I’ve already shared a lot of my thoughts with Louise as the course unwound. A first run of a class  is always going to have issues. The content still being in a state of development when the class started, and the subject of the course, made it particularly tricky.

The pacing of the project work, and how it is distributed over the timeline of the course is key. I understand the necessity of getting a comprehensive statement in place – but maybe too much time was spent on perfecting the wording of that component, before the actual nuts and bolts of the topic were thoroughly worked out. I know that the statement should reflect the content of the thesis, but my feeling is that for many it was like trying to describe a painting that they hadn’t even started yet.

Having just re-read the criteria for the concept map and presentation – it sounds like we should be presenting how we arrived at our idea vs. arguing for our idea. I don’t think it is a subtle difference between the two.

+ I cannot even imagine how students managed prior to this class (and the research methods class too). This is a good thing and should result in much stronger thesis offerings. It takes a lot of the mystery our this strange grey foggy, blobby thing called a Thesis.

+ I also cannot imagine what this class would be like without someone as involved as Louise. She has been incredibly (ridiculously?) available and I would bet this first-time-out-of-the-gate  course was no picnic for her either. She sets the bar mighty high.

@ face value  [working title]

I. INTRODUCTION

A. lead-in

Interpersonal communication is a complex thing. Professor Albert Mehrabian, a pioneer in the understanding of communications since the 1960s, was involved in research that featured strongly (mid-late 1900s) in establishing early understanding of body language and non-verbal communications. His investigations resulted in a formula that is applicable to the communication of feelings and attitudes in verbal communications

7% of meaning in the words that are spoken.
38% of meaning is paralinguistic (the way that the words are said).
55% of meaning is in facial expression. (“Mehrabian’s Communication Study”)

This data highlights how critical external cues and clues are in our understanding of what is being said. With a mere 7% of meaning contained in the words themselves, it is evident how challenging it is to create precise communications when only words are available. Such is the case in text-based forms of connections: email, text messaging (texting), instant messaging (i.m.), discussion forums, social media sites, online dating, etc., which are rapidly displacing and replacing traditional communications.

B.  thesis statement

Text as a vehicle of communication relies almost entirely on external styling, talented wordsmithing, or intrinsic knowledge / assumed intent to convey emotional and intellectual nuances.
The growing number of communications that take place using text-based methods (i.m., texting, email, internet), coupled with increasing demands on time and focus makes devising and implementing an efficient method of imbuing greater clarity into our writing an overdue imperative.
A new set of typographic elements embracing a semiotic approach needs to be developed that extends our written vocabulary, complementing and improving the communication opportunities that technology offers.

I. BODY

text (or words alone) rely on expert manipulation or assumption to add clarity

• writing
• graphic
• assumed tone/intent
• none of of these methods are reliable or often even feasible in today’s digital communications environment

format, time and distraction in sending and receiving

• lack of stability in how our words are presented
• how we read now
• immediate gratification/expectation of expedience

current methods of adding clarity and facilitating brevity are unsatisfactory

• emoticons
• text-messaging shorthand
• assuming / inferring tone can create epic mis-communications
• a method of imbuing clarity and facilitating brevity is an overdue imperative

a super brief history of punctuation

• began as a way of directing tone (speech writing / the question mark to direct the pitch of voice)
• but hundreds of years later, we are still only left with ? ! as formal marks that give clear direction embryonic
• Rhetorical question mark
• Vladimir Nabokov would regularly use unconventional applications of existing marks and expressed a wish for a new piece of punctuation predating the the internet and the emoticon by decades.
• Ambrose Bierce early advocate for extending existing lexicon of marks

contemporary efforts to move punctuation forward

• Sarcmark
• Elray – weird-ass exclamation mark
• neither is very satisfactory and represents only a slight expansion

what qualities should new marks possess to optimize integration

• ability to be integrated into existing font sets
• semiotic sensitivity
• capitalize on known meaning of existing marks
• specificity (antithesis of such a new mark that lack this one quality interrobang asks a question in an excited manner, expresses excitement or disbelief in the form of a question, or asks a rhetorical question)

what expressions and tones are most in need of clarification

• method of determining relevance and usefulness

• locate studies?

• research linguistics?

• conduct polls?

• observation?

Comparatively speaking it pulled together surprising quickly. Louise was typically involved and extremely helpful — finger’s crossed that it gets the green light.

………………………… here it is …………………………….

Text as a vehicle of communication relies almost entirely on external styling, talented wordsmithing, or intrinsic knowledge / assumed intent to convey emotional and intellectual nuances.

The growing number of communications that take place using text-based methods (i.m., texting, email, internet), coupled with increasing demands on time and focus makes devising and implementing an efficient method of imbuing greater clarity into our writing an overdue imperative.

A new set of typographic elements embracing a semiotic approach needs to be developed that extends our written vocabulary, complementing and improving the communication opportunities that technology offers.

other questions :
Am I writing this for an average reader, someone outside of the profession? Should I assume particular familiarity with industry related vocabulary? I have the same question/s for the thesis itself.

…………… not quite a statement, yet …………………..

Is the internet making us stupid? Perhaps not, but there is significant evidence that suggests exposure is having a profound impact on our cognitive processes. These changes in cognition are effecting the way we consume information, and as graphic designers — charged with shaping so many visual communications — we need a way to effectively respond. The graphic designer of today and tomorrow needs to understand the new terrain of the typical reader’s brain.

What I propose is that by defining the dominant cognitive changes that currently act as barriers to engaging with written material, in essence ‘diagnosing’ the typical reader, then aligning this information with similar cognitive conditions, specific prescriptive strategies can be formulated.

…………… proper statement to follow  …………………..

……………  thesis statement 1.0 …………………..

Cognitive changes brought about by our exposure to the internet are affecting the way we consume information. Defining the dominant changes that currently act as barriers to engaging with written material is vital to ‘diagnosing’ the typical reader. By aligning this information with similar cognitive conditions, specific strategies can be formulated and implemented to facilitate effective graphic communications.

……………  thesis statement 2.0 …………………..

Cognitive changes brought about by  exposure to the internet are affecting the way a growing number of the population consumes information. Defining the dominant changes that currently act as barriers to engaging with written material is vital to ‘diagnosing’ the typical reader. By aligning this information with practices across a variety of disciplines, specific strategies can be formulated to implement effective graphic communications.

Don’t know where or when I first hear or read that phrase – it could well have one of those motivational posters. Perhaps it was sharing wall with the poster that said “Hang in there Baby!”  with a picture of a terrified kitten dangling from a branch, and next to that an image plucked from the Peanuts pantheon accompanied by the declaration “Every job is a self portrait of the person who did it.”

Regardless of the questionable wisdom of its propaganda companions, time and trial (and error) have proven that statement to be true. For my first research paper ever at SCAD (Contemporary Art ) I made a folder on my desktop and would drag in urls from pages I had visited that did or might contain something I might use. It was terrible, terrible, terrible… when it came time to reference, quote, and cite I wasted incredible amounts of time trying to retrace and locate. There were even times I couldn’t find the original source. Lesson learned, or so I thought.

My next big research paper, Zotero was recommended to us. I did use this resource, but was still not particularly meticulous about creating specific folders for content, and never use the note feature. One of the biggest advantages was being able to access my collection of resources from any computer. I also very much appreciate Zotero creating copies of PDF documents, alleviating yet another house keeping/filing chore.

This time around I am creating specific categories of resources and appending notes to those that I want to reference or follow up on, reminding myself why. Just as often though I’ll find a resource that might be useful, and toss it into a folder without a thorough examination. So I’m getting better, but there is room for improvement. I need to start evaluating my collection and winnowing it down to the good stuff before I’m to the eyeballs with reference clutter!

! I’m just going to add that while MLA no longer requires including the URL for web resources, I suggest it is still a good idea to include that information for you and your readers.

ZOTERO pros

• quite intuitive
• web accessible from anywhere
• free (with limited storage)
• can easily add notes, tags, keywords
• GREAT documentation on how to use it

• can select from many citation formats

ZOTERO cons

• limited free storage (those pdfs add up pretty fast)

• the MLA citation style is never 100% correct and always requires tweaking (but that could be the case with any of the these tools)

!!! caveat emptor – I’ve just hit my ‘free’ storage limit with my Zotero account, so I thought fine, I’ll pay for some extra space. $20 a year for gig sounds like pretty good value for dollar. But the only way available to pay using is Google Wallet. I am not a fan of Google, and this is just another example of why. Had I know Zotero was a Google product I probably would have looked for a different solution. But now I’m already in pretty deep, so do I switch horses? I’m tempted to start a full on rant, but won’t. Let me just say that if you are availing yourself of all those great free Google offerings, it may one day bite you in the rear.

Next step is to dig into this presenter’s personal site and get more intel.

fyi – the ‘last mile’ — The “last mile” or “last kilometer” is a phrase used by the telecommunications and cable television and internet industries to refer to the final leg of the telecommunications networks delivering communications connectivity to retail customers; the part that actually reaches the customer.

Right, so the case of content delivery – I see the last mile as that jump from the page to the eye to the brain.
I think my basic ideas around all of this are quite similar – but more than anything I take discovering this as a main presentation at a major conference as evidence that this is a topic of concern, and an area that requires some evolution.

From Eye to Brain: Content Design & the “Last Mile” Problem

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topic tweet

The new reading paradigm makes the role of graphic design more important than ever before.

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The imperative of a (re)freshed perspective on the role of page design to respond to the new reading paradigm.

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