Design Studies: Summer Reading Material & Other Plans

Part of our last assignment for the year with regards to Design Studies is to identify 5 books I will read as a result of this module, 5 things I want to do to my blog etc. and 5 people I will make contact with.

These include (and have already purchased some):

- Blink - a book by Malcolm Gladwell, the author of first semesters read "The Tipping Point".

- Semiotics: A Graphic Guide by Paul Cobley, as I found semiotics very interesting.

- Designing Infographics by Eric Meyer, I have become increasingly interested in infographics and data visualisations as a result of several paths during Design Studies and would like to learn how to incorporate this clean presentation style into my future projects.

- I plan on investing in several of the books in the series for my course anyway, however Basics Design offer one called Design Thinking, which is something I need to consider more deeply, namely the user and the effect a design can have on it's surroundings as often we get caught up on the aesthetics only (stemming from reading about ethnography).

- Wordpress for Dummies by Lisa Sabin-Wilson. This sort of leads me into my next top 5 catagory of what I plan to do over summer, and as you tell, regards moving over to Wordpress very slowly but surely.

All of these are available on www.amazon.co.uk.

The 5 things I plan to do over summer are:

As I am already an avid blogger and tweeter, I have not added these to my list as it is something I already regularly do.

- I do plan however, to move from Blogger to Wordpress over summer, and archive my posts.

- Finances permitting, I'd also like to take a short trip to The Netherlands to visit, along with visiting Norway (which is already booked), allowing me to visit their Architecture & Design Museum, as well as possibly visiting a Jewellery exhibition as I plan to travel with JMD student(s).

- Complete my LinkedIn profile and begin to use this more thoroughly.

- Organise my Flickr account into a more manageable system, along with updating it with recent albums.

- And finally, StumbleUpon more things every day - and as a result try to blog about a new find at least once weekly.

Finally, 5 people I would like to make contact with:

- HKU Utrecht if I am lucky enough to be invited to apply directly to them for an exchange opportunity.

- Continue to follow people on Twitter, while always looking for new companies and designers to follow. (I currently already follow most guest lecturers from this year's lectures etc.)

- Although it would not be a new connection, I plan on staying in contact with our current 4th years, keeping up to date with their job prospects and life as IED graduates, hopefully giving me an insight into life after DJCAD.

- Aim to get published by finding an amateur online design magazine, and make contact about perhaps submitting an article.

- Get, and start using Skype - as suggested by Lauren Currie (@RedJotter) some weeks ago.

In the words of David Bowie: Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Today we had a lecture/meeting about the proposed changes to the DJCAD programme structure, with several members of the academic faculty present, along with students from Textiles, Jewellery and Metalwork and Interior and Environmental Design - although a substantial amount of JMD students were unavailable due to course commitments. 

Firstly I'd like to point out to those who read this who study in a different discipline from myself that I voiced several issues from the IED perspective - some of which are not entirely my personal issues with the changes, but are talked about in great depth amongst my fellow classmates during studio time. However, after kicking up sh*t for a meeting so we could all be properly informed about the changes - people suddenly lost their voice when it came to voicing these aforementioned concerns. 

Enter Shona. 

When busy people such as Andy Milligan (our head of IED) and Jonathan, along with Mike and Frances from Textiles give up time out of their busy days to give us a chance to question all these changes - why does the powerful voice heard so much in class suddenly evaporate as if it never existed? In fact, people changed their tune in front of the masses - but yet back in the studio, the same moans and groans can still be heard. It made me feel like the big bad wolf from IED in that lecture and left me less than impressed with the lack of voice when it mattered. 

Frustrating.

Although I can see that everyone stands to benefit from the proposed change (use of other facilities, and knowledge from other disciplines etc.), it will always feel somewhat of an odd choice of grouping. Yes "craft" may be taken as a term meaning to belong to a creative profession, it's just craft in it's main sense is rarely what we do. I don't know what my personal distaste for the word "craft" is, I just don't like it. Perhaps it's because I "use software or computers and stuff" - the irony of being described as that amused me, as this was said while trying to convince me IED is a craft. Furthermore, having even more people using the woodwork workshop will probably render our furniture module obsolete as space is already an issue during this project - which ironically is the IED project that has the strongest tie to the damned "craft" word that's getting banded about. 

Another thing that is bothering IED more than the other disciplines is the loss of our first year. A huge amount is learnt during this crucial learning curve, and, on thinking back to the knowledge I came in with and the level of IED we are currently at now - it is difficult to expect newcomers to maintain 2nd-4th year levels when only entering in their second year. The "T" shaped graph of knowledge that was talked about is all very well, but we struggle to get our projects complete as it is. We have for example just been given an extension over the Easter break to accommodate for the masses of work within our discipline that is due, let alone a module here and there based in other fields. I guess what I am ultimately concerned for is the final outcome of our degrees, and not just for our individual years, but the course as a whole - by giving us these new options and opportunities to learn new skills across varying areas, are we diluting our specialised knowledge and therefore jeopardising the strength and quality in each field come degree show? This isn't even just from an IED perspective, the same goes for all disciplines.

It feels like a car sales man's trying to persuade me, sell it to me, make me think it's good - when really we've all got a sinking feeling and a knot in our stomaches, wether it's voiced or not.

I'm scared all courses will end up a mish mash of several inter disciplinary modules that leave you graduating a jack of all trades, master of none - and I don't think anybody, from any field, would like this to happen to what they are passionate about.

Design Studies: Make Things|Make Sense

Hazel White gave us a very interesting lecture this morning which really made my mind begin to tick (yes, even more than it appears to normally - judging by the amount I post on here).

She originally trained as a Jeweller at DJCAD after doing a History & English degree prior to coming to Dundee. After doing a multitude of other projects before reaching where she is in her career today - she is now Program Director of DJCAD's Masters of Design. Interestingly, she conveyed to us how you can take paths within design (especially via the Masters avenue) that you may never dreamed possible. She showed us that whatever your original discipline may be, (albeit your starting point and also main area of interest) may not be where design takes you after 3, 4 or even 5 years. She showed us how she infused jewellery design with care - a project where she tried to make the red alert button elderly people sometimes have in case of emergency around their necks more bearable. Not merely a label that boldly states you are incapable of caring for yourself.

It really made me think where I&ED may take me in the future. Pretty spaces, and in the grand scheme of things - worthless spaces, change nothing. They don't change lives, they don't enhance quality of life. But they could.

Spaces may not save lives. Prevent accidents. Question. Educate. Shock...but they should. And, after today's insightful lecture - I will try my hardest to make sure they will.