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by Nogoye

Default Systems in Graphic Design

swiss_legacy_53 swiss-graphic-design-139

Examples of Swiss International Design

This article explores the idea that more and graphic designers are becoming “conservative and fiscal-minded times” with their work. Graphic designers are using Default Systems within their work as the standard, which is creating sameness within graphic design and unoriginality. It is not so much that Default Systems are negative, but more of that those who use it are not aware or do not understand its functionality. The article is very interesting because it forces you to analyze what graphic design is today.

In some ways Default Systems seem to be integrated in curriculums of design institutions. From experience professors teach courses using industry standards and don’t encourage much creativity. Thousands of designers enter the workforce every year, and with the idea of Default Systems being taught, resulting in a uniformity and monotony in graphic design.

 

by Xiaoling

Reading response-class 8

How to design with effectiveness, but also pleasurable to the whole society?
It is very important to know what your customers want and satisfy their need with your design. In the past decade, there are many issues raised with if the current designs are sustainable. Many designers design products or concepts only focus on the current stage. They try to solve the problem in the short term, but not the long term. It is important for designer to think of their product in future. What would the product bring to society in long run? Design can affect people’s behavior and thought. It is a very powerful tool.
Designer should not only design product that make customer happy, but also make the nature environment, the society happy. It is important for designer to satisfy people’s need, but at the same time many people are not aware of many potential sustainable solutions. I think it is designer responsibility to learn how to designer sustainable, also promote the ideas to their customers. There are demands and supply in the markets. I think designer can affect both the demand and the supply from the market. Now live sustainable has become a lifestyle for many people, they eat healthy and want to be sustainable. Design should not be simply made to please or entertain people. I think it should made to surprise and to astonishing people, educate people and client a new way of thinking, hopefully is a sustainable way of thinking.

by Sabrina

Reading Response 5

What is the most effective way to design a lay out, whether it is with text on a page or designing a space?

When designing a space it is important to think about the people that will be engaging with the space. For example, how could you encourage a younger crowd of people to linger in a certain area, or stay away from a certain area? Think about how you would want people to walk, mingle, and exit. I agree with Erik Spiekermann when he says in the article, A Fine Balance, that things that appear symmetric can feel easy, boring, or overdone. Yet, when things are symmetric they tend to please the eye and give off a harmonious feeling. Asymmetric things can feel exciting, original, and can feel inviting, while symmetric things can feel just the opposite. In the article he says “Now take a look at the spaces that make us feel at home and make us want to spend time sitting in cafes and watching children play. They are all asymmetric.”

by Luna

Reading Response (Class 5)

Is web design really similar to designing a book? What are some issues with the idea of robots designing web pages?

 

The podcast compared the web design layout to the ways books are designed. On a superficial level this metaphor is useful but I think that the way web design can be viewed should be deeper than this.  The fact that our society is so interconnected with the way digitally is viewed and used should push us to stretch our minds in order to think of new ways to see digital spaces instead of neutralizing it.  The act of standardizing what websites look like implies there is a departure of web design from art as it becomes more about fitting the norm. This is also concerning when thinking of computers as opposed to humans creating websites which would ultimately yield to the end of intentional and thoughtful human interaction with digitally.  The design of digital spaces and websites does influence the content we view and I think as creators it is important to stay involved.

by Luna

Reading Response (Class 4)

Is “killing your idols” the end all be all in regards to the myth of objectivity?

In his piece, Kothary points the reader to Haidt’s research that posed reason as  an unstable concept with no possibility of being truth. Our natural inclination to find the truth often goes hand in hand with our desire to find reason and if reason is not a consistent truth than much of what we believe to be objective is created in the mind. His metaphor of the rider / elephant  can be seen in institutions like media and education where we are showed only what has been deemed as objective but as Kothary explains the insidious desire for objective truth affects taste as well.
In order to kill idols I think there is also a greater need to kill objectivity and our desire to see objectively. Killing what we have noticed before as being beautiful is important but I think there is also great value in continuously deconstructing what we see as “knowledge”, where it comes from  and who created it. If we see something as beautiful, it is definitely helpful to realize there is beauty and importance beyond that, but more important is the realization that the institution of beauty has been created in our society to maintain certain patterns of thinking.
by Nogoye

Web Designer Profile

1. Edmund Yu – UI/UX Designer

2. a. Edmund has worked for Bloomz, Global Scholar, UX CardSort, Just for Fun, Microsoft, and Vizrea.

b. Edmund attended The Art Institute of Seattle, and his first position in UX was at Vizrea/ WebFives. Edmund has ten years of experience.

c. Edmund uses skills like prototyping, content management, design leadership, team management, user management, account management, data visualization, and user centered design.

d. Edmund uses Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Flash, Balsamiq, HTML/ CSS5, Java, JQuery, Just in Mind, Blender 3D, and Angular JS.

e. Not mentioned.

3. Edmund works with Bloomz as head of product design and manages the wire framing, prototyping, visuals, and interaction for the website. The site is very user-centered and has a clean layout and graphics. The platform is also very straightforward and color palette is consistent throughout all digital platforms. The platform is used for teachers and parents to communicate, and it communicates very well to both parties on how to use the platform without any difficulties.Screen Shot 2015-09-09 at 7.18.59 PM

by Maria

If It Doesn’t Exist on the Internet, It Doesn’t Exist – Maria Jessica

We sometimes would get frustrated if Google is not showing what we are looking for. In fact, not all materials available for free and unfettered access to all. Then we have to pay certain of many to become a member and get an access to the website or buy the hard copy book. As a result many of the writers might not surprise that their work doesn’t not exist because they don’t exist on the Internet. For example, Goldsmith experience when he was invited on a reading tour of Scandinavia where no one knows his eight books he had published over the past decade. Everyone recognizes him from his work on the Internet. Definitely, Internet helps writers to extend their careers and book publishing. But it forgets the value of the book, authorities, credibility, and publishing houses. As Goldsmith also mention that the publishing houses and magazines don’t make writes rich, they only extend writers’ career a frame for the work to exist as same as Internet.

In my opinion, Goldsmith thinks that the writes cannot earn more money by depending only to the book publishing. While, putting all of the works on the Internet can caused loss of the writer’s hard work such as no-credibility, no-value, and plagiarism. Not only that, book publishing such, as Barnes and Noble also might not completely put the value of the book. They let the consumers to use books for research purposes without having to buy them. Such as sit on soft chair, sipping up a cup of coffee and taking notes on a laptop. But it is educators and intellectuals’ obligation to make knowledge (book) can be accessed by all.

In the long run, I think only students, educators, and fraction of web users who can have free access. Whenever they must put credits or how spotify work by pay small of money. For example the school department funds all the expenses for online access or printed book in their own library. Besides that writes’ name can be know by mouth-by-mouth, credits, promoting their works on the internet by giving sample of book’s pages or review from the readers. Then again, it is the problem of access, the speed of academic blogging, and socialization.

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by odoshi

Codecademy Screenshot Process

When you complete a track on Codecademy, here is the screenshot process:

  • Take a screenshot of the course track page, which should have a “finished” button, and your account avatar should be visible in the top right corner:
    Screen Shot 2015-09-08 at 11.03.47 PM
  • Follow this naming convention to be counted for a grade: FirstName LastName + Default file name + png. In essence, you type your name right at the beginning of the filename leaving the default file information for the screenshot intact:
    screenshotnaming
  • At the conclusion of the course, go to your Profile, and take a screen shot showing all of the completed courses you’ve done:Screen Shot 2015-09-08 at 11.03.30 PM

Most likely, you will have partially completed tracks (such as the JavaScript track). That is ok, but there will be a specific % that will be considered complete for that course, meaning that instead of the track progress saying “Finished”, it will say a %. I’ll update you with that exact % amount for the relevant courses towards the end of the semester.