Getting Loud

I cup my hands around my mouth and project throughout the classroom. I need them to settle down before we can move on. It was tough, as I explained in my previous post but I am getting louder. At the end of the class my voice is strained and hoarse.

Here is the thing. My residency focuses on how we can express our opinions without words. I can use graphic design and the power of image to scream my opinion. The best part about engaging this voice is that no one will judge what I am saying by the color of my skin, my gender or my age. Power. This is why I use bright colors, striking images, thick appealing fonts and powerful language to express my opinions.

Week 2: Am I getting through?

I just don’t know if I am getting through to them. In some instances the students are intrigued and ready to learn but today they seemed so disengaged. It is so frustrating.

Ms. R’s 1st period was fun. We were introduced to about 30 English Language Learners from all over the world. Their families are from El Salvador, Lebanon, Venezuela, Mexico, and Romania. Each student stood up and proudly declared where they (or their immediate family) was born. I tried to remember each name. They made name tags so we can now call on them without saying hey you. While doing the name tag exercise I told them to pay attention to the letterforms. I showed them that the letters must be equal height with the same spacing (kerning). I think they are catching on. We reviewed our presentation from last week and most of the kids remembered the main points of our lecture.

Our assignment for the day was to explore how we can use image to communicate our identity. Each student made a drawing of a symbol or icon. We then had a test to see if they could recognize their classmates’ drawings. It was surprising to see how engaged they were. They completed the exercise with a writing assignment where they answered: How can you communicate who you are through image? Why is it important that we can communicate a message while letting our identity be unknown?

This is an important question in discovering how to have a voice through poster design. These students(6th-8th grade) can be “heard” in places where they might otherwise be dismissed based on their age, race, class or gender. Graphic design has the power to communicate regardless of these barriers.

For homework we asked the students to find two articles (that they feel strongly about) and bring in summaries. They will use these articles to create a poster design. Next week we will be in the computer labs with illustrator. We will begin the task of teaching this complex program.

In other news, I turned in my book review for exhibit design.

I wish I could take one of Edward Tufte’s courses. The student fee for a one day course is 200 bucks! The new york times has called him “the da Vinci of Data.” I don’t think my 3 column grid book review does his work any justice. Maybe some day. I did however pay close attention to remove any widows, rivers and hyphens.

You Inspire Me

I love when the rain falls in LA. The water saturates the vegetation so it shines with a radiant emerald green color. I guess I was in a mood to appreciate this kind of thing after coming back from a morning in Pasadena. I explored the galleries at Art Center to get some inspiration for my final assignments. It always helps me to look at precise beautiful work.

Aside from this trip, I have been so inspired this week. I went to a great EDA lecture on Wednesday where Wendy Chun spoke about the enduring ephemeral nature of new media. I finished reading Envisioning Information for my book review. This is an essential text for any designer, Edward Tufte is a genius. And last night I had the opportunity to explore Getty exhibits and their design studios with my Designing Experiences class.

This is the California Video exhibit three weeks before opening.

Our professor is showing us the foam core models of the gallery spaces.

Here is the project archive and the assignment wall. Each designer has a different color and the projects span about 2 years on the calender. And I thought I was busy.

Art Center. Enough said.

A creative print solution in the art center gallery.

Week 1: An introduction to Graphic Design

I just took Banana Nut muffins out of the oven and they smell delicious. God I feel like such a homemaker. While they cool I want to go over my first day of my 16 week residency at Millikin.

This Wednesday Brittany and I went out to the Jr high for the third time. While we completed observations a few weeks prior, I felt like we were walking into unchartered territory (with sensible closed-toed shoes of course). We were led half way to a bungalow in the back of the school, where Ms. Rahamin teaches a mixed 6th-8th grade ELL class. At this point there were so many things going through my head. Mainly I was curious to see if these kids would understand our presentation. At the bell we warmed up the projector and smoothed out the wrinkles in our presentation attire. But when all eyes were on me, I realized that this was going to be nothing like the presentation Brittany and I gave to our ArtsBridge class. I quickly ditched my notes so that I could talk off the top of my head and engage the students in conversation. Surprisingly enough they were really into our presentation. I think one of the main reasons was our highly visual power point. There was not a sentence on the presentation, but the students were given a nicely designed handout with all the information for our introduction to graphic design. I know that most of these handouts will end up crumpled in the bottom of their jansport backpacks, but if even one kid reads it then I am happy. During the presentation we asked the students about their interests and about the images. They were responsive and inquisitive. Some of the students were even asking about how they could get to UCLA.

At the end of the class period we assigned homework to bring back a piece of information that they found interesting. One student, said that she was going to bring in a collage she has been working on.

The next order of business is to create a solid outline of the residency. I would also like to learn all the student’s names so I need to get a roster and study. I feel like this is really important in showing that I care about their learning process.

Swollen lymph nodes and a splitting headache are not the best conditions for a final presentation as was the case last night. I spent hours this weekend putting together a foam core model of the redesigned Westwood newsstand so I was excited about the project. I hope this came across even though I would have rather been in bed. In any case, I think it went well.

What’s black, white and read all over? Village News

For the branding, I kept to a simple color scheme of black red and white. This tag line will be placed above the magazine racks. I kept the logo bold and simple so it would be more visible from the street.

When I was in grade school, my dad and I built a little wooden sail boat. He always said “measure twice and cut once.” I definitely know what he means now. I went through so much foam board.

I received some great feedback yesterday that will help me on the next model. I need to add people into the model so there is a sense of proportion. Merritt suggested that I look up the regulations for wheel chair accessible isles because utilizing the Universal Design principles was part of my objective. (I believe these are ABA standards) Because I brought in all the pieces separately we were able to move around the shelves and stands to accommodate a wheel chair. It was helpful to have each element in modules so the professor (or client) could arrange it how they see fit. It makes them feel like they are a part of the process.

Now as far as presenting, I feel the best way to present a creative assignment like this and retain a sense of professionalism is to have a well designed pdf power point with handouts for each person. The viewers have something tangible, they can take notes and you can save most of the text for the handouts so the power point doesn’t get cluttered and overwhelmed. Since most people are visual anyway, the power point can be mostly graphics and pictures that will allow me to talk off the top of my head about what I have been working on. I plan to use this method in ArtsBridge when B.Max and I have to make our first presentation at Milikin next week.

Crocheted squares and flying machines

10 days have passed since my last post. I told myself that I would try to post more often. Not only is writing a cathartic exercise, it really helps me to organize my thoughts and ideas. So much has happened this week. I assume that is why I am a bit under the weather and groggy from day-time cold medicine.

Today before ArtsBridge, I went into the EDA to check out the lecture. An eccentric and fascinating man was speaking. Norman Klein, a Woody Allen type character, was giving a slide show of some beautiful images when I took my seat. For most of the lecture I was lost because I walked in after he explained the reasoning behind this photo archive of images from the turn of the century. He proceeded to show a game design from this image archive. I expected to be able to find this project with a little research but I am unable to find it now. I did however find a particularly relevant image, of a 19th century flying contraption.

In other news, I have revised my creepy baby photograph twice this week for communication design. The last crit was really helpful. I replaced the image of the baby, with a hand crocheted blanket. (I spent a couple hours last weekend trying to relearn how to crochet). The blanket conveys birth and the womb more abstractly than the baby. I feel like it also goes better with the concept of birth, near death and death. This is the focus of each news article for local, national and global events on my birthday.

So when I came in on Tuesday with the new set of images, it was suggested that I remove the helicopter, as it did not function properly in the set of images. It was hard to let this one go, because I spent so much time re-shooting the helicopter. But I guess this is the process. And the process must be valued over the end result. So it was back to the drawing board and this is the result. Click, enlarge and view. Suggestions comments?