Design Project 2 - Other Groups

(Losing Individuality)

This teams idea was that in the future we all lose our individuality and identities. We had no more personality and no more thoughts or feelings. I found this skit very engaging and interesting. The way it was acted out was immersive and communicated their ideas very well. However, I found the sound effects and electronic visuals the group used to be a bit jarring which made me slightly uncomfortable.

(Altering Genes for Custom Babies)

This group did a skit on how in the future babies would be 'manufactured' to the parents specifications for a fee instead of by natural breeding. All in all, I found this presentation fun and interesting. On the other hand, it really felt like I was watching a comedy show where nothing was serious and everyone was just goofing off. I think that that really detracted from the experience and communicating the idea.

Design Project 2 - Final

For our presentation we decided to go with a talk show about how ecosystems are developing in cities and cannot survive without a functioning urban environment. Our talk show revolved around the issue of the crow and how it is becoming smarter, larger and more aggressive. I was the talk show host, which I think really suited my persona, and as an added bonus I got to do a silly dance.

(Our Basic Script)

We decided to do our talk show through a very basic script so that it wouldn't seem too rehearsed as talk shows and debates usually are not rehearsed. This worked well and we practiced together to make sure we all understood what was going on at all times.

At one point during out presentation there was a technical glitch where the music for the start of the debate replayed itself. During this time I quickly improvised and started dancing again, when the music stopped I added in a quick line about how the show host loves to dance.

In our presentation, we only had 4 visuals. A title slide, two ecosystem pictures, and a graph of crow growth compared to human size. I think that these sufficiently got our idea and concept across when combined with the talk show. I also felt that our talk show was engaging for the audience to watch.

Design Project 2 - Plan

After thinking over our themes for a night, we finally decided to stick with natural ecosystems evolving to become native to cities and other urban environments.

(Plan One)

At first we felt like we should do a normal presentation with a powerpoint as it would be easier to get our theme across. During this time we were also thinking about whether we wanted it to be a Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi etc. We settled on slightly comedic documentary. The picture above shows how our first plan was going to communicate our idea.

(Plan Two)

We then thought about how we could simplify this idea and get it across easier. We decided to take out the story board from plan one and add in how humans would be affected by the adaptation of these animals to the urban environment. 

(Plan Three)

After plan two, we thought some more and decided we would need to be more specific. To get our point across we would have to focus mainly on one animal to emphasize how much can change. We also thought of ways it could affect humans and different ways the animals could adapt. We thought about using a sugar glider as the example, but then decided to change it to a crow.

(Plan Four)

In our last recreation of the plan, we decided we would change to a talk show to communicate our idea. The talk show would include each member of the group acting as a different party and their opinions on the crows that have been living in the cities.

Recreating our plan multiple times allowed us to see how our ideas could be communicated in different ways and analyze which way was the best and most engaging way that would keep our audiences' interest.

Design Project 2 - Themes

To prepare for Project 2, our group decided to just throw ideas at each other for an afternoon trying to come up with concepts that we had not heard of before. These ranged from zombie apocalypses to food becoming pills. We then stopped on a concept to do with animals. We weren't too sure where we wanted to take it though. We thought about genetic mutation, natural evolution, adaptation and much more. We also had to think about how it would affect humans and the environment.

These are all the themes we came up with. They span from power, brainwashing and fashion to medicine, food and war. Brainstorm like this allowed us to combine ideas and think of new original concepts.

Design Project 1 - Other Groups

A lot of other groups had interesting concepts; However, some of their meanings were lost on me and I was confused as how they pertained to lightness.

Unfortunately, with this group I was absolutely lost in what their idea was. To me all I gathered from it was that there is a tree-house in a tree with a hammock. I don't understand how there is lightness in this concept other than that the model would be off the ground. Perhaps it may be too literal or they may have stayed from the theme.

This version of a tree-house also loses me in where the concept of light comes in. Perhaps they were going with Trees are growth and growth is life and life is light? I'm not sure, however; I do like their concept drawing and how it would be interactive in that children and people would be able to get inside.

I understand more about this groups concept than the previous ones. I can understand where the light is coming from and the idea behind it. I also find the visuals on the page to be very useful in imagining and visualizing their structure.

I feel that this group was far too literal in their take of enlightenment and went too far with the religion theme, deviating from light too much. It is clear where their concept originated from, but again I feel it is far too literal. It could also possibly be offensive to those walking through the botanical gardens.

This poster shows that light is knowledge and the concept of growth from the tree. On the other hand, I feel as if the poster is far too detailed with too much information that is not visually represented, and the sculpture/model itself is not clear. Perhaps they should have spent more time visualizing than writing.

This group did a good job in representing their sculpture, however the poster really lacks detail or any "umph" so to speak. I do like the concept of using natural light to create a shadow in the form of a student using a tree shape. I don't understand how Light is Life relates to a student or a human holding a diploma though.

Design Project 1 - Final

For our final concept we decided to go with the idea of light-hearted-ness, which represented playfulness, purity and happiness. We took this concept further to the meaning of inner-child. The middle of the sculpture is open and light is streaming out as if the sculpture was tearing at the seams where the inner-child is trying to break through. The inspiration for the aesthetic we were going for in the wood was brought from Henry Moore in one of his London exhibitions.

(Henry Moore's Sculpture)

Our sculpture would be hung on a branch to represent playfulness. We were also worried that the shape of the sculpture would appear morbid and dead, so wcidede de to add a smile onto the face instead of leaving it completely blank. The sculpture is minimalist and has not much detail so as not to detract from the meaning. We thought perhaps the sculpture would rock back and forth a bit on the branch, but were unsure if this was safe.

Design Project 1 - Concepts

Our first concept was with the idea that knowledge is light. We decided to use puzzle pieces and a book to represent knowledge. Light would shine up from the book onto the face to show the absorption of knowledge.

(First Concept)

The group was all excited about this idea, but then we thought it may be a little bit too literal with the puzzle pieces and would also be awkward with just a head. We then thought to create a "figure" holding a book with vines growing to represent growth and knowledge. We still liked the idea of the light shining on the face from the book.

(Second Concept)

After being on this idea for a while, we felt again it was too literal and that there were too many concepts being thrown around with growth and knowledge and purity. So we tried to simplify it in our third concept.

(Third Concept)

In our third concept, we had the idea of playful and childish. The sculpture would hang over the tree and light would still shine from the book.

Through group communication and collaboration we came up with original ideas, however; we felt that they were too literal and also too complicated. Visualizing like this allowed us to find the flaws in our concept and try to improve.