Group Language Project: WITHDRAW

with·draw

verb /wiT͟Hˈdrô/  /wiTH-/ 

withdrawing, present participle; withdrawn, past participle; withdraws, 3rd person singular present; withdrew, past tense

1. Remove or take away (something) from a particular place or position

- slowly Ruth withdrew her hand from his

2. Take (money) out of an account

- normally you can withdraw up to $50 in cash

3. Take back or away (something bestowed, proposed, or used)

- the party threatened to withdraw its support for the government

4. (in parliamentary procedure) Remove or recall a motion, amendment, etc., from consideration

5. Say that (a statement one has made) is untrue or unjustified

- he failed to withdraw his remarks and apologize

6. (of a man) Practice coitus interruptus

7. Leave or come back from a place, esp. a war zone

- Allied forces withdrew from Norway in 1941

8. Cause (someone) to leave or come back from a place, esp. a war zone

- both countries agreed to withdraw their troops

9. No longer participate in an activity or be a member of a team or organization

- his rival withdrew from the race on the second lap

10. Depart to another room or place, esp. in search of quiet or privacy

11. Retreat from contact or communication with other people

- he went silent and withdrew into himself

12. Cease to take an addictive drug

- for the cocaine user, it is possible to withdraw without medication

Language

Written Description:

    This project’s title was “What Language Looks Like.” On first hearing the title, it seemed to be a project based on text and how to make the text physically portray the meaning behind the word. Each word was to be manipulated to make it look like it’s own definition. The main idea of the project was to represent ideological meaning through letters and words. In two-dimensional space, we were to express the meaning of the word through paper and flat proportions. The placement of text can emphasize meaning and we were encouraged to use the text to do so throughout this project.
“Parts of the Letter” Reflection

    I was extremely intrigued by the topic of this lecture. I love text and looking at how each one differs from the next. It goes unnoticed to many people that some texts have serifs and some do not. Learning about the x-height was very interesting and will help me later in life with designing my own fonts. I found it very interesting that there are so many different vocabulary terms for each part of the letter such as the apex, cross bar, descender, ascender, bracket, cap height, vertex, terminal, and counter.

    Knowing the different parts of the letter extremely assists with designing typography and makes it easier to communicate what could be changed about designs and fonts. In regards to my major, this lecture helped me determine how to use different texts to represent different meanings; even sight differences in text convey a completely different idea than another text. It was nice to see so many different texts all lined up on a line that included the baseline, x-height, and cap height as well. I got to see firsthand how different each font is and how they can all display different ideas.

Written Reflection

    The project was overall very inspiring and taught me a ton about articulating ideas through text. Since I had the word change, I had many options for how to change the word, but I thought the most successful ideas were the ones of the entire word the same with an exception of one letter or one opacity that was different.

    My designs represented change in many ways. The first way it represented change was through one letter being changed in size, boldness, and rotation. Another way my designs represented change was by the use of color. I used color by making the entire word one color but then changing the color of one letter to represent change from one color to the next. I also represented change through the movement of letter, turning some of them upside-down to represent change and also taking out the counters in some of the letters. I used space to portray change through subtraction and negative space by using the pathfinder tool. I also showed changed through emphasis on certain letters and also focusing on one big change in the design. The unity that I was going for is represented in color palette through each design- each palette has it’s own colors and it they are unified through that.

    The nine designs work together to represent change because in each design I changed only one aspect. Each design has a similar color palette with minor changes throughout each one. I used all nine designs together to represent change.
change

verb /CHānj/ 
changed, past participle; changed, past tense; changes, 3rd person singular present; changing, present participle

1.         Make or become different

▪          - a proposal to change the law

▪          - a Virginia creeper just beginning to change from green to gold

2.         Make or become a different substance entirely; transform

▪          - filters change the ammonia into nitrate

▪          - computer graphics can show cars changing into cheetahs

3.         Alter in terms of

▪          - the ferns began to change shape

4.         (of traffic lights) Move from one color of signal to another

5.         (of a boy's voice) Become deeper with the onset of puberty

6.         (of the moon) Arrive at a fresh phase; become new

7.         Take or use another instead of

▪          - she decided to change her name

8.         Move from one to another

▪          - she changed jobs incessantly

▪          - change sides

9.         Exchange; trade

▪          - the sun and moon changed places

10.      Move to a different train, airplane, or subway line

11.      Give up (something) in exchange for something else

▪          - we changed the shades for vertical blinds

12.      Remove (something dirty or faulty) and replace it with another of the same kind

▪          - change a light bulb

13.      Put a clean diaper on (a baby or young child)

14.      Engage a different gear in a motor vehicle

▪          - wait for a gap and then change gears

▪          - with business concluded, the convention changes gear and a gigantic circus takes over the town

15.      Exchange (a sum of money) for the same amount in smaller denominations or in coins, or for different currency

16.      Put different clothes on

▪          - he changed for dinner

HANGER

The beginning phases of the hanger project seem so fun!

Written Assignments for BDS 101

The Deep Dive:
     In this video the main project for the team working with IDEO was to redesign a shopping cart in 5 days. They figured out how to be innovative by just using ideas and no technical processes. The team looked at all aspects of the shopping cart, including injuries and stolen carts. In an innovative culture the entire group is on level ground- even people who are the most useful are not the ones who have been in the corporation longer but the ones who create the best ideas. The secret to IDEO' success is a 'deep dive' into what they are designing. They use good judgement and creative ideas and sketch out their ideas for hours, to create very wild ideas. Enlightened trial and error and focused chaos is a large part of their design ethic. The four aspects the teams focused on were shopping, safety, checkout, and finding what the customer is looking for. Playfulness is a huge part of being creative. "Fail often in order to succeed sooner," is a motto used frequently in the IDEO offices and it has created a very innovative atmosphere. IDEO truly believes that chaos is very productive and I think it's a great way to be creative. This movie showed just what it takes in the creative process to make new products and come up with new ideas. It takes many hours, lots of hard work, teamwork, chaos, and playfulness. The IDEO team has really redefined design and have done an amazing job recreating products.

Finishing Up

Project 1 is done! Here is the finished product:

In other news, here are my written assignments as well :]



BDS Reading One
         This reading was honestly really intriguing! I found interest in largely the introduction to the chapter. The introduction portrayed an event that happened in small midwestern town. In that town segregation, although abolished, was still at large in many public places. In this scenario, the issue was segregation in a movie theatre, where black people were forced to sit within the four back rows of the theatre. One night for the movie, the students of the town all bought tickets and rushed in to watch the movie, sitting in various spots all around the auditorium. The last four rows were packed strategically with white people and the other rows were filled with both blacks and whites. When the manager tried to make people move, all the students would ignore him or tell him to be quiet since the movie was showing. This scenario really showed me that design might not have anything to do with making a design or artwork on white paper, design is an idea, based around a problem or issue. Design is specifically for solving problems and resolving issues. This example of design really changed how I think about design as a whole.
         The rest of the reading was based on what design actually is. The introduction full supports what the rest of the chapter has to say about design, since it was reiterated again. At one point the author says “…design, stripped to its essence, can be defined as the human capacity to shape and make our environment in ways without precedent in nature, to serve our needs and give meaning to our lives.” Once again, the point comes back to design is necessary for solving problems and the only means by which we can solve at all. In the introduction to Understanding Design by Kees dorst, I learned that design can also be used as applied creativity, and it can be used as normal problem solving. Another interesting point that was made was that design can be used in evolution. I never thought about design as an evolution, but it truly is an evolution from idea, to concepts, to understanding more thoroughly the idea, to sketches, to models and finally to the finished product. With evolution, even the finished project changes often as people come up with better ideas for the object.
         Reading one was extremely entertaining! The exerts we read from out of three different books and three different authors were very good depictions of what design is and how it can be applied to daily life.



Objectified
         Objectified was an interesting movie in many ways. One of the things I found most impressive about the movie was just how many sketches go into one formal design. All the different concepts for the designs must be put to paper and seeing them on paper helps people see your idea for what it is. Also this movie really depicted how long the process from idea to finished product takes. Many new ideas can be incorporated into a product as the project continues, so the product can shift and become something even better by the end. Another really interesting part of the movie was the group projects. As I watched the groups of people make a web of post-it notes on separate walls, I realized that group projects give people free reign to be extremely creative and then pair their ideas with those of their piers. I really like the idea of working with a team to develop a new product; working in teams helps to create innovative ideas that have never been thought of before.
         Something else I wanted to mention about this movie was the consumerism of it all. During parts of this movie I was bewildered at the final use of some design. Some design is not beneficial for the environment, some is not cheap, and some is not necessary. So much that is designed is not necessary for life but because consumers, largely Americans, want the products, they’re made and they are catered to the needs of the wealthy. I am shocked by seeing how materialistic our culture is and how design has become ideas catering to the rich- to people who will buy the expensive product.
         This movie taught me that design can be just one idea and from that one idea taking it and using it to sketch and create new and innovative things. This movie really opened my eyes to what it means to be a designer and the mindset many designers have.

Reflection
Why is Your Poster Good Design?
         In my opinion my poster exemplifies good design. I spent countless hours sketching and getting to know my object, a wine glass, in completely different ways. Throughout this project I saw how many different angles I can view the glass as, I saw how the light reflected off the glass from every angle, and I saw how the curvature of the glass was exactly symmetrical. I spent most of my time learning how the shape of the wine glass affected the overall design. I learned that some curves on the glass were necessary, the ones supporting liquid. Other curves, such as those around the base, were completely there for style and uniqueness. The wine glass is amazing design in itself because it has so many aspects of good design, such as things like it is environmentally friendly, it is long lasting, it is unobtrusive, and it is simple.
         My poster is designed in a unique way. I pieced together pieces of my many sketches to create a whole image of a wine glass. I placed the photograph of the wine class directly next to the collaged sketches, to show the viewer the complete image. To the left of my collage, I placed other sketches of different angles of the wine glass. I knew for a good grade I would have to add other angles and I was more than willing to add those. I also learned that the sketches, as they stood alone, created a very chaotic image. I placed the black boxes around the image to portray the same order and organization as the glass itself has. . I used the type on the upper right hand side and the thumbnails at the bottom left hand side to create balance within the poster, making the collaged sketches a focal point and the main center of emphasis. 

        The wine glass is extremely elegant and smooth, seemingly effortless, which is what I hoped to portray in my poster. I incorporated color and balance to make my poster go from chaos to a more organized chaos through use of boxes and symmetry. From the directions and critique given, my poster embodies good design.

Digital Photography Photos!

This was an adventure I had to take 60 sequential shots for my class. I ended up shooting 220 photos and seeing the world from really different perspectives through the camera lens. Who would think a baseball complex would be so interesting? These are just some of the good ones :]

Once again, I love my major :]

Scanned sketches that Linda likes: