Water Project

The last project of our Fall 08 semester was for the AIGA Aspen Design Challenge. We were split into two groups of 8 for the conceptual and research process, then into pairs of two for the execution of the project. Each group produced four design solutions in response to the challenge which was addressing the global water crisis. My group chose to focus on local behaviors and how to shift those behaviors through design. LOCAL ACTION, GLOBAL IMPACT was our tagline enforcing the overarching idea of "Everything is local". The issues my group addressed included:
private water, public right
product inventory, industrial water usage
private disposal, public pollution
residential water use, awareness of options

After mapping and diagramming the physical, cultural, social, technological and economic systems as a group, we worked as pairs. I worked with Sidney Fritts on an E-rating system that would hold retailers, manufacturers, and consumers accountable for the electronic products purchased, used, and disposed. Using Robert Ennis's taxonomy of critical thinking behaviors and David Rose's description of audience readiness, we identified four possible design solutions: Retailer Trade Ad, Online Comparison Tool, Instore signage and all communicating a labeling system.

A designer and his button maker...

My classmate and friend, Alberto Rigau, recently purchased a button maker. Needless to say, he has inflicted the studio with button madness. It has been fun to see what he comes up with next. This week he received some PR on the "Crit Face" collection.

Alberto's Blog
A post about the buttons and a nice mention of SOWN

MICA : AIGA Social Studies Conference

A few of us traveled up to Baltimore to attend the AIGA Social Studies Conference at Maryland Institute College of Art. We (NCSU) was very well represented as several of us participated as presenters. Marty and I were part of the MFA Panel. We presented our graduate program and a few details of our projects from last semester. The format for the presentation was "Pecha Kucha" (20 slides with 20 seconds each). The conference and the weekend turned out to be fun and informative.
Alberto went into more details on his blog here.


They had a photo booth at the conference, this is one of several outtakes...


Marty and I presenting, my concept map is HUGE in the background.




(most) Photos by Alberto Rigau

On the road to MICA

This coming weekend is the AIGA Social Studies Conference in Baltimore. Several of us are making the trip up north. Marty and I are presenting together on a MFA panel. The abstract is posted here on the conference site.

Schemas : Group Process : In the Studio

The process that is in another post is plastered on the walls of our studio space at the moment...here is a photo.

Schemas : Group Final : Presentation and Prototype

This first video presents how Lynch's theory of spatial navigation was applied as an organizational principle. The second video is a simulation of the interactions in the online experience.

Schemas : Group Project : Description

Our second project of the semester is a group project. My group was instantly named "Team Fried Pickle" for various reasons. Cady, Lauren, and Sam are my teammates. It has been an excellent process so far.

The project goals are to create and document a process for developing an interactive experience and to show a prototype of how one may move through it. The objectives are to use Kevin Lynch's theory of navigation (from Image of the City) to make Raleigh legible in an interactive environment. Our topic of Raleigh had to consider schemas, the mental constructs created within an individual's thought process. These are place schema, role/persona schema, or event schema. Before beginning this project we went to DC to the Holocaust Museum and the American Indian Museum. Each museum is organized by a different schema. The Holocaust Museum uses event schema where the experience is arranged in chronological order. The American Indian Museum is organized by persona schema, is it arranged by tribe.

Other posts will outline our process and the final prototype.

Schemas : Group Process : Documented

This shows the process for our interactive experience. My group worked together at every step. Post-its were the form for our negotiations.

1 TOPIC BRAINSTORM : as a group we shared general ideas of interests, then came back together and used note cards to note ideas, forming three topics



2 TOPIC PROPOSAL : presented three topic ideas to the class


3 TOPIC DEFINING : after choosing a general topic we needed to narrow the story we wanted to tell; this is when we chose Mrs. Henderson as our persona for our narrative


4 TOPIC PITCH : introduce big idea, audience, scenario and schematic map to the class; the schematic map began to define elements of navigation in terms of Lynch's Image of the City


5 USER MAP : as a group we mapped our potential users and their motivation for visiting the site; this allowed for us to further define the purpose of the site



6 CONTENT DIAGRAM : we outlined all of the possible content needed and categorized them into time, place, and gardener



7 BEHAVIOR MAPS : using the content elements from the previous exercise, we began to form ways a user may move through the content; we identified a system moving through macro - mecro - micro; we saw that the paths through the content were very linear, we then rearranged the content to create a cyclical movement by the user and situated them at the merco level






8 WIRE FRAMING and USER INTERACTION : we developed “scene” cards to visual the narrative we wanted the user to move through; we further defined the user path with the structure formed from the cards; from these cards we developed our wire frame that highlights user interaction, content, site intent, and transitions



9 DESIGN STYLE : we wanted to continue our group process in the “design” phase of the project, we built a mood board together which will become our structure for designing the site



T.F.P. © 2008 N.C. State University / College of Design / Meredith Davis Studio

Design Thinking : Exhibition

This semester began with the class researching and designing an exhibit on "Design Thinking". Each of us had one term (16 terms total) that related to either a cognitive thought process or a design process. The panels where put on display here at the college of design and next they will be put into a pdf format for the Cooper-Hewitt.
My panel was on "Concept Maps".

An excellent source to read in relation to the topic of Design Thinking is A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink.

A local article about the exhibit: Design Thinking, Graphic Design Masters Exhibit






Photos by Alberto Rigau.

Concept Map : Design Thinking