The MA Communication Design talk -1st week / Grace

The MA Communication Design talk -1st week

12.1.2011

Cultural Probes

Dr Claire McAndrew

The lecture was really helpful to me but to be honest it was difficult to me. Because it was fist time to have this kind of lecture and it contained difficult subjects but it was good. I could learn from this lecture how important that cultural probes are in design process.

This lecture showed three different contexts about: Researcher-Psychologist, Information Environments and Design+Social Science methods. Firstly, it showed that what are culture probes and how can we understand it. In this lecture, cultural probes tell us that it help to focus and articulate people’s accounts of their experience. And the stories that emerge are rich and multilayered, integrating and it is kind of unexpected new insights into participants’ lives. This part is difficult to me however it made me have other investigation about this kind of part.

Also, this lecture showed ‘Domestic probes’ part. It said cultural probe pack included ‘Disposable camera’, ‘Set of household rules tags’, ‘Listening glass’ and ‘Dream recorder’.

Firstly, ‘Disposal camera’ is Requests for photographs of a social gathering; spitual centre of your home; something red. Secondly, ‘Set of household rules tags’ is instructions to place in home as indicators of domestic injunctions: explicit “ Don’t put your feet on the table” and implicit “Don’t discuss finances first thing in the morning”. The third one is ‘Listening glass’. It is introductions to hold the ordinary drinking glass to their ear when they heard an interesting sound and write a description of what they heard on the glass itself using a special pen. Finally, ‘Dream recorder’ is pull a tab at the bottom of the recorder when awaking from a vivid dream and to describe the dream in 10sec before it switches off. This kind of experimental could have interpretation like these. Outside community of practice less-biased in terms of issues addressed and produce competent example of genre also, accustomed to building narratives from fragmentary information. It was case study 1 for Domestic Probes.

As well as, this lecture had part 2 ‘Safer Spaces’. The aim of this was to explore the potential for different and more creative understandings and applications of counter-terror communication, with a view to reduce fear and re-engage awareness in communities in public spaces. Part 3 was ‘Designing with Intent and this research uses an innovative blending of social science and design methods to understand how behaviour is shaped and influenced in traditional spaces such as second life.

12.1.2011

How to be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul

Adrian Shaughnessy

Adrian Shaughnessy is an author of the book: How to be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul and he is also a designer. He showed his art works and talked about his design philosophy and he called it design paradox. Here are his lists.

Paradox 01: There’s no such thing as bad clients, only bad designers.

Paradox 01:There’s no such thing as bad clients, only bad designers

Paradox 02:The best way to become a better graphic designer is to become a client.

Paradox 03:If we want to educate our clients about design, we must first educate ourselves about our clients.

Paradox 04:If we want to make money as a graphic designer, we must concentrate on the work, not the money.

Paradox 05: Verbal skill is as important as possessing good visual skills.

Paradox 06:Clients will only listen to us if we bother to listen to them.

Paradox07: Most ideas fail not because they are bad ideas, but because they are badly presented.

Paradox 08: Designer who use the argument “I know best because I’m a professional” are usually unprofessional designers.

Paradox 09:We often imagine that all the good projects go to other people.

Paradox 10: Wrong is one of the best ways to gain respect and trust. A designer’s brain is capable of much more than making things look pretty.

Paradox 13: The best want to self-promote is to avoid talking about yourself.

Paradox 15: A designer’s brain is capable of much more than making things look pretty.

I really agree with his opinion. As well as it touched my heart nevertheless I read his book before. Finally, he said good design studios want your brain not your skills.I think this is an important thing when we have a job.

14.01.2011

Technical practice - Printing

Adrian Sleeman

As we are graphic designer or not we cannot avoid using a computer and a printer. We cannot imagine make art project without a printer.

This lecture showed that now days what kind of printing technologies we have and how different before what we had. With the tremendous advance of computer technology, designer have more choices then ever before. It seems like for every designer there are at least one or more of corresponding printing methods. I am a graphic designer and I prefer a print work so I am interested in printing technologies. This lecture was useful for me.

Digital printing differs from these traditional methods in other ways too; for example, each print run can be different when using digital technology, where as with traditional methods, the same plate cannot be used to create different prints. When using digital printing, there is also no need to waste paper or ink and developing chemicals as there is no need to check that colour, position or registration are correct, as the computer can do this automatically.

The substrate (the material being printed on e.g. paper, fabric and board) is not permeated by the ink or toner. The ink remains as a thin layer on the substrate surface. A fuser fluid or UV curing process may be used to make the ink or toner adhere better to the substrate, but this isn't always necessary. The paper is then exposed to RGB lasers and photographic developing and fixing agents. This method is usually used for printing digital photographs.

The main uses of digital printing are for prototyping, short run printing and variable data printing (also known as personalized printing). This last aspect of digital printing makes it popular with Design businesses as digital printing can be used to print banners, posters and signage using waterproof inks and substrates.

Digital printing can be used on a variety of scales, from small home printing from a personal computer, to the printing on a larger scale for advertising. It is quick, easy and versatile and can be used to print on a variety of substrates, making it one of the best printing processes modern technology has to offer.