Fall 09 / P3 / Symposium Foray / Draft 1

As second year students for Project 3 we are to "Propose and complete a design study that addresses an intersection (a point) rooted in (1) your thesis questions and (2) an aspect of the symposium theme "Design, Community and the Rhetoric of Authenticity." So I suppose it is time... time to unleash the researchable question that has remained under wraps for some time now. Please, treat it gently. It is just a babe, still in the making...

How can the design of interactive spaces lead a female college student through an evaluation of material consumption behaviors in relation to identity?

In these initial stages I find myself particularly interested in the notion of identity which fundamentally refers to the way in which one perceives one’s self. This could come from internal or external sources. But I am most interested in how this is persuaded by and communicated to the individuals peers and/or community. Thus the intersection. Identity and Community.

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In Thomas Cottle's book, Mind Fields, Cottle suggests that "...adolescents discover they are able to reflect on the stories they tell about others and themselves just as they are able to reflect on their own reflections. Their work, as it were, is to construct identities and develop a consolidated sense of self which they do in part from private reflection and in part from trying out bits of themselves, the products of these self-reflections, on the world. In sharing their reflections, adolescents open themselves to the possibility that their developing selves will be confirmed by others, although there is always the possibility of disconfirmation as well."

Erik Erikson expressed the notion this way: "The sense of ego identity, then is the accrued confidence that the inner sameness and continuity prepared in the past are matched by the sameness and continuity of one's meaning for others...." Believing this to be true, peer groups and gangs assume new significance, because peers contribute to the development of an individual's most private readings of his or her self."

This information on adolescents is particularly interesting because of my thesis focus on college aged women (18-22 years of age), but I do believe that the notion of reflecting on one's sense of self and trying out identities happens at many different stages of life, especially while in transition. Currently for myself I am attempting to establish what my own voice may be in the discourse of design. How your community and peers receives this expression of one's self is something that is often, if not always, considered.

Then I found this interesting study...

In the New York Times article, "Are Your Friends Making You Fat?" a pair of social scientists named Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler say, "they have for the first time found some solid basis for a potentially powerful theory in epidemiology: that good behaviors — like quitting smoking or staying slender or being happy — pass from friend to friend almost as if they were contagious viruses." Just some social science evidence for peer pressure? In the article they talked about visualizing the data they collected based on where people lived and how their weight fluctuated throughout the years. They saw that people gained and lost weight in "pods" throughout the community. This got me to thinking. In what ways are our own expressions of identity influenced by our peers and how may this be brought into consideration through illumination?

I discovered a school project of Marian Bantjes on Design Observer in which she explored the distinct graphic language of heraldry, the system by which coats of arms and other armorial bearings are devised, described and regulated. Bantjes describes that "heraldry is a lost vocabulary. Every symbol, shape, colour and arrangement of colour means something." In Bantjes project she uses the graphic language of crest making to develop system for logo making, in which everything means something (industry, size of company, mergers, etc) and thus the logo is read as an actual expression of the identity of the company.

This project was curious to me. These ultimately are expressions of identity and, while vast in numbers, similar elements are used throughout them all. Crests can be read and also related. They can show connections. Or rather, illuminate. I decided to do my own explorations in crest making and here is the plan I came up with:

IDEA 1:

Showing Connections to Peers.

Personal Crest Making:
Express values through a combination of symbols to create a crest or shield that represents the participants own (design philosophy) identity.

Pros: Illustrates connections
Cons: Little room for originality or personal expression.

Part 1 - Questionnaire:

1) participant is asked a series of questions based on relational facts. (where they live, who their friends are, where they were born, etc. This is to be used for placement of the symbols on a large "map" in order to illustrate connections.)

2) next the participant is asked a series of questions pertaining to their own values and sense of self. (this is used to create their personal expression in a crest/symbol)

Part 2 - Kit for Creation:

3) based on their responses they then get a kit of symbols/tools to for creation.

4) individuals with similar answers get similar symbols/tools

5) participant then has their own creative freedom to utilize the symbols to create their own personal identity crest.

Some ideas for how this could play out:
- participants walk into a room with bags with labels. If you associate with the label you grab the tool to create with out of the bag.
- stencils to create on shirt.
- participants complete the questionnaire digitally and then are provided with a set of tools/symbols and a space to create (like Illustrator). Then they submit their creation to be displayed on the larger map. And possibly create a wearable form of the identity crest.
- could be made using transparencies and projectors.

The idea is that people with similar values will be using the same tools and/or symbols. Their expressions with these things will vary but they will still be able to see the connections with like minded people.

Part 3 - Mapping Connections:

Ultimately the connections need to be visualized whether the participant is allowed to simply wear their identity crest and notice the connections amongst their peers or the creations are plotted on a digital map that groups the identity crests based on their responses to the relational questions (geographically, by friendships, etc.)

Could these be something that happens over time? People contribute over the course of time to build the map or graphic that grows and shows connections and associations.

IDEA 1 - PLAYING OUT:

Participants are asked a series of four questions with six possible answers. Based on each answer they are assigned a symbol to use for creating their identity crest.

Tools for creation for each question (each color represents a different question set):



Utilizing the one assigned symbol from each question (totaling four) and a bit of creative freedom the participant creates their own personal identity crest.

Some hypothetical identity crests:



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IDEA 2:

I am still interested in the connection between the outward expression/appearance and the inner thought. How authentic is the outward expression to the inner thought?

Language Labels: Expressions through language.

Playing off of the fears that may come from expressing an identity the individual answers questions about themselves based on scenarios that they may encounter and is then assigned a negative expression based on their decision.

EXAMPLE SCENARIO QUESTION:
My group of friends from the office are trying out a new restaurant for lunch, which is said to be kind of pricey. When they ask if I want to go I decide to...

a. go on ahead, money is not an issue.
b. go on ahead despite my budgeting restraints.
c. turn the offer down because I brought my own lunch and don't stray off the plan.
d. turn the offer down because I didn't budget for the extra $5 dollars the lunch will cost me.

Based on the answers the individual collects a negative word associated with their response.

a. pampered
b. weak
c. fuddy dud
d. tight wad

They continue to answer a series of questions which creates a collection of negative words that they then rate as more or less authentic. Do they then have to display this expression?

Some hypothetical word creations:



or

IDEA 2.5:

Still using the Language Labels. The idea is to attempt to create an authentic expression through language.

The individual answers questions about themselves based on scenarios that they may encounter. Then is given a range of expressions (from negative to positive) based on their decision in which they choose which best describes themselves (a.k.a. - the most authentic).

EXAMPLE SCENARIO QUESTION:
My group of friends from the office are trying out a new restaurant for lunch, which is said to be kind of pricey. When they ask if I want to go I decide to...

a. go on ahead, money is not an issue.
b. go on ahead despite my budgeting restraints.
c. turn the offer down because I brought my own lunch and don't stray off the plan.
d. turn the offer down because I didn't budget for the extra $5 dollars the lunch will cost me.

Based on the answers the individual is given a selection of words to choose from.

a. stable, spoiled, pampered
b. socialite, foodie, weak
c. rational, practical, fuddy dud
d. money smart, budgeter, tight wad

The creation is then a somewhat more authentic expression of their own identity.

Some hypothetical, aunthentic word creations:




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Fall 09 / P2 / An Initiation

Visual conventions, visual rhetoric or anything of the like has been the buzz around studio for the past few weeks. What are they? Where are they found? How do we as designers contribute to, create or disrupt them? Next we did experiments in "hybridization" attempting to infuse new visual conventions into the old. Attempting to lead our communities down a path. For the project we were to...

1. Identify : existing visual conventions of the community you have selected to study in seminar.

2. Design : An Initiation to ________ , introducing new visual conventions that might logically follow, or interrupt, if such is the more compelling strategy. Any media, any point of delivery.

...and we were off.

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My community of intrigue for this entire semester has been Weardrobe.com, a social platform for personal fashion. It is a fashion-focused community for discovering different ways to wear clothing. Weardrobers are all about imagination and creativity over consumption. After much consideration my initiation for the community is into ACTIVISM. And here is my proposal...

Weardrobe community members are invited to participate in a contest rooted in activism. The "Think, Say, Do" campaign encourages members to think creatively about how to incorporate the campaign's branding via tools/stencils into their wardrobe and fashion statements. I developed a branding for the campaign that utilizes the rich "mixing up" visual strategy that Weardrobe embraces. Their fashion ensembles include a mix of high and low fashion as well as their own DIYed pieces. These branding visual elements I came up with were translate into tools for creation (a.k.a. stencils) that I created using black card stock and the handy laser cutter. Here is how it is explained in the packet the Weardrobe participant receives...

Think / Say / Do: The Compliment Campaign.
Sponsored by American Apparel.

Think:
Utilizing the provided stencils and fabric paint get creative and "style up" an existing fashion piece in your wardrobe. Next, submit a photo of you wearing your creation to the Think/Say/Do Weardrobe Competition online. Most importantly, check out the charities listed and select one to represent.

Say:
Compliments equal Cash. Get online and compliment/comment on other participants creations if you dig 'em. Let your friends know to compliment your creation.

Do:
Compliments will be tallied up and American Apparel with donate $1 for each compliment received by the contest winner to their chosen charity.




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Fall 09 / Thesis / Begins

Thesis. It is well on its way by now. So I thought I would take some time to step back, examine my process up to this point and share it with you here:

I began my explorations when I began evaluating why I even wanted to come back to graduate school. I gave my best miss america speech in my statement of purpose about wanting to explore how design could make this world a better place for an individual, a community and society as a whole. And I have held onto those roots, I would say, in exploration.

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When first doing thesis research I found myself drawn to the area of emotional design. I explored the way emotions play a role in our decision making process. I latched onto the idea of "happiness" and wanted to promote positive thinking. I searched for a way that design could encourage behaviors that would lead to positive emotions. In my research I found that while the world tends to be grasping for happiness in general they are running off in well intended directions that take them further and further away from actually achieving that goal. The economic crisis we are facing now is a direct effect of one of those ill adviced paths, consumerism and the pursuit of material things.

In the Fast Company article "The Happiness Factor", James Roberts, a Baylor University marketing professor says '"all that consumerism is a pursuit of something other than Happiness: "The research is overwhelmingly clear," he says. "The more materialistic you are the less happy you are. We get Happiness through the love of others and sense of community. But we've been told by Madison Avenue that Happiness can come through the mall."' (The Happiness Factor, Fast Company) In the same article Cynthia Crossen of The Wall Street Journal notes, the American "pursuit of Happiness" certainly is of a piece with America's "capitalist democracy, where ever-increasing consumption" drives economic growth. (The Happiness Factor, Fast Company)

Why is it that it seems we are caring more for our economy and less for the individual? Does the economy shape the perception and well-being of the individual or is it the other way around. Does the individual shape the well-being of the economy?

Effective meaningful sustainable change has to come from inside first. And the heart of our economy is the individual. The heart of the individual is shaped from a very young age. Perceptions are developed, expectations are formed without any conscious knowledge. And how is this done? Through the examples set by others, such as parents, yes, but also through advertising and it's messages. In Jean Kilbourne's You Can't Buy My Love, she reports "that the average American sees more than three thousand ads per day and spends more than three years of his or her life watching commercials. Their messages are inside our intimate relationships, our homes, our hearts and our heads." (Kilbourne 12) There is no way to escape the pervasiveness of material culture and consumerism. And we as designers... what are we doing? We are the ones creating the tools for persuasion. We are complacent to the effects this has on the well-being of the individual. We are in many ways the vehicle to unhappiness.

One of the most targeted age groups for Credit Card companies are college students. Because students are a prime marketing opportunity. “If they can be in that kid’s wallet, they are more likely to have a customer for a good long time,” explains Geri Detweiler of ultimatecredit.com. (Weisbaum) Fresh from the material and financial comforts of home, guarded from the financial decisions their parents have had to make and the hardships they may have had to endure, college students often times have no concept of how personal economics work.

In a Newsweek article from early 2009 it reports how susceptible young college students are to building debt through credit cards. "The Center for a New American Dream, a group focused on helping Americans spend wisely, found that more than half of American college students signed up for at least four credit cards by the time they graduated. These card-stacked wallets help explain why, according to U.S. PIRG, the average American senior now racks up more than $2,500 in credit-card debt by the time they receive their diploma." (Soller, Majoring In Debt / Newsweek)

In today's economy the need for regulation is evident and laws are being past to limit the ways in which credit card companies target college students. Credit card companies may unjustly target college students by luring them with gifts and trinkets without explaining the real risks involved there is something inside the student to acquire that must be addressed. In "Can't Buy My Love," Kilbourne reminds us that for young adults advertising continues to invade their lives and "ads constantly tell us that products can help us find our identity, can make us unique, can help us understand ourselves and each other better." (Kilbourne, 91) In this new environment these students are well versed in self-expression through social media. Society is taught that you are what you own and that it is through these possessions that we can portray our desired sense of self.

SOURCES:

Kilbourne, Jean. Can't Buy My Love How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel. New York: Free, 2000. Print.

Manners, Tim. "The Happiness Factor." Fast Company. 08 July 2008. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. .

Soller, Kurt. "Majoring In Debt." Newsweek. 17 Feb. 2009. Web. 23 Sept. 2009. .

Truth About Credit. Web. 23 Sept. 2009. .

Weisbaum, Herb. "Credit cards: A dangerous convenience." MSNBC. msnbc.com, 11 Aug. 2006. Web. 23 Sept. 2009. .



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Fall 09 / P1 / Cultural Probe / Round 2

The Thought Journal: When re-evaluating my "thought catcher" I realized that I am interested most in the thought, where the mind wanders while engaged in the ritual of being in the coffee shop. I don't want to be too intrusive in their process I just want to capture the thought as it is happening. And in return make the person aware of the wandering thoughts.

My New Idea: Provide a Thought Catching Journal that is left on the tables for the individual to discover, contribute and explore.

An interior page reads,
"What are you doing in the coffee shop today; reading a book, studying, having a meeting, texting a friend, day dreaming? Amidst this facade the mind wanders. Where does it go? This journal here is a way to capture those thoughts. Keep it with you the entire time you are in the coffee shop today and take pause each time a wandering thought enters your mind to record here in these pages.

Before you leave return the thought journal to the collecting bin near the doors and visit www.justathoughtproject.com to see what other thoughts are floating around the shop beneath the surface."

Each page has a place at the top to record the date, time and what they are doing at that time, then space for their thoughts.





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Fall o9 / P1 / Cultural Probe / Round 1

The Thought Catcher: Ritual and a Cultural Probe: Are the rituals performed in the coffee shop experience just part of an illusion of busyness or importance, a facade? Where does the mind wander during those ritualistic experiences? What are the thoughts beneath the surface of ritual?
My Probe: A single blank nesting doll is left randomly on tables, with a kit for creation inside including, a sheet of paper with directions and small colored pencils.

The customer is first prompted to capture what they were thinking of the second before they encountered the doll and write that thought on a piece of paper that will then be rolled up and placed inside the nesting doll. They are then encouraged to imaginatively represent their coffee shop persona on the outer most doll (through drawing, color, writing, etc.) and prompted to create directly onto the blank canvas of the doll.

The directions read:

just a thought...

What were you thinking about the moment before you encountered this object? Capture in your mind that thought and hold it there. Record your thought on the back of this paper. Then open the doll to place it inside.


An image...

What is your coffee shop persona? Are you all business, a slow sipper, a day dreamer, a book reader, a socialite? Using the tools provided and your imagination create directly onto the blank canvas of the doll a representation–a sketch, a sentence, or perhaps a single word–of who you are and what you do while here in this coffee shop.

and finally...

Place your captured thought and tools back into the doll and leave it in the collection bin near the register.

Then visit www.justathoughtproject.com
to view other representations and thoughts as well as your own.




Some creativity during critique...
contributors: Cady Bean-Smith, Tania Allen & Lauren Waugh...



contributors: Denise Gonzales Crisp, Kelly Bailey & Laura Rodriguez...


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Fall 09 / Cultural Probe / Findings

Upon explorations and musings on cultural probes getting at ritual I found that I am interested in where the mind wanders during those ritualistic experiences. What are the thoughts beneath the surface of ritual? And how can they be visualized? A "thought catcher" in a way. My classmate Tania, turned me towards a rather compelling photographic study (wish I would have thought of this on my own, and never told that this actually existed, although my photographs couldn't have been nearly as breathtaking). Explore The Thought Project by Simon Hoegsberby. [...]

Fall 09 / P1 / A Story

This semester is all about culture (Design as a Cultural Experience, to be exact). We could sit in the studio discussing culture round the clock (which I am sure we will take a stab at), and/or we could get out there and experience, observe, explore and wonder a bit. We start things off with the latter. For seminar we are to take a stab at a Thick Description (See Clifford Geertz's writings on this). The description is to be based off of observations in a local coffee shop. I camped out in a Starbucks on the corner of Gleenwood Ave. and Peace St. and the fun began. From our observations we began our first Studio Project...

The assignment: Write a story from the perspective of a player in the experience, i.e. a particular customer, barista, dishwasher, busboy, manager, delivery person, etc.

I choose a curiously contemplative customer. Check mine out:

Blessed rain. I hadn't had the heart to look out my park facing windows for several weeks now and watch as the grass turned to brown. Loraine would have loved this drop in temperature. She would have pulled out her fingerless gloves her daughter had made, then tugged at the imperfections. She would have reminisced about the good old days when we were neighbors, young mothers, with "tight assess", she would have said, on that Michigan cul-de-sac. I would have laughed then prayed that any foul language that finds its way out of her lips will taste like dirty gravel in her mouth.

Dear God, give Loraine's family the strength for another day and unwavering faith. I pray that you will soften their hearts to your words, to your guidance and that when unforgiveness tries to take root in their soul that YOU will pluck it out by the roots and replace it with the peace that passes all understanding. I pray that when all else fails...

Oh, is this a break in the rain? I should go now so I don't have to fumble with that awful umbrella.

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Summer09 / And the livin' is easy

This summer began with days of sleep to catch up on, long lists of projects to complete and a few meandering lines across my calendar indicating exciting journeys. It was a time to get re-inspired and re-connected with life. One of my plans of attack to achieve this goal included revitalizing another passion of mine, photography. Check out my photoblog here to get a glimpse into my summer happenings, if you like. [...]

Summer 09 / NCSU Design Camp

My fellow classmate, Liese Zahabi and I (along with our awesome TA, Helen Dear) took on the challenge of introducing 80 high school students to graphic design (16 a day for 5 days) during week three of NC State's Design Camp this summer. What did I learn? Well, it is a whole lot of fuss... but definitely worth it.

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For three separate weeks throughout the summer NCSU hosts a Design Camp for high school students in the area and across the country. It is designed as a way to introduce students with interests in design (general or specific) to five varying design disciplines; Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Industrial Design, Animation and Graphic Design. The students in groups of 16 spend a full day exploring in each design discipline rotating through each by the end of the week.

The theme of this year's design camp was "The Music Industry" and activities and projects completed within each design discipline were to relate to this theme. For Graphic Design Liese and I decided to start the day off with an intro to graphic design as well as an visual intro into what happens when graphic design and music collide. Then we moved into a activity in which we explore how music can influence the visual. We played three different pieces of music and the students worked at one of three stations for the entirety of one song then switched to the next station. One station contained tools for creation using just typographic elements, another just image elements and the last just color.

Next we wanted to see how an existing visual design can prompt a whole new design through the art of mashing up different elements. Each student began with one of the compositions they had already designed in the last exercise. This time instead of responding to the music, we wanted them to respond to the visual design that they saw. They were to create a brand new design—using elements from other student’s work, elements from their original composition, and any new elements they wished to create using the tools from the previous exercise.

Critique and Lunch Break at the fabulous cafeteria (seriously we had soft serve everyday)

For our afternoon project the students were creating posters and album packaging designs for a fictitious band or music group. They began by pulling two random words out of a hat, then took some time for individual brainstorming involving a creative brief and sketching. Next they discussed their ideas in small groups to develop them even further then got to work utilizing the same tools we had provided for the mornings activities. The pieces were created by working directly onto a 11 x 17 sheet of paper then scanned in and the students had an opportunity to set type on the computer. They were printed and comped up for the following morning's critique. The work was truly incredible.

You can check out some pictures from my flickr set here.
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Spring09 / Final Critique / Face as Interface

Final Critique was a culmination of all of our work from the past semester. I decided to even bring along a slightly unsuccessful but still intriguing (and hours of hilarity in studio) project too. For part of my Moments of Interface project I was interested in the reflection of one's self and was looking for how I may distort that in unsuspecting ways. I came up with the Face Mash Up.
I mounted images of some of my classmates faces, with specific parts cut out, onto mirrors. The plan was for the individual to encounter the mirror and line themselves up in order to see their own eyes, or nose, or mouth on the classmates face. The whole perspective thing through the project off, but the the cut up images stayed on my desk for the rest of the semester. Each day as I walked in their would be a new creation/mutant waiting to be discovered. We eventually came up with the ultimate mutant, Brooktonia, who was subsequently credited with any shenanigans from then on out. For final critique I managed to get photos from everyone of our classmates and set up a table just outside the crit room so that the fun could continue during breaks. Check out my NCSU Mutants flickr set to see some of the creations we came up with.

And to see more pics from the full day of final critique click here.
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Spring09 / P5 / Futurecast

The children of today are the parents of the future. Growing up in an environment where social networking is vital, thoughts are contributed in motion and walls of privacy are fading these new families lives will be one large system of communication networks. They will hold a great sense of value in this interconnectivity without boundaries and the web of networks will touch each and every area of their lives. Would this not include their babies too?

Interface Futurecast from Caroline Prietz on Vimeo.

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Spring09 / P4 / Moments 4, 5 & 6 / Wanderings

For our next three moments of interaction we were to respond to one motivation in 3 different designed environments, while maintaining comparable attributes of experience across. For this round I wanted to push myself to investigate form-making areas I may have never been before, and that meant at least something had to be digital and interactive. I also knew that I wanted to explore the idea of wandering and how that could manifest itself within three different designed environments.

The idea for moment #4 came quickly. I imagined a printed piece/book that wandered. In order to create similar attributes of wandering I constructed a piece that presented options to explore. In moment #5 the viewer is invited to wander within an digital interactive environment. As the participant wanders she discovers bits and pieces of reflective text that may propel her in a new direction. Moment #6 was inspired by the idea to invite individuals to slow down and wander by recognizing and rewarding that physical activity. Intended for physical wall space in hallways this piece responds to the movement of the passerby and creates a visual "wake". The size of the wake is dependent upon the speed of the passerby. Faster individual create smaller wakes, while slower, more wandering individuals create a larger wake which in turn reveals more to the wandering viewer.

The text across all three pieces comes from reflective writings from a "summer journal" which was composed throughout the course of several years but all from a setting by the sea. This influenced and inspired the visual language of each piece.

Moment 4, 5 & 6
Motivation: To step away
Attribute of Interface: Wandering
Attribute: Pleasurable/Inviting/Reflective

Moment 4
Environment: Physical book

A Wandering Book from Caroline Prietz on Vimeo.

Moment 5
Environment: Interactive Digital Space

Wandering from Caroline Prietz on Vimeo.

Moment 6
Environment: Physical Wall Space

A Wandering Wake from Caroline Prietz on Vimeo.

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Spring09 / P4 / Moments 2 & 3 / Reflection

In critique for my first interactive moment "Snack Time" we wandered into an area I found quite interesting and tender, the reflection of ones self. For parts 2 and 3 of this 6 part project we were to combine 1 motivation with 1 attribute of experience then combine the same motivation with 1 attribute of experience that shifts the motivation. I choose the motivation of reflection.

Moment 2:
Motivation: To view a reflection of one's self
Attribute: Transformative/Uplifting



Moment 3:
Motivation: To capture a reflection of one's self
Attribute: Unsettling




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Spring09 / P4 / Moment 1 / Snack Time

Thus far this semester we have created some rather compelling studies on interface. Yet throughout our conversations we have found a common inquiry: Why would someone be motivated to interact with an interface in the first place? One could create the most sophisticated, functional or beautiful interface but if if there is no motivation for the individual to interact then the interface is useless.

Project Four focuses on why an individual would be motivated to interact and how the characteristics of the interaction could surprise, delight, initiate reflection and even shift perspectives. The project consists of six instances in which we pair a motivation with an attribute/characteristic of the interactive experience.


Moment 1 for me pairs the motivation of "wanting a snack" with the attribute of "unsettling".

Moment 1
Motivation: Wanting a snack
Attribute: Unsettling

Take a look:





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