The Creative Process - James Baldwin

The main takeaway from this essay is that “the artist cannot and must not take anything for granted” (Baldwin, 2). I was inspired by James Baldwin’s words and view that we must acknowledge the truth about our past in order to make more informed decisions as an artist. I chose to pursue a master’s in Integrated Design and Media because of my desire to bridge the gap between social impact, design, and technology. It can often be easy to forget the bigger picture when designing and the impact it can have on people around the globe. I believe Baldwin urges readers to dig deeper and never forget our initial reasonings for creating and making an effort to improve our society. To make a change in our world, we must unite and recognize our past as it might be long gone but never forgotten. We must seek the truth, be responsible for our actions, and make an effort to do better as artists and as people.

Design for the Real World - Victor Papanek

Typically when an individual thinks of design, it is often assumed that a new creation is for the better. Papanek would disagree as the age of mass production has led us to create millions of gadgets, nifty crafts, and technological devices that fail to serve a purpose. In “Design for the Real World” the author discusses the importance of designing “within a social context” (Papanek, X) and researching to create designs that are meaningful and serve a purpose. His perspective on the value of patents and copyrights is fascinating as when an individual is introducing new technology, it is likely that finding a way to ensure others do not copy iit is a priority. Papanek challenges this mindset. He believes that ideas are abundant and not costly which is why designers should put them out in the world to have it be used for meaningful purposes. In section one, “What is Design” Papanek considers design to be a “basic to all human activity” (Papanek, 3) and an attempt to create order. It was interesting to read about his understanding of intuitive design as we designers often have an intuition that drives us to create a product, app, or technology in a certain type of way. I also believe intuition can come from brainstorming, sketching, and bouncing ideas back and forth between colleagues. I also appreciated Papaneks perspective on problem-solving as he explains that there are many design solutions. I can also relate to designers struggling between designing something that works well versus designing to make it beautiful. There are millions of websites that may be aesthetically pleasing but can the audience find what they are looking for? Is an individual with a disability able to browse through a beautifully presented website the same way an abled body can? When reading Papanek’s section on using the appropriate material to create a product, I began thinking of the numerous products on our market that are using materials that are harmful to us and our environment. Feminine hygiene products are just one example of a product that uses materials that can take between 500 to 800 years to decompose. These readings prompt me to question how our technologies have advanced so much at the cost of the deterioration of our environment. Papanek discusses the history of vehicles, beginning as a way to allow people to travel, and has since been destroying our air quality further polluting harmful CO2 emissions.

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Tony Fry: Futuring the City of Sustainment - The Remaking Design

People often view cities as fixed creation that only continues to improve with technological advancements and unique architecture. The reality is that the way our cities are created with manmade constructions, poor engineering and design decisions coupled with the effects of climate change, our cities are not made to last. This is what Tony Fry discusses as he shows us visuals of cities he and his students have recreated by designing from the future back to the present. Tony uses the Gold Coast as an example of a city that was poorly constructed and names a number of areas that risk its residents being displaced as they are built on the coastline: New York City, London, Tokyo, etc. On top of already fragile land, artificial canals have also been built causing further risks. As my thesis for undergrad, I wrote about the effect of climate change and the mass displacement of people. I listed a number of cities and areas that could potentially be destroyed as sea levels continue to rise. After conducting this research, it was interesting to read about Tony Fry’s perspective and research on actually moving cities, which could take up to two decades. As we are already experiencing the effects of global climate change, we must do what we can to slow the speed and get creative to curb the mass displacement of people globally.

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50 Shades Assignment

For this assignment, I thought of the multiple cups we use to drink out of. I personally love cups with sturdy handles and fun designs, There are so many different shapes and sizes, a different cups to use for every purpose. When drinking water, coffee, iced beverages, tea, wine, mimosas, etc there is an ideal shape that people tend to prefer drinking out of. When you drink iced coffee out of a hot coffee mug, it feels like something is off right?

These drawings showcase a variety of cups - some that you may have seen before but others that have unique shapes, handles, and balance. I also used different materials to help these drawings come to life such as charcoal pencils to add dimension, neutral color pencils, and crayons to add life to the cup or replicate “foam” or the cinnamon powder on top of a warm drink, and watercolor markers to make unique shapes and designs. After creating all these versions, what stands out to me most about cups is why most of them have the same shape, handles, or the same boring bottom. I started the process by making drawings of cups that I am familiar with but then began branching out and thinking “what if a cup:”

• Had two handles instead of one,

• Had rings as the handle of the cup,

• Had a unique shape instead of a straight structure with a curve at the bottom,

• Embodied an animal or cartoon,

• Seamlessly fit together like a puzzle,

After seeing examples of the different shapes we can create just by using paper, I also created physical cups using paper and glue. It is fascinating to be able to fold pieces of paper in specific ways to create a physical object!

Pencil, Charcoal Pencils, Smudging Stick