like presenting for judges back in one of my high school science fairs… Presentations were made with the aid of posters. We participated in the Humanities and Design category, where I am happy to report that I was recognized with a first prize for the current research I am carrying out with my final project. :) Read the rest of this entry »
The University Graduate Student Association and the Graduate School hosted the Fourth Annual NC State University Graduate Student Research Symposium. The goals of the symposium were to showcase the outstanding quality and diversity of graduate-level research at NC State, and to share it with state decision-makers.
Marty Maxwell Lane, Deb Littlejohn and I were asked to present our projects at the event. We each made posters, like mine shown at top, to share and explain the goals of our investigations. We participated in the Humanities and Design category, where I am happy to report that I was awarded the first prize. :)
In the morning I had the opportunity to share my current research with the accepted candidates for next year’s incoming graduate graphic design class. The presentation, a shortened version of my Orals Presentation, went really well.
In the evening, I volunteered to present at the 2nd annual Intercom Research Exchange at the College of Design. The event had two ways in which we could share our research with the university community: via a poster where the research was presented in a printed format (you can see Rebecca Tegtmeyer’s poster here), or via a Pecha Kucha styled projected presentation.
This is a self playing movie, but please click on it to get it started. The first 14 seconds are static, so be patient. This is the Pecha Kucha version of my final project presentation
Marty Maxwell Lane also did a Pecha Kucha style presentation to share her research on the way teens understand visual content online (it’s much more than that, but that my version of her project in a sentence. I am sure she will kill me soon over this butchering… ;)
As second-year students of the NC State Graduate Program in Graphic Design, our final semester is dedicated to the work on our final project. As part of the process, we are required to make three major presentations.
The first presentation serves as a public unveiling of our interests to the entire graphic design department. At this point we are supposed to have an initial idea about our interests while we are still negotiating with all of the research that we have so far collected. This point also helps the first-year students, for it allows them to get an idea about what a final project investigation is all about.
The second, the Oral Presentation, occurs the week after Spring Break, half-way between that first exposition and the conclusion of the investigation. At this point, there should be a cohesive argument that makes sense. A design project should exist. The final project must be on its way… and this is the presentation that I recently made.
This post includes the slides of that presentation. You will see notes underneath each one, but the morning of the event I decided not to read any of them. I presented using my train of thought. Of course, what I eventually said is rooted in these notes, but I really did not have time to cover these and read them over. The full development of my ideas will be expressed in the final written document, which will be the core of the third and final presentation coming in up on May 4th.
The early part of the XXth century witnessed the construction of an extensive web of irrigation channels to distribute water to homes and farmlands in Puerto Rico along more than 35 kms. Still in operation to this day, throughout time different individuals and groups have acknowledged the scenic value of these channels; however, to most they remain unknown.
Conceived by the architectural firm, Jorge Rigau FAIA, Architects, the pilot project was designed to garner support from government officials, institutions, and the general public for the development of Isabela’s irrigation channels as a key ecotourism attraction in Puerto Rico. The “canales” travel across plains, mountains, and forests of varying microclimate, flora, fauna, and views. Maintenance paths that run continuously next to them could today be refashioned as nature trails accessible to the general public, children, senior citizens, and handicapped people alike. This pilot project set out to prove the feasibility of this initiative.
After public access to these facilities had been denied for eighty years, one kilometer of channels was opened up for two days, attracting an audience of over 3,000 registered people, including key decision-makers like the Island’s Interim Governor. Environmental leaders and university professors joined the long lines of visitors from all over the Island.Advocacy is often linked to demonstrations, more than often committed to stop something from happening. In our case, we chose to demonstrate otherwise: How something can, in fact, happen. Letters of support have started to come and decision makers – already engaged – have invited us to sit and dialogue. This is what we planned for.
I am getting a bit nervous. The calendar dates keep progressing and my making seems to be resting stagnantly. Nonetheless, major progress was achieved this morning through the discussion and appreciation of smaller details. These procedural wireframes have begun to seriously integrate much of the research, expressing itself through a series of functionalities.
As it can be anticipated, my system has already changed again, but here I present what I showed in the meeting today. Read the rest of this entry »
Last semester, before I got interested in consumer behaviors and their repercussions, I explored gesture based interfaces as a possibility for my final project. Today, while organizing my current archive, I found this old copy of the HP Touch Smart ad. It is still impressive.
After the most recent discussion about the progress of the final project, I decided to stir things a bit… and materialize the sketching. I’ve devised a usable paper-prototype that allows me to explore the possibilities for the interface and its contents. Read the rest of this entry »
As you can imagine, as the oral defense presentation gets closer, the perception of the world around me is slowly shifting. The apartment is no longer home-base, my chair is my best friend, and my desk the center of all of the world’s operations… again, of all of the world’s operations…!
You know… When you wish you were doing everybody else’s project but your own? Don’t get me wrong. I am immersed and excited over what I am working on, but there is always that little instance when you just become extremely jealous of the inspiring work your classmates make. I mean, how can I not be?
Marty Maxwell Lane is doing these amazing explorations that still have me speechless. Rebecca Tegtmeyer has created these gorgeous compositions that provide structural cues to her content. Robert Ruehlman works on animated typographic explorations aiming directly at my past with Spirographs… and Kelly Murdoch-Kitt, the cyber-hippie who sits in the back, would not even share her super-secret thesis blog… which kills my curiosity now.
The body of work of these individuals serves to remind me of the right choice I made in coming to this particular program.
A few days ago Rebecca Tegtmeyer sent a few friends an email with a challenge to do something like this. It was not until today that I was able to see the link, and to be honest, I just found it too fun to ignore. Since last night I did not get to sleep much, my productivity today was very low, so I decided to give this a shot.
By now, I have shared the video with a few friends which have pointed out many crucial missing moments like the photography from the Option Shift Control Symposium, from our class trip to DC, the Design Band, and others. With all the missing parts I might have to consider Meat Loaf for the soundtrack… hehehe. I will update the file, probably after the Final Project is done. But for now… I hope you enjoy…
Armando Rigau currently pursues a Master in Architecture I at Cornell University. He received his bachelor's degree in Philosophy with History and Spanish minors from Georgetown University.
