Art 220 Final - Creative Process Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjmDJ8THGxE

Blog Post 20

Wednesday’s class was bittersweet. On one hand, I’m glad that class is over, but on the other it made me realize that I learned a lot. When we were discussing the positives and negatives of the class, I was actually surprised that I withstood all 19 classes of concept development. I remember walking in the very first day and dreading it.

I personally thought the game board presentation was the most interesting activity we did in class because it gave us the opportunity to practice our design skills, presentation, and brain storming process in a classroom which will help benefit us when we actually make presentations in the real world. I really do wish we had more opportunities like this in class, but I still have another year at CSULA to practice these skills!

I was not a huge fan of the book because I didn’t learn much from it, nor did I enjoy reading it. The readings were boring, the content was repetitive because it was all common sense, and it felt more like a chore than a learning experience. I was also not a huge fan of the blogs… I didn’t gain much learning experience from the blog and on rare occasions found them to be dreadful and tedious.

Personally, I found this class to be one of the most interesting classes I have taken so far. I learned more than what I was expecting and I also learned a lot about design. I have met many friends in this class and I am grateful for the experience I had with everyone. Best wishes to you all and good luck with the rest of your career!

Blog Post 19

Monday was a holiday and boy was I glad to take a little break from school! The only downside of a holiday is going back to school (especially when it’s the last week of class). I pretty much just stayed home and worked on my creative process video. Sadly, even on my holiday I’m doing work. I can’t wait for this quarter to be over… School is just overwhelming this quarter!

Blog Post 18

Wednesday’s class was rather short, and I was definitely glad it was because it gave me time to think about my final project. For a while now it’s been something that I have been dreading because I have not yet figured out what I want to do or how I would want to present it. I feel my creative thought process is random and for me it depends on the day and mood for my ideas to start flowing. I spent the rest of the class to watch the other presentations from students of past quarters and I was quite surprised as to what I saw. A lot of the videos I watched were interesting, some were rather lengthy and wordy, but others got their message across and were an overall good presentation.

I feel that time is going by really fast and it was just yesterday I was complaining about having the quarter end on the very first day of class. It’s really interesting what I have learned so far and I anticipate seeing what we will learn with the remainder of class.

Blog Post 17

We did an exercise in class on Monday about the importance of listening and how, as designers, we should consult things with the person making the decision as opposed to having things spread around by word of mouth. The exercise was a little frustrating, but after I cleared my mind and just focused on listening, it got a little easier. It’s always fun and interesting to do something interactive in a class rather than being taught at by someone, forcing us to listen to a boring lecture. Any form of interactive learning is something that I wish my other classes would do because I tend to retain information better and it helps with getting messages across.

After the exercise, we watched a presentation by Sir Ken Robinson and his presentation was hilarious, yet informative. Although it was very hard for me to decipher some of the words he said (partly because of his British accent), I was inspired by his quote about how finding our passion changes everything. It really got me thinking about why I got into the graphic design program. I’m not that great when it comes to designs or drawing, but something about the field really interests me.

Robinson also mentions that a degree gets devalued as it gets older and it really got me thinking about the job market after college. I am not sure about what others think, but I’m getting slightly paranoid about what to do after college. The job market is really tough, and finding a job is going to be even harder. As of now, I feel I should take more classes and possibly stay even longer at CSULA to gain more knowledge in another field besides art, even though I’m dreading that option since my main goal is goal is to be finished with school. I do believe, though, it’s time for me to just try not thinking too much about what lies ahead of me and just see what happens.

Reading 9

IT’S THE FINAL STAGE! I don’t remember ever being so happy about finishing a textbook before in my life. Either because this is the last stage of the reading, or because there won’t being anymore dreadful stages to read, I am extremely glad the book has come to an end. Seeing the first header of the section, “It’s a Wrap” made me feel a lot better about reading this textbook because I am very close to the finish line.

Like most portions of the book, I have once again read about things I have already learned in the past. I was anticipating something more from the last stage and I was thinking that the author would go out with a bang. The entire first portion of the reading dealt with working in teams and how we should collaboratively work together to better succeed with design. As far as I’m concerned, working with others has its ups and downs.

The positive sides about working in a team are that we get different perspectives form others and we aren’t just restricted to our own personal thoughts. Although some of us may think we are the best designers in the world, in actuality, we are not because there is always room for improvement. It is physically impossible for us to know absolutely everything about the world, and therefore, getting a different perspective on things helps us collaboratively learn things through constructive learning.

In my personal opinion, I would prefer not to work in a group because I tend to do most of the work. Very rarely have I been in a group where all my teammates have worked together and we created something interesting truly amazing. On most occasions, I somehow always get more than 1 slacker to work with me and I tend to do more of his/her work than I should. There is a feeling of failure that I cannot accept into myself. I will always try my best to revert from failure.

Feedback is probably one of the best things I have learned in my life to this day. Although it’s nice to have someone comment on your work and say why they like it or not, I feel these comments are useless in making me a better designer. I crave negative feedback because it proves to me that the work I’m doing is horrible and I use it as a stepping stone to get better. I feel having critiques in my art classes, as uncomfortable as they may be, is the best way to learn something because not only will it help an artist get better, but he/she given a different perspective from someone else which they can then apply to their own artwork.

I was reading the scheduling portion of the book and I can’t help but notice that there are different types of handwriting used in the calendar on page 179. Even though there’s probably some reasoning behind this, I feel that with the advice this book is supposed to be supplying in relation to this image implies we should share our calendars with others. I now understand why it is very important to effectively communicate our ideas because little details, such as the different forms of writing, can create a whole new message than what we actually intended.

Overall I feel that this book has provided with some new material that I thought was mildly interesting. I felt I struggled with trying to read this book because the material I have learned were things I have learned already and some are just common sense. Now that it’s over, I want to search for something different and that has more useful material. Although I finished reading about the design process, I feel the journey has just begun…

Blog Post 16

Wednesday’s class was interesting and made me realize that we all think differently. Jimmy supplied us with a problem and, in a battle of the sexes fashion, we split up by gender and tried to find out what the next answer would be in the following sequence of numbers:

1
10
11
100
?????

My first instinct was binary code which is a way of representing text in a computer processor through the use of 0s and 1s. Essentially, if one were to follow a logical pattern in the following sequence provided, it would be the next set of finite numbers that consist of only 1s, 0s, or both 1s and 0s (in this case 101). Although in my opinion we somewhat complicated our reasoning as to why the answer was 101, I felt that as a group we provided enough justification to get our message across.

The girls said the next answer was 111, and in a visual pattern this will work. Even if it wasn’t from a visual standpoint, the evidence they showed would still give us reason to believe that their answer could as well be correct. There is no geometric sequence in the following series, and therefore, a formula that’s easy to read using a₁r^n-1 would not be successful. The exercise made me realize that persuading a client is important in design and it is something that should not be taken lightly, as well as elevated vocabulary and effective communication.

After, we discussed our thoughts about John Coy’s presentation. Although we went around the room and talked about what we enjoyed most about the presentation and got a different perspective about it, my opinion still stands that his presentation was not interesting. His content, however, was great but his lack of planning clearly showed when it came down to the actual presentation. I did learn that the lack of planning really does make a difference and, like in the exercise we did today, communication is everything.

Blog Post 15

The entire portion of Monday’s class consisted of watching Akira Kurosawa’s film, Dreams. Essentially, the film is divided up in eight short segments, all of which are actual dreams of Kurosawa. The imagery used in the film pertains mostly to Japanese culture and I felt the film gave me mixed feelings. Overall, I thought the film was slow, entertaining, frightening, and disturbing.

The first segment, “Sunshine through the Rain” was a little slow for my taste. Artistically, it was calm, soothing, interesting, and the time and effort put into mastering the Japanese processional fox wedding was gorgeous. One would rarely see imagery such as this in an American film, but to be perfectly honest, at some points, it lost my attention. Watching a procession with repetitive choreography and mellow music for more than 8 minutes can be dreadful, but the Japanese culture was beautifully represented in this segment.

I felt “Peach Orchard” gave me the same kind of sensation I felt in “Sunshine through the Rain”—calm, soothing, boring, and interesting. Although I know one should primarily focus on the Japanese style of dance and the artistic choreography, I felt this portion of the segment to be boring and redundant. The storyline was just okay, but to a foreigner unaware of the Doll Festival in Japan, this segment may be a little confusing.

“The Blizzard” in my opinion was confusing. Even though I am aware that the woman in this segment is most likely a reference to a Japanese urban legend or myth, I wasn’t sure whether or not she was providing warmth for the climber to make it through his journey, or make him comfortably freeze to death in the blizzard. I am very certain that because I am not familiar with certain Japanese references, a great portion of the film was a mystery for me.

“The Tunnel” was very interesting, and yet not as disturbing as I hoped it to be. I am fascinated with paranormal activity and confrontations with the deceased, and I felt this portion of the film kept my attention. I was expecting something more frightening to happen, however, and the conversation the characters had was unexpected because I was hoping to hear them talk about something more grotesque and disturbing. 

I actually enjoyed the nightmare segments of the film (i.e. “Mount Fuji in Red” and “The Weeping Demon”) because I tend to have dreams/nightmares that relate to these segments. “Mount Fuji in Red” gave me chills because it closely resembled what happened at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant after the drastic earthquake that hit Japan. Although Kurosawa’s representation was much more disastrous and extreme, the irony of having something like that happen is frightening. “The Weeping Demon” portrayed humans with horns living in agony and was very disturbing. I have to admit that these segments actually caught my attention and kept me entertained, but what I want to know now is how did Kurosawa dream these nightmares?

“Crows” and “Village of the Watermills” were probably the least interesting to me. “Crows” was dull and it was hard for me to get into the story. As much as I love Van Gough’s work, I didn’t find this segment to be interesting or entertaining at all. “Village of the Watermills” lacked a really good story, but the scenery and landscape in this segment was beautiful. The vibrant colors of the foliage and flowers really made me appreciate nature. The running water from the stream mixed with the village and landscape were spectacular and stunning, which was really the only reason why I appreciated this segment.

Gauge/AIGA Presentation - John Coy

Although I give him props for trying to keep my attention and for creating such amazing designs, John Coy’s presentation didn’t really interest me. After attending last quarter’s presentation by Rebecca Mendez, I was expecting something a little more lively and entertaining, but this presentation was a little disappointing. Yes, I did gain a few things out of the presentation, but for the most part, Coy’s calm and monotone presentation was more of a bore than a learning experience.

I appreciated him asking for our input and what we wanted to learn from this experience, but even though he cared about what we wanted to learn, I still didn’t gain much from the experience. The one thing that I did benefit from him was the fact that he said the job market out there is not clearly based on competition alone. He states that we need to find something that identifies us as designers and build upon it more. He also mentions that we should believe in ourselves and continue to work hard to try and become amazing artists since we do not have the same advantage as students from an art college.

Coy’s presentation was a little dull in my opinion. Just having to go through every single slide that he provided us was monotonous and seemed to take forever.  Majority of his slides, if not all of them, were picture based and it felt like a really long art history lecture. Coy is an amazing designer and most of the designs that he presented were spectacular, but without him trying to engage his audience and hoping that all of us will benefit from his presentation didn’t thrill me at all. He just talked about how much fun it was to design things and where his work has been publicized, but I wanted to gain more knowledge from this experience.

I wanted to learn more about his creative thought process and how he develops ideas, transposing them into designs. Coy’s designs are great, but like Jimmy has mentioned in class, if one cannot defend or explain his work well, then the designer has failed to communicate his idea effectively. Perhaps I’m used to watching the TED talk presentations in class and learn more from those films rather than this presentation, but I felt that Coy’s way of presenting his experience to us was just up to par; nothing spectacular. I now understand that effective communication is everything and preparation is necessary in order to entice an audience.

Reading 8

Finally, a section in this book worth reading! I gained a lot of knowledge about how important communication is, and how important presentations are. Whenever I make a presentation for class, I tend to just do the requirement and rarely do I go out of my way to make the presentation better. The main logic behind this is laziness, but I feel this section of the textbook was a wakeup call.

The author talks about how presentations should be accomplished in various fields of design and this was something I have been anticipating for a while since reading this book. The advice provided in just three pages was enough for me to gain the confidence to use my skill in in-class assignments and presentations. To be honest, I kind of want to do more exercises in class where we present our design ideas on presentation boards. Being able to practice our communication skills in a learning environment is a great place to build our skills for the upcoming job market. All that comes next is experience.

Personally, I felt the presentation board in the image used to show us what a concept board is was garish. The busyness of the board was overwhelming and it was very hard to focus on what the board was trying to communicate. Without the dashed lines on the next image, I would have never known what the cutout images were for. Yes, I kind of see how the board is supposed to reflect the personality of the outfit itself, but the board is very gaudy, tacky, and so flamboyant that it loses my attention and just brings me into a realm of confusion. With better organization, I feel the designer could still get his/her idea across, but in a cleaner and sophisticated matter that still reflects the edginess of the design.

“The venue of the presentation can affect its style and outcome.” This was actually something that really surprised me. I never knew that the venue had a general affect on the presentation of something itself. The advice provided within this section was very helpful and are things that I will definitely try to follow. Because I love office and art supplies, the general descriptions of each type of medium (including digital) was very interesting and made me want to go out to buy new supplies. In some cases, the author provides which brands to avoid and use which was very helpful, and in others stated how to present ideas using the materials. I really do want to go out and buy some new supplies now…

I don’t usually do any of the exercises at the end of each section, but after reading this section, I think I might try a few of them. For once I am glad the book entranced me and made me want to continue reading and further my knowledge about design.

By far, this section of reading was perhaps the most useful and helpful out of all of the sections we have been reading so far. The question for me is: was it worth reading all the other materials before getting to this stage? I have been struggling for a long time reading this book because it never captivated me and rarely interested me. The readings were redundant and were things I’ve learned before, but I am also trying to have a positive attitude towards this book. I know the author spent a lot of time and effort into writing the textbook, but his effort wasn’t working for me. Just with this chapter alone I feel he got me a little more interested, but I don’t want to get my hopes up in case the rest of the book is awful.

Blog Post 14

I was quite skeptical when class was cancelled on Wednesday. I wasn’t sure if Jimmy’s absence was a hoax to get us all to talk about our final project or if he really was out sick. Either way, it let me catch on up on some things like reading for the following section of The Design Process as well as work on my blog posts.

Essentially all we really did on Wednesday was discussed the creative brief for our final project as a class. I understand the basic premise of the assignment, but now the challenge I am facing is how I should present it in a short film. Films are not my forte, but to better myself as a designer, I am going to do all that I can to make something great.

Sad to say, but I feel we get a lot more accomplished when Jimmy isn’t here (no offence or anything, Jimmy). What’s a little frightful is that even though he was out on Wednesday, we still did some work as if he was here—just goes to show he’s done his job. I wonder if his teachings will be haunting us for years to come…

Blog Post 13

In an effort to give us all a different perspective of the class on Monday, we arranged ourselves in order by height. I’ll admit that I am not a huge fan of sitting in the back of the classroom (or any classroom for that matter) because everything in front of me seems smaller, but it definitely is brighter in the back and I could actually see better when I write with natural light. At least I can say I am getting different perspectives of the classroom even though I am not very fond of some of the places I’ve sat in.

Monday’s class provided me with more detail about writing a creative brief which was very helpful. I feel my writing for creative briefs are not yet up to par and I am getting several mixed messages about the style of how some of them are written. The briefs I researched after I did the writing assignment for Monday’s class had a style which one would see in sixth grade papers, where the author would try and communicate to his reader as if they were holding a conversation (i.e. This is what I will be talking about… Here are my ideas…). Other briefs I found had a more professional style and tone, but with two conflicting writing styles, I’m not entirely sure which one to follow.

I feel the conversational brief draws me in a little more than the other, but the lack of elevated vocabulary and style of writing only familiar with a younger generation doesn’t make me take the author or the design seriously. I honestly have no idea why that brief was used as an example, but with more practice I think I will be able to grasp the idea a little better and eventually write creative briefs with ease.

Reading 7

Reading about the OLPC laptop, XO-1, was very insightful. It made me realize that technology is rapidly changing and the fact that we are able to design and market a laptop for children is intriguing. As John Lasseter once said, “art challenges technology, but technology inspires the art.”  With today’s continuously developing technology, we must use our creative thought process to innovate something amazing. Technology is here for a reason and whether we like it or not, it’s here to stay and develop.

Reading the remainder of the book about modeling inspired me to design the model for the game that we presented on Wednesday. I’ve always wanted to explore with creating models for a design and I feel that would be an excellent activity to do in one of the upcoming classes. After reading more about how to set up models and the precautions we should avoid, I was really determined to create something. I feel with the right mindset, I could do anything, but I know for a fact when I actually get into the modeling process, I will hate it for dear life when I can’t accomplish modeling on the first try.

The guest perspective by Ian Cunningham was interesting and I agreed with a few key points he brought up, such as “the biggest challenge [in any industry or company] is to have clear communication.” In any type of environment, communication is always necessary whether it be in the form of verbal or written expression. There is especially a great deal of communication in the workplace because it shows a substantial amount of professionalism. Not being able to communicate well, or communicate in a manner that is inappropriate for the working environment is not only embarrassing for one’s employer, but for the person who lacks these communication skills.

Once again, my love-hate relationship for this book continues. I enjoy the fact that I am learning new things from it, but on the other the slow pace at which I am learning these new things is dreadful. I am constantly reading things that I already know and have learned in past lectures from other professors, which makes me feel very fidgety because I want to get to the new material I haven’t discovered yet. The author meticulously supplies us with vast amounts of details that lose my interest. I’m beginning to wonder if the costs outweigh the benefits.

Overall, this section of reading made me realize that trying to be perfect is still not good enough for me. Because perfection is in the eye of the beholder, and I must say that my ideal view of perfection is at a really high standard, nothing from me will ever be good enough. Yes, I may come across something that will suffice, but in my very few years of developing my artistic style, I have longed to create something I like and passionately enjoy. I have never once been satisfied of things that I do and I say that mostly because in this world, there’s always something new to uncover. Every day is a mystery and we should cherish the living moments of the present. We should not live the way someone tells us to—the decision is ours. Make use of yourself and understand that you are the ideal vision of perfection to someone dear and near.  

Blog Post 12

All I can really say about Wednesday’s class for my presentation board is, “oops…?” I was quite ashamed that I didn’t put more thought into the presentation of my game idea. I already knew a professional presentation involves a label with contact information and title with a coversheet to protect the work, but for some reason I didn’t think to put any of this on my board. That is a huge error on my part—for shame.

The bulk of the day focused on the overall presentation of our game ideas and how a professional presentation board should be set up, mounted and presented. The lecture and class activity we did about body language was interesting. I never thought that the way we move our body communicates something to others. I usually move my arms or cross them when I get uncomfortable sitting or standing in a position for a long time, but I never thought about the way I position them sends a message to a person watching me. It was really fascinating and made me want to learn more about body language.

After we finished the activity, we watched a film called The Power of 10 which is a stunning short film about how minuscule we are in the universe. The film starts with the camera zoomed in on a couple resting after a having a picnic in the park. We are then zoomed out of the park, soon to be world, solar system, planet, and even galaxy by increments of 10 to the power of 10 every 10 seconds. It was a fascinating short film that makes us realize how small and insignificant we are in the entire galaxy. Even after we are brought back into the world, the camera zooms in even farther beyond the layers of skin of the man resting at the picnic and shows how we are composed of even smaller elements.

The short film was intriguing and made me think about the state of our planet as well as the complexity of our bodies. Once the sun goes out, what will the universe look like and will humans of the future somehow start a new life elsewhere? Who are we to believe that we are the only living life forms in this galaxy? These questions arose after I watched the film and it puzzled me for the rest of the day. I never enjoyed science, but at times it entices me, making me want to learn more. The field is filled with unique discoveries, and even answers questions others are dying to learn about. It’s a thrilling area we should take more consideration into.

Blog Post 11

On Monday we discussed what everyone did over the weekend and Jimmy provided us with some small advice about how to formulate a good portfolio. Hearing about these things (creating a portfolio, setting up resumes, etc…) is making me a little nervous, to be honest. I am not sure that I am quite ready to take on the real world yet. I do have at least another year to go at CSULA and perhaps my confidence will build in time.

After this, we all went over our nine game ideas as a class. To be very honest, coming up with nine different types of games was really difficult. At first I thought this was not going to be such a bad project because I have had numerous game ideas in mind, but when it actually came to jotting down the ideas and storyboarding the design of all the games, I realized that they were essentially the same game just formulated in a different way. I resorted back to the research we did for our games in class and I only got inspiration from about two games which was a mild disappoint for me.

Actually doing the work and designing the games, for the first time, I got into my homework assignment—so into it that I took the extra step and decided my games needed color. I believe color is what draws our attention the most and to try and pitch my idea with the lack of good visual aids loses the attention of my audience. I was an animation major and I was always entertained by the “punny” or witty things animators would put in animations. For example, only in a make-believe world will you see a game that is so ridiculous it’s hilarious (i.e. a game called Egg Splat where players guess which type of bird laid the pictured egg.) I had plenty of those game ideas, but being able to think about a logical game that can be marketed to people was a little challenging.

When it actually came to the discussion part of the class, I was slightly surprised at some of the game ideas that my classmates came up with. A few games really stood out and it made me want to play them, but for the most part, I was a little disappointed. I thought a lot of the game ideas would be fun and entertaining, but I guess with the lack of some visual aids and/or aids that didn’t make a lot of sense, majority of them didn’t stand out to me. Many were variations of other games that were just tweaked slightly, which for some was good, but didn’t work out well for others. Perhaps my expectations were too high, or I was the only one who kind of got into this assignment, but my excitement level plummeted into boredom really quickly.

I don’t know if it was just for this particular assignment that I was ecstatic about doing my homework assignment, but I sure hope I could keep up that level of excitement up throughout the remainder of the class!

Reading 6

Early on in the reading, the author mentions, “The best you can do is the best you can do. The worst you can do is nothing.” For some reason, that line stuck with me all throughout the reading echoing in my mind that the worst thing I can do is nothing. It’s such a simple phrase that I never really thought about until I actually read it. Giving up is the weakness and endurance is our motivator.

So far, I really enjoy the “do’s” and “don’ts” of this book. These sections are perhaps the only thing I look forward to when I read this textbook. It provides an accurate recollection of ideas that have been explored by other designers and passes on their knowledge/experience to me. For the most part, the sketching “do’s” and “don’ts” provided me with the best advice. The don’ts are something I always do, and I am aware of it, but I feel that right now it’s a sign I should stop doing the “don’ts” and focus more on the “do’s” to better myself as an artist (I always say I’m going to stop doing certain things, but sadly, I never commit to a promise which saddens me).

Even though I have not mastered any design program and I am still a novice as to how a design program actually works, I still rather dislike the use of digital media. No, I am not showing any bias because I know there are amazing artists who can perfect their work in digital and traditional art, but it upsets me when pompous artists, who “claim” to be a master of digital media, cannot draw or use any other traditional medium well. They literally have become a slave to the machine and their arrogance leaves me fuming. Only the best artists can use their talents in both fields excellently.

 I feel there is a loss between the artist and traditional work in digital media, and the work done traditionally just does not feel the same as digital media through the working process and at the end result. I fear with new technology, traditional art will be extinct, leading a new generation of uneducated, conceited “hipsters,” and the true talents of traditional artists will be undiscovered. The ability to grasp a pencil and know you are controlling it without any restrictions is a sensation no computer can replace. Drawing on a tablet feels awkward and I have not gotten used to its feel even though I’ve had it for more than a year. So, in the very end, my choice of weapon: pencil and paper.

Even though I dislike using digital media, Leifur Breidfjörd’s perspective gave me a better feel for it. My feelings about it are still the same, but Breidfjörd states that “it’s important to be working in different media and not to focus too heavily on one discipline.” I do agree with his statement and I feel I should learn from his philosophy. Getting frustrated will get me nowhere, but taking a breather and coming back to it later will be a better way to perfect a skill.

As of now, I am building a love-hate relationship with this textbook. On some occasions I am bored by its repetitive information, and on the other I am fascinated with interesting facts that I have never thought about. I appreciate this book for what it is and that the information inside is trying to communicate to me, but I feel it’s not doing its job well enough to keep me interested. Others may find it helpful, and I really do think it is, but I just cannot get into it. It’s redundant and gets its message across in a humdrum way. Perhaps I am being too critical because I have learned a lot of the information in it from my upper division classes, but I know if I read this book two years ago, I would have been more into the readings and have better inspiration on past and future tasks.   

Blog Post 10

Wednesday’s class by far was the most fun I have ever had in class. For the entire day we played various board games as a class for research. I will admit that I am a hermit and I was not very fond of playing board games with other people, but in the end, it was something that I enjoyed and wish we had more “research” days like this. The games I played were Taboo and Trivial Pursuit: Disney Edition. Both games were fun to play and throughout both I tried thinking to myself what makes them fun and enjoyable.

What really does make a good game? Is it characters? Could it be the object or premise of the game? Maybe it’s the whole ordeal of just playing with a group of people. Through this research process, I discovered that I am a fan of word games. Most of the games I play online involve thinking around words or finding words through jumbled letters, but most of my friends dislike them as do many others. Personally, the essence of a good game is defined by the individual preference of the person who plays it. What I may define as a good game, another might say it’s boring or pointless.

All in all we can agree on one thing: a good game makes us want to play it again. We say a game is our favorite because it makes us long to play again and the outcome is usually always different. When designing elements of a game, one must think about the target audience as well as its creative aesthetic. Most people want to see something new and exciting, not something that has been seen over and over again.

Many of us love a game because of certain characteristic it posses, however, the said characteristics does not necessarily define the game to be successful. When presenting ideas of a game, the successfulness of it should be marketed and advertised to a target audience in the best way possible. A game needs to be presented to an audience effectively or else it will suffer in the economic market whether or not the game itself is good or even great.

As designers, it is our job to effectively produce a great game with an amazing way of marketing and advertising it. We must learn this study and practice as much as we can now in school before applying our knowledge in the real world. The more we explore, the better we become.

Blog Post 9

Once again I was not wide awake and just mildly interested about attending class on Monday. Sadly I’m still getting over a cold and rest is something I desperately need… Monday’s class literally gave us all a different perspective because we sat facing the window rather than the front of the class. The sunlight was reflecting garishly on the Fine Arts building, causing me to squint for quite some time, but I will admit that I had a very different perspective that day.

Jimmy advised us to go down later during the day to view the undergraduate art show and I was ecstatic that I actually had some time to view the artwork. So far the undergraduate art show has not disappointed me. I am always fascinated to see what my peers are doing and attending the show is a great source of inspiration for me. I was also surprised to see something I did in the show. Never in a million years would I have thought something of mine will be displayed in the Fine Arts Gallery.

Later in class, we discussed games, the basic elements of a game, and what our favorite game is. The first part of the discussion dealt with Monopoly and it was such a coincidence that I watched a hilarious movie trailer about Monopoly on Sunday. I never really liked Monopoly and I would always get frustrated when I would play that board game. One would think the computer version of Monopoly would be easier, but no—I swear the computer cheats! I spent a great deal of my life stressing over that game, and I definitely would not like to relive those days.

After, we went over our collected images of the Seven Deadly Sins and I was surprised at how simple some of the images were. I tried linking and connecting things together (i.e. wrath, anger, “feel my wrath,” fights, war, revenge, bombing of Pearl Harbor) where as some people found images that were really concise. I do think that if I spent more time on the project I would have found some better images, but that’s the price I pay for being lazy.

I’m going to try and be rid of procrastination. I am fed up with my laziness and am going to accomplish things on time without reverting to my old ways. Join my fight against procrastination and together we can get things done! (Starting tomorrow…)

Reading 5

Was anyone else a little freaked out by the faces that were used to describe how our creativity and conceptualization process work…?

To be perfectly honest, I am beginning to find this book a little boring. Yes, it is interesting to learn how we work as humans and understand how our creative process should work, but something inside me is not being ecstatic about the new material presented. I am not engaged and nothing in this reading is enticing me to go on and learn more about what is being said (at least in the beginning of this chapter that is). The images are probably the only thing I have been looking forward to since reading this book. A lot of things are getting monotonous and repetitive. I want to be enthusiastic about the material, but it’s just not happening…

I did find something pretty insane when I was reading the section about brainstorming. When the author stated he had the “hardest time putting anything in [his] sketchbooks because [he] felt that everything had to be perfect and artistic,” I got the chills because that is exactly why I have not drawn in my sketchbook for quite some time. I know I am a much better artist when it comes to traditional work rather than digital media and I have always been ashamed whenever I can’t draw something spectacular. I constantly work and draw to make myself better, but I end up tossing most of my artwork because it’s not the best thing in the world. Perhaps I’m being too critical on myself, but now I know I should probably keep these random sketches and ideas in sketchbooks.

Even though I have been criticizing this book for repeating things that I already know, I must admit that I am getting some new things out of it (side note: contradicted myself here). For example, the do’s and don’ts section of “Presenting Concepts” was actually really helpful. It provided some advice that was useful, however, most of the topics covered I have already learned and sadly neglected to absorb in my process of presenting ideas. I will try to use them effectively, though.

The guest perspective at the end was quite intimidating for me. It made me worry about what career options will be open for me after graduation and if it is necessary for me to continue on to a graduate school. Things were different back in the past and everyday things are changing. Will there still be opportunities for us in the future and will it be possible for us to make a successful living as new designers? The uncertainty is killing me; let’s just hope for the best! Always think positive and best of luck to you with your future career!

Blog Post 8

Wednesday’s class was about storytelling with just three pictures and I was nasally congested while trying to fight off an awful sore throat (which I still have in case you were wondering). We initially set up the room to display everyone’s images and determined which three images alone told a really good story. Although I misinterpreted the instructions, yet again, I have learned a life lesson to actually read and analyze instructions before actually executing a task.

The bulk of the class primarily consisted of analyzing the pictures together and figuring out the storylines between each set. After doing a brief exercise and going through ways as to better a story, we watched a video of John Maeda and his take on the simplicity of things. I found his talk to be very entertaining, but the speed at which he talked confused me just a little bit. The way he was able to describe where his inspiration comes in a very precise and quick manner was amazing. It inspires me to become a better speaker, think about things, and plans things ahead of time to become a better designer.

What really makes things simple? Simplicity is defined as the state of being simple (i.e. the state of easily understanding a topic or something that is not extremely complex). I feel that simplicity ranges from person to person, however. Just like the state of beauty, one might see an object as simple whereas another sees it as complex. The way one perceives an object to be simple is left to interpretation, and it is important that we have different perspectives to widen our thought process.

Blog Post 7

Monday’s class really took a lot out of me and drained me completely. Maybe I was more tired than usual because of the fact that it was a Monday, but in either case, I was exhausted. Perhaps getting up just 15 minutes earlier and making some coffee in the morning will be a good thing? I would much rather fancy 15 more minutes in bed than getting up to make some coffee, however, particularly because I don’t drink coffee on a daily basis…

Our morning started off with the entire class rearranging ourselves by birthdays. Although I had a feeling that we all did a good job with organizing ourselves by birthdays, I felt as if I lacked confidence in agreeing with others when asked if we were in the right order. I think I need to trust others a little bit more and break out of my comfort zone to take chances and make mistakes since, after all, mistakes are magnificent life lessons. Uncertainty is caused by a lack of knowledge and hesitation is the product of fear.

After rearranging ourselves, we promptly moved on to the exercise of the class which was working with a small group of people to create a story with found objects. Although I found this project to be kind of difficult, I was actually surprised as to what kind of ideas my group came up with and how other groups told and presented their story. I feel that presentation is everything and one can say a bunch of nonsense if he/she speaks extremely well to captivate his/her audience together.

After storytelling, we went over our homework assignment and it wasn’t until after I viewed everyone else’s work I realized I went completely off topic and started finding pictures that described my short phrase, not really changing its meaning. Probably listening to instructions and analyzing its meaning before actually executing a task will be the best thing to do from now on. It was common sense, but I took it to a whole other field (thank you, procrastination). 

I personally think that my enemy right now is procrastination. I’m trying to succumb from its evil ways, but I have had no such luck so far. Any suggestions about how to avoid procrastination is greatly appreciated!

Reading 4

I know this may be a little irrelevant to my response regarding the reading of Section 2, but has anyone else notice that a few of the images used in the reading involve hot air balloons? I have nothing against them, but I was wondering if anyone else observed this phenomenon. I don’t think I missed anything in the reading regarding their use (if I did, please let me know), but their existence in the book makes me think about where the author is going with them. Are they being used as metaphors to help us become better designers, or could they possibly be sending some sort of subliminal message? I point this out because it’s a design aspect of the author and I am curious to know as to why hot air balloons are the chosen object to represent a few ideas in this book. Why not an airplane or a kite? Would something else be appropriate in place of this hot air balloon?

Moving on, I never really knew that there was a term which defines the necessary aspects of how something functions (i.e. inherent constraints and imposed constraints). I did, however, know designers followed some sort of constraints, but it was not until now I discovered there are actually terms to define parts of the designing process. Each portion of the book which talked about the different types of constraints gave me more knowledge about what things should be taken into consideration when designing.

I especially found the section about time management extremely useful. I have to admit that my time management skills are okay, not the best in the world, but it will do. For me, dealing with a busy schedule requires me to sacrifice a lot of time whenever I am free. The downside to this is most of my free time involves sleeping or resting, so my body has miraculously adapted to functioning on less than 5 hours of sleep a day (I honestly have no idea how I do it sometimes). Budgeting my time a little better, working with a set schedule, and maybe planning ahead more will probably give me some additional time to rest. I will take some of the advice mentioned in this book and see if any of the provided material will be valuable.

When I read the section about sustainability, I was quite shocked that it talked about current designers’ efforts to go “green.” The very brief lecture about the environment made me think twice about some of the things that I do on a daily basis and how I can step up to make the environment cleaner, “greener,” and more efficient. Frankly, I am really not used to reading textbooks that are current and new, and I found this to be a very pleasant shock since it also provided ways on how we can eliminate some of our resources for a better tomorrow.

I felt that the guest perspective by Brower Hatcher was a little boring. Although I do not disapprove of some of his aspects on designing and his thought process, and I definitely respect him as an artist, I found the way he presented his advice and philosophy about his career mildly interesting. After a while of reading advice and taking it in from so many other artists, designers, and critics, everything is beginning to mold together. Most of the advice I’m receiving is repetitive, and even though I know repetition is the key to learning, I want to be able to learn something I have not learned yet. I have read much better perspectives than Hatcher’s, and I feel he didn’t entice me. I am curious to learn more about what is out there and not what already exists. A new perspective on things is what enthralls me at the moment and I want to explore new things, not something that has already been discovered! Aren’t you curious as well?

Blog Post 6

Wednesday’s class was a little slow for me. Although I found the critiques we did to be very entertaining and somewhat useful, I felt that I didn’t receive much out of it (partly because standing for a while makes me lose concentration and focus). There were a few projects that I found very interesting and there were others that kind of confused me and made me think really hard. Trying to find the connection between a picture with one word or short phrase is actually more of a challenge that it sounds. Being able to get into the mind of a designer and understanding what he/she was thinking without him/her telling me what the connection is behind his/her work is a complex task—a little fun, but still difficult since everyone thinks differently.

Being able to see how others process their work and come out with something extremely different from my perspective is fascinating. Perhaps the one thing I got out from this class so far is being able to see how others work because it inspires me to open up my thought process and learn more about design. When we are narrow-minded, we are restricted to our own thoughts and perspective, and are ambiguous to other creative ideas. It’s best that we break out of our comfort zone and try something new to gain more inspiration and become better designers.

The second half of the class involved observing other design ads. I have seen a few of them before and all of them are witty, clever, and get their message across. Some may be better than others, but all in all they are very nice designs. The bulk of this session focused on the Band-Aid ad which I thought was humorous and still got its message across. I have seen this ad before, and I have always wondered what went through the designer’s mind when he/she came up with this design and how long it actually took this person to design it.

My creative thought process is subpar and it takes me a LONG time before I actually hit a great idea. I have tried various processes to get my brain moving and discover new ideas, but on very rare occasions will I ever find the best one. Yes, I have found good ideas during my thought process, but not yet have I discovered one that I can deem the best. Perhaps my standards are too high, but I am my toughest critic. I have not yet met my standards and I am determined to push myself until I succeed. Will I meet them this quarter? Not likely, but we’ll see!

Blog Post 5

It’s the beginning of the third week and I am already wishing it was the tenth week. Going to class from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Monday and 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday while also putting in 20+ working hours a week is extremely tiring, but there is no room for complaining. As Elizabeth Gilbert said, “Just do your job.” It is my job to be a student and get a good education, and in order to do so I must push myself until I reach my goal. 

Monday’s class started off with a talk about the Disney Corporation. I am an avid fan of Disney and I am always interested in the thoughts of what people have about them. I have heard tons of remarks about how they are fake and “plastic,” but they are doing something right to still be a successful company. Yes, Disney has a different way of presenting ideas via films, television shows, merchandise, theme parks, and much more, but being different and standing out is what draws people’s attention. Disney has very strict, military-like, guidelines for their employees and it shows a great deal of professionalism to other employers. If you, the reader, are interested in learning more about what the guidelines are, as well as “untold” Disney secrets and stories, Mouse Tales by David Koenig provides an excellent behind the scenes look of the company through the stories of former cast members of the Disney Parks.

As a class, we discussed what the elements of a good story are and broke into pieces what a good story should have. We came to a census that a story should have a beginning, middle, and end, characters (protagonist and antagonist), setting, plot, and other descriptive terms. We also talked about how key aspects of a narrative are tied together in a linear action.

The films we watched in class were very inspiring and, like the other classes, made me view things in a different perspective. I have read a few books by Amy Tan and I have not yet been disappointed. I found parts of her presentation to be quite hilarious and I definitely related to some of the things that she brought up (i.e. how she was supposed to be a doctor, but ended up becoming a writer). She also made me think about things in a new way. For example, I never really thought about how everything in life, including accidents, occurs for a reason. Tan’s theory about how uncertainty is a good thing provided me with a different perspective on life and it inspires me to always try and seek out answers for every question I have.

Elizabeth Gilbert’s presentation also provided some excellent advice which will probably stay with me for quite some time. Her suggestion to us about not being afraid and just continuing on with our job made me think about how we sometimes avoid things. Why do we avoid doing certain tasks? What is the reason why we avoid things? Fear is the main reason—we are afraid of failure. We never really know the outcome of something unless we try. Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. When in doubt, attempt something.

I learned a lot in this class and from now on I won’t be a complainer. If I dislike something, I’m just going to deal with it. Like the Nike states, “just do it.”  

Reading 3

This section of reading was, as the title states, inspirational. I learned more about the world of design and the thought process that should be taken into consideration when brainstorming new ideas. Although some of the techniques mentioned in the beginning of the reading are techniques I have overlooked before, reading about it in further detail brought out a different perspective. It’s as if one watched a movie and discovered new things the second time around. My advice to you, the reader, is to always try things more than once!

Reading about these techniques I have learned about before made me think differently. “What if I were to change the area at which I work?  What if I do not set up time for me to discover new ideas? What if…” The possibilities are endless. I find it amazing how with creative thinking, and by doing something a little differently, can make us think outside of the box and get us out of using tunnel vision.

Yeohlee Teng’s perspective about the design/fashion industry was very insightful and made me want to get out some paper and jot down ideas. Everyone thinks differently, but her perspective could have provided just a little bit more advice about how we should brainstorm ideas and elaborate more on her method of designing. All in all, it was still a very nice perspective, and I did benefit from it.

Once again, I have heard numerous times about the exercises towards the end of the reading, but I never really understand them until after reading this section. Everything can be a source of inspiration and we should not judge the thought process of certain designers. Everyone thinks differently and if the end product of a design looks nice, don’t question the awkwardness of a designer’s thought process. Learning new things is a process of endurance and experience. The more experience one gains, the better prepared they are for future tasks. As I said before, determination is important and having plenty of it will only make one stronger.

Blog Post 4

Wednesday’s class was rather interesting—mostly because of the short clip we watched of Scott McCloud. I will admit that I am not a diehard fan of McCloud, but he is a very interesting person full of knowledge. It would be nice to attend one of his presentations because just by watching this first presentation, I want to see more. The way he uses comedy and leads his audience through his presentation was amazing and still managed to keep my attention. This is the only presentation by him I saw, and for me to say that I want to see more means he did an excellent job because presentations are not my cup of tea.

In the beginning of the class, we went over mind mapping which is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, and tasks. Mind mapping encourages brainstorming to plan and organize tasks. The easiest path for a fresh idea is through an open mind because it is a way to incubate ideas. Having an open mind enables good ideas to get stuff through. I was actually surprised that I understood the entire process of mind mapping.

I have made a few mind maps before, but I never really understood the point of them because they would be linked to some sort of Old English literature or a form of history which just threw me into a confused dimension of words and phrases. Because it was broken down and analyzed piece by piece Wednesday, I was able to grasp the idea and use my creative thoughts to effectively produce a mind map for our exercise of the day.

I found that using this method of brainstorming ideas is something that will be worthwhile and a process that I will be using again sometime in the future. I did enjoy the exercise we did on Wednesday and for once I am actually excited to start my homework.

Reading 2

Just by reading the introduction of the book, my mind has been blown away. Although I already knew a few things that the author was mentioning (i.e. everything being an aspect of design), there was so much more that I did not know about the field. For example, the explanation about the design process was really interesting. I never knew reading something from a different person’s perspective could really pieces things together.

I find it rather interesting that the book strays away from the design process and shows how ideas we have can be brought into a different world, organized in a unique original form, and yet still keep its meaning. We are defined as problem solvers and decision makers as opposed to just designers. I really do appreciate the fact that the author explains more about the field of design and how we should perceive it because it will only benefit us in the end.

The map about how we will pursue our design journey was also very interesting. Reading the source material in a different, creative form kept my attention and it inspired me to try and identify the parts of this “journey” in my own career. I feel if more text books were organized in a way that used understandable metaphors and examples I would easily grasp the subject matter and have less trouble deciphering the meaning (yes, some may disagree with me, but I need to have things broken down and explained to me very clearly before I can understand anything).

All of the exercises provided were fascinating and it inspires me to try them all. I am not quite sure I understand reverse designing, however, but all of the other projects are very useful and I appreciate the guidelines provided at the end of the reading. I feel that just reading this material has made me into a better designer when it comes to brainstorming ideas, and I anticipate reading the rest of the book.

Blog Post 3

I am trying as hard as I can to appreciate the material I am learning from this class, and trying to get into the work as well, but I think I need more practice. I have learned a lot in the past few classes and the things I learned will be useful material for me in the future. We primarily covered perspective in the early portion of the class and it brought forth some interesting facts that should not be overlooked.

Everyone has an interesting perspective. As designers, we should be able to use our life experiences as source material. Everything we do goes into a mixture of thoughts, subconscious mind, conscience, and we are in charge of everything. We should focus ourselves and concentrate on how we do things rather than finding things to do. Success is defined differently among people, but a contribution from oneself is necessary.

The in-class exercise that involved everyone was very interesting and it made me realize that effective communication is extremely important. If one’s voice is not heard, a good idea or contribution may derail the success of a project, or the project may suffer because it lacks a different perspective. Participation is necessary, and the only way to get better with communication is to practice.

Even though I did not attend the guest speaker event on Friday, I did learn a few things from my classmates, most importantly, we learned six points that will make us better designers. First off, we must tell our clients what they need, meaning we should  tell our clients why something works as opposed to them saying why they dislike our choice in style for something due to personal preference. Next, we must make our own work since clients are looking for our piece of mind in our work as well as originality.

We must do a lot with little, shut up and listen, and make things better. As designers we must learn to effectively communicate our designs to a wide spread audience. In doing so, we must listen for constructive criticism and feedback as well as enhancing things that we already see as successful. All things that we see are great can be better, which brings me to the last point, be curious and never satisfied.

We should never accept our first ideas and continue brainstorming until it is better. Determination shapes our ambition and we must learn to have both.  Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.

Reading 1: Cover-XVIII Response

Before I move on to my response to the reading, I would like to say I am not a fan of people with a conceited, egotistical attitude. I despise those that arrogantly flaunt their pompous nature to everyone and are aware of it. I bring this up because the author’s preface reminded me of my pet peeve. Personally, I choose not to read an author’s prefaces and introductory notes until after I read his/her work because I see it as a form of bias. I do not want to give an author sympathy based on what he/she tells me until after I read the material.

Even though this is strictly my opinion, I found that the preface and explanation about how the book was organized was okay and up to par. I have read better prefaces which tied meaning to an author’s intention as to why he/she wrote the book, but because I did not read the material beforehand, I cannot say much. The clear explanation as to why and how this book was made gave me a better insight and I am intrigued to see what else the author will be providing in his book.

I did appreciate how the author explained each section of the book and explained what was important in each section. I do hope that this explanation will let me better understand the material he provides. I also do wish that other text books provided thorough explanations about the content material…

The layout of this textbook is very nice, however. The clean sophistication of the layout is very pleasing to the eye and there are not too many images that do not over power the text. I am amazed with the layout and I love the use of color that is incorporated throughout the book. Overall, I am excited to read more and see what else the author has to offer.

Blog Post 2

Although I was not expecting to learn much on the second day, I actually learned quite a bit. The material covered jumped from how a webpage works to seeing things in a different perspective. I am still getting the hang of understanding concept development, but I am excited to learn more about the field and soon apply the things that I learn to daily practices.

Before going any further, what defines concept development? I see it as a process of analysis—a way of generating ideas for a project. Analytical perception is a key role in leading a successful career. Asking open minded questions and never restricting ourselves leaves us endless possibilities. Relating this topic to class on Wednesday, we asked ourselves numerous “what if” questions and everyone made me think in a different way. It connected me with how others think and how I am very limited by restricting myself to my own individual analysis of topics.

At the end of class, I kept asking myself “what if” questions because of curiosity. What if we could travel back in time? What if we could fly? What if I didn’t take this class? The importance of the exercise finally hit me. Critical analysis leads us to a world of endless possibilities which in return allows us to develop amazing designs. Thinking outside of the box is crucial for success.

Having a different perspective on things exudes strong, powerful messages. Towards the end of the class, we viewed images that gave powerful messages. The images made me realize every message can be perceived in a different way, but it takes critical analysis to pin point the accurate portrayal of the message. The exercises we have been doing in this class have been very helpful so far and I believe they are benefitting me in my process of concept development.

Yes, I am still having second thoughts about this class, but at this point I am going to force myself to enjoy every moment of it since its benefits outweigh the cost. As Lance Armstrong once said, “Pain is temporary; quitting is forever.”  

Blog Post 1

It is the first week of school and my body is not used to this new class schedule. During spring break I would get up at 6:00 a.m. to be at work by 6:45 a.m. with ease, but somehow I just cannot make it through an 8:00 a.m. class without feeling somewhat tired. On Monday morning, I regretted taking concept development at that grueling hour, but somehow I managed to get up and make it to class.

While waiting for class to start, I was pondering about what I will learn this quarter. I am all for learning new ways to create designs and brainstorm ideas; however, I lack the knowledge of how to creatively get from point A to point B without developing something lackluster and humdrum and I am hoping this class will help me with this problem. Just thinking about all the hard work I will have to endure was overwhelming. I felt defeated even before the class started, but I am not a quitter and the thought of failing gave me the ambition to set a goal and thrive in this class.

Instead of moping and whining, I told myself to suck it up and deal with the challenge that lies ahead. Everything I do in this class will benefit me to become a better designer and the criticism/comments of others will only improve my skills. Determination is the key to success, and so far with just one in class assignment, I have learned a lot.

When I was introduced to the first assignment about keeping a blog, I was not too enthusiastic partly because I am not much of a blogger and all of the blogs I have held in the past were put to an end because I lacked the interest of posting my thoughts every so often. I do enjoying writing from time to time, but there is a feeling of discomfort when I publically display my thoughts to others.

Some of my fellow peers may argue that writing is more of a chore rather than a therapeutic pleasure, but I find that writing is a place where one can escape the stress of reality. I for one enjoy writing essays and (dare I say) research papers. There is a profound interest I get from writing academic papers and being able to entice a reader into a whole other world with words is exciting.

Even though I do not say much when it comes to expressing personal thoughts, I plan on challenging myself to become a better writer and speaker. My goals for this class are to obtain an outstanding knowledge of developing concepts and applying the material I learned in this course to other attributions of my career. Let’s see if they’ll be met!

-Andrew Lee