Friday, January 29, 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010

PP: Career Goals

In order to best answer this question I decided that it would make most sense to break down my career goals into epochs; however, that means that I now have to name each of these epochs in some sort of meaningful and informative way. This situation presents me with a challenge not outside my realm of ability but unexpected none the less, since I must name epochs that have yet to happen without afore knowledge of what they might entail when traditionally epochs are named long after the events by historians who have noticed some kind of overarching ideology within a given time period. Since my criteria require that the names must be both meaningful and informative I suppose I’ll spare any obscene jargon and name them as straightforwardly as possible. It seems, at least now, that my life can potentially be divided into five epochs starting with the earliest: post graduation (the Debt Epoch), second job (the Advancement Epoch), mid career (the Achievement Epoch), career height (the Glory Epoch), and retirement (the Other Glory Epoch).

The Debt Epoch is characterized by an extreme and crippling debt as a result of having attended a four year private university. This debt would make many take jobs that may be less than desirable; however I will pursue a job that can further educate me in the areas of design that interest me most, i.e. motion, interactive, and experiential. I think Kansas City is a suitable place for this, as I have already built contacts here that can assist me in furthering my education as well as alleviating myself of this financial burden.

Next is the Advancement Epoch, it is a period in which I have decided that I have learned everything I can from my first job as a “professional” and it is time to move on to greener pastures. I imagine this would mean leaving Kansas City and possibly heading toward either coast. The second job would come with increased wages and a promotion. I would be in charge of some people but still have other people to answer to.

Moving right along is the Achievement Epoch. Here I have established myself as an innovator in my field and have developed a product that will better mankind. People will seek me out for my services and I will cut ties any firm and go off to start my own small business to do good works. It will be run casually and work with some clients, but focus primarily on the development of technology for everyone to use and benefit from.

Next to last we have the Glory Epoch, this is when I start raking in the big bucks and gain international recognition for my achievements. I appear in text books and I am asked to give lectures on my contribution to humanity. Young designers hate me because whatever I have done no longer appeals to the ethos of their paradigm, but they cannot help themselves from admiring what I have accomplished.

Finally we have the Other Glory Epoch or retirement. I do not ever want to retire though. I have seen what retirement does to people, and it is not for me. I don’t think I’ll ever retire because there is too much to be done and too little time in which to do it. I will however reserve this time in my life for long vacations, possibly months at a time.

So there you have it. That’s me, and that is what I plan to do.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

DP: Experimenting

post in progress


Technology Experiments:
  • what if all the headlines for all "major" world new sources appeared in one place
  • what if all the product information and reviews for folgers coffee appeared in one place
  • what if all the statistical data on the battle of the bulge appeared in one place
  • what if a program analyzed rss headlines and sought out articles related to words in the headline

Observational Experiments:
  • what if i gave someone a pressing question and use the internet to form an argument (to see how people use the internet to access information)
  • what if i gave someone something dense with information and asked them what information they would like to have

Visual Experiments:
  • what if the differences in product opinion was visualized

Interactive Experiments:
  • what if the interaction was mouse-less
  • what the interaction was "liquid" (have you ever been on wikipedia and went from one link to another reading bits of things until you forget where you started what if the interaction was made to purposefully facilitate that)
Crazy Experiments:
  • what if the utilization didn't require vision?
  • what if the interaction didn't require hands?
  • what if it was life changing?
  • what if it smelled?
  • what if it was a game?
  • what if it looked like a rock concert sounds?
  • what if it was the 80s?
  • what if it was linear?
  • what if it was self referencial?
  • what if it required tennis shoes?
  • what if it was designed by a tiger?
  • what if the content designed it?
  • what if it never looked the same?
  • what if it looked different based on degree of interaction?
  • what if

DP: Revised Question

How can information architecture create a platform for the graphic presentation of information which enables a range of user types to visually compare data for the purpose of informing decision making?

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

DP: What is My Dream Design Job?

Jumpin' Jesus, I don't know. Right now I kinda want this:
This building is just up the street from the design building and needs a lot of work, but I really want it. I guess I would really like to own this building and have a small firm that does web design, and creates interactive experiences. I also want it to have a rooftop garden for growing produce. I also think it would be cool if during slow times the studio worked on some sort of technology for the betterment of humanity. Think pentagrams contribution to one lap top per child, or vml's seer (not really for the betterment of humanity, but whatever), or the individual projects that sagmeister explores (only technology/internet based), or something like that.

I think sagmeister is a good example of a similar way that my firm would operate. I liked his ideas about taking vacations for learning and experimenting. I think my firm could benefit from that sort of model; purposefully setting aside time to create things for ourselves that end up being lucrative. (the lucrative part isn't so much important but it would be nice)

I really don't know what this technology would be, but I think design firms should pursue individual explorations and be able to juggle that along with paying clients.

I want to work with people who aren't just work associates, but friends. I guess the only downside to something like this is if not handled properly money could easily get in the way and ruin the firm/friendships.

DP: Question

How can information architecture create a semantic web platform for the graphic presentation and organization of information which enables different user types to view and compare the global information climate; facilitating a dialogue between arguments existing in disparate web spaces for the purpose of informing decision making?
Sheila Wong