Week 6 Origination

Quiz

1. Describe the relationship between complexity and simplicity

Having complexity and simplicity create a rhythm. When you only have simplicity you cannot admire or appreciate complexity and vise versa. Having constant complexity can become tiring and constant simplicity can become boring but together they can cause intrigue.

2. What analogy does Maeda use to demonstrate this relationship?

He describes at teacup he is given at the house of  “Japan’s foremost master of Modernism” that is not smooth, non-platonic geometry (ie not cylinder) and white like a normal teacup nor the perfection of something you would expect at this house. However, by having this imperfection makes all the small details such as pouring the tea and the tea-powder container where it’s lid fit perfectly in its place.

3. In what context does Maeda discuss rhythm / beat in relation to the fifth law

Contextualise this relationship and discuss how this can be used in relation to the Student Exhibition - giving specific examples

Refers to rhythm of life ti, ti, ta, ta, ta, ta, ti not getting bored or too challenge  creates a harmony that is soothing because it holds the balance between complexity and simplicity. Complexity can either be in the number of layers needed to connect with the audience and simplicity can be also in the basic layout of the layers.

Radio ad – right level of info given, clear spoken English, music could be simple or mix of complex and simple, not over powering

Post layout – too much information cause complexity, layers guiding the viewer’s eye

Homework


Find visual examples - pieces of design & multimedia work that demonstrate the relationship between simplicity and complexity 

Reference(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r2qHTKPBmU)

I think this video clip is a great example of having a balance of simplicity and complexity because the song is complex with its layering of songs and lyrics, then you have the video which is just simple black and white with 3 girls (who are wearing simple but affective clothing) dancing. This gives high impact of the the dance moves and the catchiness of the song.

Reference(http://idbpi.wordpress.com/)

This logo design i feel demonstrates the balance of complexity and simplicity because when you first look at it it seems like a simple stand holding a book. When you look closer it uses all the significant first letters of the word out of the companies name "International Digital Book Publishing Industries".

Thinking Game - Lateral Thinking

Reference(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbheGvB590U)

Red Hat "red blood"  - Represents thinking with your emotions, how the idea feels personally to you, such as your gut feeling and intuition. Emotions can change depending on situations or other influences so can the thoughts generated under the red hat from the influence of the other hats. 

During the exhibition I have to be in contact with everyone about their progress in their groups. Using the red had I can check that my approach is a calm yet urgent manner.

White Hat "paper"- Using this hat means thinking about the data and information about the idea and asking yourself "what do i need to know?". This hat is the direct opposite of the red hat this can cause tension between people in a meeting if someone is thinking with the red hat and one is thinking with the white.

Information I need to gather ie. dates of exhibition. From that generate deadlines for printing that needs enough time to process. Gather timelines from other groups and monitor their progress. Think of what other information is need to assist the groups.

Yellow Hat "sunshine" - Positive thinking is generated under wearing this hat. Think about what is good about the idea and be optimistic. No bad ideas or thoughts are voiced during Yellow Hat time.

Even though the branding idea was made up in a short time it is has an effective tag-line. Everyone in the groups will be working good together so should allow progress in the given time.

Black Hat "caution" - Problems, faults and negative thinking about the idea is produced using this hat. Questioning "what is wrong with the idea" will help prevent time wastage on weak ideas.

What is the plan B if students don't show up to class or complete tasks according to timeline.

Green Hat "grass/vegetation" - symbolises growth. This time is used for creativity and thinking of new ideas, solutions and possibilities for the idea.

Using the branding in advertisement and think of designs for poster and flyers.

Blue Hat "sky" - Thinking from a birds eye view will help process the information and ideas and  provide solutions. During this thinking period you could ask yourself "how should I think about this?", "what are other ways I can look at the idea?", "what are my goals for this?" and "what is my next step?".

At the moment I need to get everyones timelines. Need to get specific group working on drafts of advertisement to assist sponsorship and donation group.




"That's all I have to say about that. " Forest Gump...

Week 6 Collaboration

Blog Exercise

Trustworthy and ethical behaviour in collaboration may relate to:

• acknowledging discomfort or anger

• being prepared to fully participate

• communicating in an open way

• honesty

• honouring commitments

• sensitivity to social, cultural, personal situations and dynamics

• showing respect

• understanding of the consequences of actions

Add 2 items to the list above - then SORT the 10 items into 2 groups.

• being open minded

• not bias towards individuals

1. Essential

• being prepared to fully participate

• honesty

• honouring commitments

• sensitivity to social, cultural, personal situations and dynamics

• communicating in an open way

• being open minded

• showing respect

Example of honesty: Group had to vote and evaluate peoples branding designs. We had to be honest about what score to give to benefit the group as a whole for the idea.

2. Secondary (give at least one example for each group)

• acknowledging discomfort or anger

• not bias towards individuals

• understanding of the consequences of actions

Example of bias towards individuals: One time while working in a group for ideas of a fundraiser there were some girls in the group that were very close and "cliquey" and pretty much anyone that gave ideas were ignored or their ideas rejected by those girls (which made the majority of the group) so then we felt useless and segregated in the group.

Group Exercise

1.Would you volunteer your money - that is, take risk?

Yes, for an exercise or demonstration

2. How did you feel?

Curious and intrigued

3. Did you feel a little sheepish?

Only for the fact i didn't have any money notes on me

4. What about when the ante was upped to ten dollars?

More curiosity

5. Twenty?

think people would start to wonder if they would get it back.

6. Did you think the volunteers were foolish?

No, there was no reason to.

Group Exercise 

PART 2: Eye Contact -  At first I felt very uncomfortable because I was paired up with Warwick and found it hard to maintain eye contact because I've always been told eyes are the doors to the soul. So when letting someone stare into my eyes (especially a male) and hold their stare I felt almost naked and feared they would be able to see something that I hide in myself. Then after a while i realized he could only see what is on the surface like me and was able to relax and just focus on my breathing instead.

PART 3: Eye Contact with Touch - This exercise didn't bother me much because ... actually i don't really know why i was comfortable just holding hands with some people and staring in their eyes, i just didn't feel awkward.

PART 4: Proximity – comfortable / closer / further - This exercise only changed my emotions when we were really close. I started thinking paranoid thoughts like, do i smell? am i close enough they can smell my breath... and is my breath bad?? Then when were were asked to set further back was like a sigh of relief  that we didn't stay close to each other as long as i expected.

Exercise Analysis

ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR

 - For the first exercise i would assume people would hand up their money without hesitation because it is just a contribution to a team exercise and i would assume that everyone in the group would be honest enough to hand back your money. These assumptions come from the basic morals I was raised with and i think that society expects from one another.

- The second exercise felt like it went against what we are taught to be ethical behaviour. You always here "Dont stare" or "people need personal space". So when this exercise throws those things out the window you feel awkward and people begin to giggle and try and make a  joke of the situation to counter that weirdness.

TRUST

- I have always been told I am too trusting so when it comes to contributing to something without any reservation of the final outcome it seems normal to me to watch my money being handed around. Even though it was only a dollar, if i had the larger amounts i would have still offered them up. the exercise however showed me that i had trust in the people in my group because i just knew that what ever the aim of the exercise that the people would return my money.

- Second exercise demonstrated that lack of trust within our group to a certain extend. I think there are several layers to trust and one is personal space and connection. By all the people in the group giggling and moving it showed that they are not comfortable to be around one another in close proximity and remain calm. 

"That's all I have to say about that. " Forest Gump...

Week 5 Origination

Guest Speaker

Jobst Hermann from CDU Corporate Communications

Jobst came in this week to discuss with our class about the CDU’s branding and guidelines so that we have this in mind when creating the name and colour scheme for our exhibition.

The importance of the logos uniformity and reputations was constantly accentuated. The main reason for this was because in the past the logo had been inconsistent and a survey found that people believed that Charles Darwin University wasn’t a nationally accredited place of education. It was found that different departments within the uni where manipulating the original logo to represent their sector or the idea they wanted to convey. On top of that they had two logos representing the university, one for Vet students which also included CDU slogan “Change Your World” and one for main stream students.

Here is an image of the old “Vet” logo

Reference (http://www.cdu.edu.au/about/events/ipf-ipcc.html)

Here is an image of the original design of CDU logo

Reference (http://www.fulbright.com.au/events-and-media/media-releases/NTScholarship.html)

With the “re-vamp” designers were asked not to re-invent the wheel but to modify the current logos and incorporate them all into one. One of the points about the original logos faults was that the waves were not good for mass production or some forms of printing.

Here is the simplified, new logo 

 

Reference (http://www.unutki.org/default.php?doc_id=110)

To allow different departments apply their sector colour and have a logo that allowed variety (whilst keeping to guidelines) they made a mono style logo that could incorporate CDU’s blue and red colour. Here is an example 

Reference (http://www.cdu.edu.au/bookshop/)

The guidelines we are to follow

Colours:

CDU’s red and navy colour

Typeography used when:

“Change your world” – Helvetica Naue

Mass content – Centennial

Advertisement – Clerkenwell

Size:

The padding around the logo must be that of the size of the “C” used in “Charles Darwin University”

No smaller than (I think it was) 30 millimetres

Jobst showed some examples of advertisement used to relaunch the recognition of the CDU logo and promote the university. I remembered some TV adds used so here is one that clearly shows the correct way to use the logo with different backgrounds and there is short footage of how the logo is used for co-branding and also with the university's "Change your world" slogan and website.

Reference (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rJMe2YWKVA)

Quiz

Chapter 4 – Learn

Answer the following questions as succinctly as possible in your own words. 

1.Describe the relationship between teaching and learning according to Maeda?

To be a good teacher you need to remember how it was to be a student. Where you can simplify the information but still deliver the content the student need to comprehend. Also a teach can appear to know all the answers however, whilst learning the student is required to understand and absorb all the information given.

2.Describe the importance of the use of metaphors in learning, why would you use them, how, give an example?

Metaphors give imagery which emphasises the meaning or idea behind the information being delivered.

Example:

“the student soaked up the information like a sponge”

“I’m talking to a brick wall”

3.BRAIN - what does the acronym stand for – why is it important?

Basics are the beginning

Repeat yourself often

Avoid creating desperation

Inspire with examples

Never forget to repeat yourself

Applying this acronym to teaching as a method will help both the teacher and the student to retain and continue learning new information.

4.Describe a situation where you have been required to teach someone a skill.

Helping co-workers to adjust from Microsoft office 2003 to 2007

How could you apply the BRAIN principle to it?

First I should how the common things they would look for in 2003 edition where similarly located in 2007. They already had the basics of 2003 edition down packed so familiarizing them with those same basics in 2007 was the start.

I would constantly repeat questions to them that they knew the answer to for the old “word” and by answering they would remember that most things they were looking for was in similar area. By this when they forgot where to find a button they required they just remember to ask themselves where it used to be.

Even though I had hectic schedule I made sure I talked calmly and patiently with them no matter how many times I answered the same question because in the long run it saved me time because they weren’t calling me every two seconds to show them how to do something on the new software.

I don’t really remember how I inspired them.

Whenever they re-asked me a question I knew they understood it the first time I said it but they forgot so I always repeated the same basic instructions to them.

After the quiz we moved on to discussing the Timetable that Te’ wrote up for what is expected from all our groups to meet deadlines for the exhibition. Then we figured to get everyone rolling and on a path we tried to decide on a name for our exhibition.

Here is a list of some names that were thrown around (keep in mind the theme is Darwin’s centenary)

10 x 10

asceNT

asCENT

eccentrix

xcentix

Centenary

Making Cents

Creating Cents

None of these names came out with solid representation of 100 years of Darwin and creativity from our department.

One of my ideas was I saw Rachel’s well developed 100 Years with the NT flower logo used in one of the 0’s and each petal coloured to represent a colour palette. I was thinking the word Darwin has can be re-arranged to say “Drawin” so 100 years Drawin or even

“100 years creating” actually I like this one… hmmm and just thought of it then…


"That's all I have to say about that. " Forest Gump...

Week 4 Origination

As usual first thing we did in this week's class was discuss and do our quiz about Law 4: Time from the book "Laws of Simplicity".

1. What is the major benefit of saving time? 

You are able to transfer that saved time into other work. If you get something done faster or get extra time u can add that to doing another job.

2. How do designers integrate time into their products? 

Shrink and hide time in casinos no windows no clocks so seems like time is not moving or slow.

3. Explain the relationship between making waiting shorter with making waiting more tolerable?

Places that are known for queues or people waiting around have incorporated things to distract the customer from watching the clock or feeling time going slow by having TV's to keep them entertained. For children there is a play corner to keep them entertained. This distraction helps the customers stay calm and relaxed instead of causing anxiety because their precious time is being wasted.

4. How can you use your timeline to increase your own efficiency as a designer? 

Giving yourself personal deadlines to have task done to ensure time allocated appropriately to other tasks

5. Briefly outline an event or activity in which you are adept at time saving? 

Daily organization, have everything in folders ready to use if needed. Having shortcuts. Two screens

6. What part of your design/multimedia process do you need to improve at, in terms of saving time? 

My biggest problem is distraction... If i try study at home nothing gets done, or if it does it would have taken 3x the amount of time had i completed it at school. This is due to my willingness to be distracted by TV, food and seeing my couch. As soon as i want to take my eyes away from the screen to rest my eyes for a little I am drawn to my couch enticing me saying "come lay down and take a rest" and the fridge saying "fooooooood...fooooooood" and of coarse my stomach saying "yeaaaahhhhh". However if i study at school i have none of these things talking to me. Therefore, I get alot more work done and allow more time at the end of it to do other things.

While reading this chapter i came across two words that I had not read before. These words also came up in class as a discussion and i found out what the two following words meant.

Prototypically: which is derived from the word "prototype" is a first establishment of something.

Raison d’etre: reason of being or as wikipedia says its a "French phrase meaning reason for existence."

Reference(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raison_d'être)

After discussing "Laws of Simplicity" we moved onto talking about "Branding" and what is branding. Branding includes a collection of images and ideas. For example if you look at Coke a Cola they not only sell you a drink that they promote as "refreshing" but they are selling you a lifestyle of being relaxed, partying and excitement. They can do this by creating slogans, logos, design an appealing theme ect.

To have a strong brand the 6 important P's need to be address. 

• Positioning  
• Packaging 
• Promotion 
• Persistence 
• Persuasion  
• Performance 

Personally I think one of the important aspects of branding is colour. Certain colours are popularly know to represent strong words that are used to describe attributes of a business. Here is a video that supports my thinking.

Reference(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDohoPavchc)

After discussing branding we reviewed last years group's logo they used for the exhibition.

Reference(http://uphere.cdu.edu.au/)

From this we were to develop a list of words or phrases that describe last year’s logo addressing the effectiveness and inferred meaning the name and the graphic pattern;

Name: - "uphere"

I think the name is very cleaver. Darwin is known as "Top End" "up north" ect so the used words imply up in darwin and the location that we are at the top of australia. Also it has the double use to referring up in the mind where all the creativity comes from.

Graphic:

At first I was a little confused by the colour selection. After the class discussion it became clear about the choice of burned orange use which of course is similar to the colour found on the NT flag. The purple still confuses me but i do think that the combination goes well. 

I was disappointed to find out that the text was actually a font already designed and wasn't changed or used as a stemming idea to create an original font. The use of string holding up the letters helps emphasis and illustrate the idea of "up".

Overall i think it is an effective logo. The only thing I would change is the distance between the word "Up" and "here" because at a quick glance it can be read as "uphere" with the p and h being pronounced "ph" as an "f" sound. I might even consider moving the word "up" slightly higher than "here".

As an exercise we were to come up with some names/slogans/phases for our exhibition keeping in mind the theme was NT Centenary . some words my group came up with were;

Making Cents

Centimentality

TenTenary

Centsation

Centum Momentum

 

I like Centum Moment because it depicts "we are 100 but we are still moving forward". 

"That's all I have to say about that. " Forest Gump...

Week 3 Origination

First up this week we discussed the second law in "Laws of Simplicity" and then carried out a quiz. Here are the quiz questions with my answers.

1. What does the acronym SLIP mean according to Maeda?

• Sort
• Label
• Integrate
• Prioritize

 2. Define each character of the acronym, S L I P in one sentence

Sort out different task or words into columns where there is similarities

Label the different columns to represent the idea or group things have been listed in

Integrate some columns that have parallel or like groupings

Prioritize the groups into higher importance

3. What does Maeda say is only a pinkie away? 

“Quick path to simplicity is only a pinkie away” everything is close and is at the grasp of your finger tips

4. Why is this important to us as designers?

Simplifies information and enables quicker processing

5. What are the principles of gestalt psychological theory? 

To have conceptual “fit”, patterns, natural instinct to give order and group things

6. Where might one find the aesthetics of blur?

On an ipod control pad. Change perspective

7. Why is blur important in interactive design?

It brings several tasks that if all shown or done separately can be complex however by “blurring” it together you are simplifying everything into one that provides simplicity

8. Why do good designers squint when they look at something? 

“See the trees through the forest” and by seeing less you see more.

After this we got into pairs and had a list of gestures that we often see and were asked to provide 4 reasons each why a person might do the following gestures. Here is the list we Roland and my answers.

A person nods his/her head up and down   

• Yes
• Agreement
• Thinking
• Nodding off to sleep 

A person’s lower lip trembles slightly

• Brink of crying
• Cold
• Anxious
• Intense pain

A person smiles slightly

• Joke not very funny
• Reminiscing
• Think of good idea
• Fake smile for someone you don’t like 

A person yawns

• Tired
• Bored
• Seen someone else yawn
• Thinking of yawning

A person shrugs his/her shoulders

• Undecided
• Not interested
• Having no idea
• Stretching

A person inhales quickly

• Something dangerous nearly happen
• Sighing
• Fear
• Hic-cups

Once this thinking game was complete, we started collated all lists from last into 2 groups, Logistics and Promotion. We tried to reduced the list to a practical level and assign students to different tasks. Here is a list we developed and how far we got to assigning people. The following table was done up by Te.

Logistics	Branding/ Promotions
Equipment;	Theme/Design; Josie, Rachael, Maha, Warwick
Installation; Te’	Special Guests; Everyone
Founding;	Web Content/ Video Content; Helena, Zac Rolan, Thon, Sunita
Timeline; Sunita, Te’	Radio Ad; Roland, Mustafa, Helena
Security; Zac	Open Day Sausage Sizzle; Everyone
Map/Flyer; Carol, Josie, Rachael, Maha	Branding; Josie, Rachel, Maha, Warwick, Sunita
Venue; Maha, Jaxon	Entertainment;
Transport;	Invitations: Maha, Josie, Rachael, Warwick, Sunita
Volunteers; Carol
Meetings; Sunita, Te’
Signage/Navigation; Jaxon

                                                                                                                                           

Group 1 LOGISTICS

Location/lighting, equipment, volunteers, advertising, navigation, transports, content, presentation, runs time, installation (setup/ tear down and labeling), funding, volunteers, timeline, securities, signage, map/ flyer and venue.

Group 2 BRANDING/ PROMOTIONS

Advertising, promotion (web content, radio advertising) open day sausage sizzle in august, media, identity, funding, permissions, guests/ special guests, invites, theme, entertainment and sponsors.

Here is a photo of the classes brainstorming;

With all the discussions we didn't get a chance to work on or figure out timelines like intended.

After class I was curious about the promotional aspect that last years class did to advertise the exhibition which they called "uphere" because I couldn't remember seeing or hearing about it.

First i went to google where i found this link http://uphere.cdu.edu.au/ which just advertises that there will be a website. Peter mentioned in this weeks class that that student that was meant to create the site didnt complete it. The information on the one page of the site however clearly shows all the important information about the exhibition and also promotes their logo very well. 

Google also listed a YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yO13oovGls

This video presents examples of work from the digital media class. I would think the aim of a YouTube video promoting the "uphere" exhibition would have the logo displayed through out the video or have some emphasis of the logo or CDU logo. There is only a brief mention of the exhibition at the end of the video and on the comments section. I think if a video is done for our groups exhibition it needs to take into account all the various classes and mediums that will be on show at the exhibition and have footage of the location or of the artist or the logo or name of the exhibition, any of those things that will influence the viewer to come to the show and talk about it to others. 

"That's all I have to say about that. " Forest Gump...