During my time in GRDS 701 I think the most profound thing I learned about myself and my creative process would be that I need to slow down. I need to let the process come to me instead of trying to chase it down. When I let ideas sit and marinate they often develop into something more than I could have even imagined.

During this class I also saw the power of creative group brainstorming. If you have an open mind you can use the group to help you expand and push your original ideas. I feel like the encouraging atmosphere and helpful suggestions helped me to get rid of the fear or uncertainty that I had. During the class I feel like this was the area where I experienced disruptive wonder.

My graphic design process has changed immensely. I have slowed down and have learned to document every step in the process. I realized that it is during the process that the real discoveries and disruptive wonders come about. I have even tried to bring this process into my current job and I am beginning to see great results.

TED Talk: Chip Kidd: Designing books is no laughing matter. OK, it is

I was introduced to Chip Kidd back in undergraduate work. He came to speak again in CT a year ago. He is a great and entertaining presenter. With this weeks unit about process and presentation I decided that a presenter I would like to emulate would be Chip Kidd. Yes, he may seem a little over the top and some may not think his jokes are funny but he engages the audience.

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As I read through the three process books I thought that my process is most closely related to Jane Dorn’s book. My sketchbook is often filled with my notes and small thumbnail sketches. I also think my process is most like Jane’s because of its conciseness in regards to documenting process before the start of the developmental sketches.

It was in GRDS 701 and 702 that rekindled my considerations of deepening the initial brainstorming and design process. I used concept maps and other ways of brainstorming ideas in my schoolwork but in my career I never thought or hard reason to use concept maps or other brainstorming activities. Documenting this part of the process was never a thought of importance to me.

Then I read April Biss’ process book and I was flabbergasted. She documented everything! I really thought I learned a lot from viewing this process. It seemed a bit lengthy and very different from Jane’s process I had viewer earlier. She showed her research materials, prototypes, websites and the final project. It was great narrative and great presentation of ideas and process however I think she could have made it even better she incorporated Jamie Turpin’s use of Table of Contents and color to connect the process into a cohesive and manageable grouping of information.

Grouping information is incredibly important for understanding and retention. In my Literary Research for Exploration A I read an article written by George Miller.

In his article he developed two theories for processing information and learning. I would like to focus on the first one which is “chunking” and the capacity of short term our memory. “Chunking is the idea that short-term memory could only hold 5-9 chunks of information (seven plus or minus two) where a chunk is any meaningful unit. A chunk could refer to digits, words, chess positions, or people’s faces. The concept of chunking and the limited capacity of short term memory became a basic element of all subsequent theories of memory.” http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/IP/GAMiller.html

For this reason by adding a table of contents and breaking down the different parts of the process visually even more, I believe April Bliss could have made her already very successful process book even better.

I had heard about this magazine through a colleague. It was interesting, had some impressive names attached to it but what grabbed my attention was how the founders went about getting support and financial backing for their idea. They went through kickstarter.com

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That looks about right… my design process illustrated. It looks a lot like “Design Process” after Tim Brennan (~1990). In Hugh Dubberly’s “How Do You Design?” he talks about a bunch of different design processes.  The are a couple that I feel I really can relate to.

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I have heard of this concept of flow but very loosely in definition. I used to call it being “in the zone” when I was in undergrad. Being in the zone for me felt like I had narrowed my focus and I was just accomplishing my goals and getting work done.

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The notion of disruptive wonder is not new to me but the ability to practice it is rare, especially working at a magazine that has specific voice, template and look.  I hope that it is like riding a bike, so even though you may not of have practice in years you never forget how to utilize it. As I try to incorporate disruptive wonder in to my Exploration B project I am finding harder to do then originally thought.  Concept maps help and the last Exploration helped to teach me how to open my mind. I find that collaboration helps to push my ideas as well and found that to be extremely helpful in the last project.

Am I open to creating disruptive wonder. To be honest I think that’s why I wanted to go back to school. I wanted to challenge my brain in thinking ways that it hasn’t for many years. School projects force you to challenge your mind in ways that it may not be challenged in your everyday job. Learning how to relearn is a great way to expand your mind and open up to new ideas. Finding a way to be creative within limits sometimes can pose a challenge but it also can be helpful in creating disruptive wonder.

When Steve Jobs was inventing the first iPhone he decided he wanted Gorilla Glass to be the glass they used on the face plate. He went to Corning glass and requested as much glass they could make in 6-months. The Corning CEO replied, we can’t. We don’t have a plant that makes that  glass anymore. Steve Job simply responded ‘Don’t be Afraid’.  In the end the glass was made to the CEOs astonishment and iPhone had the product that Jobs wanted. http://www.boardwalkcm.com/blog-profile.php?ID=22

As I go forward with my Exploration B I am going to take that quote from the late Steve Jobs ‘Don’t be afraid’ and work hard to find disruptive wonder.

Examine

- First I examine the design challenge. I examine the following questions so I can focus my thoughts and prepare for research. I decide what needs to be said. How it needs to be said and who my audience is. After I determine these questions I try to figure out what medium would be best to translate this idea.

Research

- I used to just go online and look for things. After this class and 702 I have learned that I need to go beyond the Internet to look for ideas. These classes have also helped me to learn how to create concept maps. These concept maps have been very helpful. I am a very organized person and love lists these lists help to organize ideas in my head.

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My presentation was on information graphics and our innate attraction to them based on psychology. I decided to use the examples that Professor Trudy gave us to help me shape my presentation.  I feel confident that I have a great understanding of the information I researched however I am not sure if that came across in my visual presentation. I feel like I should have cited more materials that I found. I was afraid that if I gave too much information I would lose my audience in the facts. I wanted to present a simple but effective presentation that mimics my concept map.

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Mirror

I think a main component of my Exploration A process was letting go. It was hard to let go at first and not fall back into my heuristic biases but I feel like by the final project I had completely let go and allowed for new ideas to come in and I am happy with where this project led me.

At first I was nervous taking a long time to decide what word I was going to pick for my everyday object. The first assignment coming up with words I didn’t allow my mind to wonder. I was almost “stiff” in my execution. It wasn’t until my first group meeting with Sam and Ed that I saw the potential that could have been if I was more organic. With that in mind I went back and redid my concept map. I allowed my mind to go to the impossible. I think the most important factor was that I stopped trying to figure out what the final part of the process was going to be and tried to see the exploration.

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