Final Presentation Board

Course Evaluation

Overall this was an excellent course and I really feel that I learned a lot. I think I learned how to communicate my designs in a forms and details. Beyond learning technical skills I think the most important thing was learning how to speak. The layouts and the technical skills can come with practice and I supposed that speaking can as well. However we never really learned anything about who you are presenting for or what you are presenting. I think that is the most important thing what you are presenting? Did I ever really truly deeply think about that.

I think that the class was great the way it was. The only small changes I would have liked to see I guess are a little bit of interest in the sketches. We got to do sketching but not to much was learned about that. Secondly I would have liked to do at least one traditional crit. Because in the end that is how we present and you can do all the practice tools you want to help prepare for that. However like in sports practice can help prepare you and get you ready but you really get better from game experience. I'm not saying that we need to do them a lot because I really enjoyed the break from them. I would have liked to do only one so you could critique how we did that.

I do want to say thanks Michael though because I really enjoyed this class and feel that I really learned a lot, hopefully it benefited you as a designer as well because I'm told teaching does that.

Blog Critique

I think this blog was a good way to keep motivated and constantly thinking about design. I know I would not have done it probably had it not been required but I like to think I will keep it updated. It has proved to be a great tool with showing companies current work as well as friends and family. Hopefully I can keep up on the random writing about theories and such, because I know not many people are reading it so there is no pressure really in what I am saying. Also it has provided a good web between the class to see other people's work. I think that is the most important thing it has done. Like Michael said strengthening the class is always good and is only going to benefit yourself in the long run, and the sharing of ideas and thoughts on a blog is a good tool for doing that.

Personal Evaluation

I think this quarter as a designer I have really grown. I think I have a far better grasp of what creates a great product beyond form and function. You've got to sell it ....... tell a story. I really do feel that was my most lacking skill. Showing off my products on image boards, portfolios, and in presentations. I think that is what I learned most this quarter and I am again excited to update my portfolio and create something with some depth to it and a clear understanding of the value of the products I design.

Questions for a Professional Designer

I guess there are a lot of things I would like to ask a professional designer but if I had to narrow it down to three things at this point in my design career none of them would really be related to technical skills or anything of that nature. So here are the three I would ask.

1.) As a student I am struggling to find my identity as a designer and what I want to do. When I do you do suggest holding out for a job that I really find interesting or simply taking one gaining experience and hoping for the dream job later.

2.) As you progress in the design field and move up in a company how much less designing do you get to do? I obviously would like to move up, however if it means being far less involved with the design I would honestly rather stay at a lower position my whole life.

3.) What was a pivotal thing that happened to you as a designer?

Start to the interior of the Ice Shack

Housewares Design

This is the final presentation board that I had hanging up for the final critique in our Design Communications class. I will most likely try entering this into a Student Housewares Competition some time in the end of January.

Time to Work

Ready for some free time. This time not to slouch around as much. Oh it will happen for the first week simply out of recovery of being a complete nerd in DAAP and feeling like I never leave the place. After my week of doing absolutely nothing though I am really ready to start redoing my portfolio and finishing off a few projects from this quarter to be portfolio ready. This is the first time that I feel excited to put together a portfolio. I think I have finally reached the point where I am starting to feel proud of my designs and not having to struggle through creating a portfolio that I know looks bad. The skills are there now to create something good and that provides motivation and excitement for me to follow through. Only have to make it to December 7th then life can go back to normal and I can get going on the new portfolio. It's all about telling a story this time.

Goals Review

Here is a quick review of my goals from the beginning of the quarter.

I wanted to improve on my presentations of my products, as far as imagery and story are concerned.

Get a job at a consultancy.

Create a really nice portfolio, along with work from the quarter that can eventually go in it.

__________________________________________________________________

As far as presenting my projects I feel that I have a deeper understanding of how to verbally present to an audience. Furthermore I think my graphic layouts have improved drastically from where they were. I still think I really need to work on telling a story about my products visually. Communicating these things in person during an interview is no problem for me, however I think that I need to learn to do this better visually still. The story is there I just need to show it and then the portfolio will really be poppin.

Well I didn't get a job at a consultancy but I did get a great job at sharpie which sounds really fun and it is in Chicago which is one of my favorite cities. I think this should provide for a great learning experience.

I was pretty happy with how my portfolio turned out. I think that it could have been better though. I am very anxious to revamp it while I am out on co-op. Some ideas have started brewing after interviews and discussing certain projects. As well as having new projects to add to it. There is always room for improvement and I'm excited because I know what I want to do now I just need the free time (school to end , co-op to start) and it will be done.

Housewares Start

This is two ideas I did some quick ideation development on for a housewares project I am entering in. The top idea I think is the final direction that I am heading towards. It is a portable dishwasher based off of the needs of college eating habits. 60% of college students don't own dishwashers and 55% eat meals on the couch. This is a way of giving a student a cheap dishwasher that doubles as a side table and makes cleaning as easy as leaning over on the couch. Simple idea and there is still some development to be done.
The second idea is a portable cooking set for college students that includes a pot, pot cover, bowl, pot cover, skillet, and plate all in one that transports easily for college students who move a lot and don't like carrying around all of their dishes.

Earbuds: Mixed Media Renders

This was a great exercise in rendering techniques along with the USB renders from earlier. Here we worked with any of our tools combining 3D modeling and Abode tools to create a faster better render. I really wanted to have fun with this and go with a little bit more of an artistic style type render. Nixon's advertising pages really inspired me to try and do something a little strange that helped tell and story and represent the product.

Time to get a chip on my shoulder

My current strength right now is knowing that I have none. I am not comfortable with where I am as a designer, I'm not where I want to be. However I find it refreshing to think about. It's not that I am depressed with my work. I often really like some of the work that I have done and allow myself to be happy with it, but not for too long. Recently however I think I have been allowing myself to be too comfortable for too long and that's a bad thing, that is completely hampering to my improvement. I am too young and nowhere near a good enough designer to be comfortable. The lack of return calls from companies I have applied to snapped me out of this state of relaxation with my designs. I have to improve and I think it is actually healthy to look back at your own work and say "damn I could do better than that." This is the strongest strength I have as a designer right now.

Furthermore I think it is time to get competitive. Even though I used to disagree with that statement and would tell myself that I design for myself and because I enjoy it. I see nothing wrong now with being competitive and if anything it will fuel my fire to be better. That's not to say that I am going to hide techniques from classmates or steal and cheat from people. I am going to treat design like I do sports. My class is my team, I want us to be the best possible and I want us to be better than all other schools. When it comes to jobs if a company turns me down, that is fine I am the only one to blame for that, however I will want the place that hires me to be better than the companies who didn't give me a shot. I used to look at this mentality as shocking but in the sports world when a team cuts a player it isn't looked at as bad to want to be better and then beat the team that cut you when you are on a new one, in fact it is honorable.

With that said I need to get uncomfortable. It's time I got a chip on my shoulder.

Good Design

This is something that I think I will never truly have an answer for but something that I should always have an attempted answer for. Currently I think that good design beyond being emotive and impacting people at an initial level has to have the research built into the design. There are many designs that look awesome but how many take problems found in research and have problem solving features built into them. Currently I think a great design impacts emotionally and has problem solving features whether they are visible and recognizable or not. As always to I think the simpler the better.

Mixed Media

I think using multiple tools to create a design is something that can be very beneficial to creating a great looking design page. Furthermore I think it is something that can be beneficial in CAD using Alias for those crazy forms and SolidWorks to keep it simple. Overall using all the tools at your disposal as a designer can make things look better and cause their creation to be faster as well. Above are a few good examples of mixed media pages.

Work Ethic

Recently I have really been pondering the amount of work and time that goes into being in DAAP. Is it worth it? Am I really giving up having a life outside of DAAP during the week. Right now I'm not really sure. I think that I have to learn to moderate. Example I refuse to pull an all nighter this whole quarter unless there is completely emergency. I shouldn't have to do that. Really what it comes down to is I need to manage my time better. I need to organize and have a plan for how I am going about doing things. That is really how I am going to get the most work done, also I have to schedule time to have outside of DAAP. A career is very important to me however from my visits to nursing homes last quarter nobody was really giving me advice on how to get a job or an important way to earn money, it was all about living life. Even though many people think that it is crazy to listen to them they probably realize what is important after being through it all. Maybe I really won't know until I go through it all. Anyways I got a lot of work to do and I'll probably be up all night, peace out.

USB Final Designs 2

USB Final Designs 1

USB Sketches

USB Design

To start off this project we surveyed 113 people about USB drives. From what I felt was the most important results I made this research graphic.

Inspiring Designer

Honestly it is hard for me to say that I follow any designers. I realize that this sounds strange and that like any aspiring athlete I should look up to another athlete. However I have never really had one designer I am a huge fan of and it's not that I choose to do this I have just never done it. My inspiration more so comes from looking at design sites and checking out all different kinds of designs. I think I guess one designer that I do consistently look at and the only one who I can really name is Spencer Nugent who runs a site called sketch-a-day as well as idsketching. I think he does a really good job of using contour lines and through quick and simple design communicating the shapes exactly how they are. Furthermore I think he creates really interesting layouts to sketch pages. Check out his sites at

http://www.sketch-a-day.com

http://www.idsketching.com

Information Design

Definitely one of the hardest parts about showcasing a project is how to get across what you learned from your product research. Ultimately what you learned from your research is very important because all of the features and the design is general should revolve around a quality solution to the problems you found in your research. So the best way I think to do this is through an interesting and simply visual that really gets the point across of what you found to be the most important results of your research. Honestly who likes reading graphs and statistics, not many people, this is why you need an interesting graphic that coincides with your research and helps to further emphasize what you learned or what topic you researched. Here are a few good examples.

Here is a good link

http://www.colorful-data.net/

Communication through Film Trailers

I like to consider myself an avid movie fan. There are some great movies out there, however it doesn't always relate to a great trailer. To many times I see trailers predicated on what others are saying about the movie in newspapers and magazines. Other times you see trailers that just simply summarize the movie and leave the ending to question, trying to entice you to pay $9.50 just to find out what happens at the end. The point is there are a lot of bad movie trailers out there. To me what makes a good trailer is rather simple. It gives you a sense of what you are going to experience. The cinematography, emotions, and a hint to the plot line. It is really all about creating an emotive response in the viewer that is what they will experience when they go see the actual movie. I think I found a perfect example in a trailer for No Country for Old Men. It gives a great look into the dark and exciting action thriller that will ensue without destroying any of the story really. Furthermore it chooses great music and narrative clips from the movie itself not some hollywood narrator with a deep voice. Essentially it isn't showcasing anything other than the movie itself. Anyways here is the link enjoy.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/miramax/nocountryforoldmen/

Choose the one that says TRAILER

New Portfolio

Hey check out the new portfolio. The link is on the top right of the page.

I am pretty excited with how this has turned out. My portfolios from the previous two years have I feel just been a struggle and a learning process to how to really create a portfolio. I think my problems previously have been simply how to showcase my projects. I felt that I had good designs but I wasn't communicating their features and the work that I put into them. This is one that I finally feel proud of. I think there are still some things I could work on, but hey the more portfolios I do the better they will get I guess.

Inspirational Brand

The inspirational brand I have chosen is Nixon. As a designer I can appreciate the extreme attention to detail that is put into each design. This goes behind engineering details and small design details. This is more about an understanding of the emotions evoked by a product and a full understanding of the customer. I think Nixon is a strongly emotional brand and not afraid of polarizing themselves. Personally I don't think that is a bad thing. You can't appeal to everybody so don't make your product dull by trying to, you will have greater success if people hate your product because in turn somebody will love it. They know who there consumers are and aren't afraid to alienate the rest of the market from them. Furthermore when they design a product like the 51-30 Gunmetal as pictured above they take it to heart. The emotion and feel of the product really relates to the name and I think I don't need to say anything about the marketing image. Nixon is simply a really cool company and if you hate them well they don't care.

What Makes a Good Portfolio?

There is much debate around what makes a good portfolio and how to best present your products to a viewer. Simply put I think that a good portfolio needs to do one thing only. Highlight your designs. This can be done in many ways and be prevented in many ways as well. When I say highlight I mean it shows off the strong features, process, and idea behind the design. This is essentially showing off your skills without but it shouldn't come off that way it should come off as showing off the product. Highlighting a product is very easily ruined as well, which often can make a good project come across as bad. This is done through distracting layouts, bad organization, clutter, and bad storytelling. So in saying there here a few examples of solid portfolios or portfolio pages in my mind.

http://www.coroflot.com/public/individual_file.asp?individual_id=162066&portfolio_id=866808&

http://www.coroflot.com/public/individual_file.asp?individual_id=72279&portfolio_id=1295709&specialty=4&sort_by=6&c=1&

http://www.uc.edu/propractice/ind_design/Mueller_Oliver_11.pdf

SPEAKING OF I REALLY NEED TO UPDATE MY PORTFOLIO SOON TO COME

Back to the Grind

Once again I find myself back in Cincinnati. Once again I face the endless nights of work without sleep. Aside from these facts I am excited to be back. I am really happy with all of my classes and excited for the potential work that may come of them.
Currently our main design studio is revolving around designing a workstation. I have chosen to design an ice fishing hut. This is something I feel is very lacking in design features and I'm not really sure if there is many out there for purchase. This should make for an interesting project and hopefully something that I won't get bored of easily.
Also interviews are coming up quicker than I am ready for and I really need to spend a lot of time getting my portfolio ready for hopefully a solid consulting firm. This is not made easy by the fact my computer is broken.
Anyways just a quick update of things starting back up at UC and I will try and post as much as possible.

Model Making

CHEEEESSSEEEEEE

Munich

Sorry I haven't been able to update the blog I've been pretty busy lately. So about three weeks ago we went to Munich to experience the Bavarian area of Germany. It was a lot of fun because one of our best friends from school is studying there so we got to hang out with lots of people from Cincinnati. Best part of the area was by far the Englischer Garten which is in the previous video. Very huge relaxing park lots of kids hanging out swimming in the chillingly refreshing river. Munich definitely had more of the stereotypical German appeal that us Americans think about when we think of Germany. Quick summary; we saw the contemporary art museum, a man who had alien vs. predator statues in front of his house, visited some bier gartens, hung out in the englischer, visited the local soccer stadium, and just did lots of walking.

Munich

We stumbled across this while walking through the Englischer Garten in Munich

Hopefully Final Form More to Come

Looking for a final form