Developed as part of my Credo project, I now have an online portfolio.
Find it at: http://www.ayartidesigns.com
Credo is done, dusted, complete, and i am very happy with the result.
My original concept in the beginning was to look at my interest in old technologies and old techniques that i was unfamiliar with and exposing myself to in order to learn more. Old becoming new was the over arching theme.
This concept stuck, and is explored visually through the pack. The outer shell is clean, computer generated and bright. It introduces the identity i have established, using my font ‘Sticky Tape’, and a symbol created using my initials A R T. It also symbolises my comfort with using the computer to generate design.
When you open the pack, you are exposed to design created with various types of media that i am not as comfortable with. For example, the DVD pack uses the same A R T symbol, created by hand using paint and paper. The booklet is entirely photographic. The CD contains a website, and the DVD contains a movie. I tried to really explore media and mediums in this piece, expanding my skills and creating something really personal and special.
Besides my exploration of old vs new techniques, i also wanted the piece to be quite personal. The booklet focuses on things i’m interested in, my creative space, my interests. The movie extends on this idea and shows some of my working process. And the website shows a collection of my work.
Overall i am very happy with how the project turned out. I think i made it hard on myself by doing a movie and a full website, but it was worth it.
The end.
After much stress, i have completed my credo!
My friend Cory Williams (www.dotaudesigns.com) helped me code my website, so a big thanks to him.
Until i buy a domain name, my website can be found here: http://dotaudesigns.com/alex/
The website has a selection of works from uni, industry and personal projects. It gives the viewer a taste of what i can do without bombarding them with information. I see this more of a business card than a fully fledged folio. If i have this linked with my resume as an initial point of contact, then back it up with a print folio at the interview, i think it will work well!
The website will sit on my ‘work’ disk in the credo pack. On the ‘life’ disk, i have made a short film which is half an experiment in new media, and half an insight into my personal environment and creative space. My friend Daniel Cox helped record some music for the film, thanks! Unfortunately i can’t upload the video straight to the blog… oh well.
Here are some shots of my final credo piece:
Its been a busy month. My credo project has expanded well beyond what i originally expected. I have finally sourced a good printer for my dvd sleeve. I have finished redesigning it, and it is looking a lot better than it originally was.
I decided that the objective of the box, the dvd case and the booklet should be to entice people to explore the digital content on the 2 disks. Therefor, i decided the booklet would simply be a visual piece exploring who I am and what i am interested in. It contains no uni work, it is simply there as a quick flick through before you dive into the 2 disks.
I have also decided that rather than filling a cd with a pdf folio, i’d rather put something on there with lasting value. Therefor, i have decided to design a folio website that will be branded with the credo identity, but will also be my active, live online folio once the project is over. I have commissioned a friend to code the site for me, but the form and functionality is all being designed by me.
Here are some links to my final credo prints:
After establishing a rough form and visual concept for the pack, i mocked up a test box using board to test whether my measurements were correct. I customised an existing net to satisfy my design. Rather than having a slip opening on the side, i decided i’d prefer to have it at the top for aesthetics purposes as well as functional.
Here are my early mock ups (ps. i have no idea what got spilled on it, looks fairly gross):
The mockup was fairly successful. I had to make a few adjustments before attempting my next mock up to allow for the paper thickness when folding.
After establishing a visual style for the piece, it didn’t take long for the design to come together. I was focusing a lot of my energy into the outside box and dvd case, because i liked the idea of having these pieces tell a story as the user unpacks them, rather than telling the story solely in the book or on the disks.
Here are some shots of the second mock up, which were printed and presented in week 7:
I was very happy with the quality of the outer box, but very unhappy with the dvd pack. Everything about the dvd pack was poor… the print quality, the paper, and after seeing the pack in printed form, i wasn’t totally happy with the imagery!
I presented these pieces in week 7 for critique, along with a short film i had put together which was basically a time lapse of me creating the identity by hand, that features on the front of the dvd pack. The movie is a work in progress, but it was good to show it to get some feedback.
From here, i have to rework the design for the dvd pack (and find a new printer…), design the booklet that is going in the box, finish my movie for the ‘life’ disk, and finish my folio for the ‘work’ disk… a bit to do!
I’ve been a bit slow to update my blog so far this semester, a problem i hope to remedy soon. The ‘credo’ project is almost over, or at least the final prototype is due for presentation, so i’m going to upload some of my process work all in one hit.
Here is a pdf i presented in week 2 which goes over my initial thoughts and ideas:
Here are some notes and ideas i jotted down early on, after presenting the pdf:
While thinking about the project, an idea for a font came into my head to use as the main identity and design element of the piece. I went on to design the font, which is shown below:
Using this font and my intials, i established an identity for the credo document:
I will go further into my design and my ideas behind it in another post.
I have been reading a lot of journals and articles for my research on the theme of ‘new technologies’. My group, consisting of Nadia, Sarah and myself, have decided to focus our research on the home, appliances and general usability. I have been looking at what the future might bring, what form will the home of the future take? How will technology be integrated? Are we doomed?!
One of the first readings i came across early on was a paper written by a software engineer who discussed the idea that the human race may well become obsolete once technology reaches a certain level of intelligence. There was a real ‘Terminator’ vibe to it, and while it was only a theory, it was still a bit scary to think of the possibility.
Other readings i found discussed what the future home might become. TV shows love to paint the picture of a home that does everything for us at the touch of a button, e.g. The Jetsons. However, many believe we will see technology that encourages user input. Instead of doing everything for us, we will be encouraged to interact with the technology.
Below is the section i wrote for our literature review, it sums up the rest of the research i did…
Future of homes and technology
Technology is always evolving, especially in the home. Appliances and electronics are part of everyday life, but what kind of developments can we expect the future to bring as technology inevitably advances?
Technology has become so well integrated into our lives that it is hard to remember a time when we did not have such ready access to devices such as computers, mobile telephones and even microwave ovens. The home of today is filled with appliances and electronics products; they are part of every room. We use technology to prepare meals, to clean, to entertain – to do almost all tasks around the home.
But what effect will technology have on the home of the future? If television programs and movies are to be believed, the future home will do everything for us at the touch of a button, enabling us to have leisure time all the time. But in reality, many believe this kind of scenario is unrealistic. Intille (2002) explains: “Based on discussions with medical professionals, patients, educators, and homeowners, we believe that the home of most value in the future will not use technology primarily to automatically control the environment but instead will help its occupants learn how to control the environment on their own.” Rather than letting technology do everything for us, Intille (2002) says that “technology should require human effort in ways that keep life as mentally and physically challenging as possible as people age.”
Another take on the home of the future suggests that technology will in a sense become so well integrated into the home, that it will become almost invisible. Hjelm (2005) explains: “According to Philips’s head of design, Stefano Marzano, the home of the future will resemble homes of the past more than the homes of today. Technological gadgets will be gone, and a beautiful painting on the wall also will serve as a television and computer screen. The decorative object on the table will be a communication station, and the powder compact a mini-computer.”
It is not necessarily the designer’s job to hide technology so that it literally becomes ‘invisible’, but more to design appliances and electronics that fit into our lives so well that they become “a natural extension of our hands and mind” (Hjelm, 2005), and therefore we no longer notice them.
As technology advances, we are seeing smaller, more efficient and more complex electronics and appliances. Various functional aspects from old technologies are being combined in brand new ways in evolving electronics. We have telephones that double up as cameras and multimedia devices, fridges that can access the internet, and hand-held game devices that have software that can teach you to prepare and cook meals.
While some embrace these advances in technologies, others argue that this is not necessarily a good thing, “Instead of using the new capabilities to make life simpler, there is the potential for developers to simply overload everyday appliances with endless, and confusing, functionality for its own sake – with little or no thought given to either their usefulness or usability.” (Designing future appliances 2003) The writer argues that advances in computing and communication technology have generally overtaken product development practices, so we are seeing ill thought-out products that have not been properly user tested.
An example of technology with confusing functionality is the VCR, as the paper Designing future appliances (2003) explains: “Every generation of technologies should reduce the complexities introduced by the previous one. But, as experience shows, that is far from always the case. The most notorious example of an everyday technology that baffles attempts to use it is the VCR. Programming some early models was so complicated that the devices were virtually unusable, and years of development appear to have led to only a marginal improvement.”
On the flipside, an example of technology that utilises multi-functionality well is the PlayStation 3 from Sony. The PlayStation 3 is a computer game console that can also act as a home multimedia hub, allowing users to store photos, movies and music. But where it stands out is an application called Folding@home. “In 2006, Sony teamed up with a research group at Stanford University, CA, USA, called Folding@home, which studies protein folding and diseases such as cancer. Owners of a PlayStation 3 will be able to download software so that their idle game consoles can retrieve data from Folding@home, process these data and molecular simulations, and send them back to the researchers via broadband internet.” (Tilstone 2007) It seems like a strange combination, but a device used primarily for leisure can now be utilised to help researchers find cures for diseases like cancer.
While it is amazing that technology is advancing so fast in this day and age, it can become all too easy to forget exactly who the technology is for. Early adopters generally have no problem picking up the use of the latest electronics with all the latest features, but what about the elderly? Will the home of the future be packed full of technology that is only accessible by early adopters, or will we start to see a shift from feature-packed technology to a more user-centred technology; one that focuses on doing one thing, and doing it well, so that it fits in perfectly with other technologies.
I thought it would be a good idea to list out exactly what kind of technology i own and use on a regular basis, so i could fully realize how dependent i am on it.
What i own and/or use at home:
Ipod
MacBook
PC
High Def LCD TV
Playstation 3
Mobile phone with inbuilt camera
Digital Camera
DVD player
Stereo System
Ford Laser (with cd player installed)
Microwave
Toaster
Wacom Tablet
Electric shaver
Oven
Heater
Fridge
Guitar and Amp
I found it interesting that more than half the items on that list are purely used for leisure, rather than practical necessity. If i think back 10 years, a lot of these items did not exist, and if they did exist, they were certainly not in common household use like they are today.
I have just recently moved out to a flat in Prahran. I spent my first week in my new place with no electricity or hot water, thanks to a stuff up by the real estate agent. That week was a real learning experience. It opened my eyes to how dependent people really are on technology. I have become so used to having access to TVs, computers, music and games, that when they are taken away from me, i feel lost and bored.
Its a little depressing to find that i’ve almost lost the ability to entertain myself when my technology is taken away from me!
Semester 2 has begun, and with it comes a new topic to delve into.
New Technologies
What are new technologies? What are technologies? Generally, i think the first thing that comes to mind when you mention technology to people are things like computers and other electronic devices. While these are indeed ‘technologies’, they are only a small part of it.
I see a technology as a thing that performs a certain function. A new technology is something that performs a certain function in a way that is better than the previous version. In group discussion the other day, a question was asked whether fire could be considered a technology. We all thought about it for a while, and came to the conclusion that no, it was not a technology, but the method of making that fire was a technology.
Before getting my head around the topic, i was one of those people who would just say ‘computer’ when technology was mentioned, but the more i think about it, the more interesting the idea gets.
This was my initial rant, please check back for more of the same as the semester goes on.
I have grouped with Sarah and Nadia this semester for our major methods and analysis project, so i will be discussing our findings on this blog.
The other day when i was coming home from uni, i was waiting at Prahran station and noticed this poster:
I found the irony quite amusing, especially since on the opposite platform sat this other, quite pristine poster:
I had a bit of a laugh, and i was planning to add these photos to my blog so others could share in the ironic humor. However, before i got around to posting on my blog, i came across this poster at Parliament station:
Someone has gone and “graffitied” a poster box with anti graffiti police tape… What the hell is going on? I know for a fact that this poster did not have this tape on it a few days earlier. Is this some tactic by the government/police to tackle graffiti? And if it is, i find it quite ridiculous. This is an Adidas poster that uses street art and graffiti as a motif to advertise a new pair of street shoes. It is trying to sell shoes… Yes, there is graffiti on it, but is that endorsing it? Obviously whoever put that tape over it believes so.
I put forward this question, if that poster is apparently working to endorse graffiti and vandalism, then could it be argued using the same logic that the following poster is doing the same thing?
This ad features a large paint splash and the text “Paint the town.” That’s quite suggestive don’t you think? After reading that I think i might go and graffiti some walls rather than go out for dinner in the city, just like i would go graffiti some walls instead of shopping for Adidas shoes after seeing the other ad!
It is a bit silly that they are taking the ad completely out of context to push a point. All they’re going to get out of vandalizing a poster with anti graffiti propaganda is a pissed off advertising space company.
Let me know what you think!
cheers.
