Morgan blogs

…about research topics

Design research isn’t different than any other kind of research. Designers use interviews, secondary research (I’m looking at you, Google) numbers and charts (and use numbers to make charts).

Currently, in my design research class, we’re pitching ideas that we want to research. Here are the three I feel most passionately about:

• Child obesity: It’s a growing epidemic around the country - and concentrated mostly in the United States and England. We could research school lunches to see what schools are doing, if anything, to help or hinder nutrition. (i.e. no soda machines in schools, serving correct portion sizes). Do lunch trays need to be redesigned to reflect portion sizes? Does the system need an overhaul? Here’s a TED video featuring Jaime Oliver. He’s a little preachy, but the message is important.

• Urban farming: Apparently Detroit is the leading city in urban farming. We should interview people before they start spring planting and find people who are involved with Detroit Earthworks or are raising chickens in the city.

• Designer Ethics: Where’s our ethical baseline? We have a the power to make people do what we want, but we’re not licensed like lawyers and we don’t take an oath like doctors. How do we judge what’s right and wrong. Maybe we update what AIGA has out and include topics about being socially responsible, pro bono and charity work, and how to say no to friends who think it will take you “just 2 or 3 days” to make them a professional Website.

What would you research? Do you agree with these topics? What am I missing? There’s much more research to be done!

Firefox logo update

Back in June, Firefox released version 3.5 of the popular Web browser and that meant a new logo to go with it.

Did you notice? I know I didn’t, but I like the improvements.

…about Magic Mouse

Hullo, Magic Mouse.

Note to other objects in the house: if I like you, I will probably draw you. No bribes, please.

…about not knowing a CMS

Well, I spent all day working on my Fall 2009 presentation, and I’d like to upload it here, but can’t seem to figure out how.

I’ll be researching Wordpress to figure out how to use it and then I’ll have a link.

In the meantime, more drawings to come.

…about before shots

After shots still to come from my first VisCom crit, which went surprisingly well. Needed to add more highlights and shadows. Crazy shadows.

Also, you slip into shadow-midtone-highlight vision, it’s pretty hard to snap out of it. I SEE MIDTONES!

…about instant cameras

I was really happy to see this on designboom the other day. I know I’d buy a Polaroid instant camera just to have one again. However, if Polaroid is re-releasing cameras, maybe one that’s a little more sophisticated would be a bigger seller.

…about sketching benchmarks

Did some sketching last night. Here’s the benchmark for the semester. My skills can only improve!

…about the first day of second semester

And we’re back!

After a very eventful first semester, I’m back at CCS for the second semester of the MFA Design program. My classes this semester:

• Interaction Design II
• Design Graduate Studio II
• Contextual Design Research II
• Visual Communication II (Product Design)
• Business Practices I

Today I went to studio, research and VisCom.

Studio

This semester, I’m learning about branding and extending a brand. The assignment is to pick an existing brand and develop a product or system from beginning to end that will enhance that brand. For example, Tide to-go pens or Colgate wisps.

I have a few ideas swimming around about brands I want to expand. While I love and want EVERYTHING in an Anthropolgie store, there’s so much shit packed in there it doesn’t make sense to give it anything new. I do love my old school Schwinn,so maybe there’s an idea or two in there.

Research

This dude. This class. Bananas.

Due to my lack of blogging from, oh, I don’t know, the first day of classes on, no one knew the greatness of Graduate Seminar with Vince Carducci. Quite a remarkable and brilliant guy who really knew how to challenge and stimulate new ideas among our class. This semester, Allen Bukoff is teaching Research and fills that odd void left by Vince from the fall.

First of all, he didn’t introduce himself or as us any of our names. Second, he asked us to draw, write, free associate with the word “knowing”. Do it now. What are the first three things (images, words, etc.) that come to mind? What does it mean to know? Third, he had us make snot to show the benefits of tinkering and experimenting. Fourth, dude went to Kent and saw one of the first Devo concerts for a quarter in a basement. Needless to say, I’m fairly excited.

VisCom

Now I feel out of my league. I didn’t do a lot of adventuring around the Taubman building last semester because I was too busy. This semester, VisCom is on the 10th floor, the product design floor. My jaw was on the floor as soon as I got off the elevator. Posters cover the walls for a Motorola sponsored project about making portable devices to solve problems in Africa. Someone made a USB-looking device to test if a water source is contaminated. Turn the corner and there’s mocked up shoes. A new skateboard. A new bike.

My first assignment? Draw 2 views of a 1920s telephone: one dramatic and one detailed. Because the class is regularly 1.5 credits and grad students need electives to be 3, there’s an extra class Thursday nights just for us with extra assignments. Tomorrow I’ll post photos of my current drawing style to compare with the end of the semester.

In any case, I’m excited. I want to hit homeruns for each class, but that’s like saying, “I’d like to start running. I’ll start with a marathon.”