Assignment 18

Assignment 17

3/2 – Evaluate the use of blogging as a communication tool for design.

I think blogs work much better as a tool for displaying sketches and process shots than for presenting your thoughts and ideas, merely because the formatting is so basic. I know that’s the whole point (the ease of posting/commenting and basic formatting), but being unable to present text data in any way other than in an endless stream of text can be very limiting. I find myself even on the artist’s blogs whose work I am very interested in still scrolling through any text and looking straight to imagery, unless the images posted are a process book or tutorial of some kind.

I think that designs and art are still best communicated online through websites, where there is room for personalization and better structured for presenting information.

Assignment 16

iPod Shuffle

I’ve always had around 500 gigs of music, so there really hasn’t ever been an iPod that can hold it all, and that would be stupid anyway. Enter my iPod shuffle, purchased late in my freshman year of college and still going strong. I’ve done everything but eat it and it still works great, and I’m thinking about eating it and then using it later just to say I did.

I’ve driven over it, dropped it a few stories, washed it, and even left it outside in the elements accidentally several times. Also, the thing doesn’t have an LCD, so it uses virtually no power. I forget that I even have to charge it because I have to do so rarely, even with frequent use.

The Nintendo 64 Controller.

Yeah, yeah I know, it looks like a wad of bananas with buttons. But, despite its goofy appearance, the way this controller could be utilized by multiple age groups and for multiple types of gameplay comfortably makes it my favorite. The controller can be used by toddlers because it sits upright on a flat surface or floor, and the buttons can be utilized without gripping the entire controller. It’s one of the more functional in multiple types of gameplay settings than most that I’ve used, and additionally is a little less frightening to less frequent players. I always thought it had a more natural feel than most systems of the period and definitely trumps a few of the systems’ standard controllers that followed it.

My straight razor

I started using one occasionally to shave, because there’s nothing cooler than shaving with a razor that can cut your head off. After using it for a bit, I realized that while there is definitely a learning curve in learning to use it, the tool itself is very simple, well-balanced and easy to hold. The learning curve is entirely technique and not really how to interact with the tool itself.

The carbon steel blade dulls very easily but this is due to the extreme malleability of the metal, so it’s easy to sharpen again, and will be able to be

resharpened to its original edge many, many more times than stainless steel blades.This is one of my favorite designs/products because it was around before things we’re designed to intentionally fail and be replaced. If I take care of my razor properly, it’s likely I could use it my whole life and not replace it. Even Volvos don’t last that long.

Assignment 15

2/23
This is a link to SideBar, a comics website that has a link at the bottom to an audio interview with Marko Djurdjevic, one of the founders of Massive Black and serious contender for one of the most talented artists alive. Completely worth your time and it’ll inspire anybody – the second link is a different text interview –

Audio Download
Text Interview

Assignment 14

2/18 Review your goals from the beginning of the quarter and evaluate your progress

At this point in the quarter things have been going good, I admittedly am a whole lot less jazzed about my Industrial Design project than I was at the beginning of the quarter, but that really isn’t anything new.

The work I’ve been able to do for my Independent Study and DesComm is really getting me the practice I need. It’s much nicer not having to break my concept art stride to sketch products that I’m not really interested in, and sketching characters is keeping me sane.

Assignment 13

2/16
Write about your individual strengths as a designer and how you focus on them

As a designer I am much better at sketching than 3D modeling and vector work. I prefer to put pencil to paper/stylus to cintiq than use a mouse in any way. I’m doing my best to enhance not only my visual palette but my mechanical skill and speed. When it comes to the type of art and design that I want to make a career of (toys/concept art), the theory that drives the design is just as important as the mechanical skill that it takes to accurately communicate it. I’m doing my best to spend as much time as possible developing this skillsets and tailoring my projects to them.

Assignment 12