Appreciating things....

In time how we appreciate things has changed so much.
In fridays lecture we discussed different situations.  The subject of 'Tweens' was one of them.  'Tweens' were described as girls aged from about 9-14...too old for toys, but too young for boys!!  They follow fashion trends from a very young age and there parents spoil and spend silly amounts of money on them to keep them happy . In the past children would have been more than happy with something as simple as colouring crayons.
If i learned anything in this lecture it was that sometimes gifts that are less expensive but more memorable are valued more than gifts that cost silly amounts of money.

Assignment 3

After attending my third seminar it was clear to me what had to be achieved to pass assignment three.
I had to use the topic i picked in assignment 2 to expand on and collect information using cross search and the library.

This assignment introduced me to the University of Dundee library, its collections and the methods for finding what i needed.

To pass this assignment i had to complete four activities:

• Use CrossSearch, the library database, to identify useful resources that covered my topic. Make a selection of around six or seven key texts. 
• Create a bibliography of your key resources in the Harvard style, and write short notes to explain each one’s strengths and weaknesses.
• Identify the main journals for your discipline and for design in general. Find out when they are published and where they are stored, plus their online access details.
• Identify useful online resources and provide examples of their benefits.

Here is my Bibliography with a few notes to describe what they contain.

Brown, S. (2000). Communication in the Design Process.

- This book focuses on the communication between the employer and the consultant design team, and on the areas of function, finance, timescale and aesthetics. This book includes a review of current thinking and guidance on this. Data is collected from a survey using questionnaires and personal interviews. 

Bizoi, M. (2010). Risk assessment of information and communication technology use in multinational educational. Innovation and Creativity in Education. 

- This journal identifies the problems technology could have. It describes different tests and situations tried on various people from adults too children to identify any risks.

Halonen-Akatwijuka, M. (2010). Organizational Design, Technology and the Boundaries of the Firm. Economica.

- This journal looks at how business rely on technology. Also, communicating in general through a business prevents there being problems or any 'hold- ups'. 

Mamaghani, F. (2010). The Social and Economic Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Developing Countries: An Analysis. International Journal of Management.

- This journal looks at how technology is improving developing countries. It indicates that ICT has a positive impact on growth in developing countries, both socially and economically.

Min, Z. (2008). Design Details in Product Design. Proceedings of the 2008 International Conference on Industrial Design. - This journal is information for industrial designers. Telling them how to design objects so that its easy to communicate. Communicating with designers and the customer. Raines, C. (2006). The Art of Connecting: How to Overcome Differences, Build Rapport, and Communicate Effectively with Anyone. - This book tells us how managers/leaders of businesses have to find new ways of connecting and communicating. It gives us examples of how to overcome these issues of communication Barriers.

Design Studies - Assignment 2

After attending my second Seminar I was asked to complete 4 tasks and attend the 3rd seminar to complete the second module.

These were;

• Show evidence of the brainstorming session (photos or video, a written reflection on the process)
• Bring an A2 poster to the seminar showing where your thinking took you. (Put a copy on your blog)
• Be able to discuss your thinking process and where it led you
• Document your thinking and working on your blog.


As our previous lecture 'think big' wanted us to think more openly about design, these assignments are relating to this through the 'Tipping Point'. The topic looked at in more detail was from assignment one this was 'the law of the few'.


BRAINSTORMING 
This task was to get into a small group and think of as many different ways in which my topic from assignment 1b relates to design. 

Here is some evidence of our brainstorming session.

Our group........

in action!

Final Brainstorm 

Discussion 

This task is to go for a coffee with my group and talk about the ideas we had in the brainstorming session. 

Our group found this really useful as it was interesting how many different things we talked about going into more depth than we did in our brainstorming session.

Here is some evidence of our discussion.

Thinkin -A2 Poster

This task is to reflect on the ideas i came up with in the brainstorm activity and to choose a few to pursue in more depth. As we brainstormed the idea of 'connectors' we found that some of the ways people connect through design is by use of graphics, word of mouth, interiors and mainly through technology. 

I then researched further into the technology aspect and found products that were designed for communication. 

I recorded my thoughts and research as notes and took one idea further and developed it into an A2 poster showing my thinking, and how design relates to the topic of 'connectors'- people who bring information/people together.

Make Things|Make Sense

Hazel White gave a very interesting lecture today i attended on making things make sense.  As she currently runs the interdisciplinary course in jewellery design her lecture was mainly explained through this. 

She talked about jewellery being designed for more than one use, having some sort of technology in them so they can be used to store digital mermories etc. 

Hazel gave us an example of 'the hamefarers kist - knitted remote'. This design was produced to store images and when the knitted product was brought towards a computer with the software stored on it, it automatically brought up the images onto the screen.

Here is a link to which you can view images and videos http://www.hazelwhitedesign.co.uk/.