Lulu's Contemplations and Collections

Leanne Shapton Writes a Novel in the Form of an Auction Catalog - NYTimes.com

Novel as auction catalog. Fabulous concept around the life of things!

Is design exaggerating its claims to change?

The following is a letter that I sent to students and a few friends:  

Hi all, 

The following was posted by my acquaintance, Robin Uchida, on the Transforming Transformation Yahoo Group (on which I mostly lurk). I was in stitches because he seemed to nail on the head (in all kinds of figurations!) the exaggerated claims being made by by various design/designer factions. 

For those of you unfamiliar, the Transforming Transformation contingent – one of those factions who for me provides particularly entertaining hyperbole, bordering on parody, about how far design influence, penetrate, and produce "change." I know there's something in what they stand for so I don't mean to make total fun of them, but thought Robin's hilarious dig (which was meant to suggest the need to take stock of claims) made them worth acknowledgment to our little community. Here's how Transforming Transformation describes themselves:

Transforming Transformation is a global Interaction platform for discussions related to emerging issues and developments in organizational transformation, transformation by design, adaptable innovation enabling, and the future of human-centered innovation. We launched in August 2007.
We are particularly interested in the emerging Design 3.0 / Transformation Design activity space. We particularly welcome discussion related to what happens when design tools and knowledge are combined with knowledge and tools from other disciplines with the goal of creating a new breed of human-centered transformation capabilities. The list is called Transforming Transformation because we believe it is likely that new forms of transformation are emerging as disciplines collaborate and combine knowledge, skills and tools like never before in history. Today organizational transformation itself is being transformed and that is the focus of this discussion forum. 

We welcome participants from all fields of knowledge who are interested in this subject and or already working in the realm of transformation.

Group Originators 
NextDesign Leadership Institute / New York
GK VanPatter & Elizabeth Pastor Co-Founders
Guest Moderators
Peter H. Jones, Ph.D. in Toronto

I guess this is my brand of holiday cheer – food for thought!

xoxo

louise

Begin forwarded message:

From: Robin <robinuch@gmail.com>

Date: December 19, 2008 8:28:04 AM PST

To: Transforming Transformation <transforming@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Irrational Exuberance

Reply-To: transforming@googlegroups.com

A 3-minute conference on irrational exuberance.

Keynote:
For those who recall, Alan Greenspan used this phrase to describe the
activity in the financial markets almost 10 years ago and into the
period that followed. It is a convenient piece of poetic poignancy and
oh so familiar in design discussions today.

Clearly, design has been liberated from its former life, in part due
to a climate that hungers for alternatives, also out of a need to fill
a growing void that is emerging before our very eyes, the unfamiliar.
Is what we notice different or are we noticing differently? I presume
both are in play. For those who find comfort in certainties this is a
growing hell and for others who thrive on curiosity and creativity it
is heaven's gate. Of course the void resides in you and I – we are the
unfamiliar.

Workshops:
Certainty is a shell game.
The library has no walls.
I am the laboratory.
Transparency is the new ego.
Too little knowledge invites inaccuracy.
Too much knowing invites delusion.
And finally,
“Knowing the answer” is the beginning of the end. (Easter Island’s
last epiphany)

Back to the regular program - the bad syllogism.
Designers can design. All things are designed. Designers can design
all things.

This simply is not true. My fear is that designers who pretend to be
masters of the universe, without boundary or discipline, are actually
damaging the credibility of whatever design is to become. It is an
intriguing seat that we occupy at the moment, I see it in the
diversity of my role, in the ongoing discovery in my process and in
the different forms of value that I now bring to the changing
environment. However, I am cautious of my own irrational exuberance as
I go forward, as design goes forward, in my effort to define the
boundary without diminishing its trajectory.

Guest speaker:
To know that you do not know is the best.
To pretend to know when you do not know is a disease.
Lao-tzu

Closing Remark:
“To not know you have the disease is the potential for an epidemic.”

Robin,
Torch



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LittleBig Planet rocks my world!

A quick glance at the NY Times review of LittleBig Planet game by Sony Playstation, and I knew the next leap had been taken between hybridizing top-down design with online social communities with Christopher Alexander pattern language with Alexander Girard (his folk art collections as well as his own work inspired by these colorful concoctions)

meet psychedelia meeting cheesy plastic toys and graphics. So much FROM the imagination to inspire more imagination .... at least that's the hope!

A bit of contemplation on Social Studies

It was a mighty tasty and fulfilling event! For me personally it was the first educators conference I'd been to where I was presenting, which means I wasn't spending most of the time self-obsessed and could actually take in what was going on, enjoy the meal and see what others were obsessed with.

The event was smartly organized to marry form and function. ha ha! And, god, that beautiful building that was in itself conducive to social interaction – who wouldn't want to hang out there and yack in halls, nooks, crannies, and plentitude of seating moments. Everything about the building said "let's have a chat." Including plenty of food and drink opportunities only facilitated social interaction that much more.

I was about to write that the keynotes and the last day (Sunday) were particular highlights, but as I reviewed every moment it seems like there was nothing that wasn't a highlight. It was a rich experience – a great meal planned by those expert (and adorable!) chefs, Ellen Lupton, Jennifer Cole Phillips, and Brockett Horne – planned with skill, finesse, and an understanding of the most vital conversations for graphic/communications design education today. Applause applause!

The one note I'll make for the moment was that through attending the panels I got to see some smarts emerging from a younger generation of educators as well as the diversity of pedagogical practices and of values all existing in a rich simultaneity. It made me thirsty for more conversation and contemplation about who we are in our individual and varied contexts and circumstances and how those are addressed. Although these educators' conferences can only over a small slice into a much larger pie at least its an opportunity to get a glimpse.

Gotta run for the moment... More soon.

Steve Heller Keynote at Social Studies Conference

(showing exercise that MFA Designer as Entrepreneur student do to identify interests.
Theme is "air." All used the same content but used to convey their own meaning and to think entreprenually by defining the project for themselves.
Students did a free-fall together.

The Next Big Design Thing?
Maybe?

Not certitude.

The Designer as Entrepreur

What Exemplifies the Design as Author?
Examples:
Charles Spencer Anderson (made his own printers cut and then used them for different applications.
Entreprenurialism projects out into the world.

Tod Lppy, Isopus. Was a Print and then created a model for a magazine full of graphic conceit than is about non-profit funding. Creates event around non-profit funding -THAT is the magazine.

Hans Dieter Richer: Baseline magazine. HDR is his design business. Created entire business plan for mag.

Josh Berger, Plazm. Created type business early. Developed audience, then produced magazine. (model was Emigre)
Thing that exist

Paul Budnitz, Kid Robot. Computer nerd in music biz. Fell in love with Japanese toys and developed methodoly for "toy publishing."
Smoking bunnies and doing fashion now.

Shepard Fairey, Obey. Took art project and grew it into a biz. But still a sniper. Bridges many worlds.

Maira Kahlman. Watches, Lots of small ideas like Elements of Styles book that turns into other products.

James Victore. now doing surfboards.

Thing is common is PASSION. This is undercurrent to designer as entreur.

Gary Panter. Cat toys. Patches for Patch Design

Constatine Boym. Souvenirs of disasters.

My favorite project is Safe RX by Deborah Adler for Target. Started by wanting to create products for curly-haired people. Saw problem in her own life and developed it. Lots of research and prototypes Didn't think it would happen in less than 8 years. Milton Glaser connected her to Target. Social entrepreneur. Below is the way the project looked before development with a product designer:

Others:
Luisa Gloria. Something to protest corrupt practices of government. Created backstory that became back story. Saint Ernesto. Made objects, website, bumper stickers.

Bobby Martin, Abyssinian Baptist Church. Did branding for important church. Created a new cross and language of design for them to be used in variety of ways. Then created products to bring in cash for church. Adam Clayton Powell. Then did poster campaign - poster to be used connected to a protest march that ended in church. Check out the project site here.

Amy Wang, Ametrica! Dealing with lack of metric system in US. He plan was to created a campaign. Ametricra (grant thru Sappi). Check out the project here.

Tarek Atrissi. Arabic Typography. com. Ended up designing for Qatar. Did Modern arabic font.

Celia Chang. Cravings. wanted to create chocolate of the month club. They first asked how the student plans to do this and she didn't know. She ended up with website and "empire" called Cravings website and events.

Jeffery Everett. Lorem Ipsum Industries. T shirts

Sunniva. Vivendal, Kala, Created cutlerly for those with hand deformities. Worked with artisans.

Dierra Krause. Vega. Parents were hippies and took her to craft fairs. She ended up designing lighting to sell.

Jennifer Panepinto. Mesu. Nesting bowls for limiting portions for those watching portions.

Students go through various panels that challenge aspects.

Brian Smith. Nimbus. Was a cyclist and make biking paraphenalia for safety.

?. Tool kit online for creating comics.

Products have to have social and economic value.

Amanda Spielman. Bookfool. Lover of literature lovers. Talks all about books. In print and website. A Craig's List for Book

Lara McCormick. Stop and Start Over. Was an addict. For helping those with recovery. Started with narrative of overdose by her father. Created prototype for those in recovery who have trouble relating to the graphics around 12 step program etc. Being put up in rehab places. See the project here.

The Designer as Entrepreneur book by Steve Heller and Lita Talarico.

----

Questions

What's the final presentation?
Present to other entreprenuers (25)
3 semesters of program deal with various aspects of entrepreneurs.
By summer they have to show a pitch book.
By fall they go before various panels. (lawyers, designers, business people)
They have a public speaking class.

Students have actual prototypes. How do they figure out manufacture? What kind of guidance do they receive?
They provide expertise and to connect them. Many are resourseful. Students have to prove it can be manufactured.

MFA Panel What's going on in grad school?

Find out from a panel of students from around the country.
10 presentations, 10 minutes each

Pamela from Herron

Collaboration for design thinker and design leader. Tools and skills needed are Human-centered, Participatory, Interdisciplinary.
What shaped collaboration is contexts and perspectives.
Process skills (diverenge, convergence, deferring judgement, avoid killer phrases) decode tribal language
Interpersonal skills (listen to others, supporting others
Generative Tools for collaboration

Contexts, perspectives, skills tools.

----

Luke Johnson (media design at Art Center)
What they do in the program: everything from human-center design project to
Preparing designers for jobs that don't exist. Looking for new ways of communicating.
3 year program for non-designers.

Human-centered distinguishes program. Co-creating using probe methodology. Not about interviews but making invisible visible. Make into new ideas and artifacts.

Meta-themes of program
Context
Learning through making. Demo or die. Process over product.
Documentation
Community and Collaboration
Trans-media designer (across mediums and platforms)

Not everything seen as a nail but invent new tools (for change)

---

Vida (from online university
For busy individual
An online MFA
Self
Work
Growth
Citizenry

More academic opportunities
Environmentally responsible alternative
More writing critical analysis design rationale
More academic opportunities for design exploration and research
Encourage more interdisc collaboration

Case Study:
Design Business Course
Had to find a social issue and create an identity
Identify partners, find funding sources and develop business plan.
It was about making a world and

More opportunities
More design-driven collaboration

----

NCSU

Program structure
In school of Design
6 second years
(showed Christopher Jones adapted diagram)

Explore
Context over
Concepts and methods related to design thinking: Thinking maps [showed very elaborate maps using very sophisticated form making skills - could only be created by very smart students]

----

Eric Evanson, Ohio State
MFA in Design Development

Students from all walks of life.

Showed project: Game for kids to control diabetes. (Liz Sanders in on the faculty.)
Decided theme of balance.
First created generative tool kit of objects and words. Teams worked on different game concepts (3).
Developed several of the concepts.
From research took different elements. Developed game prototype
Had a participatory group to work on development by playing the game.
From this developed more on the fly from input and ideas received from players.
More revising, editing and then didn't another prototype.

----

Joe
MICA MFA student

The MFA.
16 graphic design students

3 parts to program

Making:
Methodology and skill sets (from book arts, letterpress, etc.)
Guests come in 3 days a week to work with students.
(showed examples of paper robots that he made.)

Outside Opportunities:
(showed bail bond project)

Publishing:
MICA's Center for Design Thinking.
Showed Graphic Design: the New Basics
Graphic Design Theory book by MFA student, Helen Armstrong coming out.
Book on Indie Publishing coming out.

----

New Careers Main Stage Presentation at Social Studies Conference

Jen Bennett Gubicza
CRAFTING A CAREER

Toymaker. Worked for Big Blue Dot.
Started making stuffed animals out of various materials and selling them on Etsy (170,000 sellers)
The people behind Etsy (not includes Jen). Enables people to make a living making things and their growing the business by recruiting people from the community. Working to make how things made transparent.

Developing Parachute: A concept based on "why fail alone when you can succeed together." It's a collective of different small enterprises of hand-make things
They have a space with different tools for making things (letterpress, sewing machines, etc.)
Also, have a carpenter to build things.

Jen has become Zooguu LLC.

-----

Alysha Naples (CCA faculty)
Designing the Next Paradigm

web 1.0 vs web 2.0 - move to a conversation from a broadcast
Threadless members decide what to produce. Interested in Making Tools for Making
Joined Blurb as Design Director: Tools for self-publishing
Figuring out as you go as new paradigm, but the portfolios she saw didn't reflect this change.
It was reflected in education.
Presentation skills become a very very important skill.

Designers without borders. She created a blog for getting input from community on
"What new skills are now required of graphic designers."
· Relinquishing control.
· Handling Complexity (meredith Davis article)
· Designing for Participants, not Users (designing things that make things)
· Thinking Critically (means to criticially assess and synthesize)
· Listening

How do we do this?
· Dump the simple to complex model
· Remove the idea of ownership (share things)
· Allow student to lead sometimes (students defining problems as well as resolving them)
· Instill social responsibility (thinking holistically about what you're making)
· Foster a broader education

What's next? Its an ongoing conversation.

------

Silas Munro
The Designerless Office

A progression of 3 office models
1. The Design Office
2. The Designer's Office
3. The Designerless Office

(showed diagram with examples that fit into creative to speculative)

A comparitive Matrix of Offices
1. The Design Office: Creative, co-creates with client (like Build award for Sony with six silk-screened layers)
2. The Designer's Office: No brief from client and no client (like Jop van Bennekom's Butt mag). Answers to himself. showed Manystuff.org automonous Graphic design aggregator
3. The Designerless Office:
Co-creationist. (showed Joe Prichard's thesis, Paula Sher's HP design templates, Processing by Casey Reas and Ben Fry.
More case studies:
Yale Palimpst, OTTO - pub designed by a program that was designer
Hector: Jur Lehni with Uli Franke, part machine and intelligent (on cover of I.D.)
Invented Self
Silas' thesis project of invented personalities, Poly-Mode, created at CalArts
examples form From as a Mode of Thought project he did with PMFA students at CalArts.
826: (Dave Eggers project) Superhero Supply Co. Sam Potts inc. designed. Fictional products., Echo Park Time Travel designed by 344, Pirate store designed by office

Conclusion
We can't agree on a definition of graphic design. It took Jessica Helfand several paragraphs. What might be a graphic design practice and pedagogy?

-----

Brockett Horne
Five Ways Designers are Changing Practice

Graphic Design is a product:
· Self Production: Blick vinyl graphics, T-shirt, paper robots.
· Activism: Bielenberg's
· Competitions: Like the ones for architects, Happinessiseasy
· Concepts before competitions: Sagmeister's year without clients

Conclusions for Educators
1. Students should adept at composing a proper design brief.
2. Consider the process could be a product
3. Allow students to generate or augment content
4. Explore how audiences use our ideas
5. Experiment with he design process
6. Collaborate! Be social

----

Question:
What sophisticated communications/making skills will be needed in this need paradigm?
Partnering skills with other with expertise
Skills for imagination
Becoming aware of what's already out there
Management skills
Students will learn what they need to do. Asking what students want to do.
Insatiable curiosity.

Does this really work in the real classroom of today?
Interview students to see interests and have them pursue those interests through projects.

Sustainability 2 Panel at Social Studies Conference

I was particularly curious about this panel to see how design education was talking about sustainability

Peter Fine and Eric Peacock
Re-Form and Re-Design: Design Education and Ethics

Understanding systems that graphic design is part of
Messages crafted to address behaviors

Imperatives
Looked at 60s and 70s. Stuart Brand and how materials were viewed.
Maybe the problem to be addresses isn't tangle objects but systems. Confront impending lack of resources.
Looking at designer as reforming systems for a better life.

----

Paul J. Nini
A Design Seminar Course Addressing Issues of Ethics + Sustainability

Course placing issue of sustainability into context of design ethics

Readings:
Design for Society, Nigel Whisiely (?)
Design for the Real World, Victor Papanek
Cradle to Cradle

What student do in the class:
Project outline of what reading was about and pose questions for the disucssion
And write something about their response.

Films:
Inconvenient Truth
Corporation
Who Killed the Electric Car
A Convenient Truth: Urban Solution from Curatiba, Brazil
Energy Crossroads

Class is all about awareness
Students identify issues
Small scale projects proposed and investigated
Personal project that raise awareness (diagrams showing their own consumption)

Outcomes
Students become painfully aware of issues in consumer society.
Explore ways design can become more sustainable and ethical
Move beyond initial ideas about what design practice might be.

-----

Aaris Sharin
Place, Space, and Opportunity: Designers confront sustainability challenges

What happens after school in practice?
Case Studies:

TwoTwelve
Making a living and thriving
TwoTwelve has library has library of materials but decided to "take on sustainability"
Conceptually considered sustainability in the studio: Created a checklist of how to look at every project.
Represents easily implementable targets and can easily evolve as context evolves.

Noah Scale (?)
Designs to what's already on press. Being flexible.

Michael Hardt
Educator working in Norway
Rethinking Packaging Lifecycle
Potato pak that dissolve within product lifecycle
michaelhardt.com

Sebastian Guerrini
Sustainability in Argentina. Paper already very expensive and not recycled so lives sustainable design by necessity.
Eco-materials exhibit. Recycling and reusing.
Tackled how to draw an audience.

Tricycle: is a Sustainable Design Company. Developing Markets Innovation Repurposing.
Don't assume outcome of design (posters, booklets, websites)
Example show for carpet industry by creating other way for carpet samples. Went to interior designers to change behavior, but not received well. Offered alternatives to corporations.
Blink (interactive website they created to show carpet in home and sticky notes of carpets. See "Set."

Also created system for "parasitic" binders. "Nood."

Aaris Sharin's book:
SustainAble
A case study book/field guide.

Time and Motion Panel at Social Studies Conference

Alberto Rigau
Understanding Interaction Through People, Settings, and Scenarios

Narrative storytelling.

More than just places.
settings are the stage time and setting come together (showed examples of student work)

More than just subject.
People experience meaning in a setting (context). interview juxtosed to different live action images)
Relationship of object, settings, and people.
Represent video into broadsheets: Pacing, scale, setting became discussion.

More than just actions.
Interacting with library. How to better the experience.

More than just behaviors.
Bring together to understand experience by show how to enhancing the experience through different media platforms. (showed a video that showed what they created and how it bettered the experience.)

-------

DeAngela Duff
Intro to Interactive Programming

Code Literacy
Designers needs to be aware of back end like for social networking tools.
First brought in a real programmer to teach. Students were really angry because material covered so fast.
Then she taught (a designer who codes) teaching 3 languages: Lingo, processing, and action script at same time.
· Action script (Flash) easy
· Processing - easy to learn (Casey Reas and Ben Fry created for Designers)
· Lingo was difficult because syntax really different. (arguable about whether this is dead language)

Syntax vs Concepts
Donald Norman -- Design of Everyday Things
Focus on programming concepts not syntax (you can look that up)

Variables vs. Properties<

Functions vs Methods- focused on these):
Conditionals
Loops
Arrays
Event
OOP: Classes & Objects

Course Content
Looked at other syllabi.
Book: Dan Shiffman on Processing
(Look for Head First series of book.)

Built the project in the 3 different languages"
Static
Random
Motion
Input
Image & text
Sound
OOP
Interface

marccannon.com/energyLiteracy
teachingpolishedsolid.com
"guest" is username and password

----

Jan Kubasiewicz
The Language of Motion

Motion as a language of a communiction
Liguistic structure applied to motion
Visual literacy means motion literacy.
Communicate more effectively.

Core concepts:

Motion and communication
· language structure
· behavior
· gesture (sergie eisentein)

Motion and sequence
· Space/time
· Perception of motion
· Sequential visualization (eames video of drawing ellipse)
· Narrative (showed Motionary project)

Motion and Interaction
(Motion managing complexity)
· Visualization
· Narrative
· Interface (Minority Report, wii, iphone, apple multi-touch pad)

Gesture and time.
dmiboston.edu

Social Media Panel at Social Studies Conference

David Gelb
Wikified: Participatory Leaning in the Design Studio

Course is “blended” – takes place virtually and in studio

Learning with and from peers
Collaboration for design learning

Why wiki for design studio learning?
· Open platform externalizes design knowledge
· Multiple entry points for exploration and presentation
· Student and teachers work as co-creators
· Design learning community and culture of sharing

[seems to suggest “virtual studio”]

Using “wiki space” – supportive of educators, but more for K-12

3rd year student example
Shows project example on “multi-cultural parks” (3rd year students)
Includes data collection including images that are also from Fickr group.
Can includes presentations using Slide Share (20 slides in 20 seconds)

1st year student example
Teacher sorts through uploads of things students want to share and decides what to publish. Also had a FAQ page that the students put up and produced.

Blogs are one to one, but wikis are many to many – more community building.

http://1006-w08.wikispace.com

----

Triesta Hall
Building the Better Mouse-Trap: Applied Learning Pedagogy in New Media Education Models

Dealing with a very different student now.
Guy from Apple laid out the following understanding:
· Was the analog student (real tennis with rackets)
· The digital-adopter student (pong) – where we are in phase of adopting tech changes
· Now the digitally-native student (wii) the digital is native language

Where does this leave us?

General approach:
· Apple 1-to-1 (apple is pursuing with University situation). Each student starts with “university suite” (computer with software) In wired environment
· Test theories in real-time rather than waiting on final projects
· Teacher creates network on their laptop – self-sustaining environment. Students screens can be shown on teacher’s laptop. Faculty can send stuff to students. Using Concept Share - software

Lecture strands: (more modular)
Enable more improvisation
5 strands: (addressing different learners)
1. Lecture: Addresses different learning: seeing Hearing learners
2. Critique: Addresses those who learn through mistakes and successes of others (critique “award-winning’ work)
3. Industry/Designer Spotlight (stuff that will be part of history). Forming sense of context for students.
4. Technology – software or the process, how to intergrate
5. Class Activity. Task in class to see process