Jenn's Blog

Just a little reflection… I wish some of the content in this course was introduced more towards the beginning in order for less confusion to occur. As a new student to the e-learning program, I feel like some of the information introduced later might have been useful sooner? For example this weeks’ discussion about presentation in unit 8, may have better been served before or immediately after the first presentation in unit 5. Although, I do feel more aware now then I was during week 5 and I know that’s the intent. All in all I have enjoyed the tenacity of this course, meeting/sharing thoughts with my peer designers, and learning all the new ideas, techniques and design insight this course presented about design methodologies!

I think the best course of action for me over the winter break is to actually use the heck out of lynda.com, work on my writing skills for improvement and presenting skills. I would like to become as interesting as those presentations and writings I have seen produced by classmates as well as professionals presented in the coursework. What can I say, I have been positively inspired! Inspire and inquire on

Reflect on the three process books shared during this unit. In your post, assess how each book design successfully and/or unsuccessfully communicates the designer’s ideation process and guides the reader through the creative process. Are there specific communication tactics that any of the designers use that you may want to integrate into how you present your own process?

Jamie Turpin’s video presentation of her process books lost my interest at about a minute and a half. I think that she spends too much time a page of her book that we cannot read. To fix this issue I believe making each step one slide that is readable would solve the bore/lull state. I would have to say she means to “own,” her content, which is something I still need to work on. Since, I do not present often it’s tough birthing a flowing presentation.

Jamie’s visual presentation is very clean but I really do not see how the colors progress downward. I see the colors used as a distraction. They most certainly progress across but for me I am having a hard time following them down the page to follow her ideation steps. It’s slightly distracting.

As far as Jamie’s actual visuals for the book and slide show are concerned. I would actually like to be able to come up with my own visual content that reads like a book as Jamie has done. Her content is great as a book just not so much when it comes to a visual presentation you cannot read. If you are going to put text within a video it should be readable otherwise people are going to try to spend the time and read it when that is not what you intend them to do. And, by attempting to read the text they cannot even see the viewer may have already lost sight of the content.

I would have to say Jane Dorn’s process is the one I most identify with and is most succinct. Even though her thoughts are roughly drawn out by hand they are a well organized thought process. I believe there is much that can be learned from Jane. The part of Dorn’s process I would like to include is the mulling process. Too often as young designers we have no idea about this mulling process. I know I stumbled upon it in the first presentation of this class. I thought I was on the right track, I got lost, got back on track, and thought I fell into the black abyss. But darkness is just before dawn. The mulling process teaches us not to quit. To keep calm and carry on so to speak. This is the one of the greatest concept I believe there is to learn about design ideation. It’s not easy but do not give up and never surrender!!!

Although it’s a different approach I like how April Bliss attacked the ideation process. Her process is successful in the manner of heavy imagery. Nowadays it is hard to capture the imagination of a younger crowd if you cannot first gain their attention. From working with younger generation I have noticed short concise wording and bright imagery seems to captivate that audience. I would most certainly like to include her process of being clever with her book idea of making it fun by transforming it into an energy drink.

On a side note, I am beginning to see my topic blossom a little more. Something about the subconscious thoughts of design is rather intriguing. The subconscious thought of design and Feng Shui through graphic design seem to go hand and hand.

There has been a lot of speculation about what one has to do with the other. I conducted a small qualitative research project on facebook addressing this issue. Out of the responses I have received thus far there seem to be a lot of repetitive words or phrases. The responses came from individuals with various different backgrounds. Not everyone knew what Feng Shui was. But they understood it’s idea of environmental balance to make a space a positive place. I asked if the participants could then relate Feng Shui with art. The self realization of subconscious thoughts were astounding.

Words like balance, harmony, positive and negative, space and energy popped up often. From this I gathered that even thought there wasn’t a formal understanding of the practice, it’s basic ideas are commonly known. Through this commonality, even people who have no knowledge of Feng Shui can apply it’s basic  practice to art and design. It’s a personal experience and what works for one person may not work for the next.

I believe I should actually add the thumbnails and refined comps as further steps for one thing. Although these additional steps do take a bit of extra time it would be well worth the outcome. In my current job I do not often have time to plan out the design. And often I have been told I am being “too creative.” You can never be too creative! Blasphemous! “But these are simple people…” That doesn’t mean that simple people do not appreciate a well rounded design!

After reviewing Hugh Dubberly’s “How Do You Design?” I have come to the conclusion that more steps should be added to my creative process. It’s not that my current process is wrong, its just that some of my steps could be built upon. Furthered. Honed. Shaped into a well-rounded conceived design process rather than a quick three or four step process. Anyway, to improve my current process I would like to take these  a few steps from Buckminster Fuller’s process into account.

I would like to start by defining the problems. Often when others create a design they do not see it’s faults or its weaknesses. This is what we have critiques and criticisms for. At my job currently there isn’t a lot of understanding as to why a design has problems or what those problems are since they are a small family owned business. Then the next step would to be defining the preferred state of a design or stating the positives. I think by defining the negatives first followed by the positives that will lead to an even more positive design future. Preferred design should be followed by design present state to once again reiterate what the problems are with the current design.

As designers I think sometimes we move too forward for a company to follow. In order to implement change, design verbatim. Then define the way the current design would be most successful only after referring to its preferred state. Then and only then may you present a new idea.

Before this course my experience with “Flow” was only the “flow” your eye follows around a design. This design flow was part of the little “c” of creativity that we all learn in undergrad coursework for everyday usage. And if your projects did not incorporate flow into it’s design then you would have to redesign your design until that design flowed. Is it clean, is the message clear, is the content understandable? These were all questions to consider when it came to designing with flow. Now, looking back on what I was taught flow to be…It is not quite a mature definition of the term.

Flow is something you can teach but more so something you must learn on your own. I believe that flow is different for everyone. You have to find what works for you as a designer. And, what works for someone else might not be what works best for you. Finding your own path to your river of design flow is something that you must explore on your own. Flow is the journey of thought and once you become lost in your thoughts that is, when you have arrived.

Yes, I have experienced flow as being lost in my own thoughts of the design without distraction. When writing I often read, re-read and get lost in my own thoughts of how I want to portray a topic or theme. I often do this with my design work without even knowing it. I read, re-read, and make sure all elements for that design are relevant, clear, concise, interesting, and balanced. Listening to music often helps with flow. For me, spa music or new age works best. Mostly something with a continuing tone without words works best for the creative thought process. This drone allows for creativity to spill out like a cup overflowing. This is the way in which my best design work has been achieved thus far.

how

1. RESEARCH/IDEAS- Through research whether it be online, in a book, movie, visual, architectural or draw on others experiences. We gather. We ideate. This step one of the creative process hence the light-bulb with the idea lines.

-Effectiveness- Highly effective in seeing what has been done in the past and gathering ideas for the future.

2.BRAINSTORMING- The process of unfolding the research that lead to ideas of collaboration. These ideas are now compiling and you begin to explore how to fit the puzzle together.

-Effectiveness- Colaboration=seeing the design process through another’s eyes. Once again, highly effective as not only do you get to see how you would solve a problem but how others might solve the same problem differently. Do you come to the same conclusion? Maybe but not probably.

3.THUMBNAILS-Fitting the research and ideas together after exploration takes place through brainstorming. Thumbnails are represented by small rain droplets since each idea of the research is it’s own layout. Each layout then presents a window of design opportunity. These opportunities are explored and the best is chosen before you can move forward to the final project.

-Effectiveness- Thumbnails are a great way to fit the pieces together. Pulling all the ideas into one for a well-rounded approach.

3.FINI- The final product. The rainbow effect. The balance. The clarity. The Understanding. The Flow. The creativity. The social or cultural awareness.

-Effectiveness- The finished product should reflect the processes of the first three steps. If in fact the design does not clear, repeat the first three steps as needed.

In reference to collaborating with others, I would love to actually be a part of a design team. I have never really had the opportunity to experience a true design team. It has always been one on one back and forth with the client or my boss. Never a team of designers creating and collaborating together. I think this would be the most idealistic approach to design wholeness. And by creating design wholeness we have then lead to a broader spectrum of  creativity which with the help of collaboration will lead to a big “C.”

Honestly, I feel like five minutes is defiantly a short amount of time to fill in my fellow students on my literature review. Often I feel like I do not quite grasp the process of a “lit” review rather than it is a description of text you’ve read. It’s kind of confusing how to present without having bias at this point because I feel like I already know where I would like to go with my research thus far. Does anyone else feel this way? I am still a bit confused about this project. I feel like it is more of a book report on each of the sources we are using for are argumentative paper? Is this wrong?

I do not think my presentation went as planned since I was trying to make it a bit different or fun so to speak. I like the idea of 20/20, 20 images at 20 seconds per image. This type of presentation really forces you to move quickly through your topic while keeping the listener visually and mentally stimulated.

Let’s revisit graphic design, defined…
Having contemplated this more, to be a graphic designer is more than just a profession for the artist. It’s more than kerning, placing, spacing, researching, aligning, choosing a type setting, choosing a color or texture…It’s much, much, more… Graphic design is: editing, researching, studying, a sort of psychology through design methods to come up with and image a user can interact with. It is user interaction with design and interaction of the design with the user.

Graphic design is intended to provoke thought. How do we provoke thought? Thought is provoked by research, which then turns into a case of studies to formulate a map of questions. These questions are the mecca of creativity. Without questions what is design or creativity? What is the reason for designing if all the questions have been answered? There are millions of questions to be asked and therefore infinite possibilities for topics of design discussion.

Design discussion is another interesting concept…
Sure we have all had critiques. Some good, some bad, and some may even have been ugly. But the only thing we learned from these shallow critiques is that they are just that. Shallow. When you go home at the end of the day, you take them and kick them off as you would your shoes, leaving them at the door. Sure your colleague’s opinions are good source of advice but as a designer you must be your own explorer. And, as designer, getting others to explore with you broadens horizons for where graphic design takes future designers.

Now, back to discussion for a moment. Discussion is intuitive thinking. Discussions provoke thought. Thought provokes questions. Questions provoke research. Research provokes theory. Theory provokes thesis. Thesis’ provoke more thought! Thought provokes ideas and ideas provoke creativity. Creativity provokes infinite possibility!

I had honestly never before heard any designer talk about design the way the content of this course has redefined graphic design for me. Coming into SCAD knowing nothing formally of the “the methodologies of design.” It sounded like crazy talk! And, I was beginning to wonder if I was on a Scientology trip with Tom Cruise.
This course would not necessary have been the path I would have initially thought to have explored on my own. But, I am glad to have shared this class thus far with everyone. It truly has been a breath of fresh air redefining graphic design with you all.

I just wanted to start out by saying I can definitely confirm that there have been significant shifts in design and it’s methodologies since graduating in 2007. Technologies have advanced at lightning speed in turn causing us to adapt in order to survive as designers in an ever changing world. No longer, do we just rely on a few key points to convey messages but rather a more wholesome approach. AIGA’s article, “Defining the Designer of 2015″ delves into popular design trends which I believe are being used currently and will surely evolve even further, three years from now.

I would like to address the impact of social networking to design. The power of the people has greatly influenced the way design is perceived. The need for a physical product is not a necessity anymore; in that respect, one could call this “green design.” Through social media graphic designers have an incredible wealth of knowledge at their fingertips which will only progress. Social Media is not a passing fad but a powerful tool.

I would define graphic design as communication art through the use of type and image placement. Graphic design is a creative process in which the end result reflects the the point of view one is trying to convey. It’s a visual process aimed to create a general understanding, either culturally, socially or both. Anyone can communicate but not everyone can communicate in such a way that the “whole” understands. It is our job as visual communicators to make our point clear and concise. Image should bring power to the word and vice versa creating a balance between the two worlds of image and type.

Graphic Design also addresses color, placement, and layout.  Color can most certainly make or break your design! If one wanted to create a happy mood you might not choose a color that evokes a melancholy emotion. I personally love the contrasting color combos as these colors can make your text pop next to the contrasting image. Although one must be careful not to give color equal weight as they compete with one another. But if the intent is to compete then it would be natural to place equally weighted colors together.

In my experience people often perceive placement and layout as the same thing. Layout is the overall feng shui of the design created. And placement is the process of arranging images and text together, which make up the feng shui or layout.

A clear uncluttered thought process translated into a well organized visual process equals good design.