GRDS 701 – Unit 5, Blog Entry 1: Graphic Design Definition Revisited

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I asked my design colleagues how they would define graphic design. The same thing always happened, you could see the initial response was always the confident “oh that’s easy” face turning quickly into the disconcerted face after they realized that graphic design is not that definite.

Defining Graphic Design is a daunting task in itself. After the past five weeks of paying close attention to graphic design being defined in may different ways and I don’t find the task any less overwhelming. In fact, I think it may be vaster than originally imagined.

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GRDS 701 – Unit 4, Blog Entry 2: Understanding Variability

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http://www.meijer.com/assets/product_images/styles/xlarge/1001029_051000012142_A_400.jpg

What makes you happy? What do you want? How would you like it? The questions that we try to answer but deep down cannot articulate. In this TED talk “Malcolm Gladwell: Choice, Happiness and Spaghetti Sauce” Gladwell discusses the famous achievements of American market researcher Howard Moskowitz. Howard determined that when trying to find data about what people like you need to provide multiple options. The multiple options allow for people to articulate what they really want and decide between things. Then, you can take that data and see that relationships that form.

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GRDS 702 – Unit 4, Blog Entry 1: Exploration A

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I came across this TED talk “Seth Godin: How to get your ideas to spread “  and I thought it was very interesting. How do you get your ideas to diffuse to others? How do you make your idea spread and heard? The thing that grabs people’s attention is an idea that is novel but more importantly remarkable. On top of that Seth Godin says that you need to know your audience, and the audience you should try to reach are those who the early adopters and innovators.

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GRDS 701 – Unit 3, Blog Entry 1: Concept Maps

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I have been making a lot of “concept maps” lately and it just so happened that one of the books as I was searching for a book to use as a source for my Literature Review  I found a The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World’s Most Consequential Trivia‘s site that had a great concept map in it. It was a collaboration between David McCandless and information artist Stefanie Posavec.They are both very reputable sources in information graphics.

I thought the concept map I post above to be particularly beautiful, organized and full of information. I love how the use of color drives the idea of two separate parties home. I have been struggling in 702 to figure out Images and after seeing this example I feel confident in my thoughts and hope that my concept map will be as informative and engaing as this one. (Stop by in a week to see my progress!)

If this interests you, David McCandless gives a great TED Talk! In this talk he breaks down information graphics and how they are visualized!

David McCandless: The beauty of data visualization

 

GRDS 702 – Unit 2, Blog Entry 1: Exploration A

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For the GRDS 702 class we were asked to complete 3 playgrounds. Playground, that’s fun, design playground sounds very fun. I knew that the assignment had to do with words and there were no requirements in the class for Photoshop or InDesign so I assumed it wouldn’t involve too much designing. So what was my first challenge? Time. I only had 20 minutes to complete each playground and I put all of these constraints on myself of what needed to get done in order for me to get in the “zone”. So a fun playground turned into an anxious recess session where I was to walk across the monkey bars without falling!

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GRDS 701 – Unit 2, Blog Entry 2: I Listen to Color

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The Psychology of Color [Infographic]

I love color! I love color theory, it was color theory that hooked me into design. I was always interested in the psychology of color and what color can do to an audience. I studied Josef Alber’s Color theory and through his explorations of color values and relationships, I learned of the multiple innovative ways for the viewer to comprehend color and the paintings Albers developed.

This week I have been watching TED Talks and I saw one that was titled I Listen to Color. I had to watch it. The speaker was Neil Harbisson, he was interesting looking. He was wearing a hot pick coat, blue shirt and yellow shirt but more interesting then his clothes was his opening statement about how he can hear color and how he collaborated with computer scientists to create a electronic eye that is a color sensor that then sends a sound frequency to a chip in the back of his head.

Click to go to the TED Talk

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GRDS 701 – Unit 2, Blog Entry 1: Leadership

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There was big news in my office this week, people in my department we sharing emails and videos all about USA Today and their redesign. This was particularly interesting since our magazine went through a redesign last year and we can understand the pain and long hours the design team over at USA Today had to put in, in order to get the redesign finished all at once.

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