Description of a Visual object #2

Another description:

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Description of a Visual object #1

This is just some work for my Digital Documentation class, wherein we describe something visual using only words.

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Ever had one of those weeks where your list just keeps piling up? That's my week right now. I had a grand scheme to make blog posts every night, but I keep getting back after 11 realizing I have to start over again in 8 hours. Ah well, at least I am being productive!

I may be doing a lot of thesis research, but I am also doing a lot of making lately. I'm either in the metalsmithing studio for class or working in the design shop. The cool part about having a job in the shop is that my boss has been giving me projects to do. So I get to learn to use the shop machines and make usable stuff. Below (and above) are two quick projects I've done during separate 5-hour shifts.

So what is it I'm doing?

Above are the fruits of my first library trip for thesis. I have slowly been eliminating some as useless and plowing through others for information. The best books lead me to more sources, while others lead to dead ends.

So what am I studying for thesis? There's a theme in the titles of the books: they all mention "story" in one guise or another (narrative, fiction, literature). I have decided to tackle the idea of storytelling from a design standpoint, as in:

How were stories told?
How are stories told?
How will stories be told?

No, this is not going to be a new E-reader design (though I will cover that phenomenon in some depth at some point). I've set myself the task of looking at story through as many lenses as possible: philosophical, linguistic, psychological, anthropological, sociological, among others. I've spent the past few weeks defining exactly what I mean by "story."

This blog is hopefully going to encompass not only the "story" of my thesis but also the story of my fifth and final year as an industrial design student.

And that, in a nutshell, is what it is I'm doing.

Next time: what the heck do you mean by "story"?

Thoughts on why I want to do what I want to do

Michael Chabon is high on my list of favorite authors, not only for his novels but also for his numerous essays. At the moment, I am attempting to emulate his nonfiction style in a writing assignment. It has become a bit of an uphill battle, which I think is understandable just from reading opening sentences of this piece:

"There may never again be a tedium so wretched and marvelous as that produced by television in the heyday of the aerial. It’s a cliché act of contemporary parenthood to inform one’s children—in our endless parental quest to engender in them that nameless emotion, the inverse of awe, whose purest expression is embodied by the four timeless words Who gives a shit?—that when one was a boy there were only three channels, or four, or at most five."

So, in trying to get a grip of how the heck this man comes up with such grandiose sentences about something as mundane as vintage television, I started looking up interviews with Chabon and stumbled upon the above Youtube clip. Rather than just inspire my essay, Chabon has unwittingly managed to sum up my viewpoint on research and design.

Chabon talks about two things that I think have become really important to me in my design education: always research something that interests you personally and also show that you have authority with what you are talking about. Research (or, more broadly termed, knowledge) has become the single most important thing in my design education. In every project brief I'm given I tend to find a niche, some part of the topic that I sparks my creativity, and then I latch onto it for dear life and spend the next few weeks (or months) becoming an expert in that field. I read every book, every blog, every newspaper and then move onto interview and observation. I read, I write, I just plain think about the topic as much as possible before even delving into the final "what" of the piece (what it will do, what it will look like).

Even though he's talking about authority in terms of fiction, the same holds true of design. By becoming the expert, the designer has full authority of their design and the client has full trust in the designer. As readers, we generally give an author only one chance to "wow" us. The first novel we read is the most important because if we like it we'll buy more and if we don't, odds are we will never read another word from this person. If, as Chabon points out, the writer exercises their authority then we the readers know we are in good hands and we'll probably want more. It's the same with design: without that meticulous research, the design falls short and the client is let down, probably never to return. The design didn't "wow" the client because the designer did have the authority to back it up.

So that's where I stand at the moment: inspired by a novelist to pursue better design through knowledge and research, so that my future clients will know they are in good hands.

Across the Water

This blog has been on extended hold for quite some time. There are many reasons for this: shotty internet, writer's block, schoolwork, adventures. I think the last one might be the most important. I've been living in London since the end of January, spending a semester abroad. I tend to spend as much time as possible out of my flat. So, what am I doing instead?

Well, looking at art mostly. All major museums are free, meaning that anytime I want I can see:

This at the National Gallery:


Or walk across Hyde Park to see the Victory and Albert Galleries:


Or stop into the Courtauld and see some Impressionists:


Or make the trek down to the Imperial War Museum to see one of my favorite paintings, hidden in a back room on the 3rd floor:


Or, if I'm bored with indoors, I just mosey through Hyde Park and stare across the Serpantine:


There are some thoughts floating around in my head right now. They might start to formulate into cohesive paragraphs that might be written here. Only time will tell. For now, I'm off on more adventures.

A short break

Love the song, love the movie.

Finals are in full swing. Sleep is a luxury at this point.