Day 8: October 25th,2010

Today was definitely one of the duller days of class. Many of my classmates seemed inattentive and definitely were not fully awake. I was no different. Unfortunately, I had to be at work at 6am that same morning and the idea of my brain focusing for 2 and a half hours just didn't seem possible. But as the class slowly dragged on I became a little more focused but couldn't form my lips to respond to any of Jimmy's literal, or complex questions. But I was able to take notes and therefor I am able to attempt and complete this post ha ha. Jimmy asked us would we rather start the class watching a movie or having a discussion and of course we all chose movie, yet we started the class with a discussion.

We discussed the word iterative which means the act of repeating a process usually with the aim of approaching a desired goal, target, or result.  Basically, a process of doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results which is actually the same definition of insanity.

(Taken from Google)

After a long discussion of iterative and kind of flipping between the study of anthropology, and sociology Jimmy put on a couple TED presentations. We watched John Maeda and Scott McCloud. John Maeda was a very interesting character. He is very a funny and brilliant man. He has an interesting way of viewing design and he is easily inspired by the simplicity of life. He creates intelligent, design that requires creativity and originality. He doesn't limit his ideas and seems unafraid to use a wide spectrum of media. I enjoyed his speech because it made me realize that you don't have to create only "safe" designs to be successful.

John McCloud is a comic book artist and though I didn't get as much out of his presentation as I did the other I thought it was really cool how he had pictures simultaneously flashing on the screen as he covered various topics. The pictures had direct connection to what he was saying and were at times very comical. His presentation was very visual and he had some interesting ideas.

Reading Response 99-116

This chapter was similar to the brainstorming chapter it covered sketching. Sketching is an important process all artists should take very seriously. It is important to sketch everyday even if your sketches don't directly connect to a project your working on. Sketches shouldn't be done under only one circumstance or with using one media. It is important to have a wide variety of sketches. It's important to carry around a sketch book with you all the time because a lot of your best ideas come at the most random times. You can be inspired by the simplest things in life like shopping or even driving.

Like when brainstorming, when sketching you shouldn't be critical of your ideas. One must generate sketches quickly without thinking about it too hard. Always sketch many ideas and then go through a process of elimination.

(Taken from Google)

Reading Response (71-96)

This chapter of the book focuses on conceptualization. Brainstorming and mental mapping are a great way to organize and generate ideas. Brainstorming is a great way to freely jot down ideas because in this phase of design you don't consider error; nothing is final. You don't judge or discriminate against whatever ideas come to mind because this is just a way to get out your first thoughts on paper. Early on in the design process, it is important to consider every aspect of the project in front of you. One must consider materials, sustainability, costs, design restraints, etc. This is important to consider in the beginning phases of design not while actually creating.  Another idea in this chapter was the use of poetry and it;s connection to innovative design.

The use of simile, metaphor, and analogy are all creative tools that help designers create unusual designs. It allows us to put two unrelated things together by considering how they are connected. This idea is very important because when designing you should try and consider the unexpected and play around with taking the opposite approach to what's already been done. Meshing things together that normally wouldn't be mixed is an important design concept. I enjoyed reading this chapter because it focuses on improving a designer's approach to a project and puts an emphasis on the importance of brainstorming.

Day 7: October 20th, 2010

Today's class was very interesting and entertaining! Once again Jimmy conducted class in the front of the room in a small intimate circle. Today was an unusual class because we got to know each other a lot better and got to know who was good and not so good at lying. The best liars of the class were Chomsiri, Danny and of course myself ha ha. We all were asked to think of two truths and one lie. All of the things we said had to be something that people don't know about us. I had a hard time thinking of what my interesting facts would be. I wanted to say things that at first glance, appeared unbelievable so I could trick the class into believing my lie was the truth. I chose to share that I have 11 piercings, A 2 year old daughter, and I was born in San Diego. The entire class thought that there was no way I have 11 piercings, so as I planned, they all believed my truth was a lie. I then revealed that I am not a mother. I really enjoyed this exercise because it allowed us to address our flaws and qualities in oral presentation. I loved the idea behind this exercise.

After getting to know our classmates, we presented the images and headlines. This time around we all did a much better job and had a clearer understanding of what was wanted on the assignment. My classmates headlines were humorous, unexpected, original, and for the most part creatively fit with the images chosen. There were a variety of images and approaches to headlines. I think we all thought outside of the box and it is evident that we are beginning to explore our creativity. Over the weekend we are to come up with the 1 phrase/headline and 10 entirely different images that coincide with our headlines.


(My image I chose for homework)
Phrases/ Headlines
1.Queen Of The Jungle
2. Curiosity Killed The Cat
3. Where did I put my car keys?
4. American Idol Winner
5. Got Milk?
6. This is my Serious Face
7. Lost Cat: Reward if Found
8. I'm Looking at the Man in the Mirror
9. Treseme, Ooh la la!
10. You Wanna Piece of Me?



Day 6: October 18th, 2010

Class today was a little more laid back. We pushed all the desks towards the back of the class and sat around a circle in the front. I like this environment because its more personal. Your able to see everyone in the classes  face and it's a lot easier to hear what my peers had to say. I like this set up because its makes people want to share more, we feel as though we are in a safe close knit environment. Jimmy (Professor) showed us a couple design magazines and I can't recall their names at the moment. One of the magazines is made up entirely of student work and the other is a mixture of both professional and student work.

We looked at a couple adds from the magazines. The first add we looked at was an add from Art Center which was created to make potential students become interested in attending Art Center. The add was very confusing to most of the class including Jimmy. We all felt as though the add was too confusing and therefore didn't effectively fulfill it's purpose. In the add, there was a baby inside of an antique/vintage carriage holding a chainsaw. The add was very attention grabbing but was unclear in what they were trying to convey.

Throughout the remainder of class we looked a a few more adds, analyzed them, and critiqued them. After looking through both magazines we all shared the images we chose for our homework and read the headlines we chose to go along with the pictures. Many of the photos were interesting but the headlines weren't quite what Jimmy had in mind. He wanted us to be more creative and to state less obvious things. A lot of us took the literal approach and were very safe with the phrases we chose to describe our images. So, for the homework for Wednesday we are to do the same assignment but this time be a lot more creative in choosing the headlines.

Reading Response 39-70

In this chapter the book focused on the idea of restraints when designing. Restraints are often thought of as negative but this chapter assured me that restraints are actually a positive part of the design process. Restraints are the do's and dont's in a project. It is important to know the restraints on your design so you know your design limits. It is important to know a budget, materials, and sustainability. Designers must consider all aspects of a project/design and never assume anything. As quoted in the chapter artist should approach every project as if the world is against them.

The chapter also explored the idea of realizing what kind of mark your designs will have on the environment. In these times of wasteful consumption it is important to create products that are bio-degradable and that can be recycled. We as designers must consider materials used and make it an effort to go green.

Day 5: October 13th, 2007

In class we explored the idea of what makes a good story and what is expected in a story. We came up with several ideas such as a plot, theme, narrator, characters, climax, etc. We generalized that every good story should fall into a genre. We then presented our homework assignment which was to find three different pictures that when brought together tell a story. The class had some interesting stories; moreover, some were easy to comprehend and others were a lot more difficult to understand.

My story was about teen pregnancy. I chose three pictures that told of a girl finding out she was pregnant, revealing her secret to close friends, and last her being upset with her condition and feeling regretful. Most people got my story because the way I arranged the photos made my story very clear. Some people had their own twist but for the most part everyone got the idea. After we all presented our ideas we watched a TED presentation.

The woman presenting at the TED gathering was Elizabeth Gilbert. She is a writer and the author of "Eat, Pray, Love" who feels very strongly about changing the way artist perceive their creative abilities and the creative process. She presented an interesting idea that explored the possibility of, what if creative abilities came from a higher source and the artist himself had no way of turning this ability on or off. What if creativity is given to us rather than acquired. She stressed that if this were so it would take the pressure off the artist to produce great work. Her way of viewing the creative process was refreshing and inspiring. Her ideas and thoughts were very new and made a lot of sense.

At the end of class we were assigned homework which was similar to today's homework instead we would find one picture and come up with 10 different words or short phrases each of which changes the way we view the photo.

Reading Response pg. 17-38

This chapter mainly focused on inspirations and guided us in the process of getting inspired as well as developing and generating creative ideas. He detailed the environment that you should be in, in order to come up with good ideas. In the chapter he included a professional source, a successful fashion designer named Yeohlee Tang from Malaysia. I enjoyed what she had to say and the way she approached her fashions. She is inspired from the world around her, from eating at a restaurant to architecture around the world. She considers materials, their affordability and their maintenance. She creates garments with high end materials but she incorporates simplistic designs. She is very connected to her work and is passionate about what she does. I feel that her inspirations are interesting and personal. I want to one day become inspired from moments and simple ideas and turn them into successful design. I admire her approach to her work as well as her passion.

I enjoyed this chapter because inspiration is a key step when creating. Everyone needs something that drives their work.

Day 4 of Class

Today on class we watched a lecture on the projector that took up most of the class time. The lecture was of Sir Ken Robinson originally from Britain but now relocated here in Los Angeles. The lecture was at UCLA in the Hammer museum. Sir Ken Robinson was giving insight on his book and the ideas he explored throughout it. Sir Robinson brought up interesting views on education and what we need to do to transform our current educational system.

Sir Robinson explained the importance of finding what your passionate about and doing something that you have a natural capacity for. He explained that school now a days doesn't guide students to discover their passions and likes, but instead it shows students what they don't like. He explained that often times people don't pursue their aspirations because of pressure from their parents and peers to sustain a certain socially accepted lifestyle. People can go their whole lives sometimes stuck in a job they hate only because they settle. We have to remember to do what we love because that is the only way to guarantee happiness.

Sir Robinson gave great examples and presented himself in a very down to earth, and funny kind of way. I really enjoyed hearing what he had to say. After the video as a class we discussed what we thought of it. Everyone pretty much agreed with his opinions and suggestions. Some of my peers gave examples of how they became art students and overall it was a pretty good discussion. At the end of the class we presented our mind maps. They all turned out to be very creative but my favorite, as well as the class favorite, was Cecilia's. She took a very creative and original approach to the assignment and I enjoyed seeing her work!

Reading Response 2

Today I read pages 1-16 which were basically an introduction to the book. It also touched a bit on the author's life. He explained that he started in theater which gave him a wide perspective of design. From costume, to stage design and even lighting, Karl Aspelund was exposed to a very wide spectrum of design early on. The first few pages explained the fact that everything is a design in some sort. From a computer to a building and even a army tank, it took someone and often times a team of people to create these concepts.

In the introduction Aspelund explains that there are 7 stages in creating ideas and turning them into products/ finished work. He explaines that inspiration is a key step to start with. Inspiration is important because it is the thing that caused your original idea. Your work has to be inspired from something, in other words, there has to be something that drives your work. In order to come up with concepts you need to be interested in what you are creating. All in all, Aspelund lays out briefly how to begin creating finished products.

Day Three of Class

Today in class we focused a lot on the idea of brainstorming. After being asked what brainstorming means a lot of us came up with very literal answers such as, planning out ideas, and creating many ideas in a limited time. The professor broke down the word brainstorm and asked us to define a storm using an adjective. We came up with answers like chaotic, temporary, and crazy. The professor then explained that his definition of a brainstorm was an explosion of ideas. I thought this was an interesting way of thinking of a brainstorm. When you brainstorm often times many ideas come to head depending on the topic. Although not all of the ideas work, you still consider them because brainstorming is the beginning stage when creating an idea. It serves as a way to generate many ideas. After reviewing brainstorming we began discussing mind mapping.

Most of the class was unaware of what this techinque was. The professor went over a few slides that explained, "a mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea." After reading this I had a better understanding of what a mind map was but still needed a clearer visualization of what this sort of thing looks like. The professor showed several examples of mind maps to give us a better understanding of what it was. Then, he asked us to create a mind map and base it on any topic we wanted. I had trouble thinking of a catchy idea; however, I came up with the title, "Going on a Blind Date". I created my mind map around this idea and came up with many things to consider when going on a blind date such as what to wear, what to order, what to do if your not attracted to your date, and etc. I thought this exercise was interesting because we could incorporate pictures and create the map however we chose, there were no limitations. Mind mapping is a good way of looking at different angles of a topic, and really exploring the many ideas that come with one phrase/topic.

(An example of a mind map shown in class)

After mind mapping, we sat in a big circle and went around the room finishing the sentence, "what if..." There were many interesting things said like, what if I didn't have to work, what if time wasn't linear, and what if my parents never met. We than began exploring the philosophical idea of time and how time really is an idea. The professor explained that everything is created from an idea. Things didn't just happen, there was someone that had an idea and made simple and complex things come to life like the cell phone and even electricity. He explained that everything starts with an idea and is then created. I enjoyed this part of the class because it really got us to open up our minds and think outside of the box. 

For homework the professor asked us to create another mind map instead this time make it very creative, and colorful. I look forward to creating this mind map because it allows me to brainstorm in a new effective way.    

"The Design Process" Reading Response 1

This is the first design book I've actually began reading so I am excited to see what is written in this book and what ideas, techniques and concepts I will develop as a result of this book. I thought it was interesting how the author Karl Aspelund is going to cover the design process in seven stages. The seven stages that he will discuss in detail are inspiration, identification, conceptualization, exploration/refinement, definition/modeling, communication and production. These are all pivotal steps in creating successful designs.

 Aspelund explains that he will, "walk students through the process of design from inspiration to production". He also stated that, "a staged process is also very beneficial to teamwork and helps continue the design progress, even when the team's energy is not at it's peak". I feel that being able to transfer your ideas into quality work is an important skill every designer needs to know how to execute. Every completed art work was created in a process and I believe that this book will show me a step by step road map of a easier process to consider.

Day Two: Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

Today in class we expanded our knowledge of the term "visual literacy". When asked by our professor what that term means we had some trouble explaining the definition. After egging us on for a little bit the professor finally explained that visual literacy is reading images, visual interpretations, story telling, and making sense out of what we see.  He then asked who read a book over the summer and only two students raised their hands; however, after asking how many students saw a movie over the summer everyone raised their hands. He explained that in todays culture watching movies are more appealing than reading books. The preference of watching films allows us to understand the idea of visual literacy. In the design world, this is very important. Understanding images and what they portray is a vital skill needed in the world of design. One must know what he is representing through images and how the viewer will respond. He then brought up the famous quote, "a pictures worth a thousand words" and brought up the fact that one still picture from a film communicates hundreds of pages of description in a book. 


The professor explained, "if you control the picture you control the story and the person". He then displayed several pictures on the screen and asked us to describe the facts of what we saw, then to explain what we think is going on in the picture, and lastly how it makes us feel. This was a great exercise because it allowed us to  get a better understanding of visual literacy and also allowed us to see that different people will have various responses to the same picture. All in all, today I got a great understanding of visual literacy and I will consider the images I put out there in my future works and what they portray. 

One of the pictures shown in class