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This website has defecating, candy colored trees. And it's trying to sell soda. AND I LOVE IT.

But since this is a research journal, I have to say something researchy that isn't just undying adoration of silly things like this. So, I love animation? There is absolutely nothing to this website but fun, exploration and clicking around. It uses quirky humor and a simple style. No info, no nothing-just aligning the brand with a personality.

However, I like the use of animation, and it's something I'd like to learn. Hate to keep bringing up Pine Peak, but the style (minus the technicolor and crudeness) is similar- folksy, simple, bright and pretty (when animation is used the latter). It gives it personality. Sure, it may not be appropriate for a somber research topic, but it creates motion and activity that keeps a viewers eyes on the page. The navigation choices are also great on this site. You can choose to just scroll, to use a wheel, or if you're panicking, there is a clickable map. This seems simple, but gosh-we've looked at a lot of projects where navigation is just such a pain that it ruins everything. This makes sure you can navigate however you're comfortable-whether that is adventerously or by simple point and click.

How's that for evaluation? Now back to Leprechaun vs Unicorn.

Man, this book looks old school. Yay, research!

Wow. This is serious.

This was in the best navigation/organization category of the Webby's, but right off the bat, this is impressive because while online, it had a tangible, real-world factor: it launched 40 years to the minute of the moon launch. Crazy.

This is obviously a huge, huge, huge design project. But like Pine Peaks, it uses original audio and other materials in a very modern (and cleanly designed) interface. It creates a serious appreciation for the content and history, and, like PIne Peaks (and unlike the GOOD example) it's clearly linear. There are "stages" that keep you organized, in place in the narrative, but almost more importantly, prevents you being bombarded with information at once and becoming overwhelmed, and subsequently, leaving. Definitely keep that in mind.

Two other important notes:

1. Definite game-play organizations (levels you haven't reached yet in your missions are "locked," and while all you have to do is click a button to move on and unlock them, as a culture incentivized by goals and unlocking things, we want to do so.)

2. Fantastic loading screen. Turns what would be downtime into the intro, so you are forced to read and don't turn away.

So, a counterpoint. This is really significant though, not for content, but because it shows just how tied to concepts of economics and markets something like a "global food crisis" is. If I'm going to do anything in the modern era pertaining to food justice, I'm going to need to take these things into consideration. Do I want to get economically heavy, with charts and graphs and that being a large focus? Or do I just need to frame my story in this context, understanding a global food economy makes things different than in the days of Rome and the Aztec empire, respectively. It might answer the question of scale.

The Washington Post has organized a section devoted entirely to the impending food crisis. In short, a lot is being said about it, and the implications are varied and global.

This is a great source of research, but I also wonder if incorporating a section about the rhetoric around the crisis would be interesting. "Impending Global Crisis"-I'm buying into it too in this description. Is a crisis centuries long? Is it still impending? Those word cloud things are lame, but that kind of idea- collecting buzzwords, in print and video, about crisis and food prices. It would add an interesting level of psychology (and a PR angle) if you could determining who is saying what and why.

I think I'm going to have issues of scope with this thing, or have to really break it down into sections.

GOOD teaming up with Prius was actually a bit disappointing. Given GOOD's fantastic infographics, I was expecting great things. Instead, it was OK (maybe I'm biased after the amazing multimedia that was Pine Point). It looked nice, sure, but the organization was a bit bothersome. Similar topics are grouped by color and logo, and you can pick and choose to navigate multimedia about the topics.

However, it seemed a bit disjointed. Mostly, this serves as a key reminder that just looking pretty doesn't work, and to make sure your experience isn't just clickable, but that people WANT to click through it. This shows the challenge of a scholarly piece. PIne Point had the flexibility of artistic merit, while this was much more information-heavy. Frankly, the other one was way more effective and "fun" to navigate. Where's the middle ground?

I didn't have words for this project the first ten minutes after exploring it for 30. Astounding. Beautiful. Moving. The music, the poignant personal memories (like the author's father's death) interwoven with the story of a town apart from him. The roughness of the old video and the beautiful animation.

Absolutely moving. Just-wow.

And the interactivity is perfect. It's a documentary that goes beyond. Yes, it is linear-a story unfolds, and the viewer can only go right or left. But within that, they get to click through media. The result is less of a website or web, but more of a scrapbook. We turn the pages left and right, but we pick up photos, we flip them over, we muse over them personally and with different weight. Being able to flip through the audio makes it more about the experience, the emotion, as a whole rather than requiring you to read or listen or view every single thing. It's incredibly effective and moving, and represents our relationships and memories much more accurately. Complex and compelling can be linear then. The organization can be simple, as long as the content, visuals and otherwise, make for a beautiful and appropriate experience.

Everyone seriously needs to spend time with this piece. It deserves it.

This project from the Frank Lloyd Wright preservation trust isn't relevent topically, but is a great use of visuals and interactivity to convey information. Wright does architecture, so the message has to match the delivery: it has to be well-designed and feature images. The project does, asking you to navigate through the house. When you click on key features, that's when you get the text-heavy information, and it encourages exploring and an investment in the information, because of agency. Our thesis projects have to have a lot of information, but I wonder if doing something easily accessible like this is worth more for the reader than trying to get too high-minded with concept.

#design

Ok, so this website is only relevant content-wise because it involves food (unless I change my topic to incorporate PR messages). But it's brilliant. It's beautiful, first off, and not just the straight visuals-navigating the interface is simple but smooth and beautiful, and encourages clicking (super important and I don't think this is mentioned enough. No info overload, but also no frustrating navigation). Secondly, it is funny. It incorporates a kind of self-depreciating humor with cute, overly-dramatic voice overs which make it different from just an image-heavy recipe site (which exists everywhere). Thirdly, it is practical. The recipes are right there, and useful! Finally, it serves its purpose! As a promotional piece for Wisconsin cheese, it is creative and clever and gives a great brand personality.

#thoughts #research

I'm kind of concerned that my thesis idea doesn't incorporate my major. Sure, I'm super interested in it, and I think it could be great. But as a thesis, it should be something I can show potential employers and others as an area of expertise. I wonder if there's a way to incorporate PR or social media into the thesis. PR could be accomplished by evaluating how policy and corporate messaging changed during these crises (as much as we can in the modern era). Social Media could be incorporated either from a design standpoint (some kind of interactivity function) or as an area of research. To think about.

#research #thoughts #social media #PR

The Food Timeline is super fascinating. One of the concerns I had when I first considered food as a thesis topic was whether there was even research out there. It's tough, because this is a topic that really isn't my expertise, nor my major. However, the Food Timeline puts into context food development, relative ages of recipes, and how scholarship around food history works. It also has a great set of guidelines and resources on how to get more information on food history.

#research #food

Good News

My economics teacher Gabriel Kahn, who used to be write at the Wall Street Journal, has signed on to help me with my thesis. I've been working on and discussing food issues in my class, and he's been a fantastic teacher. The strength here is not just in presenting x, y or z issue, but understanding a phenomena in a larger global and economic context. As a journalist, he is also great story-teller and understands how to communicate heavy material to a possibly hesitant audience.

#research #advisor #gabriel kahn

Shows that food (and fun trends) can be evaluated in a very seriously academic way. This UCLA report evaluates the economic impact of LA's Loncheros, or food trucks, and it's a seriously hefty academic piece. The author did a lot of research, from primary sources to prior research to sifting through economic documents. Shows that there is a way to approach something fun from a research-heavy angle.

#research #loncheros

I composed this blog post for my economics class, which is less of an economics class and more of an understanding and reporting on markets/economy class. Kind of tough to explain. The blog post was a good, if short, exercise, and made me interested in food trend and poltical/social upheaval as a thesis. The thesis could be divided in two parts: historic evidence (more of an archival experience) of turmoil connected to famine/food prices; and then an analysis of the current state of the global food crisis and policy/literature around it.

#research #thesis #food prices

Information is Beautiful is a fantastic website and resource for infographics. However, like I've mentioned in a previous blog post for the class, it's a great resource on HOW to make infographics, or other types of information representation. I'm not sure how much data or information I will be handling with my thesis, but these are great guidelines to keep in mind if and when I get my hands on data. And these guidelines and tips can also be applied to more interactive formats, as well.

#design

Something like this carries a huge amount of information in a graphically well-designed piece, but it's static and can be overwhelming (not to mention, this info is terrifying). Nonetheless, I can see some kind of worked up infographic. If the design was solid, adding a little interactivity in flash wouldn't be that difficult. Sure, it wouldn't be super compelling or game-oriented (there could be minigames?) but it would be a dynamic way to provide a lot of information.

#infographic #design #earthquake #good magazine

We're on the verge of a global food crisis, which is already playing a part in the tumult in the Middle East. But hey, it's nothing new-an interesting article about economic food policy from '73. This is a significant find, because it shows some of the rhetoric that has been around for ages, and the kinds of primary sources I'll be able to find on the topic. It would also be interesting to track publications that write about food policy tied to economic policy. This article, for example, is part of a larger series on INFLATION. But, how would I limit my scope and make sure I included a larger historical view? This could get overwhelming.

#research,#food policy #time magazine

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