•:*Simplicity vs. Complexity*:•

            Our assignment for today was to bring in 3 unrelated images that told a story. We were asked to lay our stories out on the desk tops and we proceeded to walk around looking at each others’ work. Jimmy took some stories and pinned them to the wall and asked us to find the best story of the one’s presented in class. Jimmy left us, we discussed the stories in detail, and voted to find the best image sequence. When Jimmy returned to class, we revealed the winner and spent a good while discussing the image sequence/story in more detail. We then tried to come up with a good title for it and went on to discuss the other stories in class. Some were a little confusing, some were entertaining, and others were very basic, but all in all, I believe the majority of the class was successful on the assignment.

            A TED Talk from John Maeda was next on the ‘to do’ list for the class. Maeda’s talk was about simplicity and if there were two things I took away from the talk they were that humans like complexity and that “simplicity is living life with more enjoyment and less pain,” as stated by Maeda. Maeda broke it down to basically mean that if one wants more of something, it’s because it is enjoyable, but if one wants less of something, it’s because it is considered to be work.

            To conclude the class period, Jimmy assigned us another assignment involving finding images, but this time, the images are to reflect the 7 deadly sins. I’m excited to see what my classmates bring in for this assignment.

•:*Storytelling*:•

          Stories encompass an array of things that can give someone an overall good or bad experience. Storytelling is an aural experience that is influence by how a story is told and the way it is expressed. The beginning of today’s class period was spent on creating a story within arranged groups. We were divided into groups of about 4 or 5 and were to create a story out of approximately 8 objects. The stories ranged from murders to imaginary worlds and the rest of the class period was spent discussing the different aspects that make a story great.

•:*Thinking Outside the Box*:•

Today we reviewed our assignment in class. We moved the desks to the back of the class and arranged our assignments against the front wall, 4 at a time. It was a long day and even Jimmy seemed to become restless towards the middle of the review. We didn’t finish going over everyone’s assignments, but overall, I believe it was a worthwhile experience. Our assignment was to find an image and present 10 different words or phrases that would change the meaning of the image. I chose the image of a palma; the image was simple in nature to allow my classmates a chance to see how the image would change with each phrase. Unfortunately, I wasn’t successful in changing the meaning of the image 10 different times, but I tried. I didn’t want to play it safe and choose obvious words and phrases, but I ended up choosing some that were way outside the box. We were then assigned our next assignment which is to find a word or phrase and find 10 different images that change its meaning.

•:*Creativity*:•

TED Talks are all “the buzz” these days and I absolutely love them! I find them so motivating and inspiring; I wish I had discovered them sooner! We watched two TED Talks today, one from Amy Tan and the other from Elizabeth Gilbert. Amy Tan is better known for her novel, The Joy Luck Club, and Elizabeth Gilbert for her novel, Eat, Pray, Love. I found both talks to be interesting, but I found Elizabeth Gilbert’s to be more appealing and more inspirational. Gilbert was more entertaining and she presented some thought provoking ideas like where creativity possibly comes from. She began by discussing her book, Eat, Pray, Love and how it became a best seller. People had been constantly asking her if she would ever be able to create another best seller or if that was it? Gilbert found herself thinking about the typical artist stereotype and how mentally unstable masters of the arts had been in the past and in the present; it seems as though all artists eventually die for the art. Well, this idea didn’t sit well with Gilbert and she started to reference back to Greek and Roman origins of creativity where creativity was given to a person by a sort of spirit. What if creativity was only on loan to you by some higher or other worldly source? What if creativity didn’t belong to you? She believes that by utilizing this way of thinking, artists could potentially be saved from becoming mentally unstable later in life.

            The rest of the class period was spent discussing graphic designers as the creators of culture. I find this to be incredibly true; we, as graphic designers, are able to initiate and promote change through visual communication. Sustainable design is a growing trend in modern society to help promote lifestyle changes that will lead to the betterment of the environment.

•:*TEDTalks - Scott McCloud on Comics*:•

            There were a number of things in the TED Talks video that I found valuable. There were also a couple of things I didn’t know about the first time I watched it. Scott McCloud is extremely talented at public speaking and in engaging his audience. The varied tone in his voice and speed at which he speaks keeps people in tune with what he’s saying and keeps them interested.

            One of the things I learned from McCloud was the three types of vision: vision based on what one cannot see, the vision of things that have already been proven and that can be ascertained, and the vision of something that can be true based on knowledge, but has yet to be proven. The three types of vision, in turn, lead to the four basic principles coined by McCloud: learn from everyone, follow no one, watch for patterns, and work like hell. I don’t necessarily agree with the last principle because as Jimmy stated in class, design should not be considered “work,” it should be considered as something fun. Work is work; it is tedious, tiresome, and requires x amount of effort. Design should be something one enjoys doing and something that is worthwhile.

            One of the things I didn’t understand the first time I watched the video was McCloud’s concept of durable mutation. After watching it again, it made perfect sense. A durable mutation is a variation or an advancement of something that has a sort of “staying power” that will eventually adapt to the present environment and can be utilized in the future.

            I also didn’t know much about the people he was naming in his speech. McCloud gave brief comments about the ideas and visions these individuals had, but he didn’t delve into their background as much. One of the individuals is Charles Babbage. Babbage had this vision of steam driven computers that never took flight, but the idea behind it is very interesting. I had never heard about this idea before watching this video. He was essentially the first pioneer of the computer. Ada Lovelace is also someone I hadn’t heard of before. She was one of the few people that understood Babbage’s vision. She was intelligent and skilled in writing and is widely known as being the first computer programmer.

•:*The Design Process – Reading 3*:•

             The first step in developing an idea is to seek inspiration. One can find inspiration in a variety of ways and in a number of things; inspiration is not limited to one form. Designers must actively be on the look-out for inspiration; one cannot wait for inspiration to come on its own. Inspiration is needed at the beginning of a project and it is crucial for designers to constantly re-inspire themselves throughout the design process. According to Aspelund, designers should strive to “let go” and open themselves up to the mass flow of creative energy to achieve a state of “divine madness.” Achieving “divine madness” allows designers to let their emotions run rampant and go wherever and however they wish. Inspiration can come from anywhere as illustrated by this cellist surrounded by a snow covered thicket. 

The musician is utilizing his/her surroundings as a source of inspiration.

            Another source of inspiration that can and should be practiced by designers is “playtime.” Playtime allows designers to think, explore, and experiment with new ideas and methodologies. Playtime is essential to the creative success of designers because without it, projects would not be as fun and exciting as they should be, they would be drag and tedious. Playtime also presents designers with the opportunity to expand their source of information by creating and adding new experiences to it on a consistent basis. However, designers must be cautious about their playtime because it could lead to “creative procrastination,” in which, designers lose focus on the heart of their project. Designers will have so much fun researching that they begin to convince themselves and others that the research they're conducting is conducive to their project when, in reality, they have strayed light-years from the original project idea.

            Lastly, one of the exercises presented that would be the most beneficial would be to create a design journal.

According to Aspelund, a design journal is basically an illustrated account of the design process used to inspire and motivate designers. It is almost like a design diary in which the information documented within the journal has a specific meaning to that designer alone.