Adamwoodward22's Blog

digital manifestos

adamwoodward22 — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:34:38 +0000

http://www.cubeworks.co.uk/blog/index.php/2010/04/19/the-digital-manifestos-reviewed/

The two main political parties have both made use of digital media to launch their manifestos. It is quite interesting to watch the concept that they have used to communicate their manifesto.

Paul Smith Brief

adamwoodward22 — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 17:15:25 +0000

For the Paul Smith assignment we were assigned to groups, to learn how to work as a team and to come up with a final piece that we all agreed on. In my opinion this did not go so well for my group. In the group there was Tania Williams, Anya Strud and myself. It was difficult working together when everyone was only free to meet on different days or times, this was one of the main problems in our group. Anya showed no effort with meeting with Tania and I, we arranged to meet up a number of times which Anya had agreed on, but she never showed. Tania is very quiet, so I became the spokesperson for the group. I was constantly arranging times and days to meet, and when we did meet I felt that not a lot was achieved. Organising to meet with Tania did not always go as planned because Tania had to work most days. With Anya showing no interest in working as a group, the project was only worked on by Tania and I. However I did not feel Tania really helped out that much throughout the ideas process because she was quiet and I was the only one coming up with the ideas. She did not give me any ideas of her own to work with, so we used mine. Towards the end of the project I did not like what we was working on so I decided to change that idea with something else. I felt that this was not a group project at all and in the end I ended up working on my own. To be honest I did not enjoy working in a group because I had no real input from the other members of the group. So from this I feel that it did not turn out as good as it could have.

William McDonough on Cradle to Cradle

adamwoodward22 — Wed, 05 May 2010 12:16:54 +0000

http://www.ted.com/talks/william_mcdonough_on_cradle_to_cradle_design.html

Really interesting talk and I think what i got from it is that you have to care about the world you live in. Designers should think about the affect that the product they design will have on the consumer. There is a part in the talk that I believe is really important, and which sums up the world we live in:

“Commerce, on the other hand, is relatively quick,essentially creative, highly effective and efficient,and fundamentally honest, because we can’t exchange value for very long if we don’t trust each other. So we use the tools of commerce primarily for our work, but the question we bring to it is, how do we love all the children of all species for all time? And so we start our designs with that question. Because what we realize today is that modern culture appears to have adopted a strategy of tragedy. If we come here and say, “Well, I didn’t intend to cause global warming on the way here,”and we say, “That’s not part of my plan,” then we realize it’s part of our de facto plan. Because it’s the thing that’s happening because we have no other plan.”

William McDonough talks about Cradle to Cradle’s goal and what they want to achieve:

“This is what I presented to the White House. Our goal is a delightfully diverse, safe, healthy and just world, with clean air, clean water, soil and power –economically, equitably, ecologically and elegantly enjoyed, period.”

The talk really explains a lot and gets you thinking about how sustainable your own life is.

Alex Steffen talk on sustainability

adamwoodward22 — Wed, 05 May 2010 12:01:34 +0000

http://www.ted.com/talks/alex_steffen_sees_a_sustainable_future.html

Really interesting talk and great ideas that Alex Steffen shows how to become more sustainable. He shows some great designs that are made to help those in poverty.

Sustainability triangle video

adamwoodward22 — Wed, 05 May 2010 11:35:29 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OFI1Tx2EGU

Really good short clip, worth a watch. William McDonough asks some interesting questions on the triangle making you think about what the answers would be.

Sustainable graphic design tips

adamwoodward22 — Mon, 03 May 2010 22:14:47 +0000

I came across this website which gives some useful tips on sustainable graphic design.

http://www.metgroup.com/content/index.php?pid=163

I think the tip that jumped out at me the most and made me think more about ideas is ‘can we make it do more than one thing and fulfill more than one purpose’.

It makes me think about what design or product could i produce that can be used more than once? If I make a product what materials can I use to make it reusable?

Sustainability

adamwoodward22 — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:04:32 +0000

The Four R’s – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover

If the current world population of 6 billion people increases to 10 billion by 2050 as predicted, the human race will have four times the environmental impact that it has today. This frightening prospect is based on the assumption that the World Trade Organisation’s expectation of 2 percent global economic growth per year will be realised in spite of resource shortages or sink limits (the ability of natural systems to absorb pollution). The world’s ecosystems are already under great stress, and society need to adopt a strategy which brings improvement in living conditions without global disaster. Quality of life can be maintained, but only through the adoption of the four R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle and recover.

Taken from the book – ‘Rough Guide to Sustainability 2nd Edition’ by Brian Edwards

Boundaries and Borders in graphic design

adamwoodward22 — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:55:30 +0000

When trying to research boundaries and borders within design i couldn’t really find any useful information. From my own knowledge i believe the possibilities are endless in designing a product, because there are so many media and techniques that can be used. I think the only way there can be boundaries and borders within design would be conforming to the clients request. Which is where the designer can only design what the client wants the product/design to look like and the message it sends to others, making it difficult to be fully creative. Money can limit the quality of products/designs or how much advertisement can be produced. Legal requirements of what you can say or produce in designs may limit certain aspects of a product/design.

My view on ethics

adamwoodward22 — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:39:56 +0000

I believe everyones ethics are personal and it is down to the individual to do the right thing. I think everyone should strive to do the right thing when it comes with design and not just do any job to be financially secure. My personal views are that I would not take on any job like designing work with sexual content or work for a product whose frequent use could result in the user’s death, just to get money, no matter what my circumstances would be. I believe the role of the designer is to influence the world, design is everywhere and it affects how people see and react to things. I think designers have the responsibility to influence people for the better. Ethics and sustainability kind of interlink with each other because they both come down to your own values and opinions and the type of design you want to create.

Ethics and Sustainability

adamwoodward22 — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:47:52 +0000

A website i came across which shows a speech given by Susan S Szenasy at the AIGA National Design Conference, held on October 23 – 26 2003. Susan S Szenasy is the chief editor of a design and architecture magazine called Metropolis. The speech talks about her views on ethics and sustainability and what the designers should do.

Its is an interesting speech, check it out: http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20040301/ethics-and-sustainability-graphic-designers-role