Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Lorne Lanning Interview re: Information Visualisation


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Tuesday, May 26, 2020

GRAP 2030 // Week 11 // Sustainability and Zero Waste // Notes and Group Discussion

Somebody else's problem.

What is waste? What is no longer valued.

What about re-valuing? Returning to use.

Recycling is a return to older practice.

“Adaptive reuse” is increasingly important.
  • most sustainable building is existing one
  • most sustainable material already exists
  • avoiding waste is the aim of Zero Waste and Circular Economy
Provides example of Tonsley Park roofing

Bus adapted to create new home. Consumerism values what is new.

Zero Waste / Circular Economy is important for designers

Principles
  • 100% ‘diversion’ shifting costs of waste back onto producers
  • end to all forms of Obsolescence
  • durable beautiful goods for the long term
  • end to cheap, trashy, disposable goods
  • adaptive reuse, design for disassembly, re- or up-cycling
  • emphasis on intrinsic values not extrinsic ones
The capacity to endure

Zero Waste from Paul Palmer – converted chemicals from one place to another
  • most waste unnecessary and can be diverted
  • “waste” is a miscalculated resource
Zero Waste is “designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and elimininate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health.”



pre- and post- caution


“If you make it, you are responsible for it” is a shift in cognition.

Imagine if the company who produced the goods was directly responsible for how the product is managed when its completed.

Somebody else's problem

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/249/garbage

Zero Waste strives for a cyclical flow of resources and energy, aiming to eliminate the now typical linear flow. We want to step in and say “hang on, we need to adjust for this”.

What role does packaging play?

Consider packaging from top to bottom. Consider the role of packaging from a producer and consumer perspective.

Plastic changes everything—Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Packaging had to become free or completely de-valued. Consider using a glass bottle for which it is your responsibility as a purchaser to keep and reuse.

Keep Cups what is your responsibility regarding their use?

Luxury is a parasite of the essential. New computer and phone goods are also considered tools—they’re use reflects back on us. Luxuries are also generally an addictive property. Coffee, tea, sugar, opium, cigarettes, media, clothing, fashion. Luxury is also relative and as standards rise, expectation rises with it. At present, we have to make more with less.

https://www.facebook.com/adelaidebikekitchen/

Select one object from these five and spend 30 minutes researching the history and development of this product and how it might be recycled. Also, consider alternates? Is this product necessary? What alternatives could be provided?

  • Apple iPhone
  • Nescafe Coffee Pods
  • cotton tshirt
  • car tire
  • batteries

———

 Somebody Else’s Problem, Robert Crocker (2011)

Value becomes defined by “consuming”. If we buy it, it is of value. That which is not bought, has no value.

“The ‘stuff’ we use and enjoy appears in our lives almost magically, often having been trasnported thousands of kilometres in trucks, trains and planes, from processing, manufacturing and distribution locations hidden from us behind barcodes, brochures, branded labels and the ‘fine print’ on packages or delivery notes (Pincen, 2002a)… the real origins, lifecycle, technical function in use, and ‘end-of-life’ destination of these same products and services, has been skilfully airbrushed out of the picture.”

“We also assume that driving (or being driven) is socially as well as technologically more ‘advanced’ and therefore more important, and more worthy of investment than ‘just’ walking, something suggested by the metaphorical meaning often applied to the word ‘pedestrian’. At present, despite the car’s many immediate practical benefits, the deeper social and environmental costs of driving or being driven are largely externalised to the larger community and natural environment, to the commons from which the oil used to power cars is extracted, to the polluted air, water, and environment created by our car dependence, and the ‘sprawl’ this dependence locks in place.”

“Cars are also deadly weapons, killing and maiming in both America and Australia each year a very large number, roughly equivalent to the casualties of our ten year involvement in Vietnam.”

driving should be a privilege and not a right.

“Why then is walking so routinely dismissed as ‘ordinary’, ‘pedestrian’, and unworthy of attention or funding as a ‘transport’ mode, even as a ‘link’ between other (public) transport modes? Why do we insist on spending so much money on the automobile, its infrastructure, and on heavily subsidising the manufacturers of this most deadly of everyday weapons?”

“We may want to replacement something that does not work very well, or has certain functional limitations with something that we think does. For many of us this functional impulse is often perceptual rather than ‘real’: we think we ‘need’ that new iPhone not because we cannot manage with our 2-year old Blackberry, but because we imagine a greater competency and functionality we might be able to enjoy with the iPhone, and we will happily invent alibis to ensure that this happens.”

“… we also buy or ‘update’ things because we fell that it is socially necessary… if we work in sales or in marketing organisation where looking good is very important, we might think we need a new suit every year or so and a new car every two or three years because otherwise the people we work with might think we are ‘falling behind’ or ‘not keeping up’.” — this idea is also called cultural capital as defined by Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu.

———

Group Discussion

You will be assigned one of the following:

  • coffee pods
  • single-use disposable batteries (AA / AAA)
  • modern smart phones (use Apple for your research)
  • leather / vegan leather
  • new clothing

I want you to think on, discuss, research and debate the following questions:

  • where are these items used, and by whom are the used?
  • who produces these items and where are they sold?
  • what issues do these objects pose? Consider environmental, technological and social impacts.
  • are there alternatives to these products?
  • do these products have established recycling pathways?
  • who is responsible for these recycling pathways?
Coffee Pods
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Tuesday, May 19, 2020

GRAP 2030 // Week 10 // Personal Communications Technology

Questions
  • How does telecommunications technology affect your life today? Think about something positive, something negative, and something that you hadn’t considered before.
  • Think about it regarding your sense of identity? How do mobile phones inform your sense of identity and which aspects of mobile phones inform this? How does it make you feel?
  • How does it affect your sense of time? Which aspects of mobile phone technology affects your sense of time?
  • Did reading about telecommunications technology and its effects on people change your perception of any of these traits?
Mobile Telephones and Identity

 Awesome old Motorola Razr's and the Nokia 8110, which in themselves had a sense of personality and style. In fact, the Motorola Razr has been released in a new form, featuring a flip and a bendable screen. There have been some issues but it looks pretty cool. It also costs as much as a laptop.

Reintroduction of the Nokia 8110 with modern features and a reduced scope of smartness.

As an example, here's a short video of somebody demonstrating their collection of old mobile phones and then a video demonstrating the evolution of Nokia phones from the very beginning until now.






Dematerialisation
'The Cloud' is physical. It is made up a huge number of servers requiring huge amounts of energy, electrical goods, physical space and data linkage. This article at The Guardian says digital server farms could be contributing 2% of greenhouse gas emissions each year. Though, lots of server systems are also set up now to accommodate for solar power.

In addition to the 'cloud' being a physical object means that your data is literally being held somewhere physical, and this can have huge repercussions depending on which country happens to control that data. For example, Russia bought LiveJournal so that it could access the data and find people who were actively campaigning against Russian activities. See ReplyAll episode of #100 Friends and Blasphemers for more details.

San Junipero episode of Black Mirror is an excellent examination of what a life lived in the cloud might look like and what it might mean. It's also an incredibly beautiful story and well worth watching.

Ownership of media also shifts
You don’t own media now, you are merely granted the ability to watch it. Trade deals between companies means that your favourite films and series on one provider might switch to another (or licensing between countries might shift). Also, your taste and accessible media is dictated by a third-party. You’re shown what it wants you to show. And, how much of your funds is actually going towards your favourite artists?

This ties into the box economy in some ways. Apple, Samsung, and other “smartphone” sellers provide you with an empty box or blank slate onto which you imbue your own personality. The objects are the same but its contents are a part of you.

Online purchasing systems increase global transportation of goods and reduce prices devaluing goods and encouraging spending. Also, companies such as UberEats exist to run down traditional business models.

Who has responsibility for truth?
There’s an argument that Facebook is a publisher according to law, which means that it is also directly responsible for the views that are promoted on its website. These would include both fact and fiction. In public, it says it is nothing more Etna a tech platform, sort of like a web host (holding no public responsibility) though in court it is argued that it is a publisher. If it is a publisher, it needs to monitor fake news. Which is it trying to do with almost zero success.

Fake news has real life consequences such as Pizzagate (ReplyAll: #83 Voyage into Pizzagate) and a list of other issues. Also, refer back to the COVID-10 conspiracy theories that are currently running rampant. This is incredibly dangerous on a global scale.

Time
  • mobile phone addiction disengagement form real life
  • time scarcity / poverty and ‘The Joyless Economy’ by Scitovsky
Questions
  • Have you felt either of these things in your own life? Either, the sense that you are disengaged from real life, or distracted from things you should, or want, to be doing?
  • What are these distractions for you? How do you deal with it?
  • What has been your response with COVID-19? Are you using more or less media?
Also, regarding covid-19 bring up the concept of “If you don't come out of this quarantine with: ... you never lacked time, you lacked discipline.” Don't buy into it. If you're enjoying life, you're doing just fine.


Identity
  • How do you define yourself?
  • What helps to define this sense of self?
  • Are you confident in this definition?
Death of the influencer and the effect of COVID-19 is thoroughly examined in this article on Vanity Fair called 'Is This the End of Influencing as We Knew It?' and talks about the idea of authenticity and social media. Also, the idea that influencers and social media can have real-world effects such as pushing people towards natural and wild places which become overcrowded.

1. Unsustainability and the erosion of public goods (consider a shift towards Uber for convenience as opposed to public transport and even there the tendency for governments to privatise public goods for quick profit forsaking long-term public advantage. What about ride shares?

2. Erosion of time which forces us to constantly interact when really you need to set time aside for certain tasks.
  • Think about your own sense of focus—how long do you feel you can focus on a task or read a lengthy article?
  • What techniques do you have to come back to concentration?
  • What do you think of the idea of switching off from internet and Telecommunications or turn off Personal Communication Devices?
  • What’s important to you?
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Sunday, May 17, 2020

VSAR 1102 // Week 10 // Public Pedagogy and Critique

Discussion: critique, criticism and critical thinking
In small groups define and discuss the meaning of these terms. Give consideration to how they are different, how they are the same, and how they relate to one another:
  • How do these terms relate to how you think about design practice and what you do in studio? And, in theory? how do you put them into practice?
  • Critique = to analyse or assess something in a detailed way. Typically related to the studio 'crit' in design education and for student closely tied to assessment and evaluation of work and design skill. Can be seen negatively and induce anxiety.
    • A tool to be applied as part of the design process.
    • Test and evaluate visual arguments for their viability. Discuss the ways to improve work so that it is more successful.
  • Criticism = analysis and judgement of design to determine merit in the light of the context in which it exists and the intent of the piece. This evaluation is closely related to determining the social and cultural value of the work; e.g. does it improve ones experience, ability to learn, do something?  Is it fit for purpose? Is it sustainable or facilitate sustainable actions?
    • May draw on critique.
  • Critical thinking = intentional and reflective thought process. Considers the evidence in a systematic, object, and rational way to form a logical conclusion as a result.
Discuss meanings and understanding as a large group.

Discussion: Poyner's The Time for being Against and Christopher Bell film
  • In small groups, discuss key themes identified by Poyner.
    • What does Poyner mean by 'the time for being against'?
      • What do you think about what he is saying?
      • How does this claim make you feel? Do you agree or disagree? Why?
      • Should designers care about the issues he raises? Why/why not?
      • Additional:
        • Poyner suggests that designers don't read. But our modern interpretation of reading might today include watching or listening. Do you "read" and if so what do you read?
        • How do your interests influence your understanding and sense of design?
        • Are you or have you been 'critical' of these things and how?
      • What is Christopher Bell "against", if he is against anything?
      • What criticism, critique, or critical thinking, is he applying to the superhero world and what does he want to achieve?
      • What has changed since Christopher Bell recorded this discussion?
The Time for being Against by Rick Poyner

“I do not want to separate. I have no interest in being against. I want to include. The time for being against is over.”

“You can’t be against everything all the time.”

"The consensual feeling that we have somehow reached a point of rapprochement or healing or wholeness has come up. To be against was negative. You can’t change anything by being “against things”—the world is what it is—so all that negative energy is just going to boomerang back on you in the end."

Except nothing happens by inaction. Think of our narratives—conflict is between one driving force and another. In Star Wars its good (Jedi) versus evil (Sith). In Game of Thrones its the "fight for the living” above all else. In The Avengers its the united desire to save everybody instead of settling for only half—this argument forces Tony Stark to take action even at the cost of his own life.

In real examples this is Nike standing by Colin Kaepernick and to "stand for something even if it means losing everything."


Or, in a local case, it is like designer Lauren Crago turning criticism of the fast-fashion industry into a new business focussed on challenging those established ideas. Lauren founded Solomon Street on a strong set of ethics and practices which values people and the environment, with a portion of profits donated to a micro-loan support system. Micro-loans provide small interest free loans to people in poverty to help them reestablish themselves. Stock is made to order and they have a strong principle of repair and reuse when garments are worn.



“To be critical involves not taking things for granted, being skeptical, questioning what’s there, exposing limitations, taking issue, advancing a contrary view, puncturing myths. On occasion of course, the critic will take the role of supporter or advocate. He or she will seek to persuade us that some idea or thing is deserving of our full attention and merits a closer look.”

Poyner also encourages “undirected, personal reading across a range of cultural fields—literature, music, social history, film, photography, fine art and other subjects… It wanted to discover a broader audience. It was aimed outwards at any intelligence, literate, thinking individuals, from any background, with the curiosity to undertake their own personal researches and see what they could find out.”

I have to mention two quotes by Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise, in which he discusses the value of philosophy, art, history and literature when he tells young ensign Wesley Crusher to read philosophy and that life is more than just understanding mechanics and piloting ships. Picard states, "open your mind to the past... to history, art, philosophy and then [points to stars] this will mean something" or when telling a man caught out of time that "the challenge [of the 24th century] is to improve yourself. To enrich yourself. Enjoy it."

This is the basis of a concept we discuss in GRAP 2030 Design Culture and Society 2 next year. The Greek concept of Eudaemonia which roughly equates to happiness or welfare—that humans should seek to do good, to be good. It is concerned with "human flourishing or prosperity" or "blessedness", to establish a concept of personal virtue and ethics, rather than external values, in order to become happy and rewarded.

In regards to a list of designers and critiques Poyner feels are contributing to educating the public about design, he states:
“They refuse to accept the complacent, lazy, foolish and solipsistic notion that ‘the time for being against is over’… there’s too much at stake.”
He suggests reading the following:
  • Denis Dutton — Arts & Letters Daily
  • Jessica Helmand — Boston Globe
  • Steven Johnson — The Feed
  • First Things First
  • Naomi Klein — No Logo
  • Thomas Frank — One Market Under God
  • George Monbiot — Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain
I would like to add the following to this list:
Female Superhero Characters
  • Wonder Woman
  • Black Widow
  • Captain Marvel
  • Gamora
  • Harley Quinn
  • Nakia, Ayo and Okoye from Black Panther
Additional notes from Duanne and Ruby:
‘Critical design uses speculative design proposals to challenge narrow assumptions, preconceptions, and givens about the role products play in everyday life. It is more an attitude than anything else, a position rather than a method. Its opposite is affirmative design: design that reinforces the status quo.’
– Duanne and Ruby.

Critique as professional practice:
1. Critique as a tool in the design process
• evaluate and contextualise work social
2. Responding to critique as a professional (which includes classroom settings)

Schools theory of reflection-in-action
1. ‘Spontaneous’ self critique
• automatise skills
• ‘reading the situation’ and adjusting accordingly
This is why in design studio, tutors will often ask you additional questions in order to coax you to consider elements of the design you may not have considered otherwise. It is to encourage you to think better about how the work you’re producing will be understood by the audience.
2. Systematic and considered self / peer critique
• learning new skills and problem solving
• directed and thoughtful
• supported by evidence
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Tuesday, May 5, 2020

GRAP 2030 // Week 8 // Tutorial Script

“One core assumption is that indefinite economic growth is possible and necessary—and, moreover, that “emerging” economies should follow the path of industrial development and intensive agriculture to ensure ever more consumption, and thus prosperity and stability.”

“Today, just about every state is managing the global environment in ways that do not impeded economic growth or deter multinational investors, trade, and financing. Most see this as necessary to maintain political and social stability as well as implement environmental regulations… Given the current world economy, most states, and international organisations work hard to avoid currency crashes and capital flight, which can cause not only social but also environmental havoc, as was the case in Indonesia after the Asian financial crisis of 1977–99.”

Think about this statement in regards to our current COVID-19 crisis—it is important in recognising that human emotion and reaction to their ability to live comfortable and stable lives can lead to mistrust of Governments and systems and a more reactive approach to environmental concerns. An example of this is “panic buying” recently, where we saw a massive uptake in the purchase of toilet paper because people had the idea or feeling that things were uncertain. In the United States, armed protestors who're fighting for their "rights" to return to life as normal.

Is this statement true and what do you think of it in regards to the video?

GDP What is it?

This is the value of all goods and services that the economy produces, and this is linked to the huge, complicated system integrating suppliers, finances, producers, wholesalers, and retailers.

But, this number does take into account “cooking, cleaning, childrearing” work in the house. It doesn’t calculate qualitative values such as “people’s health or a clean environment”. Nor, the distribution of income or wealth. Quality of life.

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2020/01/14/795623755/moving-beyond-gdp
One of the panelists was the Nobel Prize-winning Princeton economist Angus Deaton, who has spent the last few years researching the rising numbers of "deaths of despair," which is when struggling people die from self-inflicted causes, like suicide and drug overdoses. "Life expectancy has fallen for three years in a row," Deaton said. "One of the major drivers of that is the opioid epidemic, which has so far killed over 200,000 Americans." Pharmaceutical companies, he said, have made billions off this epidemic. "We've got a system that's really killing people—and we're counting that money as part of GDP. That's gotta be crazy."
Let us return back to our ideas from last week. That ethical design concerns itself with persons, relations, situations and context. If we’re focussed solely on a number that catalogues a countries wealth over wellbeing then we might lean towards the economy as opposed to human response.

Perhaps we should measure the wealth of a country via another statistic? Sometimes this is referred to as well-being. I won't go into detail about it but it's an interesting idea.

Chicken Tax

Question:
  • What are some of the best working vehicles (specifically utes) that you can think of? Where are they manufactured and who makes them?
  • Now, think of the United States—what trucks might you see in the US?

Recycling, Incineration and Globalisation

Says Peter Dauvergne:
“Moreover, mass-producing goods in developing countries with low environmental standards tends to pollute rivers, soils, and water supplies. Some corporations in the First World are also shipping garbage and hazardous waste to poorer countries (such as computer waste to China). Everywhere, corporations also spew dangerous substances … into the air, poisons that eventually fall back to earth…”
China has actually refused to accept garbage and recycling of waste from many countries around the world in order to focus on their own wellbeing, a result of their improved economic position. As a result, a lot of what we think might be going to recycling, isn't.

So, what do we do with recycling now, when economics makes it more expensive to dump than to clean? In Japan, they have a strict recycling policy dividing various plastics, glass, and papers into a separate bins to make recycling easier. You are also encouraged to wash the bottles to make it easier to recycling. And. waste is incinerated to generate energy and reduce landfill, with non-combustibles turned into bricks that may be used to build.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/03/china-has-stopped-accepting-our-trash/584131/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-21/the-japanese-waste-incinerator-that-has-its-own-tripadvisor-page/9780872

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2017/02/18/environment/wasteland-tokyo-grows-trash/

COVID-19

Think about the following questions in regards to the concept of globalisation—what changes have you seen effected at a global scale, and why, and how do these changes filter down to your personal engagement with the world at large and closer to home among your community?

Questions
  • What global systems have been affected by COVID-19 and how has this impacted the way that we live today? Think about food, transport, travel, entertainment, social. What have you noticed?
  • How has COVID-19 changed your shopping habits, particularly in regards to food and clothing?
  • How has COVID-19 affected your social lives? Are you communicating differently, speaking with different people, finding others ways to stay connected?
  • Have you begun to appreciate any design artefacts now that you're spending more time with it?
  • Have you begun to really dislike a design artefact now that you're spending more time with it?
  • Have there been any positive outcomes from this disruption?
  • Have there been any negative outcomes from this disruption?
  • Do you miss shopping? What is it about shopping that you miss?
  • What changes have been made at a global level as a result?
  • What changes have been made at a local level?
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Sunday, May 3, 2020

VSAR 1102 // Lecture Notes (Dr. Myra Thiessen) // Representation and Semiotics

Representation is informed by Semiotics

Semiotics and how it comes about

"Representation connects meaning and language to culture." It is the "production of meaning through language."

Meaning if constructed through social groups. Constructivist approach recognises the social creation of meaning through language, and language is constructed of signs. These stand in place for things and concepts.

Signs are the most basic vehicle for meaning.
Iconic resemble the thing they represent
Indexical have no resemblance (abstract)

For example, words such as cow which is the indexical representation for the four-legged beast we’re familiar with.

“Any sound, word, image, or object [that] functions as a sign, and is organised with other signs into a system [that] is capable of carrying and expressing meaning is … ‘a language.’” Stuart Hall, 2013.

“Were there not some cultural consensus about the meaning of signs and symbols [that make up language] among members of a linguistic community communication would not be possible.” Davis, 2012, p.36

Example: Facebook Care emoji
Facebook has implemented a new Care emoji, which involves a smiley character hugging a heart shape. Here, we see the development of a sign character to visually represent the intended meaning of some people’s use of the Heart emoji to show their support. So far, there has been a social understanding that the Heart when used on a Facebook post of someone expressing pain, hurt, loneliness, or suffering has been a sign showing support, as opposed to “love” in a familial fashion or “like-a-lot”. Care fills this gap.

This connects to GRAP 2030 discussion regarding culture and the development of meaning involving different semiotic interpretations of hearts.
Iconic SignsDemonstrates similarity with something else. Eg. A painting, photograph or pictogram which bears resemblance to the thing it refers to.
Indexical signsSign and object less closely related. Strong similarity to object but not a representation. For example, smoke meaning fire, scratchy red skin as irritation, fingerprints identifying a criminal
Symbolic SignsConnection between object and sign is not obvious and interpretation of meaning is constructed through social agreement
Semiotics is the study and analysis of signs.
The study of meaning-making through the use of signs and sign systems.

Communication is about sending one idea from one person to another via the use of signs and sign systems so that the meaning I intend can be accurately interpreted and responded to by the person receiving the message.

Sign symbolises, stands in for, or acts, as a substitute or surrogate for things (objects, places, people, phenomena) or concepts (abstracts ideas, feelings).

Ferdinand de Saussure
Linguistics – sender focus
“Language is a system of signs. Sounds, images, written words, paintings, photographs, etc. function as signs within language only when they serve to express or communicate ideas. To communicate ideas they must be part of a system of conventions.”
Grammar and syntax structures are rigid but meaning and interpretation is not.

Sign = signified (concept) + signifier (form)
So, the signified is the thing meaning to be represented and the signifier is how we present that meaning.
1. Signified is the idea, concept or phenomena
2. Signifier is the form or thing use to represent this

His concerns were focused primarily on linguistic study only—text and speech.

Charles Sanders Peirce
Social constructs – reader focus
“A sign … is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity. It addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign, or perhaps more developed sign.”

Greater focus on signs themselves and focuses on the reader of the sign and the communication process.

Sign = iconic (direct) & indexical (indirect) & symbolic (arbitrary)
1. Iconic resembles object / concept and represents the thing it depicts
2. Indexical relates to the meaning of the object / concept depicted but does not resemble it. This includes cause and effect where the presence of one thing has some vague connection to something else.
3. Symbolic has no resemblance to the object / concept and meaning is developed culturally.

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Tuesday, April 28, 2020

GRAP 2030 // Week 7 // Script // Ethics in Design

Ethics Video (Star Trek ‘Ethics’ episode)



As Dr. Chris Thornton says, “The problem is that reducing what may be considered ‘right’ and ‘good’ to objective, quantitative terms can often lose sight of reality as a subjective, quantitative experience—one in which complications and exceptions to general rules will always arise.” And so, you need to find a way to determine your own ethical judgements. In this class, we’re trying to provide you with a way to understand them.

We have three theories of good design and ethical practice proposed by three great designers and critical thinkers:
Papnek argues for a Designers responsibility.
Van Toorn argues that designers should address the public as citizens and not consumers as often prompted by business orientated clients.
Frampton (an architect and environmental designer) argues we should Infuse “humane intelligence” into the made environment.

A designer and good design should
  • against the capitulation of human interests to those of the market (what we’re seeing now where economics holds greater value than humanity (Trumpian ethics))
  • opposed to the destructiveness of what is and to the catastrophe-inducing economic rapacity that global capitalism is now inducing
  • an interruption of the processes of economic “errancy” and therefore a way of helping contend with consequences of negative globalisation (interesting term here—globalisation can have positive effects in addition to negative).
  • refuses resignation in the face of the given and refuses to acquiesce to the current domination of modes of reactive, negative, and destructive actions (or the ability to stand up and take action against those issues which might contribute to suffering, either of people, or the environment).

Personal Anecdote

I was requested to photograph the French Film Festival when I knew that it would mean 450 people (revised down from 500) just as the coronavirus restrictions were coming into play. I had to weigh up the income ($675) and the prospect of not having future employment or income for the next few months with the moral and ethical duty to a large group of people and more personally to my parents whom I live with and who are both within an at-risk bracket. However, in passing on the work to others, I’m also essentially promoting the job and putting someone else at risk.

Warm up with quick ten minute discussion regarding Milton Glaser’s Road to Hell

In small groups, quickly discuss (5 minutes) the following items. There is no right or wrong answer and the value is in your discussion.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/78z6xv635aj68if/Milton%20Glasers%20Road%20to%20Hell.pdf?dl=0
  1. Design a package to look larger on the shelf?
  2. Design a package for a cereal aimed at children, which has low nutritional value and high sugar content?
  3. Design a line of t-shirts for a manufacturer who employs child labor?

Four Key Roles of Ethical Design

1. Persons
Reconnection of design to the solving of problems which affect humanity from a human perspective. For example, relieving the discomfort of standing by designing a chair. This could also relate to, perhaps, the designing of a phone in order to establish communication between persons.

Question: is relieving “boredom” a problem to be solved?

2. Relations
Design is about relations and “design designs relations between things and persons and things and nature”. The goal is to establish a design ethics which doesn’t treat these relations as a commodity of time, money, function, interaction. “Nonethical design reduces these to commodity relations (reduces all that a thing can be for us to the imaginary of the act of its purchase) or a utilitarian operative relations” explained by Adorno as technology removing the civil interaction of people to “gestures precise and brutal and with them men.” Design will be good when it serves the “enhancement of relations. Ethics, we might say, works to proliferate relations.”

Question: how does this idea of relations equate to the way that modern social media is often designed and employed to create connection, or to expedite connections?

3. Situations
“Design is the process…of seizing and realising the potential of situations (a) to be transformed; (b) to be so on behalf of or in the interests of or the project of, persons.” This emphasises “that what matters in situations is not their market value, not the capacity to be exploited and reduced for profit, but the human implications of the situations: its capacity to hold promise for how we can better—which today means more sustainably—live our lives.” In other words, we need to use design to improves the way we live our lives within a sustainable means, valuing people and relations, and creating situations in which these are emphasised.

4. Contexts

Mobile phones group discussion

Mobile phones are part of our day to day interactions. They’re a part of almost everything we do. I’d like you to look at the mobile phones and their associated technologies (camera, phone, software and apps, social media enablement) in relation to the above concepts of persons, relations, situations and contexts (use what you know so far about design in context and how it responds to different circumstances).

Prompts both positive and negative.

Topics to discuss
  1. technology and the environment
  2. personal communications and social media
  3. personal and work life balance
  4. applications and games for pleasure and distraction
Additional informaiton
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Sunday, April 26, 2020

VSAR 1102 // Week 7 // Perception and Gestalt Theory

Perception the top-down way our brains organise and interpret information and place in context. All experience of environment is influenced by our cultural and social upbringing and understanding and perception allows us to understand it. Sight is the minds interpretation of the data our eyes are feeding us.

Perceptual Set is the psychological factors that determine how you perceive your environment.

Seeing is believing and believing is seeing.

Emotions and motivations can affect our perception.

Attention

“Attention is the process of selectively focusing on. On aspect of the sensory environment while ignoring other things that seem less important or less worthy of consideration. It is a means for concentrating the mind on a single object, element, or though with the goal of narrowing the number of stimuli in a complex perceptual field.” (Davis, Hunt, 2017).

As stated “Attention is only the first step toward informing, explaining, orienting, persuading, or supporting people in taking action” though he concludes that “design has to follow through on the promise of attention, to deliver on first impressions.”

 We’ve previously talked about the idea of persuasion and seduction returning to Katherine McCoy Information and Persuasion (2000) “in these days of media saturation and multi-channeling, there is fierce competition for the reader’s attention, and readers have increasingly short attention spans. Seductive media can persuade a reader to pay attention, to get in bed with the message content and spend some time with it.”
  • Which of the serial boxes below stands out and why?



Form Perception

Figure Ground
Figure-ground relationship is the organisation of the visual field into objects (the figures) that sand out from their surroundings (the ground).

According to Meredith Davis and Jamer Hunt in 'Getting Attention', figure-ground is “… our ability to separate elements, based on contrast, into an object and a background. A figure can be any object, person, shape, or sound. Ground is the limitless background or field on which figures sit. Our visual system interprets objects primarily in terms of their contours. Figure-ground reversal occurs when two shapes share the same edge and we switch our attention from one shape to the other, trying to separate the figure from the ground.”

Figure is any object, person, shape, or sound.
  • more definite shapes
  • typically smaller
  • occupying the lower art of the composition (grounded)
  • incorporates motion
Ground is the limitless background or field on which figures sit.
Figure-ground relates to our distinction between the one from the other, and the ability to discern the subject from the other.

While there are common traits shared in the way that all humans perceive figure-ground, our ability to perceive what is important is, to some degree, a result of social and environmental conditioning in addition to emotional connection and response.

This is particularly important for me as a motorcyclist on the road–drivers are trained to recognise other cars but are much less likely to notice or see motorcycles and cyclists because they're not trained to recognise them. This leads to the common excuse "sorry mate, I didn't see you" or SMIDSY.


Additional Concepts (Dr. Myra Thiessen)

Visual Literacy is the ability to accurately interpret visual representations in both form (what is it) and meaning (what does it mean/say). We might ask what am I looking at? What do I see? What meaning does it hold? What do I know about it and what does it mean to me? This is affected by context and environment, cultural knowledge, expectations and media.

Gestalt psychology seek to explain perceptions in terms of gestalts rather than by constituents. Gestalts are an organised whole perceived as more than its parts. Gestalt can translate into configuration. So, we impost perceptual organisation when presented with certain visual stimuli. The mind is predistposed to interpret patterns and relationship. We can use this to develop visual arguments which are unique and convincing.

Gestalt principles include:
  • proximity is the relationship created when objects exist within space.
  • similarity relates to the shared property of objects grouped together, such as objects of a similar colour, shape, size, etc.
  • good continuation we prefer to interpret objects as a smooth continuation rather than two separate pieces, such as two lines crossing in a + being interpreted as two lines crossing rather than two V shaped pieces meeting in the middle.
  • closure the interpretation of an image that interprets something closed as opposed to open.
  • common fate things that appear to move together will be interpreted as a group, such as a school of fish, birds or peloton.
  • relative size more likely to interpret smaller objects as playing the figure on the ground.
  • surroundedness 
  • orientation can dictate our desire to see depth and relationship between objects.
  • symmetry assists in seeing objects as stable.
  • pragnanz says that most visual stable or logical form will dictate how the object is interpreted.

Case Study

Dazzle Paint and Camouflage

Dazzle painting was implemented in World War I and continued throughout World War II as an attempt to confuse enemy ships and submarines as to the speed and heading of ships to prevent successful sinking by torpedo. Loud, lurid patterns and false bowlines and wash were incorporated. Effectiveness is contentious without solid scientific data, though the idea is interesting.

You can also attempt to use people's perception to fool them into perceiving a bunch of balloons as a battalion of tanks, or that straw sculptures were planes along a runway. These attempts at camouflage were called the ghost army.




Task: Pathos Personas

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a9dnim2p325c35j/VSAR%201102%20Week%207%20Task%20Pathos%20Personas.pdf?dl=0
  • Appeal to emotion. The fit of design and suitability to a particular audience. Is it for me?
    • Does the audience identify on an emotional level? Is there a feeling of familiarity, personal connection, deep understanding?
    • Physical bodily response
  • What range of emotions can be exploited?
    • Love, hope, anger, happiness, desire, sadness, worry, apprehension, vulnerability, unease, joys fear, etc.
  • What visual elements can be drawn on to appeal to emotion?
    • Colour, image, sound, words, etc.
Task: Pathos
Break into small groups. Each group receives a different persona and a message that needs communicating. Use the worksheet to guide their exploration and discussion.

Personas
  • Elderly and the importance of regular exercise
  • Uni student and study abroad options
  • Parent with children in preschool and flu shot schedules
  • Middle aged professional and community to work by bicycle
  • Young professionals and live exports
In small groups discuss and determine an appropriate strategy for how an appeal to pathos (emotion) might be used to identify with the audience. Record your thinking on the worksheet and prepare to present your proposal to the class in a 5-minute presentation.
  • Brainstorm your understanding of the audience and the issue / message
  • What goals might this persona have? Why might they care about the issue? Why might they choose to engage with it?
  • What argument do you want to present? How do you want the audience to respond; what do you want them to do?
  • How do you think you might relate to the audience? What emotion do you want to evoke? What will make them care?
  • What techniques would you use to create the desired emotional response?
  • Why do you think this is an appropriate visual strategy?
Present the following findings to the class for discussion:
  • Who is your audience?
    • Your observations of who you think the audience might be.
      • How do they spend their time?
      • What do they like/dislike?
      • What might a typical day look like for them?
  • Why should or do they care about this problem?
    • Is there an aspect of this problem that might affect them or some part of their life?
  • What message are they likely to relate to?
    • How will you reach them?
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