Downtown Kalamazoo

An hour of observations...

Egg drop

Lots of great designs today!

See more photos on page 4 of my Facebook album.

On the general topic of designing for impact my faculty colleagues recommended this YouTube NASCAR video.

Pockets contents

While the things we carry in our pockets serve many different purposes, they have many common elements.
1. similar sizes
2. common shapes-- lots of rectangles with rounded corners
3. muted colors-- black, dark brown, greys, dark silver
4. durable materials
5. similar weights
6. smooth surfaces
As a result, a wallet looks surprisingly similar to a phone when both are designed to travel in pockets.

Name sign exercise

A few things we learned:

1. Different solutions exist for the same problem
2. Many things affect legibility
- size
- lettering style (or font)
- color
- line thickness
- contrast
- background
3. Color, shapes, and complexity can be intriguing and can draw the eye
4. There can be a trade-off between aesthetics and readability
5. Quality depends on time, effort, and thought

Design Characteristics

In our first class, we developed a short list of characteristics we could use to evaluate a product.

1. materials
2. sturdiness
3. consistency
4. comfort
5. aesthetics/visual appeal
6. cost
7. production (how easy is it to make?)
8. economy of materials
9. purpose
10. portability

If you want you can see a similar list from last year

Welcome

Welcome Kalamazoo College Class of 2013!

This seminar will look broadly at design and will meet the K College writing requirement for First Year students.





Here's a brief description from the syllabus:

This course will look at the role of design in the world around us. Our emphasis will be on features, feel and function of design. We will consider why some designs work well and others work poorly. We will think about how and why things are designed in particular ways. We will look at design choices from various perspectives.

The broader goal of this class is to develop and refine skills necessary to succeed in college and beyond. We will work on discussion skills, presentation skills, analytic skills, and writing skills.

If you're curious, you can explore various design topics or look at student blogs from previous years by following the links at the right.

Packaging links

"Isn’t it Iconic?" by Stacey King Gordon
http://www.brandpackaging.com/Archives_Davinci?article=999

"The Power of The Box - Powerful Packaging Design" by Tuija Seipell
http://www.thecoolhunter.net/design/The-Power-of-The-Box---Powerful-Packaging-Design/

Design factors

Here's a list of design factors developed on our first day of class.

1. comfort
2. durability
3. style
4. price
5. function
6. ease of use
7. materials
8. packaging
9. popularity
10. mobility
11. size
12. shape
13. color
14. quality
15. efficiency
16. value
17. producer
18. environmental impact
19. health impact

You can see more class photos as part of this online album

Welcome class of 2012

Welcome to Kalamazoo College and to the Design Intelligence seminar!

If you're interested, you can use the links at the right to browse earlier posts or look at student blogs from last fall.

Here's a short course description:

This course will look at the role of design in the world around us. Our emphasis will be on features, feel and function rather than on the aesthetics of design. We will consider why some designs work well and others work poorly. We will think about how and why things are designed in particular ways. We will look at the economic and environmental implications of design choices.

The broader goal of this class is to develop and refine skills necessary to succeed in college and in your career. We will work on discussion skills, presentation skills, analytic skills, and writing skills

Career Websites by students

Lawyers

Corporate Lawyer

Financial Advisors

Economists

Nursing

Defense Attorney

Retailer observation and analysis

For Monday Nov 26th

Play Paco Underhill for a day by observing a retailer. Retailers frequently target a specific group: by gender, age, income, or ethnicity. Choose a store where you wouldn't normally shop: a store catering to a different demographic group. Spend at least 15 minutes in the store. Look for design details: signs, lighting, images, music, noise level, fixtures, space, brands, quantity of products, color choices, materials, styles.

Answer the following questions on your blog.

1. What store did you observe? Who do they market to?

2. Briefly describe the following

a. appearance of store entrance (from outside)
b. sounds (inside the store)
c. how the merchandise is displayed
d. floors
e. signs
f. cashier area

3. What image does this business try to project? Give specific examples of design elements that reflect this image.

4. How did customers interact with various elements of the store's design?

5. What did you find interesting about the design of this store?

Retailing

For Monday's discussion:

Read The Science of Shopping by Malcolm Gladwell
http://www.gladwell.com/1996/1996_11_04_a_shopping.htm

1. Write a discussion question based on this reading and post it on your blog before 4 pm Sunday.
2. Read the questions posted by your classmates and answer two of them on your own blog.

I strongly encourage you to try using an RSS reader.

For Friday

Part I. Create a paper mock-up of your website for your profession/career. You can make a physical collage of text and images or do it all by computer. (Or, if you're comfortable creating web pages, you can just make one and print a copy.)

Part II.
Answer the following questions on your blog.

1. We discussed how packaging can be used to draw consumers' attention to a product. What other purposes does packaging serve? Give examples.

2. Read "Continent-size toxic stew of plastic trash fouling swath of Pacific Ocean" by Justin Berton
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/19/SS6JS8RH0.DTL&hw=pacific+patch&sn=001&sc=1000
and
"Germany, Garbage, and the Green Dot: Challenging the Throwaway Society"
http://www.informinc.org/xsum_greendot.php
What do these articles suggest about packaging design? Give examples of how modifications to current practices could have environmental benefits.

Packages

For Wednesday's class

Read "The Power of The Box - Powerful Packaging Design" by Tuija Seipell
http://www.thecoolhunter.net/design/The-Power-of-The-Box---Powerful-Packaging-Design/

and

"Isn’t it Iconic?" by Stacey King Gordon http://www.brandpackaging.com/content.php?s=BP/2007/09&p=3

To prepare for our discussion, write answers to the following questions on your blog:

1. To what extent is packaging important in marketing a product? Give an example of how a package influenced your decision to buy (or not buy) something.

2. What other products have iconic packaging?

3. What usability issues exist for packaging? Give examples of particularly good or bad packaging from a usability perspective.

For Monday

Biggest Mistakes in Web Design 1995-2015

Optional: see also Top 30 Web Design Mistakes

link for Friday's assignment

http://www.fusiongrant.org/educational.php

Monday's reading

13 Things I Wish I Learned In College

Wednesday's reading

How to Write More Clearly, Think More Clearly, and
Learn Complex Material More Easily by Michael A. Covington

Monday's readings

Three essays by Kathy Sierra:

“Are your users stuck in ‘P’ mode?”

“Why marketing should make the user manuals!”

“How to get users to RTFM”

Building chairs