#dsgn200

Well its then end of yet another quarter. Technically I should be considered a Junior in college. However, before this quarter I was a Junior without a cause. From Motion Picture Production at Wright State ( a college I couldn't stand!) to Aviation at Ohio State and finally "exploring" I had no idea what I wanted to do. I loved flying but the cost was unreal and as a career, did I really want to be gone from my family all the time as an adult pilot? Motion Picture Production, sweet I should have stuck with it, kind of wish I had, but I was beyond miserable at Wright State. It wasn't until Winter Break that I really began to freak out and wonder what I should be taking next quarter. Then, their it was, DESIGN. I am now happy to say that after discovering this major and taking a quarter of classes related to it that I am more than ecstatic to continue. While I may be behind I can only hope that it works out because I've found something I really enjoy. 

Design 200 is a crucial class for anyone interested in learning more about design as a career. While we only really skimmed the surface of what design is, it definitely covered the basics and provided more than enough information for someone questioning if its something they would like to pursue. 

Some things I liked:

The Guest Speakers - have them come back every quarter. Or someone who can talk about the same sort of subject matter. It was awesome to hear from people who had been through the program and to see where they were at today. It is very encouraging for someone who is just stepping foot into the world of design. 

Blogging - a great way to grade students. Its easy. Its modern. Its simple. And its something students can continue to use and document their experiences after the class has ended. 

Assignments - Scavenger hunt/letter find - anything like these projects is great. It required me to use my imagination, get out and around the campus, and look at things in a different light. Much better than power points and book work. 

Group Members:

Nina El-Khoury 

Brandon Reed

John Severt

Xia Hua

Karyn Pernia-Duque

Matt Watson

As everyone saw last monday, our group developed a customizable storage cabinet tailoring to the adventurous, outdoor type of person. Our team worked flawlessly together to make this a success. After we had decided the base idea of our project everyones ideas came together and were implemented until we had a final project. Things like a drain basin, attachable ventilation fan, various basket designs, etc. were all suggestions made that we were able to discuss and work in to the over all design. 

The group itself I feel never experienced any issues. Utilizing email was key to our success and really the major way we worked together outside of class. Individuals members would develop things like slides for our presentation, 3D renderings of various objects we decided to include, graphics for the product, etc. and sent them out via email. We were then able to respond, make suggestions, download and make adjustments ourselves and so on. It was key to bringing the final project and presentation together before we had to show it to the class. 

Personally I was able to have good conversation with my team and put our ideas together to develop the final design. It was hard to have multiple people working on renderings and slides. So really individuals picked up on these tasks and really just kept in touch with what they were doing so we were on the same page. Ultimately everyone had a hand in all aspects and during the presentation, while we all had a chosen part to present, we were able to make comments about everything which really showed we were all involved form the beginning.

I really really enjoyed this course. It was definitely an eye opener for me, as far as seeing all the different aspects of design and learning more about the modern history of design. I can identify some iconic design work on the regular now:

I think the most effective part of this course was the assignments we were given to design our own work. The infographic, the final project, and also the various journal assignments like the face finding, letterform finding, etc. They were all simple, but easy to work on, and really changed the way I look at the world, honestly. Lately I've been seeing the way things are created, to mimic other pre-existing shapes/forms, and also the personality objects are given by their aesthetic details. 

A big eye opener for me in this course was the discussion of being "green". I thought it was interesting to think about what it really means to eco-friendly. You can't just design something that is less wasteful, you have to think about what you can do make it waste-free and reusable. Even if it costs a little more to begin with, it will always be worth it in the long run to make a reusable, sustainable product that doesn't damage nature. That was definitely something that stuck with me from this class.

I also loved the blogging format. It's so easy to show my ideas, being able to use pictures/video/charts/sound and it's paper-less, so it's ECO FRIENDLY. :D I liked being able to check out my classmates work, to see what everyone else was thinking about the course. 

I could probably go on for a lot longer about why I loved this course, so just know that the only thing I HATED was the desks we had to sit at in class. They are so small that my knees don't fit underneath. So I was constantly struggling to sit comfortably and pay attention, and it just added insult to injury that such an atrocity against mankind was designed and used in the room I was having design class in. 

I also loved the RiP: Remix video featuring Girl Talk, it was really informative about copyrights and Creative Commons licensing, so definitely keep that. 

John Severt : http://tbdbitldale.blogspot.com/

Nina El-Khuory: http://sayithot.tumblr.com/

Brandon Reed: http://bmreed330.blogspot.com/

Anthony Norris: http://anthonorris.tumblr.com/

Xia Hau: http://littledesign.tumblr.com/

Karyn Pernia: http://karynperniauise.blogspot.com/

I think our team worked great together, this has definitely been the best group I've been able to work with. From the beginning we all put our ideas together to make the best possible prototype, without arguing and worrying about who's idea it was. When we came up with the idea for our final product (the Coleman Custom Storage Cabinet), we then organized ourselves according to our strengths, and split up the work to create a proposal for Coleman. We talked about our ideas in classes on the work days, and then on the off days we would all work on our separate parts, and then give feedback on the next class day. We also kept up constant communication with email and Dropbox, sending slides, renderings, and mock-ups back and forth between classes. I think this was a big factor in how strong our presentation came out, we worked long and hard on each part of it, and everyone provided input.

My contribution to the proposal was the visual marketing aspect; i redesigned the logo, and came up with the product tag/sticker, and shipping sleeve. During the initial stages of product development, I tried to better our ideas by asking everyone in our group what they thought was missing from their households. What better way to design a product than for a need you yourself have? You know what the user really wants that way. So we came up with a product that was able to meet the different needs of different people, and something we could all relate to and conceptualize needing.

Group Members:

Nina El-Khoury 

Brandon Reed

John Severt

Xia Hua

Karyn Pernia-Duque

Matt Watson

Just a few hours ago our group met at Starbucks to finalize everything for out presentation tomorrow. Over the past week everything has really come together. Our focus and intention of the product has become clear and with that comes the confidence to present. We were able to develop numerous 3D-renderings of what we as a group envisioned the product to look like. Below is one such image:

Base Model:

Along with the image above we have also worked to create numerous accessories that set our product apart from the average storage unit. As our group continued to develop the product visually, we communicated through email and were able to create a series of slides to present as we went along.

I must say our organization and ability to communicate has been key. I am not lying when I say this is one of the best groups I've been included in thus far during my time in college. Not only have we steered free of an conflict amongst each other but everyone has really stepped in and contributed their strengths and skills. It's not usually easy to separate work and agree on a product when there are seven minds at work. 

I would have liked to have contributed more. Of course I appreciate everyones dedication and understand the difficulties and having multiple people working to create a slide show or image and have it flow visually. In the end though everyone contributed equally and all of our ideas can be seen in the presentation tomorrow. 

Lastly I wanted to share our final packaging sticker. I was really impressed with this and thought it could be seen in a store immediately. 

Final Sticker Design:

J09: Coleman Project - Personal Documentation

Teammates blogs: http://laurennkelley.blogspot.com/ http://fraichestyle.blogspot.com/ http://kbranscum-dsgn200.blogspot.com/

Overall, I believe the project is going very well. Our team has been working on a wall mural to bring the outdoors indoors. I think we're pretty organized with everything and with Gabe's suggestion, we decided to incorporate a paint into our mural that will detect carbon monoxide.

Heskett talks about a number of things in his final chapters of Design- A Very Short Introduction. Specifically what stuck with me was his discussion on the future of design. He writes, "... a major question requiring an answer is whether designers will be merely technocrats, devoting their skills to the highest commercial bidder without consideration of the ends they serve. Or is there instead a dimension of social and environmental purpose requiring acknowledgment of their work?"

Group Members:

Nina El-Khoury 

Brandon Reed

John Severt

Xia Hua

Karyn Pernia-Duque

Matt Watson

By the end of the first day we as a group were pretty sure on what we were going to be presenting. The idea was to create an "all-in-one" storage cabinet specifically catering to items/clothing used outside. The unit would be able to handle muddy/wet items as well as normal everyday items that need to be stored. As we continued to meet we began to go more in depth on just how we were going to make a functional product that would sell. Everyone put forth ideas as to what would work. Eventually we all settled on creating a main storage unit with multiple accessories that could be used to customize the unit itself. 

As a group we've all worked very well together. We have used email to continue an on going conversation outside of class. This has helped with addressing questions anyone might have as well as to share any ideas someone comes up with. Those who are familiar with design software such as photoshop and sketch up have stepped up and began creating visual renderings of our ideas and sketches we have made. I think that so far everyone ideas have been incorporated into the product and that is key to our success. 

Pictured is one of our Sketches: