:: ( CRIT ) :: DESIGN BLOG ::

The Road To Hell Is Paved With Beautifully Typeset Intentions

As a first year MFA student at SVA, my studiomates and I recently passed the halfway point of "Design and Intentions," a class taught by Milton Glaser. Each week, we collectively focus on analyzing why designers make certain aesthetic decisions, how those decisions will impact the eventual outcome and in which ways the design process can be tailored to produce greater success. Discussions of personal intent have occasionally veered into moral and ethical territory, but we don't usually linger.

Last Wednesday, at the conclusion of class, Milton asked the group to take a moral inventory tailored to our chosen profession. The results, where each individual stood ground in the moral gray areas of graphic design, were fascinating. The ambiguity of an exercise like this only adds to the inventory's necessity. I believe it is fundamental as a working designer to chart out a set of personal standards and then be vigilant in defending them.

Core77.com's Hack2School Essential Guide

Everything the grad and undergrad design student should know (and more) about returning to the sanctity of the academy can be found (and savored) on Core77.com's HACK2School.

Here are a few of my favorite entries:

Keep it Classy 2.0

5 Ways to Sound Smarter in a Crit

Set Your Phone to Vibrate

On a related side note, the Core77 Offsite Series event; Design, Wit, and the Creative Act: Leveraging the power of humor towards great customer experiences, will take place on November 9th at the Art Directors Club . Moderated by the incredible Ze Frank, presenters are Steven Heller, Kelly Dobson, Tobias Wong, and Paul Budnitz. Early bird and student specials are in effect so check it out at www.core77.com/offsite

Summer Class is in Session: A Studio Visit

I’m teaching an undergraduate design course at SVA this summer. To break up the monotony of holding class indoors every day of the week, we took a field trip this past Friday, to visit the artist James De la Vega.

We hit the east village early afternoon as his shop opened on St. Marks Place. Inside, the walls were filled with his work, even hanging from the ceiling. Myself and the students sat and listened to him tell his story. His background growing up in East Harlem, studying art at Cornell, his relationship with his mother (which you can see reflected in his ‘My mother as…’ series), and now, owning and running his own store.

I left his shop feeling inspired, as I do when I visit any gallery or museum. And I think the students took away this same feeling. If you live in New York City and haven’t been, I highly recommend visiting De La Vega’s shop.

Crit Content

As a teacher I can attest to the need for class participation. If at any point I expect a room full of high school students to follow a critique that only relates to one person in the group, they either fall asleep or find creative ways to derail my lesson. As graduate students we have somewhat longer attention spans and better control over our behavior but we still enjoy a captivating lesson.

On Deadlines

As I write this, my words are overdue; welcome to my official first-missed deadline of CRIT. The end of the school year presents many problems for work outside our classes; in deciding priorities, blogging for a student design site often ends up on the butt-end of the stick. And for the deadline obsessed like myself, missing a marker can result in a serious spiral of guilt. Still, I’d like to imagine how the other side lives; what about the those people not conflicted in dismissing a meeting point? Is it possible to walk away from a deadline and still win the fight?

Tibor's Class

By Peter Buchanan-Smith

I am so lucky. Everyone I meet assures me just how lucky I am. And I don't argue. Last winter, I took a twelve-week course through the MFA design program at School of Visual Arts called "1,000 Words." It was taught by the bad boy of graphic design, conceptual guru, and perverse optimist despite his terminal cancer. He was a man many of us worshipped. His name was Tibor Kalman, and yes, I admit that I was intimidated by him and absolutely uncertain of what to expect. I had never faced such a prospect, and I expect I never will again.

Continue reading "Tibor's Class" on the AIGA website

Attention and Distraction

Last night, in our class with Veronique Vienne, we discussed the work of art historian Jonathan Crary. Our conversation focused on Crary's theory about the way individuals pay attention. According to Crary, our means of paying attention were radically altered by nineteenth century industrialization. Due to manufacturing, individuals were forced to develop a very focused type of attention which accommodated sitting at machines for prolonged time periods to complete task oriented work. Crary argues that while such attention allows for new forms of control and enhanced productivity, it also forces us to focus with our eyes and alienates us from other sensory experiences.

Simply Droog

This week our class had the pleasure of visiting the Museum of Art and Design to attend simply droog: 10+3 years of creating innovation and discussion. Our professor Dorothy Globus led us through three floors of playful, imaginative work from a collective of international contemporary designers.

What is Droog, you ask? Renny Ramakers, Director of Droog Design, explains, “Droog is not a style; it is a mentality and an approach to the creative process. If a design engages and examines existing materials with the goal of creating a practical, simple object—and if that creative concept is both revelatory and inspirational—we can then call that object 'Droog.' A Droog object may be witty or politically subversive or neither, and yet the process of creating a Droog design never ceases to offer sharp commentary on how humans interact with each other and our environment.”

Define Craft.

This past Thursday in our weekly Design Criticism class with Alice Twemlow, she gave a lecture titled "Craft, Complexity, and the Handmade." As the time for class approached, you could say I was a little more than excited. I'm a big fan of anything handmade or DIY. Whether it is letterpressing posters and cards or silkscreening my next class project (if the project concept requires it), I am always excited to learn about new ways of doing things. I am especially excited about learning new ways of doing things without having to pay someone else for the final outcome.

After reading the recommended articles for the lecture before class, I began to question my views on what the term "craft" means. As Alice proceeded through her lecture, I felt the need to ask myself the question, what really is craft in design? Is it knowledge of your projects through you hands? Or is it a broader spectrum than that?

We're Busy.

Dear Loyal Readers,

We've been busy working on our thesis presentations and reports this week but will be back on Monday.

To Do Today: Post on CRIT About Making Lists

I love Stefan Sagmeister's "10 things I must do before I die" list (pictured). Inspired no doubt by Georges Perec’s “Some of the Things I Really Must Do Before I Die”. Like most people, I am an avid list maker, particularly in favor of the "To Do List", which allows me the ability to check off things as they are completed, thus providing me with a sense of satisfaction.

In our "Critical Thinking on Graphic Design" course we were assigned the task of making a list. There was an ecclectic selection, including inventories of possessions owned (books and music), concerts attended, things learned in life, creative influences and interests, objects I don't know what to do with, conversations had in a day, choices faced with in a day, types of edible seafood, a list of lists made.

Turn Your Crap Detectors On

Crap Detector. What is it? I was first introduced to the concept of a crap detector by my undergraduate english professor in advanced comp. He informed us that in order to be an excellent writer you must be an excellent thinker. He then yelled at us to TURN OUR CRAP DETECTORS ON!

* I am pretty sure that he was paraphrasing Ernest Hemingway, but I still like to credit my english professor for the phrase.

To be an excellent graphic designer, you must also engage your crap detector. THINK! QUESTION! ANALYZE! Look at everything with a critical eye. TURN YOUR CRAP DETECTORS ON!

This is from Crap Detector, a site launched by Kate Bingaman, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Mississippi State University, as "a teaching tool, information center and discussion area" for her students and AIGA student group.

And after you've spent some time there head over to her other site, Obsessive Consumption.

Creativity Is a Discipline of Learning

Guest Editorial by Eric Karjaluoto

After our wedding, Amea and I decided to visit Prince George for a weekend. We hadn’t been able to spend time with my brother and parents in some time, and I really wanted to take a break with them. I also wanted to see my dog, Torr, one more time. I knew that he was feeling more discomfort and didn’t have much time left. My time that weekend however, was mainly spent addressing storage issues relating to my first years as a painter. This bit of housekeeping lead me to an insight that I hadn’t expected to arrive at that weekend.

The Long Road to Design (Or, the Back-Story)

Like many others, I arrived at design in a round-about way...

Read the rest on ideasonideas.

The Eleventh Hour: The Art of Procrastination

We're currently in the midst of final projects and presentations as the academic year rapidly (and I mean rapidly) comes to a close; the semester ends in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure if I want the end to come more quickly so that I can take a break or more slowly so that I could work under less pressure. Regardless, it's all beyond my control so the only thing I can do is press on.

Or I could wait until the last minute.

Design Cliches

Guest editorial by Maria Delaguardia

The other day in class the subject of design cliches was brought up. Every time period has a set of them, and it's easy to fall prey to them. As an undergrad in the 90s, I utilized most of the mannerisms shown here at some point (I never used Template Gothic, though). Sometimes you can't identify something as a fad until it disappears. While it's happening it just feels normal. Can you identify any present-day cliches?

Success!

As most people do in graduate school, I spend a bit of time thinking about how to determine my success as a student. My last semester has begun and I can already feel the end of the experience coming soon. In a flash, I will have graduated and I wonder how I will remember this part of my life. The past year and a half seems like a whirlwind–a surreal, abstract and unforgettable experience full of rigor. I wonder if I have done a good job and what sort of measurements I can hold myself against to determine my success.

The routes for evaluating our successes are external and internal. Externally, we are measured by crits, reviews, awards and grades. There are many meetings to discuss our work and both instructors and students weigh in with their own views, ideas and opinions. A bad client response or crummy classroom crit can lead to bigger questions about our abilities as designers. A good review produces positive feelings and increases confidence. Awards feel good and, despite the oddness of getting graded at this level of education, marks can be thought of as an indicator of success.

Internally, we are guided by our own thoughts and feelings about work we are involved in. The level of satisfaction, intrigue or even joy can help us measure our own personal feeling of success. As I work, I ask myself “Is this saying what it needs to? Is this clear? Does this form make sense for the aim? Am I fulfilling the brief?” A particular project of mine that was internally driven was a monument we were asked to propose whose form was to be inspired by personal subject matter. What I chose to create did not meet all of the criteria for the assignment (I had no location for my proposed structure) but the process of making the thing itself was incredibly exciting and important to me. I could not change a thing about it the final form, despite whatever was requested by my instructors and classmates, because the piece had become personally significant me. The experience was enough for me to feel satisfied with the final outcome and nothing else could affect the project’s success or failure.

Live Strong

Last semester ended rather unusually. The final week of classes was canceled due to the New York City transit strike and I didn't get to see classmates and faculty before heading out of town. I also felt a little unfulfilled, for lack of a better word, as the result of my final project for my class, "Can Design Touch Someone's Heart?" My first two projects were successful in the sense that I got good reactions for both, but my third, a website of love poetry to touch the hearts of humankind, was one with which I struggled. There were ideas in it but not realized to the extent I had wanted; in its current state it didn't feel complete. Since my presentation of that final project the question of whether or not design can touch someone's heart has stayed with me like an intriguing film with an ambiguous ending you want to figure out, with every viewer coming away with different interpretations.

I went back to my course catalog and revisited the course description to refocus: "It is widely assumed that movies, literature and music get to our emotional core. At the same time, it seems to be more difficult for design to achieve the same effect. In this course, we will explore this possibility with three individual assignments."

Why is this? Why is it more difficult for design than art? Let's back up a bit: how does design differ from art? Going back even further, how do you define each? (I'm not going to get into that here; it's addressed elsewhere on CRIT.)

In terms of what has reached my own emotional core, I thought about examples of movies (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), literature (The Catcher in the Rye), and music (U2's "One"). And design? To my dismay, none really came to mind. My mind wandering, I started thinking about my other classes, and what I learned from them, and remembered something we talked about in my design history seminar about propaganda (originally not as loaded a term as it is today.) Someone brought up the now ubiquitous yellow "Live Strong" wristbands from the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I think I had found my design example.

Perfect Balance

A discussion about classroom behavior relates directly to the atmosphere of the classroom. Teachers and individual students play powerful roles in defining the comfort level of a class, but sometimes the variables out of our control are what influence the group dynamic most. The issue of class size seems to be one of those variables, the consequences of which are difficult to isolate and assess. Achieving the right balance of varied personalities and group intimacy is hard enough, never mind the limitations of time and the classic complaint that large classes prevent students from getting enough individual attention.

Many argue that at the graduate level in particular, the real learning comes not from direct feedback from teachers, but from observing the work of peers. By this rationale, the more people in the class, the more examples there are to study, and the more opportunities there are for growth. Others insist that a big class results in hurried, superficial critiques, and that each added body detracts from having focused and thorough discussions.

Holy F!*k, Sue, Your Project Sucks!

During one wine-abundant evening a couple of weeks ago, my classmates and I discussed our classroom communication. This conversation evolved into a heated argument between students who imagined we should speak more honestly and bluntly about each other's work and those who felt that being cautiously critical was paramount for growth. Throughout this particular dialogue, I tried hard to keep quiet with the fear of saying something regrettable through my wine-tainted tongue.

Before this encounter, I felt that my classmates and I had developed a nice dialogue regarding our work. This collection of personalities usually expresses diverse opinions in a meaningful and constructive way. I imagine our role to each other is to be honest, challenging and accessible.

When I speak critically about other's work, I try to articulate it in a way that sustains the individual's interest and furthers their desire to work, rather than voicing my critical opinion with the gravity of a gavel. If we are apt to be critical–which we should be–I feel a good method is to communicate in a way that propels people to improve their work in an energetic fashion. Milton Glaser once said that a good leader is someone who provides both direction and motivation, making people want to continue working. I believe this principle extends to critical discussion as well.

As a slight aside, I am cautious to conclude anything with design; to say one approach is right and another concept is wrong negates the grayness of the subject matter. Graphic design doesn’t have any rules and is always up for further evaluation. Although some projects allude to a more stringent direction–with little room for interpretation–many do not. This belief prevents me from stating my opinions as fact or demanding my perspectives are truisms.

What is the behavior like in other classrooms? How do you feel we are responsible to each other–as students and peers–in terms of communicating as well as criticizing? Is there value in speaking to each other without any reservation? If we choose not to, are we getting what we are paying for?

Thesis Help

Please help these students by filling out their on-line surveys for their thesis projects. The surveys are anonymous and should take about 10-15 minutes each. Thank you!

Female Strength Training | Campaign Against Commercialism in America | Home Design | Measurement Systems | Product for Travelers | Baby Clothing

If you have a survey link you'd like included in this space, email us with your name, school, survey link, and a short description of your project.

These Four (Or So) Walls

Every Tuesday evening in class, Stefan Sagmeister asks: "So, has anybody seen anything interesting lately?" At that moment, when I want so badly to remember something really awesome I saw, I have a sort of blurry vision of my F train commute, and the four (or so) walls of the inside of the MFA Design studio. I say to myself, “I know I saw a lot of great things last week. What were they again?”

Pirating our Peers

In our intellectual property class, we just spoke about using illegal programs and fonts. Our instructor warned us that new technology provides software authors more information about who is using illegal copies. He said it is only a matter of time until technology allows access to the identity of all illegal users. We were also informed that type designers can spot their typefaces in use anywhere and put forth serious effort to track these illegal users.

The use of illegal intellectual property is rampant in both educational and professional ventures. As students, the financial implication of purchasing all of typefaces we use would be exhausting. The expenses of education are huge, as it is, and I cannot imagine grappling with these additional fees.

As designers, I imagine we try to support our profession in any way possible. If we are stealing from our own colleagues, what does that mean? Should we be ashamed of ourselves and only use software and fonts that are paid in full? If so, would we limit our experience based on our personal financial circumstances?

Two Heads are Better Than One

I recently went on an interview and decided to conduct an experiment with my presentation and my portfolio. I chose to show more agency work than I usually do and made it a point to focus my presentation on talking about my ability to "play well with others." By showing more agency work, it gave me the opportunity to talk about the specific roll that I played in the project and how I collaborated with other designers, illustrators / photographers, copywriters, and dare I say it — account people and even the client. This was really well received by the art director who I was showing my book to. In thinking back to my "real world" days I could understand why — very little design is really done solo, so much of what we do as designers requires collaboration and our ability to communicate with both creatives and non creatives on a number of different levels.

This made me think about my current experiences in grad school and even about my experiences in undergrad. If our education is supposed to help prepare us for the real world, why isn't there a better effort made towards collaborative work on projects?

On Target

People may at first think of lawmakers and CEOs as the professionals who exert influence upon a society, but designers wield their own form of influence as well. That's a topic worthy of its own discussion elsewhere, but a recent example of an impactful design is Deborah Adler's redesign of the ubiquitous and widely used translucent orange prescription bottle, which came out of her thesis project after her grandmother had accidentally swallowed pills meant for Adler's grandfather. After graduation, the basis of her project was picked up by Target.

Here's an excerpt from an article about this design by Sarah Bernard that appeared in the April 28, 2005 issue of New York magazine.

"By the time an object, or an apartment, or a company hits the half-century mark, it’s usually been through a redesign or two. Yet the standard-issue amber-cast pharmacy pill bottle has remained virtually unchanged since it was pressed into service after the second World War. (A child-safety cap was added in the seventies.) An overhaul is finally coming, courtesy of Deborah Adler, a 29-year-old graphic designer whose ClearRx prescription-packaging system debuts at Target pharmacies May 1."

For the rest of the article (and pictures), go here: http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/health/features/11700/

In the context of your thesis, what are other such items that could use a redesign? What are other examples of design that is of benefit to society? Are you working on something of a similar theme?