How Professionals Think in Action

The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action
by Donald Schon

The three principal doctrines of Positivism:
• First, there was the conviction that empirical science was not just a form of knowledge but the only source of positive knowledge of the world.
• Second, there was the intention to cleanse men’s minds of mysticism, superstition, and other forms of pseudoknowledge.
• Third, there was the program of extending scientific knowledge and technical control to human society, to make technology, as Comte said, “no longer exclusively geometrical, mechanical or chemical, but also and primarily political and moral.”

The example about the construction and building of a road was very interesting in this reading, and made it somewhat easier to understand after reading a bunch of historical garble that I did not seem to understand what it had to do with the article.

This example about the road building, "they deal usually with a complex and ill-defined situation in which geographic, topological, financial, economic, and political issues are all mixed up together." Yet when they perhaps reach a neighbourhood, all of the issues arise yet again and problem solving and problem "setting" take control.

There are actions, recognitions, and judgments which we know how to carry out spontaneously; we do not have to think about them prior to or during their performance.
We are often unaware of having learned to do these things; we simply find
ourselves doing them. In some cases, we were once aware of the understandings which were subsequently internalized in our feeling for the stuff of action. In other cases, we may never have been aware of them. In both cases, however, we are usually unable to describe the knowing which our action reveals. It is in this sense that I speak of knowing-in-action, the characteristic mode of ordinary practical knowledge.

Text Talk (pt. 2)

Continued from: Text Talk.

Research Question
How has the growth in technology and the introduction of "text talk" and "emoticons" affected the communication and design aspects of typography?

This could entail in the exploration of:
• Pictograms
• Hieroglyphics
• History of communication through design
• Technology development and growth
• Communication through technology

This graphic design forum thread asks a similar question and the replies are interesting. A lot of it also relates to the argument about whether the computer has been a positive or negative influence on the graphic design field.

I Come to Bury Graphic Design

I Come to Bury Graphic Design
by Kenneth Fitzgerald

Design is everywhere and on everything, and with the access to so many programs and computers and other things, it seems like anyone could be a designer if they feel like it.

This applies to design as well as art. Sure, anyone could probably put together a simple CSS/HTML web design for their own home-run company, but there is just something about these "self-made" designers that make their work look like they weren't designers.

But as the saying goes, "Everyone can draw. Not everyone can draw well."

Why Designers Can't Think

Why Designers Can't Think
By Michael Bierut

"Swiss" or "Slick."
Process, lengthy projects. Or portfolio pieces.

Combining the two would probably be most ideal.

To me, I think that OCAD has some sort of grip on combining these two. I feel that some classes are all about the process work; they're one huge project lasting the 13 or 14 weeks of the semester. They make you think, work through problems, reach a result, but that result doesn't have to be the be all and end all of the piece. There are other classes which feature three or four different projects throughout the 13-14 week period of the semester. These smaller projects are to be completed within a certain deadline and are to be seen as outstanding portfolio pieces.

By experiencing both ends of the spectrum, it allows us as graphic design students to learn how to better educate ourselves about topics that we are not familiar with and also prepare ourselves for starting a career after graduating.

Graphic Design Thesis: A Survivor's Guide

Graphic Design Thesis: A Survivor's Guide
by Michael Vanderbyl

Graphic Design Thesis is designed to define the complex intersection between personal voice, conceptual understanding, and the ability to conduct and use research effectively in the service of creating a compelling, finely crafted public communication.

Four major components:
• Thesis proposal
• Research
• Thesis project
• Process book

The Thesis Proposal
The thesis proposal is a proposition or argument - usually based on original observation - which you intend to support through research. The proposal might detail your anticipated investigation or address the potential implication of your proposition.

The Research
The purposes of research are many:
• To understand how to evaluate what you see and read
• To develop your own opinions and critical frameworks based on informed judgments - not simply on what you like and don't like
• To acquire the critical skills to discern reliable/useful sources from the junk
• To evaluate your own work in light of what you learn through research
• To develop your own understanding of the relationship of history/theory to practice
• To have the chance to explore a topic that interests you in a more in-depth fashion

The Thesis Project
The thesis project is a proposition or argument explicated by design and supported by research. Your thesis project is the physical manifestation of, and the conclusion to, your thesis proposal. The for it takes should be determined by the nature of your proposal and its content.

Process Book
A bound record of your thinking and design process. Your process book should include your writing, research, design investigations, successes, and failures - in short it should document how you got from point A to point Z in 15 weeks. It should include all steps, even abandoned topics. It should also include footnotes and a bibliography.

Wonders Revealed: Design and Faux Science

Wonders Revealed: Design and Faux Science
by Jessica Helfand and William Drentel

The landscape has shifted.

Although this reading makes many interesting points about the variations of science, design and other fields, it is still important to understand that without one field, another may not exist.

Similar to my post about Paul Leedy's Focusing Your Research Efforts, the interconnectedness of all fields of research, design or science, is intriguing. It's amazing how vastly different something may be from another, yet how connected they are in once sense or another.

On (Design) Bullshit

On (Design) Bullshit
by Michael Bierut

"I don't know, I just like it that way." So many times in my life as a designer I wish that I could have used that to explain my decisions behind certain elements. This reading was very amusing and very relative to many designers, if not all of them. I know many, many times I have bullshitted many reasons why I designed a certain poster or package the way I did.

Now it just seems like another phase of designing. I think to myself when designing, "Why am I using a circle on this logo rather than a square?" Then I work it out in my brain:

A circle. A circle is round. It represents unity, continuation and symmetry. A circle will work for this company because it represents all these things. This way, the logo will be seen as "everlasting" and highly representative of the company I am designing it for because they are a strong and long-lasting company.

But when you think about it, it's still just a circle. It's the art of being able to denote and connote the correct ideas with the subject to become a great bullshitter.