rr08

heskett ch 9-10.

contexts:

Design is performed in 3 contexts: business, professional organization, and government policy.

As explained by many examples in the book, design has been the solution for many problems in government and business, and is the reason for much success as well. It's the companies that 'get it' that strive (like P&G, not mentioned in this book, but mentioned in nearly every IDEO book...). Essentially design is everywhere, and it is important to understand its work everywhere.

Futures:

Designers are responsible for how we interact with the future as they are responsible for the interactions that we make with products and things. As everything is getting increasingly global and industrial, it is the responsibility for the designer to keep human interaction in mind.

Essentially it is the designers who will design our futures. We just have to realize that its in their hands and give them the power to make good decisions.

j08

The team:
Be
Ben
Chris
Cindy
Ian
Rachel
(and me)

State of project:
We have made good progress, but we still have a long way to go in order to have a finished product. Not many official decisions have been made, but we are heading in some definite directions. We have been focusing our potential user as being related to a suburban family and we've done our research about them, but we haven't made a final decision on the user.

Here are our various brainstorming sheets:
definitions, categories and problems
problem list continued
Users and strategies
Mind map
Day 2 brainstorming

We've been working fairly well as a group, although it is admitedly difficult in any situation to work with a group of 7 people on a project that requires input and feedback from all members, were doing a pretty good job. The room situation makes it a bit difficult to communicate as we can all be sitting near each other, but not able to hear 2 people down. This in turn makes it difficult for all voices to be heard and to know everything that's being said. I'm hoping that when the project gets a little more 'real' we can split up into smaller groups which would make it easier for communication and in feeling more comfortable in sharing their ideas.

We're heading in a direction, albeit fairly slowly, but I'm sure when we make our final decisions on the user and product, everything else will be able to fall into place rather quickly.

For the first day of brainstorming I helped lead the initial brainstorming process so we didn't end up thinking about products and physical things before we brainstormed the underlying details. That was something that went wrong in Design 230 last quarter when one person in our group (who only attended the class half the time) led our only brainstorming session astray forcing us to decide on the direction of our project hastily at the end of class when we realized that all of our brainstorming that we had done had been for naught. By the time the brainstorming tips and hints were posted, we had already covered each element in depth already.

On the flipside, maybe my overconcern for thinking of solutions too quickly without defining the problem has contributed to our lack of final decisions made, and now we have a lot of work to do.

I think now we all realize that we have done the abstract thinking and now we need some concrete decisions in order to meet the deadline.

cr07

This past week in design 200 consisted of the guest speakers from Cobego (which included the marshmallow challenge) and the day of Eames videos and sorting ourselves into groups.

I enjoyed the talk from the former design students talking about their student and current work. I enjoyed talking with them after the class to get more information on how to get into their field.

While I can appreciate the message of the 'marshmallow challenge' type activities, I don't really enjoy doing them. They often end up having one trick at the end that just ends up geing really annoying, although my group considered just attaching the marshmallow to the ceiling either by using a spaghetti as a skewer or attaching it with tape, but we thought that was too cheap, so we didn't.

We also thought that it had to be freestanding (which it did) so we did not tape the bottom of our structure to the table, which would have prevented it from breaking.

The Eame's videos were kind of interesting, but the solar do-nothing whatever made me super tired because like the contraption, the movie did nothing.

rr07

ch4-6

Waste equals food:

Before industry, what was used or taken was typically re-entered into the life cycle so that things could continue. Since, we manage to create products that are unsafe to allow to return to the earth and we do not replenish the nutrients that we do use.

The authors suggest creating new purchasing structures to assist in creating sustainable life cycles for products so that we can continuously use the resources that we have today for similar uses tomorrow.

This reminds me of my internship at a hybrid repair shop ( www.lusciousgarage.com ) and part of my job was to separate components for recycling (rubber, electronic components, hard plastic, paper, etc).

respect diversity:

Diversity is necessary to be able to adapt to changes in the environment and to return back to homeostasis, which can be dynamic.

We as humans like to believe that there is only one way of doing things or one answer, but by boxing ourselves in we lose our ability to adapt and change. By introducing more diversity, we can create better solutions (like cross-pollination, one of the 10 facets of innovation according to IDEO's book The 10 faces of innovation). We need to use what is available to us because that is our natural advantage.

Although diversity is sometimes squelched, its what people really want as they want to differentiate themselves.

We often get caught up in looking at the initial costs that it may require to make products, but as told by the authors in several cases (shower gel, carpet, etc), putting more money and thought in onset, actually requires less money, effort, and materials later on in order to fix the cheaper materials that they were using. In the end 3 things need to be optimized, Economy, ecology and equity in order to create the best product in the most sustainable way. To retain the diversity in our world, we need to start giving nutrients back to the earth as opposed to merely taking.

putting eco-effectiveness into practice:

The authors give 5 main steps to becoming eco-effective:

1.) "get 'free' of known culprits": getting away from dangerous chemicals that we are used to finding in products that we use.

2.)"Follow informed personal preferences": we need to make decisions based on the information (however limited) we have now. We cannot wait for perfection, and we can't make something completely ugly just because we think its eco-friendly. Essentially choose the option that is less bad.

3.)"Creating a passive positive list": dividing and deciding whether materials belong in the 'x-list' (toxic, carcinogenic, etc), 'gray list' (still not good for you or environment) or the 'p-list'(a healthier/better alternative, the positive list).

4.)"Activate the positive list": "Stop trying to figure out how to be less bad, and start figuring out how to be good" (178).

5.)"Re-invent" Essentially reinventing solutions that we had been using to create a new type of solution to the more general problem, like gas-guzzling cars to cars that produce energy, or even inventing a new way of human transport.

Rather than trying to use old infrastructure and retro-fit what was used with your new goals, build something new. Start fresh, Tabula Rasa.

Make intentions known so that everyone can support it rather than only the executives.

Innovation and eco-effectiveness have ever evolving definitions. In order to stay relevant, and eco-effective, solutions must be revisited and they must evolve when needed.

____________

j07 Online scavenger hunt

Links to the websites of 5 manufacturers or retailers who specialize in outdoor camping and recreation products:
1.) http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/home/index.jsp (retailer)
2.) http://www.coleman.com/ (manufacturer)
3.) http://www.moosejaw.com/ (retailer)
4.) http://www.thenorthface.com/ (manufacturer/retailer)
5.) http://www.altrec.com/ (retailer)


3 images of trade show/exhibition booths from the recreation and sporting industry:








http://www.qycamping.com/fUpfiles/new1%5B0001%5D.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7XtER5sR96M/SAjV_erB_I/AAAAAAAAAj8/GgZbBtoZKZU/s1600/SOTA+SHOW+-+TRACY+GIBSON+ON+THE+TIGHTROPE.jpg

http://www.magnumboots.com/uploads/im/global/news/article_zoom/shot-show-2010-las-vegas-059.jpg


Links to the websites of 5 manufacturers or retailers who specialize in indoor home goods products:


1.) http://www.homegoods.com/ (retailer)
2.) http://www.target.com/ (retailer)
3.) http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/ (retailer)
4.) http://www.potterybarn.com/ (manufacturer/retailer)
5.) http://www.pier1.com/ (retailer)

3 images of trade show/ exhibition booths from the indoor home goods market:




http://www.125west.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/HousewaresShow20101.jpg


http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles3/232624/projects/709618/78666450fc9bc3d708616168ab42d53f.jpg


http://lh4.ggpht.com/_T79cM-fL3CY/SE_mWGGYcWI/AAAAAAAAFOw/fRBYiwAkDMQ/megaware+iconic(1).JPG

A working definition of what an "indoor home good" is?:

An item taken to benefit the inside of the home such as rugs, lighting, furniture, kitchen and dining items, and bed and bath items. Essentially anything at potterybarn or pier one imports that is meant for inside the home.



3 images of different types of possible home goods:
(kitchen, lighting, furniture)



http://www.kitchencontraptions.com/images/B00006L58I.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg




http://site.unbeatablesale.com/img2001/cim564.jpg




http://latcityvista.net/picture/150po%C3%A4ng_chair.jpg

letterforms found

A is for Avoid!

B is for Breakfast (or Brunch if you will)!

C is for Campus

E is for Enjoy a seat!

h is for have another seat!

i is for Illuminate!

J is for jolly good place to sit! (if you're able to mirror the picture which i can't figure out in iPhoto...)

M is for McDonalds (lookalike)

P is for Passing through the door

Q is for quite an interesting find

T is for trouble if mishandled

U is for look up for more letters!

V is for varied sources... and the end.

cr06, i must be boring...

I thought that the legal issues in design lecture was pretty interesting. For me, it made design more real and definable. I'm also intrigued by patents becauase i hope to have some someday (not because i want to be a patent attorney, because that sounds pretty boring). Last quarter in my entrepreneurship class i was in a group that created a concept for a new type of patent obtaining business, so i know a bit about the patenting process. I enjoyed the girl talk movie because its interesting to see how ridiculous 'the man' has gotten. Despite my little bit of knowledge about patents, i didn't want to join into the discussion because by the time i would have, it was way off topic. People obtain patents to protect their ideas. That should be allowed. While i agree that information should be shared (and rightly credited) for the greater good, people have a right to their own work. That being said, record companies should no longer be able to procecute illegal downloaders because music is everywhere. They need to adapt with the times and find new ways to make money besides record sales and lawsuits. Some patent facts; 98% of patents don't make money (because people don't consider manufacturability when obtaining patents) Done through the united states patent and trademark office (uspto) Utility patents can vary in cost based on complexity, but can be around $10,000. Design patents are much cheaper ~$2,000, but are easier to go around. A strategy for some companies is to obtain several design patents to safeguard their idea further by protecting similar designs

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rr06

A question of design:

The story is always the same: we want one thing and alienate everything else to get it.
Economic success? Great! let's kill the environment.
Children's toys? Let's put toxic chemicals in them.

In the State of California, in all of the little trinket shops there are signs everywhere saying that the state of california says that the certain product contains chemicals known to cause cancer.

Why are they still made?
and I'm sure those trinkets are sold in other states as well, without warning.

I've read this chapter before, but it just really makes me paranoid.

why being less bad is no good:
Little particles of toxins collect and become large areas of little particles of toxins.

regulation is a design failure (61)

Being less bad isn't good because people and corporations will settle for not being 'the worst.' The earth is going to continue to deteriorate unless we can change our ways to become "100% good" (67),

I find this approach to be true, especially in my classes. I could be taking a math class and tell myself that an 80% would be good on my quizzes and boom! I get 80%, but I wouldn't get any better unless I change my attitude to strive for 100%, so then maybe I'll get a 90% or 95%, which is of course much better than an 80%.

eco-effectiveness:

There is a lot of thought put into making things eco-friendly, but do they actually become eco-friendly?
Does using these different materials require more chemicals and can the materials be recycled again? downcycled?

As a consumer in america, I am often swayed by the 'green' and 'ecofriendly' tag that products can have. "Oh, they say it it must be true"

Apparently not so. Soy based inks and earth-friendly materials may require carcinogens for their production.
This book, although made of plastic, is infinitely recyclable and can be used for better and lesser things in its future life, going cradle to cradle, rather than cradle to grave (although if this book were to be thrown out, then it wouldn't be very eco friendly because plastic doesn't biodegrade very easily).

As the Authors said, there are many gives and takes with the design of things and many times we get in our own ways when trying to make a change (legislation against cherry trees! c'mon!).

I thought It was pretty cool that Herman Miller created their factory to be very nature focused (also I recently sat in a Aeron chair... very comfortable and crazy that they cost anywhere from ~$600- $900...)

Again, another thought provoking chapter that makes me paranoid of the products that I use everyday. It is seriously about to make me into a hypochondriac thinking i have cancer all the time...

j06 design and color

DESIGN & COLOR:

I feel that color is important to design because one of design's goals is to communicate, something that color can do inherently. Color is fascinating especially because we all see it differently, and sometimes very differently . Some of the things we learned about in lecture were the color wheel and what colors 'play nice' together, as well as what emotions/feelings the different colors invoke. The following articles cover topics in color including color matching/metamerism, synesthesia, the effect of color in our medications and locker rooms, the effect of using a red pen, and how men and women view colors differently. Color is everywhere and learning how what it can mean is one step forward in learning what is going on around us.


1. Metamerism: Matching in only certain lights?

http://www.colormatters.com/r_barclay.html

Here is an interesting article about colors in a retail environment and how to ensure that the 'true' color is displayed with certain lighting. I know I have gone to a store and seen a shirt that I've really liked, just to bring it home and not like it as much anymore. The differences between the fluorescent lighting of stores and the incandescent lighting of homes can make a big difference in how we see the color of something. The variations are based on the dying processes (the colorants that have gone into the product) and the lighting in which they're displayed. Ian Barclay explains the issues with color matching including metamerism (when a color matches in one light, but not another). --- like how everything matches in no light ;)

2. Grapheme/sound color synesthesia:
http://www.bluecatsandchartreusekittens.com/Blue_Cats_and_Chartreuse_Kittens_Ex.html
http://otherthings.com/uw/syn/

Grapheme color synesthesia is when someone sees a word or an image as a specified color, like 'R' is orange and 'P' is yellow and '4' is green. Synesthesia is the mashup of multiple senses, where one sense can experience something, then sense it in one of their other senses as well.
These links attach to one synesthete's autobiography and has a passage from her book detailing the confusion when she realized that others didn't see her colors. It's a fascinating 'gift' as described by those who have it. There is a wealth of article links on this website for anyone interested in 'tasting' more about synesthesia.

The other link is more of a FAQ guide by one synesthete informing the world how she sees letters and words. A better view on the inside of what it could be like to have synesthesia.

3. Drunk Tank Pink
http://www.colormatters.com/body_pink.html

Apparently Pink can make guys weak. Used in jails to calm prisoners, having cells pink can have short term effects on behavior. There are some locker rooms that are painted pink in order to pacify the opposing team. This is a fun, short little article on how colors can effect our moods and motivations.


4.The color of medication can make a difference?! Valium is my favorite color (props for anyone who gets that reference)!
http://www.colormatters.com/body_pills.html

This article describes the background of design in the pharmaceutical field. It describes the many ways in which color makes a difference in the drug field (marketing and distinguishing between different types of medication). It even describes the sometimes synesthetic effects that the color of medications can have on the user.

5. Here are several articles that are discussing the negative effects of teachers using red pens in classes:
http://ase.tufts.edu/psychology/ambady/pubs/rutchick-slepian-ferris_ejsp[1].pdf ,
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041004/news_1m4pens.html


Its no fun to have your paper that you worked so hard on handed back to you covered in the metaphorical blood of criticism made possible by a red pen. No matter what the red pen says, its depressing and makes you feel like a failure. That is why many teachers are deciding against the crimson implement. In the many interesting articles and research that I found, the story is much the same: people associate red with failure. According to one of the research papers, both the grader and the graded are negatively affected by the red pen. Some are moving towards other colors, but is that really the issue? Read on to find out!


6.) Gender differences in color?
http://www.colormatters.com/khouw.html

This article describes the differences between what color means for men and women. Does your girlfriend prefer red over blue? How does your boyfriend feel about these colors? This article describes some of the differences in how men and women perceive color and what they typically choose as favorites, among other differences in the ways the men and women perceive color. Are your opinions consistent with their findings?

Cr05

During this past week in design 200, we talked about color and design in the environment. Some of the color topics that were mentioned were new to me, but others I had heard of. I had specifically heard before that McDonald's colors are red and yellow because they invoke speed and hunger. I've also heard that blue has no hunger triggers at all, although I'd have to imagine (from my own impirical findings) that in non-natural settings, green has a pretty similar effect as well (it all started with a hot dog and green ketchup.... ew).

In high school I actually learned a bit about biomimicry. We had a project where we had to design a dwelling in some specific environment of the world that took advantage of natures natural capabilities. For example my group's environment was the Outback of Australia and we used the features of the bottle tree, thorny devil, and other plants and animals of the region. I didn't particularly enjoy this project because it went on way too long and our teacher did not make it enjoyable. We actually took advantage of the Biomimicry guild's asknature.org website in order to do some of our research.

I had seen most of the videos we watched this week. All perhaps except for the clean water video and the warm embrace video.

McDonough Introduction: This is not a blog post

Everything good, is bad for you. Everything you think you are doing right, you're actually doing wrong. I had this book from my high school engineering/design course where we read through a few of the chapters.

This time reading the introduction, you see how McDonough and Braungart see what is wrong with both the industrial and the environmental points of view. Like that a rug made of recycled bottles may still be as unsafe and environmentally hazardous as the typical rug available.

In order to make a change, the change has to start at the beginning of the cycle, and like the sub-title of the book, "Remaking the way we make things." No longer can things be made to be less bad or only out of local/available materials, but they also have to be made with their future in mind and whether they can be recycled, reuse or whatever else could prevent it from a landfill or incinerated grade.

"Scientists are trained in analysis rather than synthesis" (12).
"Nature doesn't have a design problem. People do" (16).

50 things on a trip to Thompson library

A trip to Thompson Library:

1. Did I bring all my work with me?
2. Am I going to find a place to work?
3. Will it/I be too loud?
4. when does the library open?
5. which way do I push/pull the door
6. where is there an empty study space
7. Will i finish before the library closes
8. Where is the bathroom?
9. Where is the book that I need?
10. where can i check out a book?
11. Where do these glass stairs lead?
12. Where will I get food when I'm hungry
13. Will the line be long (I don't like lines)
14. Will I be able to see the menu from the back of a line?
15. What can I get for a swipe?
16. Will there be an available outlet near a study spot?
17. Will my adapter even fit into it (the large apple adapters).
18. where can I get help?
19. is there a more quiet place to study?
20. what is with the mezanine floors (2,3,4)?
21. If I meet up with someone are they going to know where to go?
22. The stacks look really cool when i'm walking around
23. The floor on the 4th floor is really cool. The cork mutes the noise.
24. Is there a vending machine anywhere? I don't want to go to the cafe.
25. The people in the study room with the large window facing west are being too loud.
26. How do I sign in the internet on the computers?
27. How can I print?
28. People are in study rooms
29. I want a study room
30. how can i get a study room?
31. I'm getting distracted, need to move elsewhere.
32. What do I do with all of my stuff when I have to go to the bathroom?
33. How do I stay motivated for so long
34. The screens are cool when they move, but also completely distracting
35. people watching is distracting
36. Does anyone ever take out books at a college library?
37. Why is there only 1 set of accessible elevators (there's a service elevator elsewhere?
38. The glass stairs give me vertigo.
39. apparently there are 1800 seats available, but I wonder where they are...?
40. There should be a coffee vending machine for those who need instant caffinated gratification
41. the grand staircase makes whoever walks down it feel super important/in the middle of everything
42. I wonder how many people get things stolen from them per day
43. Do the security people ever have to stop anyone?
44. I wonder how many people are actually here when the library opens?
45. I wish they had better food at the Berry Cafe
46. is there a superstition about walking on the school seal on the floor?
47. the bust's head is particularly smooth (from superstitious rubbing)
48. I wonder how much it costs to power Thompson, as it uses many green technologies.
49. Is it going to be safe outside whenever I choose to leave thompson (is it going to be really late?)
50. where's the closest bus stop?

a03 scavenger hunt

(excuse the photo formatting... blogger is not super conducive to pictuer formatting.
For the Design 200 scavenger hunt, I partnered up with Chris Poche (http://keepingupwiththetime.blogspot.com/ )

After receiving the clues in class, we looked through to see where was the best place to start. Immediately I remembered that there are several famous chairs inside the Architecture library. Noticing the other clue, we decided that it was best to go there to plan out the rest of the hunt.

Our process was a true collaboration. We helped with the composition of each others pictures and brainstormed interesting features of the different buildings as well as our path to see them. We researched online together and we used Chris' camera to take the photos. Chris later transferred the pictures to me through the use of a flash drive. We then brainstormed ways to prove that we both did equal work.

We ended up quickly decided to head to knowlton's library first in order to find the barcelona chair, plus another famous chair. We took a while composing our shots and taking pictures with several different chairs.

From knowlton we ventured to the SEL, to Thompson and the Wexner center. Since it was cold, we decided that this path would minimize walking outside as well as ending near somewhere we were headed. Even after finishing, I feel like we made the best choice on how to tackle the clues provided.

Clue 1: Barcelona Chair
(Barcelona is the bottom picture)





The barcelona chair was designed by: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Bruer in the early/mid 20th century (Bauhaus)
Interesting fact: The table that was designed to go with the Barcelona chairs were inspired by tubular bike frames. In the library we were one of the first groups to find the chair and take our pictures in it because we worked so seamlessly together


clue 02:
(top 2 pictures)

The other chair is called a Paimio chair model #41 created by Alvar Aalto in the early/mid 20th century It was made with bent laminatedsolid birch (wikipedia). An interesting fact is that he was one of the most influential finnish architects, and appeared on a postage stamp in 1976 (and his initials for his full name are HAHA)

In the picture I am reading DWELL magazine.
We had experimented with several different chairs for this portion of the scavenger hunt, but ultimately decided to choose the same one. We took turns taking the pictures with hopes of getting a peek of the roof-top garden in the background

Clue 03:

Eisenman designed the Wexner center.This was Eisenman's first major project. He based the white metal trusses/frameworks on the street/grid pattern of columbus. Some complain of its lack of functionality, but what it lacks there, it makes up for in architectural interest. When we discovered that the Wexner was one of the clues, we both wanted to find a way to climb on the white scaffolding for our picture. We took turns finding interesting places to stand in the air while the other one took pictures.






Clue 4:
Philip Johnson designed the mathematics tower and the Science and Engineering Library What's interesting about the feature that I picked was that even something as industrial looking, like a vent or a fan, can look interesting on a building made otherwise, of all brick. Johnson took inspiration from the Wexner center turret, although he understated it as these buildings are not as visible as the wexner center, which is why there are circular brick patterns.
(http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/ohiomath/index.htm)




Clue 05:

Acock associates: Thompson Library (most recent renovations)
An Interesting fact about construction on campus: Completed since 1912, Thompson library has been renovated/expanded 3 times (wikipedia). What's cool about Thompson is that there are so many interesting details that are cool on the inside and out. On the outside, Chris especially liked the detailing, and really like the large panoramic view of west campus through the large window Our pictures help show these aspects