When I think of [design] I imagine a process of exploring and experimenting with an open mind, guided by a specific purpose; problem solving and artistic expression intertwine to create a product that is useful and aesthetically pleasing.
Click on the image to see a brief “Slate Presentation” on the roles of 3D printing in the design process of wind instruments that I create.
With all of this newfangled technology that’s being offered to us as students in 2015, there sometimes seems to be a disconnect between what’s helpful or good to use and how quickly we can actually use it. It’s 2015 so there’s no reason to not immediately reply to a text (even at 4:36 am), no reason I should not immediately know an answer in class, no reason I shouldn’t have an immediate comeback to someone else’s wit, and no reason I should have to wait on a table at 7 pm on a Friday night at T.G.I. FRiDAY’S. You know I’m joking, but people often forget to take a moment to breathe and realize that not everything has to be so immediate–if you’re shooting for a comeback, that’s another story. Funny is as funny does after all.
One thing that can be sped up, however, is productivity on mobile devices. Mobile apps were created in part to make things faster for the consumer. For students in particular, Google Apps for Education has been a great addition to our productivity toolkits. The problem with using them on a mobile device is that they’re often limited versions of the actual programs. Another issue (even when on desktops), is that the user has to create a project in one program, save, export, and maybe be able to upload it into another program for further edits. I propose a Course Management Software not completely unlike Blackboard or Moodle, but one that is based on Google Apps for Education.
This app would have all the general functionality of another CMS, but is set apart by the affordances of Google. When a professor uploads a PDF of a reading, I would be able to open and annotate without saving it to my device and opening in another app. I would be able to record my lectures and tag them appropriately for followup. One of the best parts about a Google-based CMS is the data creation portion. Instead of having all the Google Apps as part of separate programs, they would all appear on one main screen as a “toolbar selector.” For instance, I begin a new document and type out what I want to say (Docs toolbar), then I want to add a nice visual so I click on the LucidCharts toolbar option and immediately my toolbox items change, but my document remains. When finished with the document, I would have the option of saving in a variety of formats (depending on what media I used to create my project).
As a student that has been using an iPad for a few months now, I feel that I can adequately navigate through iOS quickly and efficiently. That being said, I often am just waiting on my apps to swap over (or to figure out how to export and reopen elsewhere). With a fully integrated app, I can probably save an entire 2 minutes a day. It may not seem like much, but over four years of education that’s almost 11 hours of time that can be spent elsewhere–quite possibly used to make even better work.
DO NOT PRESS
DO NOT PRESS
We’ve probably all seen something similar to this online. The infamous Big Red Button that we are not allowed to press. I think that it is a great example of design. Why, you say? I’ll tell you. What is the first thing that you want to do when you see it? Press it! This object, is not only recognizable, but it implores you to use it without overtly saying to do so. You think that it is of your own will that you’re pressing the button–in fact, it must be your own choosing because the button said don’t press it.
For those visually inclined peeps, the contrast of smooth-edged red, and seemingly rough-edged white balance each other out. If you’re still not sure if this design is up to par in terms of artistic content because I made it in Microsoft Paint, I know of a great nation on the other side of the world that might help you decide.
Let me know what you choose. In the meantime, I’ve got a button to go press.
Technically Yours,
R.
I think an iPad app that is missing from what students in higher education need is something like a clicker but an application for smartphones and tablets. The app would be able to be installed on a student’s cell phone or tablet and allow them to answer clicker questions in lecture halls, instead of having to purchase a separate clicker.
The app should also have a section for note taking, voice and video recording to record lectures. I think it would also be interesting if the application included a geolocation based chat where only people within that classroom or lecture room could share and exchange notes and lecture slides. It would allow for an open dialogue between students without having to actually disrupt the flow of the classroom. The application could work in the way that airdrop on Apple products does. Students near each other would be able to share their screens and/or airdrop files to one another, all while being able to answer clicker questions and interact with the professor in class.
The app would allow for students to schedule and meet with study groups with different people in their classes. Essentially, the app would be one main outlet for students to take and record notes, share them with others, and arrange study time outside of class.
Created with Tagul.comFor this weekly create I used tagul.com to make a word cloud with words that relate to design. I got to choose the individual fonts and colors of each of the words that I add it and even add small animations when you hover over the words. My personal definition of design would be an idea or plan that exists to create a final project. This design could consist of a blueprint or outline and include few to many specific details that attempt to explain the final idea. A design does not need to be a physical, written plan but can exist in the mind of a creator.
Design involves the planning of an object’s look, feel, or functionality.
I made this image in Adobe Fireworks out of icons I found and modified to represent these different aspects of design. I chose the canvas size of 3236 x 2000 because its width to height is roughly the golden ratio.
This week I will once again hand the course over to our two teams. I am very much looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us all today. The vast majority of the class today will center on the two teams leading the conversation. We will see if there is time remaining to introduce the next (and final) block of he class focusing on design.
For the final block we will be focusing on Human Centered Design and will follow the process that the unbelievably good firm, Ideo articulates. I would like you all to get accounts at their Design Kit site, download it, and read the Introduction and the Hear portion for next week. That will allow us to hit the ground running.
Out of Class
To prepare for Thursday’s synthesis presentations, those of us that like to be Too Disruptive would like for you to do two things. First, take a look at Sam Richards’s Ted Talk, “A Radical Experiment in Empathy.”
Then, we would like for you to take a brief, semi-anonymous quiz. Especially since this is such a small class, we hope that everyone gets a chance to take the quiz (even Cole). Also, please do so no later than Thursday at noon so we will have time to compile the results.
I am finding my modular method of working with the iPad to be quite successful. Some of the interesting features I have discovered in explain everything is the ability to record actions on each slide and publish it on YouTube. I am also able to drop videos directly into the presentation, write and draw over them and include all of the interactions that I have on the screen in the recording creating a completely customizable presentation. I also found the app cute cut to have some greate features including the ability to layer videos and change their transparency. The only downside to this app is that the free version leaves a watermark on the video and has a limit to the length of the video that can be made. An easy fix for this is to place these clips in iMovie for final arrangement and to add music.
Aside from these tools, I have been using my iPad for most of the lectures that I do and have been finding it to be an overall enjoyable and smooth experience. I still needed the ipad for photoshop instruction and to play DVDs.
I am an artist.
I create conversations that challenge normalcy and comfort, that shift focus to the unnoticed and misunderstood, that demand self evaluation and the scrutiny of implications. I respond to questions, just not the questions that are often asked, and not the ones that are coated in layers of sugar for ease of consumption. I disturb and unnerve to enlighten and share perspective.
I am a technician.
With technology, I forge, otherwise unattainable, aesthetics to shape worlds on stage and to build a platform for art’s consumption.
I am a producer.
Working with teams of designers and artists affords me the opportunity to grow as an artist and a theatre practitioner. Collaborating innovators push the limits of theatre as we know it. I am an interface between production teams and the world– I manipulate circumstance to facilitate the making.
Let’s make something.
Innovate with me.
Christopher Stratis
