January 31, 2008

>>TED conference: Stefan Sagmeister, Yes design can make you happy...

-this video was very entertaining, I liked Stefan-funny guy. I liked that he was talking about design that creates happiness/make you feel happy rather than happy looking designs. Out of his list of 3 happy designs- I really liked the subway rules design- the little comic illustrations were hilarious, I wish I could have experienced seeing them on the subway or even putting them in subways. I also liked the speech bubbles- I love that they are interactive- very sarcastic & humorous.

>>other TED video- David Bolinsky: Fantastic voyage inside a cell...

-David Bolinsky is a medical illustrator and animator who displays complex medical concepts in a new way. He co-founded his company "xvivo," which works with schools to help medical schools teach and help students who are visual learners understand concepts. He is currently working with Harvard's department of Molecular and Cellular Biology as part of the BioVision project to help explain cellular processes.

I think this program is crucial and will really help medical students and biologists learn more. I know this would have really helped me in science, my worst subject. I am a visual learner and watching animations about these complex scientific ideas would have really helped me understand the concepts and do better in my classes.

>>HOW GOOD IS GOOD? by: Stefan Sagmeister...

-I enjoyed reading his design philosophy. The point he makes about the difference between advertising and graphic design is inspiring. He says that ad design convinces you to buy things you don't need and graphic design inspires and expresses new ideas. A good quote from Victor Papanek's "Design for the Real World" reads: "There are professions more harmful than industrial design, but only very few of them. And possibly only one profession is phonier: Advertising design. In persuading people to buy things they don't need, with money they don't have, in order to impress others that don't care, it is probably the phoniest field in existence today."

Sagmeister gives great examples of good and bad design. Also, his equations for good and bad design are very smart.
-equations...
good design+bad cause=bad
bad design+good cause=good?
good design+good cause=good
-design can...
-unify
-help us remember
-simplify our lives
-make someone feel better
-make the world a safer place
-help people rally behind a cause
-inform & teach
-raise money
-make us more tolerant

#1- graphic design is creating tools, designs, visual elements to solve a problem.
#2- typography is the use of text and graphics to create a visual solution to a problem
#3- my responsibilities to my education are to learn & grow as much as possible to fulfill my responsibilities to myself and society, to use my knowledge of design to contribute and solve problems
#4- in order to get more out of my viscom classes I can go beyond what is expected and do reserch and projects on my own to learn and experiment more with design