bugcatcher forfourseventy

100 Days Project

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 03:24:55 -0400

Thesis thinkin’ happening right here. For the past five years, Michael Bierut “taught a workshop for the graduate graphic design students at the Yale School of Art. The specific dates always change, but the basic assignment goes something like this: Beginning Thursday, October 21, 2010, do a design operation that you are capable of repeating every day. Do it every day between today and up to and including Friday, January 28, 2011, the last day of the project, by which time you will have done the operation one hundred times.”

In preparing your thesis ideas… you will want to head here and read the whole article and check out the ideas! Here are three to start you off!

“Finally, when Jessica Svendsen told me she wanted to create 100 variations of Josef Muller-Brockmann’s classic 1955 poster for a Beethoven program at the Zurich Tonhalle, I never thought she could pull it off. The original just seemed too iconic and singular to withstand that kind of focus. But to my surprise and pleasure she pulled it off, and then some. Some people noticed the project on line midway through the process and started following along.”

“Zak Klauck: “Over the course of 100 days, I made a poster each day in one minute. The posters were based on one word or short phrase collected from 100 different people. Anyone and everyone was invited to contribute.” The perfect exercise for a graphic designer.”

“The most famous graduate of the 100 Day Workshop is, without a doubt, Ely Kim. When I asked him what he had planned, he responded, “I’m going to film myself doing a different dance in a different place every day.” He said it with such absolute assurance that I was taken aback. “Are you a good dancer?” I asked. Ely said: “Yes.” The resulting video, “Boombox,” has been viewed over half a million times and won Ely invitations to dance in, among other places, Sao Paulo, Brazil.”

“…what, exactly, is the point of this project?” Michael Bierut has ”always had a fascination with the ways that creative people balance inspiration and discipline in their working lives. It’s easy to be energized when you’re in the grip of a big idea. The only way to experience this kind of discipline is to subject yourself to it. Every student who has taken this project had a moment where the work turned into a mind-numbing grind. And trust me: it won’t be the first time this happens. The trick is to press on. For each new day (whether it’s Day 28, Day 61, even Day 100) brings with it the hope of inspiration.”

Lee Walton’s Minnesota Chess Club project… In 2009, for...

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 04:25:00 -0400

Lee Walton’s Minnesota Chess Club project… In 2009, for part of a solo-exhibition at Bethel University, Walton teams up wth the best chess players in the Twin Cities to produce a series of charcoal drawings on paper. Walton had the players play their games on paper and here are the results…

Spoonful of Sugar Relational Design Project

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:41:56 -0400

Thanks again to Cameron for sending this out over his Tumblr! I thought it might be fun and helpful to your brainstorming to reblog more images & links from/to this project!

Reblogged (Thanks Cameron!) from DesignWorkLife: “I’m so excited about this next project that designer Leen Sadder, a grad u ate stu dent in the SVA Designer as Author pro gram, con cep tu al ized. For Stefan Sagmeister’s class, “Can design touch someone’s heart?”, Leen chose to dress up as Mary Poppins and escort umbrella-less New Yorkers across the street on a rainy day. How great is that? In addi tion to the idea being pretty damn smart, she also adorned the umbrella with some beau ti fully hand-lettered lyrics to A Spoonful of Sugar. You can check out a few more images of the process and results right here.”

design work life » Spoonful of Sugar

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:22:00 -0400

design work life » Spoonful of Sugar:

Thank you Cameron for this post! SVA Designer As Author MFA graduate project called Spoonful of Sugar, Leen Sadder, hand lettered this umbrella, dressed up as Mary Poppins, carrying hand dipped chocolate spoons and escorted damp Manhattanites on rainy days… For more check out this link…

Rules of Engagement

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:04:27 -0400

viafrank:

We used to have audiences, but the information age has transformed them into users who are no longer satisfied with the passive consumption of content. They desire interactions and opportunities to connect and contribute. Designers are placed in a position to plan and produce the systems, platforms, frameworks, events and artifacts that work as a conduit to facilitate these interactions and experiences.

Unfortunately, there’s little information to cite about what works and what does not in these sorts of endeavors. We’re left looking in the periphery for wisdom about the process, trying to find patterns in other realms that can be mapped into this new space.

Read More

Bobulate: Designing for improvisation

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:04:02 -0400

Bobulate: Designing for improvisation:

We all had to play two instruments. Piano, “and.” Regardless, the music was classical. All structure, baroque. As I got older, I still picked up instruments, but always played within classical lines. Improv, and in particular, jazz, have always been a fascination to me because they’re a downright…

(via Monster Supplies | Ministry of Stories)

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:30:08 -0400

(via Monster Supplies | Ministry of Stories)

Natsuko Pursell's thesis project. An identity system & lookbook for Mican clothing design.

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:37:40 -0400

Problem: a visual identity for high-end fashion company by Natsuko Pursell.

Your tumblr blog!

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:27:00 -0400

A Tumblr is a easy to update blog, tailor made to act as a scrap book of images, movies, audio and quotes. It plays nice with long-format original text too. This is the one for Lis’ section of 470 (lis470.tumblr.com!) Kate has one! Frank has one (and loves it). And we will post the Tumblrs here for all of the 470 classes very soon!

470 students are required to keep their own Tumblr blog (and follow all classmates) as a means to document visual discoveries while doing research, to serve as a repository for reading responses, and a place to hold your thoughts, observations and process about your projects.

Again, all students are required to FOLLOW everyone in the class (and all three of the 470 class blogs). It will be our primary way of sharing progress and inspiration!

There are tons of ways to post content to a Tumblr blog, but I presume a lot of our posts will follow a few different “formulas.” (But! Don’t let this limit you.) Links to examples below:

Tumblr also has made a handy “bookmarklet,” a bookmark that can sit in your bookmarks bar. When you’re surfing, if you find a relevant image, just click on the “Share on Tumblr” bookmarklet, select the image you want in the popup and click the Save button. If it’s text, just highlight the text you’d like to quote and click the bookmarklet. Easy peasy. You’ll be filling up your blogs in no time. Here are some instructions on how to install the bookmarklet.

You can also follow other Tumblr blogs. Here are a few suggestions:

Uppercase Magazine Blog
Bobulate
Waxin’ and Milkin’
Land PDX
Folk Object
Ace Hotel Blog
Matthew Buchanan
52 Weeks of UX
Daily Drop Cap
Feltron
This Isn’t Happiness
Letterheady
Also check out Tumblr’s blog directory for more recommendations.

How to inspire people to give their heart-felt

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 08:51:00 -0400

vision of a new public space? The city of Montréal needed designs to help inaugurate a public space within the new urban development of the Quartier des Spectacles, generating public interest in the vision and future of the area. (relational design [R.D.] & design engagement methods)

The ‘Museum of Possibilities’ was created for one day during Montréal’s city-wide open day for Museums. Members of the public could pick up a piece of paper and write down what they would like to have happen in that space in the future. Visitors entered the field of balloons to add an ‘entry’ to the museum of possible things which might happen on site. People also received a set of stickers so they could wander through the Museum of Possibilities and add a vote of approval for possible future events. This voting helped to turn ‘possibilities’ into probabilities and gave the client concrete data on public interest. At the end of the day, 500 balloons were given away and the pop-up museum disbanded.

A collaboration with Melissa Mongiat, Mouna Andraos & Amélie Bilodeau, May 2010

How do you get kids ages six to eighteen and their teachers excited about writing and classes about writing?

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:49:00 -0400

Strategy: design & create themed street-front retail stores filled with unusual products, entertaining signage, and, of course, our books for sale.

Hmmmm what type of themes might excite kids & teachers?

The Pirate Store. The Bigfoot Research Institute. Superhero Supply Co. Space Travel Supply Store. Robot Supply & Repair shop. A Time Travel Mart.

The Pirate Store, San Francisco, CA

Posters from the Pirate Store.

Superhero supply co., Brooklyn, NY.

A Space Travel Supply Store. Seattle, WA

Poster from the space travel online store. (Seattle, WA.)

The Greenwood Space Travel Store organizes a Pluto is a planet protest! ”With a loud explosion of cheers, we marched to protest the 2006 IAU decision to redefine ‘planet’, thus removing Pluto from the planetary pantheon. Over 30 protesters participated, chanting ‘Hey hey, ho ho, the IAU has got to go’ and ‘Damn it, Janet – Pluto is a planet.’”

Check out the The Museum of Unnatural History.

Robot Supply & Repair, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Robot stuff! Robot Supply & Repair, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The Boring Store (AKA not a secret agent store).

Time Travel Mart, Echo Park, LA

Bigfoot Research Institute.

Goals: Create writing workshops & tutoring for kids & adults… To raise funds, inspire creativity, and advertise our programs to the local community, most of our centers include a street-front retail store filled with unusual products, entertaining signage, and, of course, our books for sale.

826 National is a nonprofit tutoring, writing, and publishing organization with locations in eight cities across the country. Our goal is to assist students ages six to eighteen with their writing skills, and to help teachers get their classes excited about writing. 826 Stores.

http://826national.org/stores/

Books of kid’s letters to Michelle & Barack Obama!

Relational design process: the Give & Take team and...

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:05:00 -0400

Relational design process: the Give & Take team and PSU’s laser cutter… narshero ”Fun with lasers!”

Michael Eaton and 470 team’s Trading Post relational...

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 06:56:00 -0400

Michael Eaton and 470 team’s Trading Post relational design project, “Give & Take” (check out Michael’s documentation of the project: Fits All Who Fit In)

Improvisation and Design. Liz Danzico, SVA. “People are...

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 06:42:00 -0400

Improvisation and Design. Liz Danzico, SVA. “People are improvising. Whether intentional or not, designers are putting forth opportunities for people to engage in frameworks, giving them connections to take advantage of (or not). This session explores how these frameworks take hold and what the opportunities are for interaction designers.”

In our first readings for the term, we’ll be learning about frameworks, patterns, improvisation and creating platforms for audience contributions. Liz Danzico wrote one of the pieces, and a lot of the main points of her essay are encapsulated in this lecture by her at the Interaction ‘10 conference. It’s brain tingly and entertaining, by pulling in architecture, music and theater into her hypothesis.

Liz’s blog Bobulate.

SINCERELY INTERESTED at Field Work (by nicoleyfun)

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 18:00:25 -0500

SINCERELY INTERESTED at Field Work (by nicoleyfun)

thesis thinkin' & blogging blogs.

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:44:00 -0400

Hello 470 Students! Here are Flickr galleries of previous student work: Click for All galleries! New galleries are here and here. Galleries from 470 spring 2009 are here and here and here! Here are some blogs by your PSU colleagues: Michael Eaton, and Fortport by Aaron Rayburn & Ben Vickery.

Cedarwood by jeremy david smith

rachel.yoakum

Store House Dry Goods by Michael Eaton // http://www.fitsallwhofitin.com/

Store House Dry Goods by Michael Eaton // http://www.fitsallwhofitin.com/

HOW Blog | I Wish I Was At PSU

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:50:31 -0400

HOW Blog | I Wish I Was At PSU

FortPort: A Brilliant Blog

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 20:36:00 -0400

PSU GD grads Aaron Rayburn and Ben Vickery started this amazing blog as students. Its called FortPort. Aaron got a call from Esquire Magazine to rethink their identity due to FortPort! Check it out — this excellent blog has a distinct point of view, thoughtful voice, lots of heart and beautifully edited content. Consider this a great place to look for inspiration on how to approach your own blogs…. please take note of the writing and the ideas and the images…. and here are a few of my favorite posts: Natsuko and Andy, Desktop Wallpaper Whales, and last but never least: ATELIER, PROVOCATEUR, LOST TALENT

"Choose a strategy before you choose a design.” -Emily Kokenge"

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 20:22:42 -0400

““Choose a strategy before you choose a design.” -Emily Kokenge”

- johnmaeda

Flickr A-GO-GO for relational design events & projects.

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 20:15:00 -0400

Hello! Here are last year’s spring 2010 ART 470 Flickr groups for your review: Frank’s, Lis’, and Kate’s. Also, here are some images for your relational design projects: gallery and another gallery; and here is another piece from nap time.

Pop-up book by Natsuko Pursell and Andy Indrise for Naptime relational design event.

Pop-up book by Natsuko Pursell and Andy Indrise for Naptime event.

Naptime brandbook page (documentation of event).

Dictation Station team, spring 2010, Ben Vickery, Iris Dougherty, Lisa Kennedy & Aaron Rayburn (documentation of event).

Dictation Station team, spring 2010, documentation.

Dictation Station team, spring 2010, documentation of event.

Dictation Station team, spring 2010, Ben Vickery, Iris Dougherty, Lisa Kennedy & Aaron Rayburn (documentation of event).

Dictation Station, spring 2010, documentation of event.

Cover of designed by book by Lisa Kennedy — her design piece / interpretation of the Dictation Station event.

Four Square, documentation of process in preparation for the relational design event.

Interpretive design piece by Nate Garvison for the “Stranger to Stranger” relational design event.