Thank God someone said it....

After four long years of higher education I've found myself, many times a week, thinking about the lessons and benefits of coming to college...what sad results.

Thankfully, Seth Godin laments about the college experience as of late, from the financial burdens to the opportunities after graduation, he sheds a new light on this rite of passage experience.

"The coming melt-down in higher education (as seen by a marketer)"

Hospitals = Depressing

In one of her blogs in "By Design" Allison Arieff details her experience concerning frequent hospital visits after her mother was diagnosed with cancer.

"...the waiting room window was lined with plants — all dead. In the exam room of another medical practice, I picked up a copy of Sunset magazine — from 1996 (it was 2003). In the waiting area for her radiation treatments, my mother joined the ranks of weary women sitting in uncomfortable chairs, awkwardly clutching hospital gowns that didn’t close."

Hospitals are the epicenters of ultlimate physical recovery, however, why can't they aid in mental rehabilitation as well? The lackluster, depressing look of waiting rooms and offices often add to patients' mental stress and fear of the impending.

Arieff sums up this proposition with "What if bureaucratic processes seemed a little less, well, bureaucratic, and the architecture of healthcare spaces a little less demoralizing? Might it somehow promote a sense of calm rather than apprehension? Design may seem frivolous to consider when lives are at stake, but proactive change in the realm of healthcare could help to make that context about wellness more than illness."

Building happiness

Can a building really make you happy?

Japanese architect Kazuo Shinohara, believes that his building designs may have psychological effects on people. Undoubtedly the the form and fashion of many objects, architecture included, have an effect on our moods and the members of the Royal Institute of British Architects are capitalizing on that.

“Led by Ed Blake, “Building Happiness” was a project that aimed to use the best research and anecdotal evidence from across a wide range of disciplines to identify and analyse the most important drivers in the field. How do we construct happiness? What components make for a happy building or space? How do we measure and quantify this response? is it possible? Who is responsible for it? can it be built in?”- Jane Wernick, Building Futures.

"Impenetrable to Inviting"

Once feeling like an outcast while walking down Madison Avenue, Eric Wilson of The New York Times, now fits right in.

Due to the recession many businesses are clamoring for business, including those located on upscale shopping areas like Madison Avenue. Employees of MaxMara, Gucci, Chanel and other high-brow houses, who once sized up shoppers by their hand adornments and shoes before helping, are now indiscriminately performing their jobs. "Salesclerks, haunted by the papered-over windows of stores next door, are being trained to exude a level of customer service rivaling that of Disney," reports Eric Wilson.

On an experimental journey through the area, Wilson dressed poorly and wandered into several stores on the avenue, including Prada and Ralph Lauren, presumptuously trying on clothes he couldn't afford and making false requests.

Nevertheless, customer service was always outstanding and never wavering no matter the clientele.

Oldest Photograph in New York??

The Sotheby's is being offered the latest claim to the oldest photograph of New York City. The 4-by 5 1/4 inch daguerreotype image depicts a lawn planted by evergreens with a road in the foreground and a house in the background.

The photograph is believed to be have taken around October 1848 or earlier and since it is a rare find, considering that most daguerreotype images only date back to the 1950's, Sotheby's is auctioning off the photo on March 30.

Future fashion

With all other areas of our lives becoming computerized, its no surprise that eventually our clothing would become "robotically enhanced."

Designer Hussein Chalayah has had the world toying with the possibility futuristic, unbelievably, convenient clothing.

"Imagine a world in which garments change appearance, function, in which textiles change characteristics, in response to the person wearing them or the environment in which he or she moves."

Creations pondered: garments sensitive to light, body-heat and even bacteria.

80/20 Rule for Designers

The 80/20 rule asserts that approximately 80 percent of the effects generated by any large system are caused by 20 percent of the variables in that system.

80 % of a product's usage involves 20% of its features.

80% of progress comes from 20% of the effort.

80% of errors are caused by 20% of the components.

80% of innovation comes from 20% of the people.

Great explanation by Randa Clay: 80/20 rule

Emailing Wizard

In his blog entry, "8 things I wish everyone knew about email" Seth Godin gives a few hints on how to properly use email. I thought these four were probably the most necessary for the emailing lot to know.

1. You can't recall an email you didn't mean to send. Some software makes you think you can, but you can't. Not reliably.
2. Email lives forever, is easy to spread and can easily show up in discovery for a lawsuit.
3. Please don't ask me to save a tree by not printing your email. It doesn't work, it just annoys the trees.
4. Send yourself some email at a friend's computer. Read it. Are the fonts too big or too small? Does it look like a standard email? If it doesn't look like a standard, does this deviation help you or hurt you? Sometimes, fitting in makes sense, no?

"You need to breathe, so you need to use Helvetica"

"Helvetica is like air."-Erik Spierkermann

HELVETICA DOCUMENTARY trailer

To notice, or not to notice

Before designing a web page or any display whatsoever, one must first ask themselves one question: do you want your design to be noticed?

Seth Godin proposes this important question. The thing is if you want the information of your display to be noticed then your design has to be good but not overwhelming, however if you're showcasing your design, in an effort to reveal your talent, it is best to be eye-catching.

Remember that.

The Benefits of Humility...

In an effort to deflect the egos and work of hooligans, bus stop sheds are designed to look flimsy and fragile. But in fact, they are long lasting and damaged pieces are quickly fixed.

However, one design company chose to strike out on its own and proclaim its bus sheds "hufter-proof" (hooligan-proof). Prokol Polymers in 2007 declared its new polymer sheds as "indestructible," setting a blaze on the behinds of hooligans everywhere.

Unsuspecting landmarks

One Chase Manhattan Plaza and the Consolidated Edison Building are now landmarks according to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Constructed mainly of aluminum and glass, the Plaza was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and was the sixth-tallest building in the world at the time of its completion in 1961.

The Con-Ed building began construction in 1911 and was designed by Henry J. Hardenbergh.

Robotic Assistants

Necessity is the mother of invention, Japan is finding out and getting quite familiar with the concept.

In an effort to combat its rapidly aging population Japan has made significant investment into robotics and cyber-kinetics in an effort to "amplify and expand its shrinking ‘human’ workforce as well as help to cater for the needs of elderly."

While most nations invest heavily in health-care and other medicinal issues, Japan has broadened its budget horizons to include these preventive treatments.

“Life Machines engages with the question of how an aging population’s needs can be met through technology. It investigates a possible future society in which humans and robots coexist in domestic spaces and asks what issues arise in a symbiotic relationship between humans and technology. Questions about what kind of compromises and adjustments will have to be made are explored through scenarios of everyday routines in the relationship of an ageing individual and a robot. The design of domestic objects that reflect the needs of both machines and humans becomes a tool for exploring the human condition and our fascination with using technology to recreate ourselves.”

NewScientist reported on a new amazing discovery: mind reading.

“[...] has used an image of brain activity taken in a functional MRI scanner to recreate a black-and-white image from scratch. “By analysing the brain signals when someone is seeing an image, we can reconstruct that image,” says Kamitani. This means that the mind reading isn’t limited to a selection of existing images, but could potentially be used to “read off” anything that someone was thinking of, without prior knowledge of what that might be.”

Imagine the possibilities. The dangers...

Think like a designer, write like a journalist

According to William Bostwick of the website Core77, not because you're designer doesn't mean you can't successfully present yourself in writing as well. Using one's creativity and unique style and following Bostwick's five basic tips, this can be accomplished.

Firstly, using your abilities as a designer contour work to fit your audience and the task at hand. To know what interests the public is an inherent trait of any designer. Therefore, use it to rearrange sentences, select the proper words and "putting complex ideas into simple boxes."

Secondly, avoid pretentious, useless words or as Bostwick calls them "verbal SUVs -- big pointless words that look fancy but don't do anything." Because many people are unfamiliar with design, use words that are comprehensible and relatable.

People respond to stories. Therefore, tell a story when writing about your projects. Concentrate more on how something came to be rather than what came to be.

Next, use the first person. Personalizing your writing makes it more interesting, more relatable and less formal. According to Bostwick, "A little informality goes a long way."

Finally, "Cut ten percent of all the words you write," Bostwick advises. If it isn't necessary or true don't say it. It's always best to be honest.

CLASS NOTES

Space between letter- kerning
Space between lines- leading

Justified- even on both sides
Ragged right- uneven on right