Journal Entry 6

30 conversations on design: Thirty designers were asked two questions

1. “What single example of design inspires you most?”
2. “What problem should design solve next?”

some responses that I thought were interesting:

Eric Spiekermann
to him, the greatest example of design is the alphabet, Gutenberg and the printing press. The alphabet is the greatest triumph in design.

Chip Kidd
There isn't on specific thing that inspires Chip but a multitude of things: monthly mortgage payments, working and living in NY, looking over the Hudson, buildings and being a spy.

Miguel Vasquez
Lately, for him facebook has been a source of inspiration for design. It allows him to see what a social network really is. It invites people to be proactive, to be involved, to communicate. It has grown as a usability tool.
The problem he thinks design should solve next is to improve the quality of life. It shouldn't just be a marketing tool. it should be used to organize and communicate.

Paula Scher
there isn't a single piece of design that she finds inspirational. She only finds design interesting in its time in relation to something else. Design doesn't solve problems...problems emerge and people think of ways to do things better. There no specific thing design should talk, but a multitude of things: they involve the way we life, the way we use things, the way we deal with our environment and society and sometimes, design isn't even the answer to these problems.

Ric Grefe
inspirations: Epiphanies. Michelangelo's staircase,Swiss railway systems, three tine Queen Anne silver forks...there's no way to single out one specific thing. To do so is trivial because every day design is seen that blows him away, things that make me go "I couldn't have done that".
He would like to see designers design their place in the world. It's not what designers make but the way they approach problems that makes them unique. It's this way of thinking that is key to big solutions.



My own response to these questions is this:

I think that inspiration is everywhere. There's no way I would be able to narrow it down to one specific thing. I see things that inspire, that provoke thought, that keep the wheels churning almost every day. Design is every where, whether man-made or natural, and because I think it's impossible for there to be one single source of inpiration.

As to what problem design should solve next, I would agree with Miguel Vasquez: to improve the quality of life. Good design is out there, and I think good desgin can also help solve this problem.

Project Two// Timeline: Process

PROJECT BRIEF

Establishing order: Graphic design often relies on typography to communicate order, information, and systems. The goal of this project is to make things easy to read, navigate and understand. As you learned in typography one, the foundation for creating an clear informational structure is a a strong typographic hierarchy. Type size, weight, and color are the the first steps. Graphic elements (lines, arrows, grids) and page structure are often used to aid in establishing a clear hierarchy.

Use the content from the website, you may use any additional resources for more information, images, etc. You may work in groups on collecting content.

CHALLENGE
How can you visualize the content? How can the audience get a quick understanding about the topic? How are the pulled into the content to find out more?

SKETCHES:






ROUND ONE:



ROUND TWO:


ROUND THREE:


THE HISTORY OF PHOTGRAPHY: FINAL






PROJECT OVERVIEW: Once we were given the topics to choose from, The History of Photography caught my attention right away. Overall, I really enjoyed this project, from beginning to end. I was able to establish the direction I wanted to go in early on in my sketching stage which made everything relatively easy. After that I spent the most of time just modifying and tweeking small elements. I ended up having two versions but only printed one . I'm happy with the way everything turned out and still I plan on still playing with it.

Journal Entry 5

TED is definitely home to many great minds. Along with Stefan Sagmeister's talk on happy design, I enjoyed Philippe Starks thoughtful talk on design.

on Happy Design: Stefan Sagmeister is such a captivating and inspirational person. He is a man of lists. Listing out the happiest moments in his life, he shows us that over half of those times involve him experiencing, whether witnessing or being apart of, design. He discussed momments where design evokes happiness. By sharing what makes Stefan happy, others, the audience, the viewers like myself, get this same feeling. By being passionate, by working without pressure, by getting out and enjoying life, all of this can lead to happy design.