702: Unit 5, Blog Entry: Process Applied to Exploration A

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Hi Readers,

Exploration A was truly an unorthodox means of design execution for me. It has truly been a roller-coaster ride. By that I mean interesting and exciting, with the occasional freak-outs. I have truly learned a lot from this experience, and as posted earlier I will certainly be utilizing this method of design thinking again. Throughout this process, my peers and professor were extremely helpful. I never really thought about what it meant to work in teams in an online program, but I must say it was quite successful and beneficial. I received a tremendous amount of positive and constructive feedback, and I can honestly say that I have utilized all, if not most of the critiques throughout the process.

I would really be misleading you by only giving you the positives.  There were times when the process got extremely frustrating, but it was definitely well worth it. Here is my step by step process:

  1. I chose three random words for three random lists: iPhone, Trojan Horse, and Force.
  2. I added 20-30 new words to each list.
  3. I handed my list to a partner, and she added 10 more words to each list.
  4. I was returned the list. Then I added three more words, an image and a color swatch.
  5. I then collaborated with my partner over a series of phone conversations, to further expand the list of words, images and color swatches.
  6. I took the existing information and drafted a mind map, color palette and mood board, drawing connections between all three lists.
  7. From the mind map, color palette and mood board, I was able to develop a design concept:
    • What you want to say:  Describe the design opportunity revealed through your creative play and collaboration: My creative play and collaboration revealed an opportunity to create a book, that would be placed in waiting rooms in different environments, about bettering communication skills.
    • Who you want to say it to:   Everyone who can hear, speak and read English.
    • Why you want to say it:  When expanding my concepts and drawing connections between the three lists, I made a list of words that connected all three words together. One theme that resonated with me, after connecting all the lists was Bettering Communication. I decided to take a less literal approach. First, the iPhone represents communication. Next, the catalyst to the destruction of the City of Troy was that they did not listen. The Trojans were warned by the gods not to accept any gifts from the Greeks, but their greed kept them from heeding the warning. Not listening lead to their destruction. Finally, force power to influence, affect or control. As it relates to communication, force could equate not listening, bigotry, arguing and forcing one’s point-of-view on to another person. All three factors contributed to the idea that people in the world need to better their communication skills. If we listened more, talked less, and respected the opinions and beliefs of others, there would be less to fight about.
    • How you will say it: I plan to create a booklet made out of die-cuts with one phrase. The words are not readable when all of the pages of the book are placed directly on top of each other, but once each page is read separately with a solid sheet behind it, the phrase becomes readable. The phrase will be, “No one hears if everyone speaks at the same time.”
  8. I then conducted type studies.
  9. I conducted a survey, exploring Bad Communication Experiences among 20 people of varying age ranges, genders and ethnicities. I asked the questions:
    Have you ever been a victim of or contributed to bad communication (i.e. arguing, not listening, interrupting?
    How does it make you feel? Do you dislike it? If so, what do you dislike about it?
    What should change?
    How has bad communication negatively affected you?
  10. I drafted digital sketches of potential covers and inside book layouts.
  11. I held more collaborations with my partner and utilized feedback from my peers and instructor to further develop the ideas.
  12.  Finally, I designed what I thought was a final project. However, after a great deal of feedback from my instructor, I felt it best to rework my design solution by heeding to the critiques I received.
  13. FINALLY, 3 days after the “almost final”, I was able to complete a final design that I am much more proud of, thanks to the push and encouragement of my professor and peers. Here’s a quick snip-it of what I came up with: RPerryman_ExplorationASnip-it .This was not an easy process, but it was well-worth the experience and end result. As always, thanks for reading!

 

All the best,

Shonda

Unit 5, Blog Entry 2: Project A Self-Assessment

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Hi Readers,

I decided to write my literature review on “Stress in Graphic Design”. I chose this topic because I suffer from anxiety myself, and because, throughout my years as a graphic design student and professional, I found that many of my peers are plagued with stress as well and have trouble managing it and finding the balance. I chose to keep my presentation fun and light-hearted to reflect the energy a person should have whenever stress is a threat. To rate my presentation:

Criteria Rating
Presentation Topic Introduction Excellent:  My introduction was exactly as I intended. My intentions were to open with positive energy and a self-reflection on the topic, to get the viewers more comfortable with listening and engaging with a subject that would likely resonate with them.
Presentation Tone Between Good and Excellent:  I had technical difficulties that muffled the sound. However, I spoke with confidence and knowledge of the subject. Public speaking does not make me nervous at all so I felt pretty comfortable delivering the message, especially one that I had grown very familiar with through personal experience and conducting research over the past few weeks.
Vocabulary Presentation Excellent: I clearly defined the key terms that were relative to the subject and kept the viewers informed throughout.
Visual Presentation Good to Excellent: I envisioned something a lot more technical and animated. However, time was not my friend on this project. I do believe the end result was a good outcome though. It had just enough energy to stay aligned with my tone and keep the viewers attentive.
Presentation Flow Excellent:  The content successfully supported the topic introduction, and my transitions were great guides throughout. The speech flow was smooth, with no hiccups, and matched with the slide transitions, kept everything on pace.
Presentation Timing Excellent: Perfect timing! I finished just within the allotted time frame, without overloading the viewers with information, while giving them just enough to understand the topic and stay engaged.

I must admit, it feels a little weird to be rating myself, but I did my best to be honest. Ironically, this week was extremely stressful, so many of the techniques in the video, I had to take heed to myself.  Aside from the technical difficulties, it was rewarding to see the end product. As always, thanks for reading!

 

All the best,

Shonda

 

 

Unit 5, Blog Entry 1: Graphic Design’s Definition Revisited

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Hi readers,

Four weeks ago, I was asked what graphic design means to me. Not much has changed in its meaning. However, I have learned a great deal about it in such a short time frame. In the last post, I stated:

Graphic design holds a much more life-like quality in that for me, it is about my passion for the people. I have a strong interest in making a difference, more importantly, a positive difference. Graphic design gives me an avenue to do that. Not only that, it gives me an opportunity to further build on and positively utilize my God-given talents, WHILE making a profitable living.”

 

I also mentioned that it is about the journey. I still feel the way, and will probably feel that way years, maybe even decades from now. I don’t think my love for the field will ever lose its zest, because the keeping the journey going is what excites me…constantly learning new things and finding ways to expand my skills and touch people. The new things I’ve learned over the past four weeks have not changed the meaning of graphic design for me. However, they have given me a deeper thirst for more knowledge of these new subjects (that I hope to somewhat gain in the next four weeks).

As always, thanks for reading!

 

Shonda,

702: Unit 4 Blog Entry: Exploration A

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Hi readers,

I must say that Exploration A has taken me by surprise. I never expected that from three random and very simple words, I would have developed such a complex design analysis and drafted a design concept. By using the words iPhone, Trojan Horse, and Force, I have began drafting a booklet that serves as a social campaign on Bad Communication. Ironically, this concept required a lot of communication between myself and a lot of peers in order to get it to this point. Thankfully, it was all very good communication. My classmates, instructor and subjects of my survey have been very helpful throughout the process. Although there have been quite a few challenges, like creative blocks, time conflicts and management issues, this has been quite the educational and rewarding experience. I will highly likely use this design thinking method when designing future projects. It has been exciting being able to collaborate with my peers as well as develop design ideas through unorthodox means. Thanks Professor Betgevargiz for the challenge…and thank YOU for reading!

 

 

Reshonda,

Unit 4, Blog Entry 1: Design-Thinking Methods

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Hi Readers,

Stanford University d.School’s Bootcamp Bootleg Blog presents an array of very interesting approaches to design thinking. I chose two methods from the blog that I regular practice. They are:

“Saturate and Group

You space saturate to help you unpack thoughts and experiences into tangible and visual pieces of information that you surround yourself with to inform and inspire the design team. You group these findings to explore what themes and patterns emerge, and strive to move toward identifying meaningful needs of people and insights that will inform your design solutions.

Stroke

Stoke activities help teams loosen up and become mentally and physically active. Use stoke activities when energy is wavering, to wake up in the morning, to launch a meeting, or before a brainstorm.”

Saturate and Group is quite similar to developing a concept map, in that you gather all the ideas, group them based on similarities, and draw connections. I like the idea of Saturate and Group, because you are able to layout your ideas and easily regroup and adjust them, due to the convenience of the sticky notes. This type of design thinking can help with organization and answer questions like,  “What are the salient themes, patterns, or categories of meaning for participants?” and “How are these patterns linked with one another?” This method makes categorization much more feasible.

The activities presented in the stroke method are what I call “ice-breakers”. In my experience, they are usually done at the beginning of an event, meeting or gathering to help get everyone acquainted. These activities usually get everyone warmed up, get ideas flowing, and introduce everyone to the purpose of the meeting. Studies show that icebreakers help with jumpstarting cognition. Read: Ice Breakers:  Easy Group Contribution. This type of active engagement can answer an array of design questions. It is all based on the subject of the activity performed. Take “Category, Category, Die” for example:

“Category, category, die! Line folks up. Name a category (breakfast cereals, vegetables, animals, car manufacturers). Point at each person in rapid succession, skipping around the group. The player has to name something in the category. If she does not, everyone yells “die!!” and that player is out for the round.”

If the category you use is “What do kindergarteners like to play with?”, you could jumpstart a design solution for designing toys for children 5-6.

Saturate and Group relates the GRDS 701-OL Unit content posed in “Analysis”, in that it focusing on organizing and analyzing the data collected. Stroke relates to the “Types of Data Collection” section of the unit, because it is a unique way of quickly gathering data and learning perspectives of participants.

Thanks for reading! As always, I hope you found my post insightful.

Shonda,

 

Source:
Bootcamp Bootleg

Unit 4, Blog Entry 2: Peripheral Research

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Hi readers,

The subject of Peripheral Research is derivative of the idea of conducting  qualitative research while “orbiting the hairball”. “Orbiting the hairball” is a phrase referred to in John Bielenberg’s Design Thinking out Loud:  Outside In, as the ability to step outside of existing ways of behavior and work with heuristic biases. Heuristic biases develop from the brain’s creation of pathways of thought and learned behaviors and patterns that we follow. For example, one of your heuristic biases may be to always play music while studying. Orbiting your hairball may be to try studying without music.

This is relative to qualitative research in that it must be conducted outside of self. GRDS 701-OL Unit 4 Reading, Types of Data Collection: Fieldwork states:

In The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “People only see what they are prepared to see.” Much of the research work you do as a designer centers around fieldwork. You will be involved in observing, interviewing, and analyzing documents. Therefore, you must develop the skills to do so. Educator, writer, and designer Eric Heiman describes the fieldwork process as having two facets: “‘empathy’–looking at the human experience with a sympathetic eye to see what is truly needed by the audience–and ‘curiosity’– having an interest in the lives of the audience so as to further an understanding of what is needed in a product.”

This simply means that in order to properly explore our subjects through qualitative research, we must take a legitimate approach to understanding them, without allowing personal goals and objectives the steer the process. For example, ever notice how in the court room when one lawyer is questioning a witness and the other lawyer yells, “Objection! He’s leading the witness!” We must take the same approach to qualitative research, shaping our questions in a way that not only deliver the answers to the information that we are seeking, but also in a way that allows for natural flow of dialogue and new discoveries. Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris concluded that,

“We don’t see things that we don’t focus our attention on.”

Think about your favorite movie. You may have seen it a thousand times, but each time you watch it (without waiting for your favorite part of the movie), you discover a new scene that you have never noticed before. This is because you are seeing it with fresh eyes. This too, is a practice relative to conducting qualitative research. Reviewing content several times, allows you to make new discoveries.

These practices are what I refer to as peripheral research, not focusing on a particular idea or personal agenda, and allowing for new discoveries by viewing the subject in its entirety.
Thanks for reading! As always, I hope you found this post insightful.
Shonda,

702: Unit 3, Blog Entry: Thinking Wrong

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Hi readers,

THINKING WRONG?! Well, I always think I am right so how is that even possible?! Just kidding. I see thinking wrong as a way of thinking the unorthodox way, which is not “wrong”. Exploring this topic has opened my eyes to many of my heuristic biases. This week in 702, I was asked to work in teams. My partner and I decided to try and be more cognizant of our heuristic biases and abandon them throughout our collaborations, as a way of practicing “thinking wrong”.

Typically, I am a very organized, time conscience, control-freak, type of worker. So I took a different approach. I took my time this week. Although, not the wisest decision as it relates to time management, I was able to develop my ideas a bit more, without the usual forgetting and missing things effect I get from rushing. Also, instead of focusing my energy so much on neatly organizing my ideas, I took the opposite approach with my time in this area. I took a large sheet of craft paper and a hand full of markers and high-lighters and quickly drew out a concept map and made connections between the ideas. This messy approach was helpful, in that my focus was solely on getting the ideas out and not on the structure. Of course, being the neat freak that I am, I later compiled my ideas into a more structured and organized concept map, but the main ideas had been explored during the messy process….so I had not quite aborted my mission.

The object of these practices was to  step outside of my normal means of operation, and explore new ways of doing things. Although they were not very large steps, I think the experiment was quite successful. So, for the remainder of this course (and maybe a couple areas of my personal life), I have committed to eliminating one heuristic bias per unit. Baby steps people! ;-) I will let you know how it goes. So far, so good. It is amazing to see how stepping outside of yourself for a little while with little things can have a huge and mostly positive impact on your ways of thinking. You should try it sometimes. As always, Thanks for reading!

 

Reshonda,

Unit 3, Blog Entry 2: Ethnography in Design

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Hi again readers,

While probing the topic of Research Into Design, an area largely foreign for me, I began to explore the topic of ethnography.

“Ethnography is a philosophical approach to human knowledge that says it’s best to understand people based on their own categories of thought, behavior, and actions. It is often used when intimate knowledge about people is needed to define a new way of thinking about a design problem and its potential solutions.” -Dori Tunstall, Ph.D

Ethnography is a large division of anthropology, the study of people. Ethnography is important to design, in particular, because the people make up the basis for practicing design. Graphic design’s primary purpose is to utilize different medias and mediums to attract an audience. What is the audience made of? People. How better to design for people than to get a better understanding of them? Unfortunately, many design mishaps and failures are due to a lack of understanding of the target audience, which is one reason it is important for designers to adopt ethnographic research practices.

Ethnography spans far beyond collecting surveys and basic google searches, but really delves into people. “Ethnography can help you discover new opportunities or better define for a specific group of people.” (Tunstall) Because no two individuals are completely identical and there are so many ways that people differ, it is next to impossible to develop a singular design practice that perfectly reaches all. However, ethnography sure narrows the quest.

Thanks for reading! I hope you found this interesting, and will conduct some independent investigations into ethnography on your own.

 

Reshonda,

 

Source:
“A Designer’s Research Manual:  Succeed in Design by Knowing Your Clients and What They Really Need” by Jennifer and Kenneth Visocky O’Grady

Unit 3, Blog Entry 1: Creative Blocks

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Hello Readers!

One subject that I have come across quite a bit in my dialog with other students and designers is experiencing creative blocks. A creative block can be described as just that…working periods when the creativity and ideas just are not flowing. This subject largely relates to a topic I am currently exploring, “Stress in Design”. For me, experiencing creative blocks is a huge stressor. However, there are ways to get around and not be overcome by them. If ever feeling a bit stunted in the idea department, here are a few of my practices to consider:

  1. Go to Sleep:  Fighting sleep while fighting the creative block only fights progress. Sometimes it helps to step away for a moment, get some rest and clear the mind for free flow.
  2. Log Your Likes:  Keep a journal/sourcebook. Whenever you come across a design or inspiring image, log it for future inspiration. For more inspiration tips, read: How to Improve as a Graphic Designer.
  3. Inspirational Quote:  Keep post it notes or designer plaque of your favorite inspirational quote in your workspace. Take a moment to look up at it and keep it moving. Here are a few of my favorites: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” -Philippians 4:13, “Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, and “If you take a moment to chill and be still, you can find the beauty and positivity in the moment.” -me
  4. Establish a “Playground”:  Playgrounds are a topic discussed in Methodological Practices. Your playground is wherever helps you find peace or inspiration. For me, it’s watching “play”. Play, for me, provides an escape…a sense of freedom. For example, I love to watch my nieces play and let their imaginations flow, as they make up games or have the most outlandish conversations for three-year-olds; or it’s watching my horses gallop full-speed through the pastures. This type of relaxing and care-free environment takes me away from heavy thought processes, if only for a moment, and reminds me of the purity in the simple things.
  5. Blast Your Favorite Music: Taking about an hour to dance uncontrollably (as rhythmless and unorthodox as you desire :-) ), sing to the top of your lungs (as off-tune as your heart pleases), and turn up the volume to some of your favorite tunes is a great stress reliever. Read: Music at Work: 3 Real Productivity Benefits
  6. Exercise: Exercise always helps me alleviate stress and clear my mind. Read: Exercise for Stress Relief
  7. Talk to Someone: Getting feedback on from a co-worker or target always helps. Even having a quick conversation with a friend or loved one relieves the tension of a creative block for a while.

…and when there’s no time for any of the above. Just PRAY. Hopefully, this was a pleasant reminder that when things get a little heavy  or your brain unscrupulously takes a break, blow off some steam and get back to it! Thanks for reading! :-)

Reshonda,

702, Unit 2, Blog Entry: Exploration A

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Hi readers,

In GRDS 702: Methodological Practice, we were asked to discuss challenges, curiosities and random thoughts generated from working on Exploration A, Part2 and Exploration A, Part 3.

Immediately, after reading the instructions for Exploration A, I was thrown for a bit of a loop. I thought, ” What on earth am I going to do with a list of words, that include:  iPhone, Trojan Horse and Force?” Then, I was asked to expand each of the three words to form three more random lists and do it quickly. THEN, I was asked to give my list to another classmate and expand upon another classmate’s list. At this point in the exploration, my curiosity is most certainly peaked. So far, there have not been any challenges. However, my mind is definitely wondering. Will I have to create an iPhone ad demonstrating force and featuring a trojan horse? I even brainstormed and came up with a catchy phrase for the commercial, “Don’t be bamboozled by the competition. Fight your battles with the iPhone 5.” LOL That’s a bit out there, I know…but I thought it was worth a try.

Because this class is called Methodological Practice, I’m assuming this exercise is just a way to demonstrate how ideas and simple thoughts are expounded upon and formed into a much larger and more complex concept. Thanks for reading my random thoughts on the randomness of Exploration A! ;-)

Reshonda,