Week 11 - 3D

Class Format

This week looked at general progress from last week and we looked at each others file structures and format usage. I have been very cautious not to repeat myself with these posts. This week the line in the group exercise between 2D and 3D has become so blurred that this is not possible (prepare for copy and paste). Research will of course be quite separate between the two, so at least you have that to look forward to.

 

Group Exercise

Concept Feedback

Giving feedback on the effectiveness of your design process and concept communication
Students present 2D exhibition designs and explain progress in the last week The GROUP gives verbal feedback on:

1. Appropriate storage location and file formats for professional presentation
   - Cherill; As expected a solid well thought out structure was evident here. Quite different to my own, but as we discussed file structuring is and should be personally specific.
   - Queenie; The file structure here has been developing over the semester and it is improving. We had a conversation about numbers verses names and the benefits of using both. We also covered the fact the that file structuring is very much a personal preference thing.
   - Katelyn; 
2. Progress in the last week
   - We have solidly prepared contingency plans for possible short comings. To this end I have prepared another design should we feel as a group that any one of our individual designs do not meet the the collective group standard.

 

Research

Video

This is interesting as it is the work of a design student also. This came in via an RSS from Mac Rumours and is work by Austin Yang. The link to Austin's website takes you to his turntable project, which I liked more than the typewriter.

 

Images

Throughout the course I have been cutting and pasting. So much cutting and pasting. I would like a little break from cutting and pasting. This is an image of my cutting and pasting board, which I thought over the course of the year has developed an interesting texture.

 

Reflection

Correct file structuring I find completely imperative. This helps to keep me organised as the crush of end of semester begins to fall. This is of course true in real world scenarios where multiple jobs will no doubt need to be juggled simultaneously. It was like getting a peek into my peers heads when we had a look at each others file structure, which I found very interesting.

Week 11 - 2D

Class Format

This week looked at general progress from last week and we looked at each others file structures and format usage.

 

Group Exercise

Concept Feedback

Giving feedback on the effectiveness of your design process and concept communication
Students present 2D exhibition designs and explain progress in the last week The GROUP gives verbal feedback on:

1. Appropriate storage location and file formats for professional presentation
   - Cherill; As expected a solid well thought out structure was evident here. Quite different to my own, but as we discussed file structuring is and should be personally specific.
   - Queenie; The file structure here has been developing over the semester and it is improving. We had a conversation about numbers verses names and the benefits of using both. We also covered the fact the that file structuring is very much a personal preference thing.
   - Katelyn; 
2. Progress in the last week
   - We have solidly prepared contingency plans for possible short comings. To this end I have prepared another design should we feel as a group that any one of our individual designs do not meet the the collective group standard.

 

Research

Video

I don't normally go for cute, but I also thought this was very clever. Via an RSS The Fox is Black, this is the work of Animade.

Images

Insert images and comment

Reflection

Correct file structuring I find completely imperative. This helps to keep me organised as the crush of end of semester begins to fall. This is of course true in real world scenarios where multiple jobs will no doubt need to be juggled simultaneously. It was like getting a peek into my peers heads when we had a look at each others file structure, which I found very interesting.

Week 10 - 3D

Class Format

We are really getting toward the pointy end now. Todays class examined the evaluation process in relation to our collaborative work.

 

Group Exercise

Group Exercise - Concept Evaluation

The GROUP verbally evaluates each member’s 3D Exhibition work. Scribe writes a summary paragraph on the 2 points below for each member. Each student post the group results in your blog with images and descriptive text.

1. Effectiveness of design process 
2. Effectiveness of concept communication 

Results

These are images of the bicycle helmet cover prototype that Cherill, Katelyn and I have been working on. The effectiveness of our design process has been great. We have followed the the path as outlined by the various units of this course while at the same time injecting aspects of our own personal insights and knowledge. By capitalising on the various skills that each of us has brought to the table the progress of our project has benefited. I have been particularly impressed by Cherill's organisational skills, I believe you will make an exceptional Project Lead or Head Designer in your future endeavours Cherill.
The concept behind our project was basically to create a cover for a helmet. This cover has three purposes; to make unattractive helmets more attractive, to make generic helmets more personal and to provide pockets for the rider. The images above of our prototype show that our concept communication has certainly acheived the covering aspect of our goals. While as you can see the pocket is having some issues (further prototyping has resolved this). The final aspect to address is the 'make it pretty' bit, which will be taken care of with the printing stage (which was cost prohibitive at this stage, although we have had test prints done with various fabrics).
Overall evaluation - our group is rocking it!

 

Research

Video

Insert video and comment

 

Images

This came through RSS from Design You Trust and is the work of Markus Reugels. I am not usually a fan of the 'Ken Burns Effect', but he uses it in a nicely subtle way on his website. This image caught my eye with an upcoming project in mind. This is a logo design for 'Every Single Drop', a non profit organisation for building water awareness and usage policy. Below is a shot of Reugals' studio set up.

 

Reflection

The effectiveness of our design process really does owe a lot to the organisational skills of Cherill. We have also just gotten along very well and I will most certainly be maintaining contact after this course. While our aesthetics and even our approaches to finding design solutions are very different, I think the levity of our interaction has made the collaborative process not only smoother but more enjoyable.

Week 10 - 2D

Class Format

Filling in this section of my posts is so much easier when done in class. Likewise for the next section and sometimes Reflection. That would be my bit of advice for any students who may come across this blog. Which brings me to my other 'pearl of wisdom' - read the blogs of previously successful students, particularly those who completed the course in the same time frame that you wish to (look at the comments first).

 

Group Exercise

Group Exercise

Reflecting on the effectiveness of your design process and concept communication.

The GROUP verbally evaluates each member’s 2D Exhibition work. Scribe writes a summary paragraph on the 2 points below for each member, 

1. Effectiveness of design process
2. Effectiveness of concept communication

Each student post the group results in your blog with images and descriptive text.

Results

Unfortunately I was not present for this class, so I will be evaluating my own design work for the exhibition here. This will focus on the work I have been doing for the group aspect of the exhibition with Cherill and Katelyn. Above is my design for the bicycle helmet cover applied to the template I posted about in another unit here.
The effectiveness of our design process has been great. We have followed the the path as outlined by the various units of this course while at the same time injecting aspects of our own personal insights and knowledge. By capitalising on the various skills that each of us has brought to the table the progress of our project has benefited.
The effectiveness of the concept communication specifically relating to the design above, I would also highly rate. The concept being to create

Research

Video

Insert video and comment

Images

This is the thought/action path which led to this image being here. I shut down my computer before going to uni today to give it a rest. At this point in the course it is more convenient for my train of thought to leave it running with multiple things going at once. This, however is a good way to break your hardware or at least be inconvenienced by a break in the power. Faced with a nice fresh desktop, I returned with the first task of making a blog entry. I lazily opened Safari and I hit the bookmarked CUV40303 - the short lived blog begun at the start of the year, which is linked to the specific blogs I wished to edit.  I found this image when it occurred to me check where I had stored the images for the now dead blog. The tag line and logo then became a part of the image you see above.

 

Reflection

I have used Blogger on and off for about the the past ten years, so it was a welcome selection when we were told that we would be using it to create blogs for this course. I have asked this question elsewhere and am posting it here as well because I think I may have answered it for myself. Was it a deliberate decision to separate blog and website creation by their platform of delivery by not using Wordpress for both? Because I have never used Wordpress, I guess the focus of my question is how different can the experience of blogging be on Wordpress in comparison to Blogger?  The most reasonably explanation for the separation was simply a matter of logistics. Blogger had been used in previous so it was convenient to continue using it. However, it does not offer similar services to Wordpress like website creation from templates, which was only introduced this year.

Week 09 - 3D

Class Format

The classes for 2D and 3D are now well and truly bleeding into one another. It is strange because at the start of the semester it almost felt as if they were set up as opposing foes. My instant reaction to this was to find each in the other as I coldly bludgeoned each with the other. This was the intention of this unit, to have 2D and 3D battle in the classes as surely as it would in our minds. Near the end now, they are both bloodied and pale reflections of their former preconceptions, little more than one giant mass of dismembered limbs, ideas, entrails and dimensions.

 

Group Exercise

Concept Realisation

1. Present and discuss your 3D exhibition piece(s) with the class (5 mins each)
2. How many of you are collaborating with other courses?

Here it is on a helmet, on a head. Stitching was far trickier than I had imagined, there were many expletives used while making this.  I only have two more to do!
The pouch on the side will need some more consideration as while it performs its function, it could be more neatly sewn. The image here is of myself and I have been waiting to use this quote from 'Pulp Fiction' since I proposed this design weeks ago, "Check out the big brain on Brad".

 

Design Realisation

1. Work on your own for the exhibition.
   - O . k .
2. Make a list of your proposed exhibition works.
   - Website, logo construction, cyber punk monitor and hard copy portfolio.
3. Itemise:
   - Dimensions
   - Display requirements (hanging / floor space / special FX / audio / video)
   - A short description of the concept
   - The name of the piece
   - Materials used
   Artist: Materials: Dimensions.
4. Save this as a Word doc and copy to the SHARE folder for staff to PRINT group who will design a template.
   - Ke?
5. Blog all the above.

Result

Cherill, Katelyn and I had a meeting about this. We discussed our various personal and group requirements for the exhibition. A couple of interesting things came out of this meeting. The most important of which being the definitive timeline for the next four weeks. We delegated jobs to ourselves from the list of tasks created from this based on on our relevant skills. 

 

Research

Video

How good is this, one of my favourite street artists Banksey, animated and given this faux 3D effect. Found this through My Modern Met via Made By ABVH.

 

Images

I thought this might raise an eyebrow for  you Mark. Andy Vible is an artist who likes to humorously replace human heads with every day objects, although it doesn't sound very funny when you are describing it. This came in as usual via the RSS feed from My Modern Met.

 

Reflection

The separate units for the course are now beginning to coalesce, with the exception of Illustration of course. This is necessary as it gives a greater understanding of how things occur in real world situations. Quite obviously nothing we do as designers is insular. It is not only connected within ourselves with every other thing we have created, it is intermittently is connected with the ebb and flow of the people we work with. Let's quote a bit of John Donne shall we?

No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own

Or of thine friend's were.

Each man's death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

Week 09 - 2D

Class Format

Todays class was about producing a range of design alternatives. These were developed from the exhibition invitation that we have been working on for the past two weeks.

 

Group Exercise

Concept Realisation

Sketch in your Visual Diary or Illustrator.

1. Clear rendition of 3 invitation / flyer layouts using YOUR exhibition logo & text 
2. The design must have space for sponsor logos 
3. CDU logo must be on the bottom right – check branding rules 

Each student post the group results in your blog with images and descriptive text.

This was my first first design and probably the strongest and most engaging. Bold colour draws the eye and the title and tag have a strong connection with the image

This was the second design. The idea here was to just provide a new title and tag. I am not fond of the text at all.

This is the third design. Still using the same image while stripping it down to black and white. I actually prefer this. I am also liking the colour variation below.

 

Research

Video

This video accompanies the image below, please see below for source links. I included it because it contains an image that I would have preferred to put below but could not find a static representation of. Look out for the graffiti themed version of "The Walk of Progress' at 51 seconds. I probably could have stopped the video there and just taken a screen grab for the image below, but it is not often that an article comes along that fill both the video and image categories of this blog.

 

Images

This just appealed to me and came in via My Modern Met from Maentis. A variety of interpretations of the 'Walk of Progress' inspired by the Darwinian theory of evolution. It fits with the general topic for this week in that the project is about producing design alternatives based on a theme. They had an interesting site, although the scrolling was a little jerky in my preferred browser, Safari. Just checked it Chrome and it was fine. I like the 'Piss us off' link which opens a new email.

 

Reflection

Creating design alternatives is obviously something which needs to be built into the creative process of the designer. I believe this should occur throughout as having a back up plan just makes sense to me. Ideas are fragile however and as such I find it good practice to edit them as I would an image in Photoshop; non-destructively. An idea then becomes layered as iterations are separated and an entirely new idea requires a new document. This mode of thinking allows me to revisit original ideas when particular evolved threads are deemed to be not working.
About the image above. I don't think the evolutionary steps turning man into a pigeon where necessary, just having the apple would have been enough to complete the visual pun of marketing evolution for me. The pigeon represents the mindless flock and the silhouette of a sheep would have been better suited to that role. The creation of a mindless flock is also implied by the word 'marketing' as its very purpose is to create mass appeal which can remove the notion of choice from the mind of the consumer. Marketing does not mass appeal to mindless flocks, it creates mindless flocks with mass appeal. I love you marketing, you evil bastard!

Week 08 - 3D

Class Format

Content delivery was thinner than usual this week. As the pressure builds toward the end of semester, the entries here will also become thinner.

Group Exercise

Concept Realisation

• Materials
  - Nylon Spandex, elastic, pens, pencils, paint
• Tools
  - Sewing machine (and accessories - scissors, thread, etc.), printer, software
• Equipment
  - Computer equipment, cameras, helmet, plinth, mannequin

Discuss your choice of the above as a group – give reasons.
The concept for the most part dictated the materials, tools and equipment employed in the project. Research and experimentation informed the process.

Research

Video

I thought this was very cleverly done. From Design Taxi via a Youtube channel Bauman Ber Rivnay who seems to work for Satchi & Satchi Isreal ("The Lovemarks Company" - of which there is a reference to near the end of the video). The link rabbit hole on this one left me a little confused at first. The video, while categorised on Youtube as 'Educational' and in fact coming across as that for the most part in its content, is in fact an element of the company's own 'integrated advertising' strategy.

 

Images

My logo in physical form. This was constructed from 30mm square pine wood. The tricky part was cutting a 63.2 degree angle with a drop saw. I needed to use the drop saw to keep the sections consistently square and most do not cut angles greater than 45 degrees. The solution was to cut a 26.8 degree piece which was then fixed to the target section at a right angle and used as a guide. The sections were then joined with internal blind nails and glue. Further work will include painting and finishing to a high gloss. The piece will then be photographed in various situations for inclusion in other branding materials like the business card and flyer. The object will also be a part of the exhibition.

 

Reflection

For the most what I do creatively is driven by the intent. I have a fairly wide skill set and materials experience, which affords me an equally wide range of solutions to my creative questions. The reasons why I chose to work with wood for the Myatt Media logo were both practical and conceptual. I have a good working knowledge of how to work with wood, the materials (wood, glue & nails) and the tools (drop saw, drill, builders square & iphone running a protractor application). These represent the practical reasons for the choice. Conceptually I wanted the object to have a sense of of strength and solidity, while maintaining a certain warmth. 

Week 08 - 2D

Class Format

Todays class built on last weeks exploration of the exhibition invite theme. My knowledge of the future allows me to know that this exercise had a real outcome in the past, but that is no longer so.

 

Group Exercise

Concept Realisation

• Materials
  - Nylon Spandex, elastic, pens, pencils, paint
• Tools
  - Sewing machine (and accessories - scissors, thread, etc.), printer, software
• Equipment
  - Computer equipment, cameras, helmet, plinth, mannequin, 

Discuss your choice of the above as a group – give reasons.
The concept for the most part dictated the materials, tools and equipment employed in the project. Research and experimentation informed the process.

 

Concept Realisation (part 2)

Clear rendition of 3 headline variations for Exhibition 2012

1. Layout your version of all 3 designs decided on in the group exercise
2. Show your results to the class
3. Blog screenshots of your work

Further to last weeks exercise to design an invite for the exhibition this exercise elaborated on the initial concept. I opted to continue using my base image and rework the title and tag based on it. The second image below using the word 'sparks' was not a great leap from last weeks 'bright'. The third design based on the word 'threads' required that the image be desaturated and inverted.

Research

Video

Insert video and comment

Images

I could not possibly resist posting this. A media and subject which are both close to my heart. This came in via RSS from My Modern Met and is the work of Jasper Branse (DeviantART).

Reflection

This week elaborated on last week and demonstrated a process by which a concept realisation could in effect be catalogued. This is important so that a project and its progress can be mapped.  In turn, this is also important so that the general nature of projects can also be mapped. This is especially important for your accountant so that they can tell you which projects to focus on.

Week 07 - 3D

Class Format

The inversion theme continued this week. This time in the sense that the process from 2D was duplicated in 3D in reverse.

 

Group Exercise

PRACTICAL – Design Communication

Choose one design from last week’s 2 sketched designs (sports & fashion).

1. Make a list of 2 key concepts you are trying to communicate.
   - Use a classic or retro style.
   - Use colour palette to represent sports team.
2. Make a list of 2 key feelings your trying to communicate.
   - A sense of movement and energy.
   - Happy simplicity.
3. REFINE your design concept to communicate these 4 things.
4. Prepare to present your communication skills to the class.
5. Upload all this content to your blog.

I chose the sports design from last week, pictured to the right. The classic racing stripe was chosen to represent energy and of course at the same time a retro styling. The design was reduced to a palette requiring the application of just two colours for the sake of simplicity. The colours have also been kept bright in order to convey a happy disposition.

 

GROUP EXERCISE – Concept Investigation

Using a scale of 1 – 10, each group assigns a quantitative rating for all the designs, based on the three criteria below;

1. Clear rendition of 2 key concepts.
   - Katelyn 5, Queenie 6, Andre 4, Jacob , Myself 8.
2. Clear rendition of 2 key feelings.
   - Katelyn 6, Queenie 5, Andre 5, Jacob , Myself 8.
3. Immediate visual appeal.
   - Katelyn 5, Queenie 5, Andre 4, Jacob , Myself 8.

 

Research

Video

Insert video and comment

Images

This is an image failure for a couple of reasons. First the rotation is too fast for my liking. Second and the most obvious is that blogger does not seem to like animated gifs with transparent areas. This will however be the basis of the logo that I use on the website with the plan being that it rotates a quarter turn on mouse over and rotates back on mouse off. After a little research into achieving this effect it seems that this will not be possible without employing some javascript. This was not my ideal situation but was necessary to avoid the image reseting awkwardly.

Reflection

Key words for this week include 'refine' and 'concept investigation'. 

Week 07 - 2D

Class Format

Todays class followed the same quantitative rating system from last week.

Group Exercise

PRACTICAL – Design Communication

1. DESIGN a logo mockup on a DL for the student exhibition.
2. Make a list of 2 key concepts you are trying to communicate.
   - The sense of an energetic creative process.
   - Colour sympathetic to the region.
3. Make a list of 2 key feelings your trying to communicate.
   - Excitement.
   - Curiosity.
4. REFINE your logo to communicate these 4 things.
   -
5. Prepare to present your communication skills to the class.
6. Upload all this content to your blog.

This is the draft I came up with in class. Moving the design forward would include the dates, opening times and additional logos across the bottom. I would also consider capturing some some actual light writing for the logo and tagline, 'Bright - New Work'.

GROUP EXERCISE – Concept Investigation

Using a scale of 1 – 10, each group assigns a quantitative rating for all the designs, based on the three criteria below;

1. Clear rendition of 2 key concepts.
   - Katelyn 7, Queenie 5, Andre 4, Jacob , Myself 7.
2. Clear rendition of 2 key feelings.
   - Katelyn 6, Queenie 6, Andre 4, Jacob , Myself 7.
3. Immediate visual appeal.
   - Katelyn 6, Queenie 6, Andre 5, Jacob , Myself 8.

Research

Video

This is the second animated render out of blender. I use the video output as scratch versions to see how the general flow is working. The video here was exported with Blogger in mind and so has been shrunk to 320x240, leaving it a 1.5MB mov. I then tweaked the html to enlarge it 560x460 to fit my layout, which didn't help but you get the idea. Blender is a vector environment, so the export size and resolution is dependant on requirement. It is 6 seconds or 142 frames long and took about twenty seconds to render, obviously higher size and resolution equals longer render times. I'm still not completely happy with the lighting and the rotation will get a couple of variants. To prepare the animation for web deployment I will remove the background and export the individual frames as PNG, import to Photoshop as layers, create frames from layers (animation window), edit a little and export as animated GIF from the save for web and devices dialogue.

Images

One last picture and then I'll change topic. Just wanted to share my workspace layout for animation in Blender (click to enlarge). This is of course the twin screen set up.

Reflection

We are certainly getting toward the pointy end of the course as the pressure is building. I enjoyed the pressurised set up of todays class in that we had a short amount of time to develop and present a concept for the exhibition invite. I imagine that this type of approach to a project is common in real world scenarios, I need this designed and I need it yesterday!

Week 06 - 3D

Class Format

The class format here was turned upside down in that the Practical (individual) was followed by the Exercise (group). The purpose of this is to show that the design process works in both ways simultaneously. The blind rating system featured this week based on the visceral responses of our peers to predetermined criteria was a surprise.

 

Group Exercise

Practical - Design Perspectives

Based on your favourite 3D design, draft and label 2 variations in your blog

• Design 01: Design in a style that appeals to a community sports group
• Design 02: Design in a style that appeals to a fashion label
• Draft in your blog with hand drawings and notes
• Give each work a NAME and DESCRIPTION (max 50 words)

So this was a twenty minute exercise and I think it is fairly obvious what is going on visually here. The sports version is simple and brightly coloured emphasising the number (it also has a racing stripe). The fashion one is elaborate with a splash of colour, hair and feathers. My first design I give the name 'Racing 01' and the second 'The Peacock' (image source may be found here).
The purpose of this practical was to take a current design that we have been working on and think about it from a different perspective. By doing this the design is forced forward through other design alternatives. In effect kick starting the creative process. This is followed by a similar rating system as given in the group exercise for 2D. I was not fond of this process as while I am sure it may occur in some form in the real world, I am also sure that it does not occur devoid of any actual critical discourse. Given the time restraint this worked as a kind of origination pressure test as well as the purpose outlined above.

 

Exercise - Changing Perspectives

Using a scale of 1 – 10, each group assigns a quantitative rating for all the designs, based on the criteria below;

1. Accuracy in addressing the brief.
   - Cherill 9, Queenie ?, June ?, Katelyn ?, Andre ?.
2. Immediate visual appeal.
   - Cherill 7, Queenie ?, June ?, Katelyn ?, Andre ?.
3. Cross generational appeal.
   - Cherill 7, Queenie ?, June ?, Katelyn ?, Andre ?.
4. Artistic depth.
   - Cherill 8, Queenie ?, June ?, Katelyn ?, Andre ?.

With limited time we were instructed to complete this task in our own time. The process employed here was to apply quantitative results to subjective criteria. As per the task requirement - I give myself a 6 for item 4.

 

Research

Video

Insert video and comment

Images

Below are images of Cherill and I working on the pattern for the bicycle helmet cover.

 

Reflection

While I was not a big fan of the blind rating system, I will be looking at (and possibly collating) the results. The inversion of the class format was a clever way to show the movement of influence as occurring in both directions and I am sure this will be elaborated on later.

Week 06 - 2D

Class Format

The class today operated in reverse to the previous weeks. The Practical (individual) was followed by the Exercise (group) and I'm guessing that this was to demonstrate that the design process operates in multiple directions at once. Featured this week was a rating system of our peers which I will comment more on in reflection.

 

Group Exercise

Design Perspectives

Draft 2 logo designs for your own design business.

• Design 01: Design in a style that appeals to a design Industry client.
• Design 02: Design in a style that appeals to a non-profit arts organisation.
• Draft in your blog with hand drawings and notes.
• Then draft your 2 designs in Illustrator or Photoshop if you have time.
• Incorporate the TAGLINE into both designs.

Design 01 is for my design company. The tagline for this company could possibly be 'Design from YOUR Perspective'. Design 02 could have a tag line like 'Colour in YOUR Community' (see design below). I am not sure that tag lines are my strong suit.

The design company logo after a bit of action in Illustrator. It still needs reworking with gradients and highlights, but you get the general idea. I am also going to look at working from scratch with the 3D rendering tools in Illustrator as well as Blender where I can do some animation.

To the left I have worked with the 3D tools in Illustrator, changing the angle slightly and employing the font 'Roadgeek Series C'. Below is the first render out of Blender, where the lighting needs some tweaking. The advantage of Blender is that the logo is now a 3D object that can be rendered with perspective and animated. It is possible to create perspectival images in Illustrator, it just complicated things when combining the meshes for multiple objects as was required here.
This was by far the best option for what I want to achieve. Further work will include changing the lighting, giving the the material a bluish brushed metal quality and of course animating it to slowly rotate.

 

Changing Perspectives

Using a scale of 1 – 10, each group assigns a quantitative rating for all the designs, based on the criteria below;

1. Accuracy in addressing the brief.
   - Cherill 8, Queenie 4, June 9, Katelyn 6, Andre 5.
2. Immediate visual appeal.
   - Cherill 7, Queenie 5, June 9, Katelyn 6, Andre 6.
3. Cross generational appeal.
   - Cherill 6, Queenie 6, June 8, Katelyn 5, Andre 6.
4. Suitability for print.
   - Cherill 8, Queenie 5, June 8, Katelyn 6, Andre 5.
5. Suitability for web.
   - Cherill 8, Queenie 6, June 9, Katelyn 6, Andre 6.
6. Monochromatic suitability.
   - Cherill 6, Queenie 5, June 8, Katelyn 6, Andre 6.
7. Simplicity.
   - Cherill 7, Queenie 7, June 8, Katelyn 5, Andre 5.

 

Research

Video

I found this tutorial particularly useful with my recent return to Blender. Cgboorman has an excellent collection on Youtube and I shall be collecting all of his videos. The main thing I gained from this video was learning how to relocate an origin point.

 

Images

Some sample images from the Blender website gallery, which can be found here.

 

Reflection

While I am sure versions of the numeric rating system featured this week do happen in real world situations, I was not convinced of its value in the context of todays class. I can see it being of use where a group of designers are working on the one concept as a democratic way of finding a focus (which in fact is an element of the IDEO strategy). I also believe it would also be more effective in combination with a more thorough group critique, although the time constraints of our time together may have been a factor here. It was an interesting approach.
There have been a few version releases of Blender since I last used it with any depth, which was version 2.4 on a Powerbook with an older single button Apple mouse. Currently I am running 2.6 on an iMac with a full keyboard and 3 button Logitech mouse, which is important for a couple of reasons. The experience of using Blender almost solely with a trackpad and limited keyboard is for the most part frustrating. The program has a heavy bias toward keyboard shortcuts and a 3 button mouse is an essential navigation tool. My point in mentioning this is that it is one thing to have the right software, but it needs to be backed up with the right hardware. It was also surprising how much the program had evolved in 0.2 versions, so the more you use it the more familiar it will stay.

Week 05 - 3D

Class Format

Todays class was about defining assumptions in order to inform the design process. A group exercise and discussion was followed by a practical based on our own work.

 

Group Exercise

Challenge Assumptions

1. One student presents 3D design concept to the class – 2 mins
2. Open discussion on challenging design concept assumptions – 3 mins 3. Repeat twice
3. All students blog your observations – 10 mins

Myself, Cherill and Queenie presented our recent 3D design concepts. I presented the design concept that I blogged about last week. The primary concern raised about it was in relation to safety and the exposed wiring, with particular regard regard to the moist environment that we all live in most of the time (wet season). Possible solutions presented included insulation and spray on latex compounds. Cherill presented the project her, Katelyn and I have been working in Collaboration being the bicycle helmet cover. We are pretty much all over that and the main issue raised was in relation to cost. The research and break down for that can be found here. Finally was Queenie presenting here design concept from Collaboration for an illustrated children's book. The most interesting point to come out of discusion about her project was to make the book bi-lingual as she is originally from Taiwan.

PRACTICAL – Design challenge / reflect & refine

Choose your most recent 3D design concept from all your current works. In your blog make a list of 2 assumptions about your design. Challenge both of these assumptions (100 words minimum). Suggest 2 refinements to solve these challenges (100 words minimum).

Here I will continue with my design concept for a steampunk monitor hack. I will be drawing my challenges and refinements directly from the group exercise above. My first assumption is that the design is safe - I have been pulling electronics apart for some time now and I know which bits to not touch, besides which the exposed wiring of concern is on the back of the unit. The second assumption is that it will function well as as a monitor extension.
How will the wet season affect the exposed circuitry and wiring. Will exposer to humidity impact the screens performance or be detrimental to the safety of the screen. Will this further complicate the cleaning of the screen.
Considering that the screen is reorientated physically will this complicate configuration. Given the relative age of the screen will it provide an acceptable optical match to the current screen.
In response to the first set of challenges. Further insulation with grommets or spray on latex compounds are the solution to humidity affecting the performance or safety of the screen. In actual use I find cleaning with a low powered vacuum to be an acceptable alternative for cleaning.
For the second set of challenges a good working knowledge of your system preferences will be the solution for the most part. Trial and error found that for some reason rotating the screen 180 degrees as opposed to 270 was easier on system preferences, so test the configuration before you screw it to the desk.

 

Research

Video

Insert video

Images

Andrea Petrachi's work came to me via an RSS feed from Design You Trust. You can probably see that it is his reuse of redundant technology which appeals to me. Also calling himself Himatic, he considers his work as, "...a symbol of our out-of-control desire to buy things" (from the website linked above).

Reflection

Comment

Week 05 - 2D

Class Format

Todays class was about forming and challenging assumptions. This took the form of of a series of group exercises and discussion followed by a practical application of the process covered to our own work. This process was to form a group of assumptions based on a given situation and then systematically challenge each of those assumptions. The aim here is to find alternative and creative ways to solve problems.

 

Group Exercise

Challenge Assumptions - Part 1

10 min QUIZ & open discussion

Q1. Relatives - A doctor in London had a brother in Manchester, who was a lawyer - but the lawyer in Manchester did not have a brother in London who was a doctor. Why? It was his sister.

Q2. Bottled Money - If you put a small coin piece in an empty bottle and replaced the cork, how would you get the coin out of the bottle without taking out the cork or breaking the bottle? Push the cork in.

Q3. The Restaurant Meal - Three women each have two daughters, and they all go into a restaurant for a meal. There are only seven vacant seats in the restaurant, but each has a seat for herself. How do they manage it? It's a grandmother/daughter thing.

Challenge Assumptions - Part 2

MIKE’S AUDITION (see handout)

1. What would be on your list of assumptions - if you were Mike?
   - The drive would take four hours.
   - He needed to sleep 2 hours.
   - It was too late to find an alternate route.
   - Late night traffic would be the same as morning traffic.
   - No sleep would affect his performance.
   - He can't change the time of the audition.
   - No other transport apart from car and bus.
2. Challenge each item in the list and find a solution to Mike’s problem.
   - Drive now and sleep when he gets there.

PRACTICAL – Design challenge / reflect & refine

Choose your most recent 2D design concept from all your current works. In your blog make a list of 2 assumptions about your design. Challenge both of these assumptions (100 words minimum). Suggest 2 refinements to solve these challenges (100 words minimum). Illustrate your thoughts with sketches / diagrams.

Recently I made an invite for my Nephews first birthday. I assumed that my Sister in Law would like my work. I also assumed that printing would not be a problem (with free and easy access to colour printing up to A4 on standard paper stock).

Perhaps Danielle (sister in law) does like what I have done to her only son. There could also be issues with the wording on the invite. Any of the colours I have used could be a problem. In short there could be a problem with the design.

The printing may hit a brick wall in that my printer access could die. The colours may not print correctly. There may be a last minute formatting change (this actually happened) in that my printer could decide that two to a page would be a more economical use of resources than a full page print, however this was not an easy task from where she sat and unintentional cropping occurred.
Solutions to these problems in the first instance include the correct organisation of my resources - properly organised these can be referenced (that's what you told me to write on it) or revisited and edited. Properly organising and grouping layers within the files will also prevent design edits from being an issue. In the second instance have a back up printer is the first solution. With my actually happened problem, I had the relevant file and it was not problem to format it in such a way that it could be easily printed. For the colour issue, output in the relevant colour format (CMYK). To summarise a well organised creative process backed up with some preparation for the unexpected will solve most problems. Here is the final design, which incidentally was created with a combination of Photoshop and Illustrator...

Research

Video

While again not probably technically a video this does tie thematically with this week class. I found this on Giff Constable's site, who from his blurb about himself sounds like the business acumen you need in your corner for a new start up.

 

Images

This bit of fun came to me via Design Taxi. The early advertising artworks of Dr. Suess was originally sourced here and it looks like he was fairly prolific. Like many of us, I grew up with the work of Dr. Suess, so it would be remiss of me not to include him here as one of my influences.

Reflection

Firstly, blogger tip #078 for the punters. If you are reading this you may have noticed a discrete little arrow pointing up in the bottom, right hand side of your browser window - don't be shy, go ahead and click it. Welcome back! I like it a lot and it is very handy should you want to read my post more than once? (nah, gammin!). Anyway I found this little gadget along with a whole bunch of blogger hacks here. Be aware that most of these require a little code monkeying, but depending on the author the instructions are easy to follow and for the most part it is all copy/paste. Just remember if you are on a Mac to replace instructions to press Ctrl+F with Command+F (the Safari 'find' shortcut, also found under the edit menu).
The process of forming and challenging assumptions is useful the critical analysis of design choices. It is another the tools used to build a critical discourse within the design process. Developing and maintaining these skills are crucial to fostering a healthy and productive design practice.

Week 04 - 3D

Class Format

Unfortunately as stated in my 2D entry also, I was absent for this weeks class. The class followed the usual format with a group exercise and practical exploration. The aim of the class was to further develop a critical discourse about design choices from within a collaborative environment.

Group Exercise

Experimentation: Exploring & Challenging

Each group member choose the best of their designs from last week’s practical. The group votes on the 3 best designs. Using the idea of experimentation the whole group discusses and researches how each chosen design concept could be explored and challenged. The Scribe for each group documents findings for 3 designs under these headings;
Considering my absence from todays class and what I felt was a relative thinness to last weeks weeks idea creation I will be focusing instead on a recent thing I built. A more accurate description would be of a thing I deconstructed and rebuilt differently. The thing is a 15 inch computer monitor and my intention was to give it a sense of the Steampunk aesthetic through the process of its strip down and reconfiguring from a horizontal to a vertical aspect. I appreciate the main focus of this exercise is to complete the reflections below in a group and as such I will be using my class peer proxy for this week. I will also be focusing our reflections on the one design project outlined above.

• Design Exploration.
  - Could the design be more 'steampunk'? For example more brass colour or more redundant apparatus.
  - Does the design intention work in its surroundings? Standing next to a shiny new iMac for example.
  - Would the design benefit from expansion? Two linked screens would add complexity and further lend itself to the intended aesthetic. Also considerable are differing dimensions and orientations.
• Design Challenges.
  - Safety? Exposed wiring, circuitry, etc.
  - Practicality? Design functionality.
  - Adaptability? Further repurposing of the hardware.

To the right is one of the monitors before I started hacking it. John Douglas acquired about fifty of the monitors with the (still in the works) intention of creating an artwork from them. He came across these through the I.T. company he works for during an office refit. Headed toward the skip bin he actually saved the company money by taking them away for the token sum of $100 (you have to keep the accountant happy and this type of thing happens more often than you would think). John Douglas has an obsession with redundant tech. Below is front and rear views of the monitor after my hack. There is another view in this post.

PRACTICAL – Design Exploration

Choose your favourite concept from all your current 3D designs. Use any tools you wish. Put the results and a paragraph of description in your Blog. Through a combo of research and creative thinking explore the possibilities of concept experimentation, variation and evaluation. List these items clearly, draft examples and explain your thinking.
Continuing from the above 'Experimentation' I will be focusing the steampunk monitor reconfiguration.

• Two Experiments
  - Rework the design to make more 'steampunk'.
  - Expand on the design for added functionality.
• Pros & Cons
  - Screen extension, inexpensive (they cost around $2 each for the reasons detailed above), following that expendable, versatile.
  - Safety issues, functionality issue (in that it is screwed to the desk).
• Choosing & Refusing
  - This was in all honesty a fast and dirty solution to the design problem posed. This was to take a redundant screen and inexpensively repurpose it to extend the screen of my shiny new Mac while giving it elements of a steampunk aesthetic. Further work (time) and extension via added redundant tech (money) would improve functionality, safety and the intended aesthetic. Although this would detract from two of my primary goals which was to create this with minimal expenditure and investment of time.

 

Research

Video

This came from the same place as the optical illusion in my 2D post. Here 2 dimensional forms give the illusion of a 3 dimensional space.

Images

Here is a more elaborate work in progress.

Here is a very elaborate and very polished example. While I'm on a roll, here is also an example of an OSX modification in the style of the steampunk aesthetic...

 

Reflection

First a quick tip for the punters. Lets say you downloaded an image some time ago and did not save the reference. Then you want to use that image somewhere like here where you must reference your source. You could try to remember the search terms you used and look for the image all over again, but there is a quicker way. Located in the search terms field of a google image search is a small camera icon, click that, upload the given image and google will find it for you.

I believe that it is essential for any creative endeavour to have built into its process an element of critical discourse. In the design field this will most often occur within a public forum. Gaining an understanding and participating in a version of it is a highly important component of this course. Specifically this week sought to demonstrate to us the importance of developing a process which would automatically, 'Challenge assumptions, reflect on ideas and refine approaches' (from the course outline). 

Week 04 - 2D

Class Format

Unfortunately I was absent for this weeks class, but I will forge ahead based on the PDF files relating to it. The class followed the usual format with a group exercise and practical exploration. The aim of the class was to further develop a critical discourse about design choices.

 

Group Exercise

Experimentation: Exploring & Challenging

Each group member choose the best of their designs from last week’s practical. The group votes on the 3 best designs. Using the idea of experimentation the whole group discusses and researches how each chosen design concept could be explored and challenged. The Scribe for each group documents findings for 3 designs under these headings;
As with my 3D entry, in light of my absence from this weeks class I will be using my class peer proxy for this exercise. I will be focusing my attention on last weeks design concept for a web portfolio based on irregular shapes (or at least not rectangular) as I believe this will provide the most interesting design challenge. I would prefer prefer to construct this with CSS and HTML with some Spry assets. The design also called for an interactive component. This will present its own challenge as it has been my experience that Flash can handle interactive content more effectively.

• Design Exploration
  - Shape considerations; within and overall.
  - Layout considerations; offset, counter balance, use of negative space.
  - The use of Fibonacci Spiral or 'Golden Ratio'.
  - Minimal aesthetic verses interactivity.
  - 
• Design Challenges
  - Will usability be affected by by an irregular layout.
  - Will animated gifs supply the required interactivity?
  - How will different browsers handle multiple AP Divs (floating)?
  -

PRACTICAL – Design Exploration

Choose your favourite design concept from all your current works. Use any tools you wish. Put the results and a paragraph of description in your Blog. Through a combo of research and creative thinking explore the possibilities of concept experimentation, variation and evaluation. List these items clearly, draft examples and explain your thinking.
Following from the above I will be concentrating on the design concept for my web portfolio. This exploration will concerned with the overall layout of the site.

• Two Experiments
  - Horizontally flip the design placing page content/image on the left side.
  - Vertically flip placing site title/logo at the bottom left.
• Pros & Cons
  - Using the Fibonacci Spiral provides an underlying visual balance.
  - Having an underlying structure provides a cohesive template for the entire site.
  - The flow of the page may challenge traditional (western) notions of how to read a page.
  - The design will necessarily employ multiple floating AP Div tags, this may have a less than desirable result in other browsers and mobile platforms (however this can also be tested or planned for).
• Choosing & Refusing
  - This is most certainly a work in progress. For me defining an underlying structure is a far more important consideration than the logistics required to deploy that structure. The basic layout here is strong, versatile and adaptive. The technicalities of delivering this are within the realm of my capabilities, while they will most certainly test them.

 

Research

Video

While disconcerting this is also pretty cool. It is really difficult to write this post as this gif is making me nauseous, I imagine that it is doing the same thing to you as you attempt to read this text. The original can be found here by an artist who simply calls himself davidope. Entering html mode made it easier to edit this post as all I had in front of me was raw html and no strobing graphic. I am including this here to show the strength of 2 dimensional representations when playing tricks on the mind. Now quickly scroll away before you throw up.

 

Images

I found this work via an RSS feed from Design You Trust, although this particular image can be found here. My first rule with Photoshop is regard images where you can see that Photoshop has been used as not using Photoshop properly. Work like this, however, pushes the image out the other side. You can still see that there is a photograph in there but it has begun to take on a painterly quality. I have another kind of respect for artists who can do this with Photoshop. As is the case with all of the links to artwork I find, I like to follow the link rabbit hole to find the original artist. This one was longer than usual and finally led me to Federico Bebber, who at the time of writing this has one of the cooler placeholder pages I have seen.

 

Reflection

Wow - I can't believe a data loss event got me again! This time a power outage at home with unsaved changes while editing a post. This is by no means an excuse as I will get the work done regardless, just a word of warning. Blogger auto saves a draft when you begin a post, when you edit a post it DOES NOT.