Reading Reflection 04

John Heskett begins to slowly bring his introduction to design to a close in chapter 9. This chapter functions by discussing the three areas of contextual influence in design: "the professional organization of design, or how designers view themselves; the business context in which a majority of design practice is located; and, in addition, the level of government policy..." One point that I found to be interesting in this chapter was how design can be thought of as a central function of a company or, simply dispersed throughout. An examples that were given consisted of IBM and the Japanese Matsushita electrical company. Another interesting point was discussed on pg 115 about how design can play a huge role in changing the fortunes of companies such as, for example, Chrysler in the early 90's. Lastly, reading about how design was previously viewed as strictly a very "artsy" field to be involved in in previous decades was very intersting. For many years it was believed that only artists were capable of teaching any aspect of design in schools which further evolved the schools to be even more art oriented.

The last chapter of the short novel, chapter 10, worked well to efficiently wrap everything up and bring it all together with closing ideas. This chapter talks about two recurring themes in the book and what the future of design could look like as far as how it will build and grow on its past. Also considered is the question of what designers of the future will be like. For example, will they "merely be technocrats, devoting their skills to the highest commercial bidder without consideration of the ends they serve...[or] is there instead a dimension of social and environmental purpose requiring acknowledgement in the world?" This chapter leaves many things to think about and proves that there is never an end to the work that can be done in the field of design.

Journal 09: Coleman Project - Personal Documentation

Links to Teammates: Golnaz M., Kris D., Joseph L.

The Coleman for the Home project was a great way to wrap up the quarter and apply a little bit of all of the design fields to one assignment. I really enjoyed working with my group because we were all able to use our separate strengths on different parts of the assignment and we all worked together and got along very well. As a team, we chose to create the "HoTTop" by Coleman. This product is a portable, durable, space saving cooktop that also works to incorporate other products that Coleman already manufactures such as the Thermoelectric Refrigerator. We were all able to come to the conclusion that this is the product that we wanted to create and present very quickly. We all threw our ideas together and used each of our in class work days to build up or product and finish our project to make it the best that we could. I would have to say that we were all very organized and efficient in getting our work done and sent to one another to incorporate in our separate parts.

Personal Contributions to the Project:

- Bringing everyone together and working to make sure that everything is on track to be completed

- Brainstorming ideas for all aspects

- Creating the powerpoint presentation by pulling all pieces of the project together, scanning parts into the computer, designing the presentation layout, and making sure everyone understood and agreed with the order and wording of all slides - The completed power point can be found below:

Coleman Presentation - Group 2 FINAL

If we were asked to do this project again, I would want to better facilitate the assignment by helping with one of the computer aided designs such as the google sketch up of the HoTTop, packaging, or kiosk. Golnaz did a lot of this work herself and I would have wanted to help her out the second time around.

Overall, I think this project was a great idea to in incorporated into design 200. The presentations were very interesting to watch and I enjoyed working with my group to complete our assignment.

Journal 10: Final Thoughts

All in all, design 200 has been a great course that I believe I truly benefitted from taking. I learned a lot about all of the basics of the different fields of design and took away many important bits of information that will be beneficial for me to know as I continue on in my minor in visual communications design (I'm sorry about not being converted to interior space ;] ). One of the things I enjoyed most about the class were all of the different videos we watched. Normally, I find in class videos to be very boring and difficult to stay focused during. The videos that we watched in design 200, however, were extremely interesting and kept my attention easily. As was said in the final closing email sent out, I would have to agree that often times I do find myself getting frustrated with group work in graded courses. However, I would have to say that I had a lot of fun with my group this quarter and learned a lot from everyones different backgrounds. I would defnitely reccomend this class to anyone who is interested in any part of any design field!

Class Reflection 05

The last two Design 200 classes of the quarter were filled with all of the Coleman for the home presentations. Being in the first group to present on Monday, getting to sit back, relax, and listen to everyone else's presentations for two days was nice. The group evaluations that we were asked to complete during presentations was actually a very good idea. Completing these evaluations forced me to stay focused on the presentations and caused many people to come up with questions that they wanted to ask the groups. This created some good class discussions over everyone's ideas. Looking back, the only thing that I wish could have gone differently was not being able to have anyone else's presentation to use as a guideline before we had to present ours. If I was given the opportunity, I would have changed and added a few things after seeing what other groups had done. However, thats just the luck of the draw!

Journal 08 - Media Reviews

I chose to do my media reviews on the topic of design and color. I chose this topic because I found the lecture on color very interesting and liked how it seemed to relate to a career that I would love to have when I'm older. First, it was interesting how color can really communicate a point through ways such as how it creates and plays off of moods and how it is associated with different things and emotions such as green = the outdoors, eco-friendly, etc or how yellow = happy. Secondly, I am planning on majoring in marketing and minoring in graphic design (as I have mentioned before) which could very easily lead me to be someone that, for example, creates advertisements. Knowing how colors relate to mood, branding, and it's pyschological effects would be very helpful in this type of career.

1.) Chromotherapy

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHGDyMpuwJ0

According to this video and other articles on chromotherapy that I have read, research has shown that color truly can have a strong effect on a person's emotions. This video portrays the different effects that 5 separate colors can have on a person. One example of each color that is given follows:

Red: boosts energy

Blue: reduces physical and mental tension

Yellow: promotes feelings of happiness and security

Pink: soothes tempers

Orange: induces warm, friendly feelings

It is important for several different reasons for a designer to have a knowledge of which colors create which moods and feelings.

2.) The Blue Diet Light

Link:http://www.ionizeyourlife.com/dietlightweightloss.html

This website is about how using a blue light in your refrigerator can decrease appetite and increase positive decision making. The website promotes a diet weight loss plan that involves using this blue light and a form of hypnosis in order to make your "munchies" go away. Now, I don't know how effective the hypnosis CD is that comes with the package, but I was very interested in reading the facts about using blue lights to decrease appetite. This article relates very well to our color theory lecture and how color is essential to design - in this case, the design of a weight loss product.

3.) Car Color - Are the Myths True?

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVlWwMTImfM

This video discusess different car myths and either proves them to be true or made up. One of these myths is the idea that people who drive warmer colored cars are more likely to get a speeding ticket than those who drive cooler colored or black or white cars. However, I shouldn't use the word "myth" because according to the video, some police officers have admitted that a bright red car for example, is more likely to catch his or her attention than say, a black car. If that car was speeding, it would receive a ticket. There are more ideas also researched in this video relating colors and cars...watch for yourself to find out what they are!

4.) The Effects of Color on Memory Retention

Link: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0MNT/is_2_58/ai_n6116729/

This article deals with the effects of color on memory retention. It contains a study that that was completed in which participants looked at 48 photographs that were in color, in black and white, or colored by colors that would not normally appear in that environment such as purple grass, for example. Then, later, 48 new pictures were added to the pile of the 48 older pictures and the participants were asked to identity which they had seen before and which they had not. The results of the study were that participants were much more likely to remember a colored photo that was also colored in ways that did match the environment it belonged in. Therefore, colors were seen to be a way to strenghthen memory. Knowing this can help a designer in his or her decision of what colors to choose in order for their product or advertisement (for example) to be memorable.

5.) Color Symbolism by Culture

Link: http://webdesign.about.com/od/color/a/bl_colorculture.htm

Even though this was the last link that I discovered, I found it to be one of the most interesting. This article talks about how different colors can mean completely different things in different cultures or parts of the world. For example, in China yellow is a color that represents nourishing while in Egypt it is the color of mourning. This topic is obviously very significant to any designer because it is important to know what messages you are subliminally delivering by your color choice. Yellow might be a happy color for an advertisement in the U.S. but it would be the polar opposite to someone living in Egypt.

Course Reflection 04

The last four design 200 classes have been spent by getting into our Coleman for the home groups and working on our project. Being able to use all four of these classes to come together, talk about our ideas, and distribute roles has been very helpful for our completion of the project. As a group, we have generally almost always agreed on our ideas for the project after talking through everything. Therefore, the in-class time has been a great way to make sure that everyone is on the same page before leaving class and working on our individual parts. I am very interested to see how our presentation goes on Monday and if everyone else likes our ideas.

Reading Reflection 03

“Cradle to Cradle” by William McDonough and Michael Braungart analyzes the authors’ point of how we, as humans, need to work together with ourselves and the environment to re-create a world that can sustain itself for an infinite amount of time, instead of the slow path to an unpleasant ending that we are currently on. Chapter one begins to illustrate their point by giving a summarized history of the industrial revolution and its bullet-pointed goals to design what would create a disgusting environment to live in. The two authors give examples from many different types of inventions and industries ranging from thread spinning wheels, all the way to cars. McDonough and Braungart state that the problem with early industrialists, designers, and engineers was that they did not see their designs as part of a larger system, outside of an economic one (page 24). A quote from page 27 “Everything else is designed for you to throw away when you are finished with it. But where is ‘away’? Of course, ‘away’ does not really exist. ‘Away’ has gone away,” reminded me of the video of William McDonough speaking that we watched in class. It was very neat to see it all connect back to what he was talking about in that lecture.

Chapter two begins by talking about how today we try to fix the problems that we have created by reducing, avoiding, minimizing, sustaining, limiting, and halting (page 45). However, only minimizing and limiting is simply nowhere near enough. Recycling, or downcycling as it is sometimes referred to as, can put more harmful chemicals into the environment than anyone would have ever guessed and can even lead to more negative consequences than positive ones. A quote on page 50 says “Recycling is an aspirin, alleviating a rather large collective hangover…overconsumption.” In the end, as the title of the chapter reflects, eco-efficiency and minimization is only being “less bad” and is not a good enough goal. Page 67 states that being less bad is really only accepting things the way are as the best that humans can do. McDonough and Braungart call it a completely “failure of the imagination.”

Chapter three starts out differently from its preceding chapters by analyzing the components that are put together to from three different books and how they are or are not designed any better for the environment. The only thing that I really didn’t like about this chapter was the way that Braungart and McDonough present themselves and their book in relation to the third, completely eco-friendly book. Although this would be a great achievement, the authors seem to present themselves as very “stuck-up” and somewhat better than everyone else. However, outside of this, my favorite part about this chapter would definitely have to be the authors’ description of a community of ants’ daily activities and how they work together with their surroundings to create a completely sustainable environment. It’s sad that we, as humans, are being shown up by a bunch of ants. The community of ants exemplifies the cradle-to-cradle cycle of nature that the book was titled after.

Chapter four continues to show mankind’s faults in this subject as the authors explain how many countries and cities began by being more environmentally sustainable than they are now. Everyone is beginning to become more like the United States…and that isn’t always a good thing. Page 96 states “Humans are the only species that takes from the soil vast quantities of nutrients needed for biological processes but rarely puts them back in a usable form.” The chapter later goes on to an in depth explanation of the two discrete metabolism processes – biological and technical. These two completely differing views on sustainability were actually very interesting to read and composed a large part of the chapter. However, my favorite part of the chapter was the long quote in the very last paragraph about insanity and negligence. The last two sentences read “ Now that we know, it’s time for a change. Negligence starts tomorrow.”

Chapter five works very well to explain how necessary interdependencies are in our environment. “The vitality of ecosystems depends on relationships: what goes on between species, their uses and exchanges of materials and energy in a given place” (page 121). I also learned about how beneficial local sustainability can be beginning on page 123. “Using local materials opens the doors to profitable local enterprise. It also avoids the problem of bioinvasion” (page 125). The chapter later then goes on to talk about how ultimately, we want to be able to design “processes and products that not only return the biological and technical nutrients they use, but pay back with interest the energy they consume.” This point is illustrated effectively through the authors’ soap example a few pages later. As designers, we would want to ask the question what kind of soap would the environment want to have?

The last chapter of the book works very well to wrap everything up and bring it all back together. The chapter begins by referring to Ford and his company just as McDonough and Braungart had in the beginning chapters. It then moves into the authors’ five steps to rethinking and redesigning and process or product in order to make it eco-effective. I really like how simply all of these ideas were laid out for the reader. The authors make everything sound so simple, almost as if it’s harder to be un-efficient or un-sustainable in the environment that we live in than it is to just be sustainable. The very last paragraph of the book was obviously very well planned out and was extremely well written. The last sentences “What would it mean to become, once again, native to this place – the Earth, the home of all our relations? This is going to take us all, and it is going to take forever. But then, that’s the point,” does a perfect job of finishing off everything that was written about in “Cradle to Cradle.”

Journal 07

After reading some of Golnaz's most recent posts on her blog, I found that I agreed with many of the points that she made in her third course reflection assignment. I really liked her point of how the Charles and Ray Eames movies showed their perspective on design as a lifestyle and not just a job that they have to do. Charles and Ray truly seemed to enjoy what they did with their lives. I also agreed with Golnaz's point that the Cobego design group presentation was a good idea in the sense that it shows us what life/work can be like after graduation. Sometimes as students we can get too caught up in the "here and now" and we don't think must past what happens after these four to five years are over. The Cobego design group presentation was one good example of what some graduates did with their degrees and experiences. Lastly, I also liked Golnaz's letter "Z" that she found for the letterforms assignment. I like the angle that she took the picture at and the creativity of the image. You can view the rest of Golnaz's blog HERE.

The second blog I viewed was Kris's, which is always very interesting and funny to read. I'd have to say that Kris's online scavenger hunt post was one of his wittiest yet, which was impressive since the task was a pretty clear, cut-and-dry assignment. The second thing that stood out the most to me on his blog were his letters from the found letterforms assignment. Kris chose to go slightly above and beyond on his post...I think he had almost every letter in the alphabet including doubles or even triples of many. Some of my favorite shots that he got were the "J' from the umbrella handle, the "O" from the life-ring, and the "A" out of the swing set. Click HERE to see all of Kris's blog.

The last blog on my face value group in Joseph's. Unfortunately, Joseph hasn't posted any of the required assignments since the last found faces post. However, if you would still like to view his blog you can do so HERE. In order to make up for this, I decided to view another random classmates blog from the list. This led me to Alicia L's blog. I really like the layout that she chose to use for her page as well as the color scheme. I definitely had to agree with her on the Rip! A Remix Manifesto video being my favorite part of the last few classes as well. Lastly, Alicia had a lot of really great images on her page for her found letterforms post. I'm not sure that she took them all herself, but many of the images were very creative and shot at great angles in order to capture the letters. The rest of Alicia's blog can be viewed HERE.

Assignment 04- Letterform Seek and Find

Found letters! The Q, P, and A are my favorites.

Letter "Q"

Lock on door turned sideways

Letter "P"

Found on a handrail

Letter "i"

Door handle with keyhole/lock

Letter "D"

Over-the-door rack

Letter "V"

Down arrow on an elevator

Letter "Y"

Tree branch

Letter "U"

Bike rail turned upside down. This picture could also be for a letter "n" if not turned upside down.

Letter "m"

Handrail

Letter "H"

Bars in opaque window

Letter "L"

Piping on the ceiling

Letter "T"

Handlebars for the top of the "T" and the actual frame for the stem of the letter

Letter "X"

Bottom of a table

Letter "O"

Wood grain

Letter "A"

I think this is part of a sawhorse for cutting wood - I found it outside of my dorm where all of the construction is taking place.

Journal 06 - Online Scavenger Hunt

Links to the websites of 5 manufacturers or retailers who specialize in outdoor camping and recreation products:

1.) http://www.easyoutdoorsstore.com/

2.) http://www.campmor.com/

3.) http://www.backcountry.com/

4.) http://www.rei.com/

5.) http://www.outdoorrecwarehouse.com/

3 images of trade show / exhibition booths from the outdoor recreation and sporting industry:

Links to the websites of 5 manufacturers or retailers who specialize in indoor home:

1.) http://www.wshome.com

2.) http://www.waterloogardens.com/products/indoor-decor

3.) http://www.lehmans.com

4.) http://www.homegoodsstore.us

5.) http://www.crateandbarrel.com/decorating-and-accessories/

3 images of trade show/exhibition booths from the indoor home goods market:

A A working defintion of what an indoor home good is:

I would define an indoor home good as a product that can be useful, beneficial, and/or desirable to a person in a home environment.

3 images of different types of possible home goods:

Images From:

http://www.blavish.com/the-interactive-refrigerator-from-lg-electronics/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chicaandjo/3250958112/

http://home-and-garden.become.com/factoryrefurbished-eureka-4704pnkr-maxima-lightweight-bagless-vacuum-cleaner-pink--compare-prices--sc1115974520

http://www.zimbio.com/Exhibition+Booth+Design/articles/jQ7p-tdxOf5/trade+show+booths

http://blog.qnet.net/2010/09/the-sports-sponsorships-booth-experience-at-v-malaysia-2010/

http://www.aspectexhibitions.co.uk/outdoor_exhibition_stands.php

http://www.diytrade.com/china/4/products/6191095/Display_rack_exhibition_booth_exhibition_stand_trade_show_stand.html

Course Reflection 03

My favorite part of the last 4 design classes was definitely the "Rip!: A Remix Manifesto" video that we watched last Monday and Wednesday. Some people commented that they didn't like the somewhat unorganized way that the movie was presented in, but I think that was one of its strongest points. It portrayed the creator's point in a unique and creative way that kept my attention over the two separate days that we watched it. I had heard of "Girl Talk" before in the past, but never really knew exactly what they were all about and was amazed at how much work goes into creating a simple few seconds of a remixed song. Also, I have always known that copyrights can really seem to be over-the-top with things in the creative world (music, art, etc), but this movie showed how they can also inhibit further creativity and even scientific discoveries such as a cure for cancer. I'm glad that we were able to take the class time to watch this video.

The second two classes on May 2nd and 4th were also interesting, but not particularly important to me as the guest speakers really tried to persuade us to consider a major in the design field. Personally, I am already set on my goal to major in marketing and minor in graphic design, so learning all about the entrance exam for design majors wasn't of great importance to me. Still, it was very intersting to hear about all of the different projects that the two different groups of guest speakers have completed in their experiences as designers.

Journal 05 Peer Dialogue 02

The farther we progress into spring quarter, the more interesting everyone's blog posts become, and Kris D's is no exception. His witty posts are entertaining to read and I really like the way that he sets up his pictures in slideshow format instead of just posting them to the page. My favorite part of his blog would defintely have to be the captions on the found faces slideshow..."You're going to open another one?!?!" on the can-opener picture (link).

The next blog I went on to read was Golnaz's. I enjoyed reading many of her posts and found that I agreed with a lot of the things that she said in her last course reflection post. She also really liked a lot of the videos that we have been watching recently in class and had many good points to go along with her statements. I definitely had to agree that I would love to work in an environment similar to the one in IDEO as opposed to a typical, traditional office style. I also liked the way that Golnaz sectioned her "found faces" post off into different sections such as cars, buildings, home appliances, and miscellaneous. My favorite picture of hers was the second image under the "buildings" category because the house even looked like it had teeth on it. You can view all of Golnaz's blog by clicking here.

The last blog in my face value group was Jocef L's. For me, the most interesting part of his blog was his last course reflection post. His opinion was a very intersting side to hear from and I liked his statement about how we keep continuing to give our world a "plastic surgery makeover." He obviously also very much enjoyed the videos that Golnaz and I chose to post about as well. Lastly, you definitely can't view Jocef's blog without seeing his car mustache photo! I can't believe that the snow actually melted on his car so perfectly just like it did! This assignment was a great time for him to get to use and post that picture. To view these posts and the rest of Jocef's blog, click here.

Reading Reflection 02

The reading from the last two weeks in design covered identities, systems, and the introduction of McDonough and Braungart's Cradle to Cradle. To me, chapter 7 in Heskett's book on identities was the most interesting out of all of the selected readings. The first paragraph of the chapter contains the sentence "The constuction of identity, however, goes much further than an expression of who someone is; it can be a deliberate attempt by individuals and organizations, even nations, to create a particular image and meaning intended to shape, even pre-empt what others perceive and understand." I was able to easily understand what Heskett meant by this because it related to my English writing course that I took last quarter about rhetoric and identity in technology. For example, when a person creates a Facebook page, or a page on any other social network for that matter, they have the ability to create whatever image of themselves that they want through the use of their profile picture and the information that they write about themselves. They may put up a picture of them at a huge party with all of their friends in order to create one image, or a picture of them with all of their family at home for an entirely different image. When this picture is selected, the individual is usually very aware of the self-image that they are putting off to others. This same concept works in a very similar way in the design of a company's "identity" or logo. They may choose to convey whatever kind of characteristics about themselves that they want to stand out. Page 96 in the book states that "Image is a projection of how a company would like to be understood by customers..." but also that "...image is credible only when supported by a good product or service."

Chapter 8 in Heskett's book is about the design of systems. One example that is given of this type of system is the design of road sinage. The format of this system was created so that the viewer or user is able to very quickly recognize the sign and read it without having to lose too much focus off of the road that they are driving on. Page 100 says that "Above all, the effectiveness of any system will depend upon its overall coherence, with clear standards enabling users rapidly to understand and navigate their way through without undue problems. Another example that is given in this chapter is the design of icons for computer programs that create easily understood visual shorthands for the user. A good design should be clear and relatively simple while also being able to be differentiated from other icons. All of these things need to be taken into consideration as the designer of any type of system.

Lastly, the introduction to McDonough and Braungart's Cradle to Cradle, which is titled "This Book is Not a Tree, talks a lot about designing for a safer, more enviromentally friendly world while also introducing the two authors and how they came to know one another. To me, the most interesting part of the chapter was their statement on page 16, "Ants have been incredibly industrious for millions of years. Yet their productiveness nourishes plants, animals, and soil. Human industry has been in full swing for little over a century, yet it has brought about a decline in almost every ecosystem on the planet." Now, although ants and humans really can't be very well compared on the same scale, this idea was still somewhat of a slap in the face to humans as to what we are doing to our environment that we live in. I am interested to read the rest of McDonough and Braungart's book to see where else they take their idea of "remaking the way we make things."

Found Faces!

All of the following pictures were found in various places around my house except for one that was taken in my dorm room. I have to admit that some are better than others...my personal favorite is the Wii wheel remote :]

Course Reflection 02

I can honestly say that the last two weeks in design 200 have been filled with great topics, videos, and assignments that were fun and intersting to be a part of. I really liked the structure and topic of the 5th class on April 11th. The IDEO video was very cool to see and I liked how well the quick lecture about the design process and methodologies behind design applied to the video and lesson. I was amazed by the number and range of different products that the group develops each year and how well they worked together as a team in the environment that they were in. My favorite part about the next class on the 13th was also the video. Design for accessibilty to the entire range of people with disabilities may not be something that you think of when you think "design." It was very interesting to see how much thought has to go into this issue and to watch the video of the new wheelchair design coming to life. Next, the 7th class was by far the most fun class so far. Working in groups to solve and take funny pictures by the answers to our "clues" made for a very creative and effective assignment. Lastly, the 8th class on April 20th was also very interesting and the videos were, again, my favorite part. It was almost mind-blowing to see all of the different things that people have come up with and invented over the last few years and to hear the extremely varying ranges of places that their inspiration came from such as bumble bees and whales. This class is definitely covering "design" from every angle and I truly am very interested to see what else we will learn this quater.

Assignment 03 - Scavenger Hunt

Team Members and Links: Golnaz M. and Joesph L.

Process and Methodology: In order to obtain the information that we needed to complete assignment 03 we looked up anything that we did not already know on our phones as we walked. We already knew some of the information from our in class "field trip" tour in the second week. Also, Golnaz is an architecture major and was aware of many of the designers' names and contributions from previous work she has done. The pictures were then taken on a cell phone and emailed to the other two of us after we had completed the assignment. We worked well as a great team :]

Clue 01: The Barcelona Chair. This chair was designed by Mies van der Rohe for Germany’s exhibition of the Barcelona World Fair in 1929. The design of the chair was inspired by this fair and by folding chairs of ancient times.

"Barcelona Chair of Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe." Barcelona.com: Barcelona Travel Guide. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

Clue 02: The chair that I am sitting in this picture is called the Cross Check Chair and was designed by Frank Gehry. The inspiration for this chair came from apple crates that Frank used to play on as a child. The magazine that I am reading is called Design Solutions.

"Gehry Cross Check Chair." Hive - Modern Design for the Home. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

Clue 03: This photo was taken outside of the Wexner Center for the Arts. When this building was originally built, the skylights that were constructed allowed too much light into the building for its function as an art gallery. This mistake could have potentially caused a lot of damage to much of the artwork in the gallery. Also, the building contained a poor climate control system. In order to fix these problems, the Wexner Center underwent a major renovation and was then reopened in October 2005.

"Wexner Center for the Arts." Ohio History Central - An Online Encyclopedia of Ohio History. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

Clue 04: The architectural detail that we found the most interesting was the amount of arches that he incorporates into his designs.

Clue 05: The design for the original William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library was selected in 1910 through an architectural competition. Since its original construction, the library has been renovated or expanded three times. The third renovation on the building began on January 10, 2007 and cost $108 million dollars.

"William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

Journal 03 Peer Dialogue 01

The first blog that I visited out my 2 face-value group was Golnaz's. Her blog was very simply done and efficiently laid out. While scrolling down the page, the first thing that really caught my eye was her pattern image of the aerial view of landscape. When you think about it, it really is amazing to see how, as Golnaz stated, we have this subconcious need as humans to keep everything in an order or pattern. I also really liked her photo of a bee's honeycomb nest as an example of a pattern. She took a very creative view on ideas for her journal post on paterns.

Scrolling a little bit farther down the page led me to Golnaz's first course reflection. I agreed with a lot of the things that she stated in her post, and more specifically, I also really enjoyed the fieldtrip around campus and getting to see firsthand some of the things that we had just talked about in class in the previous lecture. Lastly, in Golnaz's "about me" post she talked about how she works for a translation and interpretation agency. To me, that sounds like it would be a very interesting experience to have!

You can view all of Golnaz's blog by clicking HERE.

The next blog in my face-value group is Kris D's and can be found HERE. The layout of his blog is very simplistic but yet unique at the same time. I like how everything is centered and how it almost looks like a newspaper. Outside of the layout however, there really isn't too much posted content to comment about yet. His introduction about himself though was very witty and funny to read. I can definitely relate to the coffee addiction, but I haven't quite reached the liter a day level yet! Also, facebook definitely has to be a curse of some kind...I always seem to end up on it when I'm supposed to be doing homework and I honestly have no idea how. I also like Kris's take on what he would like to get out of this class. The last sentence of his introduction post says that he mainly wants to be able to determine if something was well or poorly designed. I don't know why but I never thought to look at that as something to take out of the class until reading his post.

Kris's second post is a link to a long list of patterns titled "Soviet Fabrics of the 20's-30's." There seemed to be a lot of common color themes in many of the patterns and some of them were very intersting to look at. His last post was a random link to an article about installing "toepeners" which wasn't required for any of the assignments so far but was actually a very good and interesting idea!

The last design blog on my list was created by Joseph L. Joseph has taken this class before in a previous quarter and has many more posts on his blog than the other two members of my face-value group. However, I started by only really viewing his posts that began on April 9th up until now. Like Joseph, I am also interested in the computer graphics part of the design field and was glad to find that I wasn't the only one in my group with that interest. Joseph's assignment three was short and to the point and I really liked the 2nd and 3rd pictures that he attached as part of his post, although, I would fix the layout of the last picture since it overlaps on the words a little. Lastly, Joseph makes some very good points that I could easily agree with on his reading refelction 01. It really is mind blowing to think about how much of this world is "designed" and how it wouldn't be the same without all of the different things that this field has contributed. If you want to read further into any of Joseph's posts, his blog can be found HERE.