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?