Pop!Tech & Ted Assignment

Poptech.com

Frank Warren- I've known about postsecret.com for a long time and always wondered who started it. Just from clicking on this video I found out that Frank Warren started this blog all from passing post cards out around DC asking people to tell their secrets, and when he stopped passing post cards out people still mailed them to him. I think postsecret.com was a really great idea as a way for people to express themselves though blogs anonymously to get things off their chest.

Frans deWaal- His lecture is basically about trying to convince us that we are apes. His studies include the study of humans and human interactions. He believes that we would be much better off if we paid attention to the basic principals of social behaviors of apes and learned from them. I though it was interesting to look at how simple monkeys interactions are compared to ours, when really we are so alike in so many ways.

Barry Schwartz- I though he made some really good points about how we've been so spoiled by choices that we are to indecisive to make one,and that we once had very little to no options, how we have multiple. Also I though it was interesting to see the progress we have made through out the past 50 years in technology.


ted.com

Taryn Simon- I think it's interesting that she used photography in a political/campaign way in order to inform people and reveal parts of the world and people we wouldn't usually see in the news.

Carolyn Steel- I think it's interesting how she explains that food basically controls not only our lives/living but also basically ho our cities are shaped.

Beau Lotto- He talked about context and why context is everything. I always find it interesting when people take one thing and single it down to being the most important thing...take Do Good Design for an example of this.

COLAB Sticker Project

Do Good Design Summary

I like this book because David Berman isn't scared to be straight and honest about his ideas/feelings toward certain designs and about the overall hidden truths about design production. He really focus' on the effects of design on the developing world, and how we don't really need to design more "things" we just need to re-design and re-use things instead or over producing and consuming. I find after reading Do Good Design I'm more aware of branding strategies used against the consumer. I also like how Berman doesn't just point out his opinion he also gives us strategies to become good designers our-self. Also on a less serious note I really enjoyed the entertainment value of the book, the small jokes he adds in, the interesting pictures...I found it more enjoyable to read especially since I typically don't enjoy reading books for class.

Do Good Design- first half

After reading the first half of Do Good Design I felt really inspired, and also that I have a huge responsibility as a designer now. As an artist I've always had an understand that literally everything that surrounds us is designed and made by someone. David Berman really opened my eyes to see how even the littlest things that are designed can have a huge effect, such as advertising for instance. My freshmen year Writing class focused on consumerism, so I've personally already researched a lot of what he was discussing in the beginning of the book about how particular graphics can invent a sense of "need" to own a product. Now I just wish I had discovered this book last year to use for reference.