UID 16 Degree show and design talks proposal

Natural

About music experiences

Experimenting with simple layout. Step 1

Description

A series of exercises from John Bower’s Graphic Design lectures. They deal with interfaces, typography and identity design.

Sorry about the chosen type in the projects below but there are not many options in the school’s computers.

Typography

Simple modern layout

Experimenting with simple layout. Step 1

Experimenting with simple layout. Step 2

Identity

Initials for own identity. Iconic-symbolic approach.

Initials for own identity. Typography approach: two letters in one

Interactivity I (pixel drawing)

Rollover the squares and click on them to draw geometric pixel-like images.

Try to draw letters.

[kml_flashembed publishmethod=”static” fversion=”8.0.0″ useexpressinstall=”true” movie=”http://aspectocomunicacion.es/mariano/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/mc+bt.swf” width=”700″ height=”700″ targetclass=”flashmovie”]

[/kml_flashembed]

Interactivity II (navigation history traces)

Experimental interaction to explore the possibilities of graphic visual change of properties of an object. The interaction leaves a visual trace of decisions and changes applied on vertical and horizontal axes.

Click on every block of the figure to start the trace of your navigation.

[kml_flashembed publishmethod=”static” fversion=”8.0.0″ useexpressinstall=”true” movie=”http://aspectocomunicacion.es/mariano/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/mc+bt_04.swf” width=”700″ height=”700″ targetclass=”flashmovie”]

[/kml_flashembed]

The teacher

John Bowers studied under the architect and industrial designer Hu Hung Shu at the University of Iowa, where he earned a BFA, MA, and MFA in design, and conducted post-graduate work with Wolfgang Weingart and Armin Hofmann at the Basel School of Design. His professional experience includes working as senior identity designer at Landor in San Francisco. He has been published in American Institute of Graphic Arts Annual, Communication Arts, Graphis, and I.D., and is the author of Introduction to Two Dimensional Design: Understanding Form and Function (Wiley, 1999).

Natural

Description

Exploring new languages for communication —for me.

During the first five weeks block in the Interaction Programme, Skills and Methods, we were introduced to the basic tools and workshop skills we would utilize during the rest of our time at UID. In order to gain experience and apply these tools, theories and methods, they created a project where we were given a number of practical assignments and the expected results included creating personal experience videos, user experience interviews, expressive photography, propaganda poster design, and finally an interactive exhibition.

Process

The deliverables included photography, posters, and an interactive exhibition.

All of these assignments (except the first one) were based on a previous student’s material that was handed over to the next student, like a relay. Most assignments had a weekly format, with exception of the final assignment (the interactive exhibition) that ran over three weeks. The identity of the students that we handed over the material to – and recieve from – was be kept as a secret throughout the project, for the element of surprise, and to add dimensions of uncertainty and playfulness to the course.

Professional enquiry

The first part of the assignment was to create a story out of an interview we made to each other. The subject was a personal music experience related to a song.

The Look. A story about an interview.

Photography

These three pictures are part of a Photography Basic Skills Workshop at Umeå Institute of Design.

The assignment brief was to choose three adjectives that best described a text given about a personal music experience. My text was concerning the ideas of looking at things from a new perspective and connected to nature. The adjectives were natural, pleasurable and quiet.

Natural

Pleasureable

Quiet

Propaganda poster & graphic design

Then we had to create a poster to move to viewers to experience music using codified techniques from old propaganda styles. The concept for the poster had to come from a selected music experience from a fellow student. In my case was an alarm clock song used to wake up everyday.

Wake up to music

The following example is the first concept generated by me. Funny enough, I didn’t develop my own concept because we had to hand over again the exercise. A fellow student –Delphine Carlsson– prototyped this concept (with great success!) and I developed one from another student (a grab-hook old machine that I changed to a “sound-collage pinball”.

Concept I

Concept presentation ‘The Twin’s Secrets’

Download the concept presentation for ‘The Twin’s Secrets’

Concept II & development

Finally, the prototype that I did based on someone else idea –Mike Anderssen. His proposal was to do an old grabber machine to pick up miniatures that were relevant for the museum. Once picked, the machine would present information about the miniature picked. I reframed this idea into a sound-collage pinball installation with different tables featuring different artists and his famous songs and interviews.

The Rock’n Ball. Presentation of the prototype. The arrival; before the experience.

The Rock’n Ball. Presentation of the prototyping process

Download the whole presentation of the prototype.

Finally, a few pictures documenting the process.