MF

A record of reflections, inspirations, and progress throughout Design Studio I. Sorted by units and reflections in Index page.

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Part 10 of 10

From one unconventional form of reading to another, using touch felt like the next natural step. It was also interesting to think about how reading is our way of gleaning information, yet by merely changing the sense we use to do so it can become completely unreadable.

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Part 9 of 10

Were scanners are a computer’s method of reading, then something like karaoke is it’s way of telling us what to read and using us as a vehicle for transforming written words into speech—which, even when audio based, still has a visual component that can be deciphered, i.e. lipreading

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Part 8 of 10

Continuation of previous movement exploration

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Part 7 of 10

Continuation of scanning as reading and mechanization of it.

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Part 6 of 10

When I started thinking about different reading speeds (audio of page turning at different rates), I began thinking of at point reading became skimming or scanning, and how such a line would be determined given how everyone reads at a different pace). This idea of speed became all the more apparent after my focus on eye movement and how regardless of how slowly I thought I might’ve been reading something, the back-and-forth of one’s eyes across such a small surface, be it a book or screen, is actually quite rapid. It was that which led to me to explore the idea of scanning, as a human action and as a machine. A scanner was essentially a computer’s version of reading a document. 

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Part 6

Continuation of previous explorations (new gestures)

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Part 5 of 10

Moving on from the traditional association of books and reading, I decided to show the new gestures that emerged in the wake of digital readers and social media. Unlike with a book, there is no “end”, no definitive point at which one has to stop reading due to how easily one can just swipe to the next file or next page or keep scrolling through an ever growing number of web pages, messages, and e-mail.

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Part 4 of 10

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Post 3 of 10

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Post 2 of 10

The first of three audio-only representations exploring different speeds, this was a continuation of my thought process in the previous batch with the focus being what happens when we read.

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Post 1 of 10

The word I received for the 50 iterations assignment was “read”. I started off with a literal interpretation of the word with a focus on the use of an actual book and the motions we go through while reading them, such as turning pages or making notes. I had also yet to try other non-visual means of showing it.

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Sketchbook notes (some of which I have typed up in the Pithy Observations post) made during the first and second time I walked the green line, as well as some sketches of wanted posters I had considered making as a part 2 deliverable, and installing around the city. In the end, I went with the character studies. 

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4/5 Unit 1 final

The following writings are short stories I wrote based off regular things I saw around the city by imagining a day in the life of so-and-so object. Following my theme of personification, I purposefully framed it so that the inanimate nature of the narrators was left ambiguous. Without the image of the original object, only certain details of the story bely the fact that the character is not entirely human–for example, by referencing time and how these things do not age. 

The stories were presented in a book format.

The Mailman

It’s a slow day for both of us. But then, it usually is.  There’s little to break up the tedium as I sit here by the curb with my neighbor day in day out. I’ve been here so long a layer of dirt dusts the inside of my mouth. Surely I’m a minor landmark by now, for one person at least–one of those of those countless people who strut by without a glance, maybe. I can’t really begrudge their inattention though; they’re so used to either seeing me here, or seeing one of my doppelgangers elsewhere in the city.

(Not that I can relate.  e only one I’ve seen of those other guys is the one stationed beside me.)

Sometimes I wonder whether they have better luck with their passerby. Whether they have more to o er come collection time, if it’s just me that always feels less than half full. It certainly doesn’t help that I’m stuck with someone else also hoping to gulp down a share of the mail brought to us. One of these days I’ll have to say so to the man in blue when he makes his daily rounds.

The Sentry

I don’t remember the last time I wasn’t connected to some random person behind me, no more than I can remember not having metal cha ng at my neck. Maybe that time never existed and that’s why I can’t. All I know is that there’s no worming your way out of a four-times bolted collar so tight its rust is stained into your skin. Standing at the edge of a parking lot everyday isn’t the worst job, so I can’t tell you why the powers-that-be are so scared of us running away. I  e fact that it’s me and a bunch of other prisoners who stand guard over this place is a irony I’m to tired to appreci- ate.

At least I’m not alone in being forced into this. e others don’t say much these days. A lifetime of sagging and listing under the weight of chains can do that to that to a person. Besides, you run out of things to talk about pretty quickly when you’ve been with the same people as long as we have.

The Watcher

I take pride in my job. More so than my cowork- ers, I think, and that’s sti  competition consider- ing how many many of ‘em there are.  ere’s gotta be what, 5 of them? just along this block. I’ve nev- er counted the exact number despite how many years I’ve spent here. Not because I don’t care, or that I’m too lazy to do that, oh no, but because of I am one hundred percent devoted to doing what I do–remember, I take pride in it.

It’s safe to say none of these walkers passing in front can avoid my unblinking, steely stare, no more than the cars rolling behind me can do so without my owl-like hearing picking up on it. It’s silly how I can’t turn and look at said cars con- sidering they’re the things I have to keep watch over as I countdown their time–but hey, it’s the job.  is way I can watch the faces of the people as they pay up too, judge whether they look the type to return when they’re supposed to, y’know. Nothing’s worse than when they come back late; all I can do is internally rage, ‘cause frankly no one but the occasional cop cares about those 0s I’m  ashing across my screen.

It’s tough to be ignored, but at least no one can say I’m a slacker.

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3/5 final forms for Unit 1 to bring life and human characteristics to face-like aspects of the environment.

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2/5 final forms for Unit 1. Expanded on the vectorization of car fronts from part 1 to capture the vehicular range of human emotion. 

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1/5 final forms for Unit 1. After going through the documentation from part 1, I decided to focus on the personification of inanimate objects in the environment.  For these, I created character designs based off of details that I thought had human characteristics. 

From top to bottom, they are derived from a manhole, a railing, and sticker on a street light.