May 4th, 2008 ethereal
tomorrow is final review. i am not 100% confident that my presentation speaks to my project intentions in the way that i hoped it would, but i feel so deeply immersed in the forest that i cannot see the proverbial trees. i am sure i will be able to speak clearly about my intentions and conclusions in a few months. but for now, i am not so sure. i feel wrapped in anxiety and in relief at the same time. i want it to be over, but not to end. there is the next phase, the next thing, the next adventure … but i have learned so much on this one its hard to allow it to pass. with that said, i am confident that i will be able to let it go with more grace than i have in the past. if i have learned anything about living these last two years, its to live in the moment more. so in this moment i feel change coming in all of its freedom and fright. i dreamt of snakes last night, but i did not wake up screaming. to the contrary i slept quite well. maybe grace has found me after all.
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April 24th, 2008 ethereal
i found a typo in my thesis document draft. its been edited a few times, but no one caught it. maybe they saw it and left it for me to find. its a good one, oh yes, one that is made far too often.
apparently, in my project i would rather “asses the nodes of the system”
instead of assess them.
i find this freaking hilarious. maybe at this point i am desperate for humor.
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April 21st, 2008 ethereal
for GD510, i am working on two a diagrams for visualizing a community structure:
1) an arrangement that represents a community with a centralized leader
2) an arrangement that represents a community with a decentralized, or share, leadership model
as part of this process, i am taking an informal survey around campus using small squares of quilting fabric. i lay out about 6 stacks of all the same size and ask participants to assemble them in two formations, represented the centralized and decentralized communities. so far, i have given the kit and questions to five groups/persons. the results are not meant to be empirically certain, rather to inspire the process of creating the diagrams and the interactive interface. i was in dire need of expanding my vision beyond my own impressions of the project. what better way to visualize community, than to ask the community. here are the results so far. i will add annotations after i transcribe my notes. however, it is apparent just at a glance that there are some similarities! thanks to those who have taken the time to help me …
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April 19th, 2008 ethereal
I thought it was about time for a post about our seventh studiomate, george. when matt brought the foreman grill in, i wrote it off as a meat eaters device. then, as the 2nd years moved up to the second floor and away from the microwave, i re-examined the possibilities that the foreman offered. turns out, its very handy. and unlike the microwave, sandwiches are crispy and melty, not rubbery and gooey after bombardment with particles and waves. here are some of our tasty creations: (all cook for 3 min)
the matt classic:
turkey, mayo, pesto, wheat bread
the sam:
frozen burrito, toasted not nuked! much better.
the steve:
swiss cheese, mustard, tomato on pita or wheat
the kelly:
swiss, avocado, honey mustard dressing, tomato on wheat tortilla
ituna:
tuna from foil packet (or tuna salad if you had time that morning), mayo, swiss, tomato, pita
quesa do ya:
corn tortilla, black beans, corn, cumin, salsa, avocado
(this one leaks out a little)
foreman desserts:
heat a brownie for 1 min
s’mores! (untested idea)
pb, honey & banana sandwich
who knew … so versatile!
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March 30th, 2008 ethereal
I tried to build a bit of a categorical list of the types of images, mainly photographic, that are used to communicate the “unwritten” cultural laws of dress in the workplace. My question when I started looking for the images and information that led to this list was where in the media do women get there information on how to dress for work? I have a strong, but untested, suspicion that most of the final decisions are made based on peer evaluation and what is in our immediate circles, but what if we are leaving our circle to go to a new place but want to avoid that feeling of being completely out of place (like a new job)? And the construction of fantasy absolutely comes into play in terms of what we see in the media outside of our peer group. Anyway, here’s the list. Images to come.
Visualizing Corporate Dress Codes
Communicating this type of information to a job seeker is difficult. If there are no concrete rules yet the margin of acceptance seems so narrow, feelings of hopelessness or backlash may result. Visual strategies to demonstrate attire vary. However, a survey of what to wear books, internet sites and magazines produces several basic categories of image type:
Runway Fantasy
Few runway photos are used to illustrate what to wear to work, but they are used to construct the seasonal fantasies that set the trends. Shots of ultra-thin professional models wearing something that carries the “essence” of what will eventually be clamored for on the ready-to-wear racks may be used to inspire a look. This also holds true for celebrities on red carpets. However, celebrities images carry their own myths, and can be used as a visualization technique. If a job seeker is asked to visualize her image of success and she conjures Oprah, images of the media empress can be utilized to entice the job seeker to divulge why she chose that person. This provides a foundation for her own image. What Oprah was wearing could very well be part of that.
Catalog Model
The catalog model is the fashion model with flawless features, idealized body and carefully posed form. This image type is shown either in context or on a white background. Online or in print, catalog images form a strong presence in creating fantasy when considering what one wants to look like. Photographs of catalog-like models that demonstrate what to wear may work when designing the conditions for fanciful imagination, but when asking the audience to think realistically, the skin color, size and features of the model become an obstacle. “This does not look like me.”
Bodiless Outfits
Photographing clothing without the wearer in a slightly but not obscenely wrinkled arrangement on a white background is a popular technique used in magazines such as InStyle, books such as the popular Chic Simple series and on what to wear web sites like wardrobe911, a style blog hailing from the San Francisco area that often posts advice on office attire. This technique eliminates race, modesty issues and size from the visual equation and invites the viewer to imagine themselves in the clothing. In instances where fantasy does not include imagining the self as someone else, this is a highly effective tactic.
Average Jane
What to wear web sites that are sponsored by universities or non-profits that seek to help with the specific issue of finding employment such as Washington State University’s “Dress to Impress: A Guide” (http://amdt.wsu.edu/research/dti/index.htm) have taken images of women in example outfits. Whether for content, copyright or budget reasons, this technique serves to strip the “selling” out of the task and feature the clothing as anonymously designed articles that represent a prototypical clothing category rather than a name brand item. In addition, the home grown quality of the image communicates that these women are every day job holders and not celebrities or fashion models. The connotation this imparts is that these looks are attainable, and not part of a fantasy.
Piece of Me
Working with the visual principle of metonymy, images of part of the body substitute for the whole. This image type is rarely a stand alone and is most often accompanied by captions or explanatory text. Rules about office dressing are shown by using the section of the body that applies to that specific rule only. This method succeeds in suspending the “that’s not me” reading by forcing the viewer to draw conclusions about the rest of the image, or to dismiss it as unimportant. The focus is only on illustrating the point the accompanying text is making. When this technique is used in popular media, it is often to highlight a part of an outfit for accolades or to point out a fashion “don’t”. In either case, it reinforces this image style as a way to show a clothing best practice.
Virtual Goddess
The last category in this short inventory is a more recent addition. The company My Virtual Model has made quite a splash in the online shopping world by selling clothing via avatars assembled in the likeness of the buyer. The size, skin color, features and hair style are all manipulated to assist in constructing the fantasy that the virtual model is a stand-in for the user. Then, the user can try on clothes and rotate the model in space to see the fit. There is potential to use this method for communicating what to wear codes and best practices, but it also faces some of the hurdles that looking at catalog models faces—the construction of the fantasy leads to disappointment when the real version fails to live up to the hype. However, it can be beneficial as a “goal” image if taken lightly and with a dose of humor.
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March 29th, 2008 ethereal
I read a chapter of Critical Cyberculture Studies titled “Overcoming Institutional Marginalization” by Blanca Gordo and then went off on this tear:
Much of my time in working on thesis “artifacts” has been spent in the production of diagrammatic expressions of how the system would work. This seems to be necessary in order to show the viability of such a system. The next step is to demonstrate what the objects themselves look like and how they visualization supports the stated objectives of the system and the objectives of the individual components.
Throughout the process of gathering information from fields outside of design, I have discovered that there is little to support that a system such as the one I am proposing would have a positive effect on the population it is meant to serve and the overall economy of the areas that it would be implemented in because there is very little quantitative research that shows how this population uses technology or how the introduction of a Community Technology Development program would work.
In a society that places value on empirical proof through statistical data, how then can the funding and support for such a project be procured? There is clearly a need for it, but designed responses to that need cannot currently be backed with quantitative studies that show the outcome path.
Perhaps then, the role of the graphic designer in this situation then is to speak about the culture by using the tools of culture to tell a convincing story.
The rules of the story:
based on research
show a path of viable action
reveal the possibility of predicted outcomes
It becomes a task of persuasion. The graphic designer plays a role, with team members who are experts in their own field, in convincing funding bodies and policy makers that an underrepresented area deserves their attention and support.
- - - - - - -
I have been a “designer” for ten years and still am not sure where I fit in.
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March 23rd, 2008 ethereal
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March 23rd, 2008 ethereal
yesterday i made a map of how a wardrobe planning journal would be used in the relationship between a mentor and a job seeker. i am hoping the map is usable in my thesis, and i am not sure what the next step is with it. i am thinking that i have to select a few key pages from the journal to design, and then to fill them out as demo and photograph them.
“The WearToWork journal isolates
the issue of how to create
a professional presentation of
self for the workplace by providing
a journaling tool to the
job seeker to keep track of her
clothing choices and options in
the process of obtaining and
keeping a job for 6 months.”
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March 21st, 2008 ethereal
thesis
sometime
in the near future
i will pull each tiny post-it
off of the fore-edges
of each borrowed book
and return them to their places
on the shelves
and i will return
to the rest of my days
with the residue
of each hand
that touched my life here
and creased the corners
of this chapter in my story
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March 21st, 2008 ethereal
just because one enjoy’s writing does not mean that one does not have a complete and utter anxiety attack when faced with the blank page at the start of the writing process. in my case, this is due in part to the fear of having very little to say that has substance. as i prepare my outline for the writing portion of thesis, i and finding have no structure in which to frame the varied collection of stuff that i have gathered over the past eight months. it has vanished in the night like socks in the dryer. even deeper below this strata of uncertainty is the fear that the gathering process has been a well constructed fantasy and when lifting the lid on my mental archive of all that should be, i find only a layer of dust and some post-it note to-do items about improving my process and taking better notes.
let the hyperventilation begin.
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