#lorilong

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Memory: Documents of Contemporary Art

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Things I have Learned in my Life so Far

There is no doubt that this book has one of the most attention-getting covers ever seen. The collection box includes eighteen books all with separately designed covers. The front of the box has organic shapes cut into Sagmeister’s face. Each book put behind the façade makes him look different. Some of the covers have shapes that coincide with the shapes in the box, while others disregard the openings altogether.

        Each booklet tells a story about one or two projects. Sagmeister explains the story with pictures, journal entries, and dialog. The first booklet I read had a black and white bullseye on the front, the kind that is used to create optical illusions. There are two projects in here: Worrying Solves Nothing and Over Time I get Used to Everything and Start Taking it for Granted. The first project was done with Austria school kids, 25,000 black coat hangers, and 35,000 white coat hangers. The children and Sagmeister built cubes out of the hangers. They used 4 for each side and then built the cube shape. Each cube became a pixel and each pixel became part of the message: “Worry Solves Nothing.” The words ended up being over 10 feet high and a city block long.

The second project, Over Time I get Used to Everything and Start Taking it for Granted, is a series of photos taken throughout New York City in places Sagmeister had never been to before. Because of these unique stops, he could not take them for granted. Among various other things, Sagmeister swam in the Hudson River at 6:00 a.m. with letters painted on his chest, marking a word on a dirty cop car and hanging out the window of a thirtieth floor window holding a sign until the police and fire trucks arrive. At this point in the story, he narrowly misses being arrested.       After reading several other booklets, I realized that Sagmeister tells a story through type, photography and video (accessed online). At times he will share the story or journal entry to explain what the project was. This part comes at different times in these small booklets. Sometimes they are at the end and other times they are in the middle. Never does he tell the story before the viewer can see part of the project. This seems to help pull you through the images. Some of the images that are not as interesting end up having the explanation in the middle. This makes the reader want to see what happens after. Sagmeister plans things for his work and does not worry about repercussions. This is probably why we see his work as so cutting edge. People are scared to do what he does. He seems to live like a 20-year-old boy still with ideas that are surprising. The most interesting part of his stories is how he gets to the idea. All of his ideas seem to come from his journals or things that keep him up at night. As a designer that keeps trying to write a daily journal, which seems like a great source to get encouragement.

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I Miss my Pencil: A Design Exploration by Martin Bone and Kara Johnson Published: 2009

As I learn how to better research graphic design, I find more often that researching another field of study could be equally if not more beneficial. Graphic design research is new. Because of that, I find it helpful to draw inspiration as well as topical information from other disciplines. At this point in my studies, I have realized that I want to make handmade design of many forms and photograph it. Now I need to figure out how to do it differently.

I Miss My Pencil is a strikingly vibrant book. The exterior is yellow cloth: yellow like a lemon or Pantone 129C and has the title embossed vertically and large. The book is a design exploration between two Industrial Designers on the opposite sides of the United States. They talk about projects they want to make and brainstorm via Instant Messaging. Vivid images with an entertaining layout and instant message format sets the reader on a path of discovery. The book is written so as to make the reader feel as though they were part of the process. Each designer explains the project, experiment and end result separately and often times with strikingly opposing views. This gives a very honest feeling to the journey. This added to the connection I felt to the designers like a character in a book; they reveal who they are.

Before reading this book, I thought I could imagine the process Industrial Designers go through when working on a project. Now I know a more detailed version of it. The next night after reading the book, I found myself trying to figure out how to stuff chicken breasts the best way possible from this perspective. It was refreshing to have a new point of view.

Of the 3 exploration headings, Aisthetika, Punk Manufacturing, Love and Fetish, I chose to focus on Aisthetika. Aisthetika are things that we perceive through our senses, most often a unique combination of the senses. There are other less obvious senses as well that are considered too. Smell is the strongest sense and most often left out of Industrial Design. Smell is also the sense that helps us remember. A single smell can take you back to the day when you were hanging out with your grandma. It could be the smell of cut grass the day you skinned your knee, or it could be just the way your best friend’s house smelled. There are also the less acknowledged senses. The senses of time, humor, style, balance and rhythm.

As a graphic designer, I usually only focus on sight, maybe sometimes sound as well, by playing with the way the title is said. Other than that, I never think about how something feels, tastes or smells. Going through the experiments, I found myself thinking if this would be possible for my work. Could I make a poster that released a scent as someone walks by that also has a texture? Maybe cut grass?

The first experiment the designers did was making a printer less noisy. Some people hate the sound of printers, so they want to simplify the sense of sound. They figured that they could cover it in felt. They decided to take one sense that was annoying and add another one that could be more enjoyable. The designers go through many steps of changing the thickness of the felt, figuring out how to make the ink accessible and how the paper would feed through a drawer.

I was confused during the middle of this process. It seems like they just got started making experiments without trying to figure out all the aspects that needed to be designed. It seems like it would make more sense for them to start listing all the aspects that needed to be considered. I tried to think about using this macro to micro process that let itself unfold but it seems like it was not well thought out. Surprisingly, they ended up over designing the printer cover until the corners looked weird and had to go back a couple of steps. This may have happened because they did not brainstorm very much until after they started. At the same time, this macro to micro process sounds freeing and may be worth trying occasionally.

In another experiment, a doorbell sprayed a specific scent for each person that rang it and came into the house. Reading about this experiment made me think about how much smell really does mean to me. In the book they said, “It smells like the postman and lavender.” What a peculiar way to identify someone with an essential oil. There is a stereotype that all hippies smell like patchouli oil to the point that it is overwhelming. Now we want to positively label our friends and family with jasmine, basil and lemon.

Reading this book has helped me open my eyes to other disciplines in design. Although I probably could have a scent in a poster and a texture, I would never have thought of it without an Industrial Designer’s point of view. I can see how each failed experiment contributed to the success of another, that each experiment is worth the time. Something that I have been thinking lately, which is mentioned in the text: Design is stuck on a known path to an expected result. Being a designer is not about getting to the same place with different means. It is about getting to a different place. My next question is, how does that poster with a scent and texture become digital?

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School of Visual Arts: MFA Design: Designer as Author + Entrepreneur

To stay current and push the boundaries, this course will employ video and interactive media presentations as a means for thesis students to share their final projects in a more dynamic fashion.

Any project that seems necessary to complete the thesis is encouraged and welcomed. 

http://design.sva.edu/venture/

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PARSONS: The New School

MFA in Design and Technology 

The Thesis Project can take many forms, from fine art works, to soft/hardware tools, interactive installations, online experiences, or social experiments. It should demonstrate the application of ideas within an applied context, whether it be in the areas of design, art, commerce, or theory. 

These projects are awesome but go much further than we do with technology. 

http://mfadt.parsons.edu/2014/

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Rhode Island School of Design | RISD: MFA in Graphic Design

This program is similar to ours as it has a 3 and 2 year program. The productions for their thesis can involve any medium suitable to need and content. Ultimately the thesis is submitted as a written document supported by visual examples that reveal ideas and insights. 

http://gd.risd.edu/course/graduate-thesis-open-research

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Temple University: MFA Graphic & Interactive Design

An approved thesis exhibition, written statement, and slide portfolio are required at the final review in order to meet M.F.A. requirements. Other than that, students are encouraged to make other projects. 

Links to all of the students that have graduated from this program: 

http://tyler.temple.edu/portfolio-links

Thesis Work: 

http://tyler.temple.edu/student-work/mfa-visual-thesis-competition