Final hand-in: brief and instructions

Be sure to hand in your final research paper with a copy of your rough draft (assignment 4) to Nan O'Sullivan (2nd Fl Wigan office) before 3pm on Friady 3 June.

 

Design for the other 90%

Please watch as many of the following videos as you can in preparation for next week's lecture. 
There is no assigned reading.

 

* Esther Duflo: Social experiments to fight poverty (16:47)

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/esther_duflo_social_experiments_to_fight_poverty.html

* R.A. Mashelkar: Breakthrough designs for ultra-low-cost products (19:41)

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

* Amy Smith shares simple, lifesaving design (15:06)

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

* Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education (17:14)

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

* William Kamkwamba: How I harnessed the wind (5:59)

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/william_kamkwamba_how_i_harnessed_the_wind.html

* Jane Chen: A warm embrace that saves lives (4:47)

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

* Emily Pilloton: Teaching design for change (16:44)

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

* Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, two years on (16:36)

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

* Hans Rosling and the washing machine (9:16)

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/hans_rosling_and_the_magic_washing_machine.html

* Hans Rosling shows the best stats you’ve ever seen (19:53)

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html

Week 13: Massive Change

This week's assigned reading, "Massive Change" by Bruce Mau

Critical Mass: view lecture here

If you didn't make it to this week's lecture, "Critical Mass" given by Simon Fraser, Head of School, The School of Design, please watch the digital recording here.

Wed. guest lecture: Critical Mass

This week's lecture will be given by Simon Fraser, Head of School, School of Design. The topic is 'Critical Mass' and the changing role of design with the increasing use of digital design and manufacturing processes. Please be in attendance.

What is Audio-Visual Culture?

If you missed today's lecture by Dr. Leon Gurevitch, "Audio-Visual Culture", check it out here

Assignment 4: brief (in case you missed it)

Deleuze and the Use of the Genetic Algorithm in Architecture

Take a few minutes (well about 120 actually) to watch this lecture by one of the leading philosophers of digital design today, Manuel Delanda. You'll be glad you did.

This week's lecture: Curtains!

The blogspot editor is experiencing some difficulties, so for now you can find the link to this week's lecture here on "Curtaining the Curtain Wall." This lecture is intended as model for you as you begin writing your paper. Plus it is entertaining. Look for the chocolate fish at the end.

Also, as a reminder don't forget to attend your tutorials this Friday to collect your assessments for Assignment 3 and to sign up for your individual writing workshop sessions.

Welcome back [the end is near!]

Hope everyone had a restful Easter break. As a reminder, please note that Assignment 4 -- the first draft of your research paper -- will be due next Friday (13 May). Please see the assignment brief here for guidelines and requirements, and come to lecture on Wed. for further guidance, tips, and other incentives. Also, your assessments sheets for Assignment 3 will be distributed in tutorials on Friday.

FYI: 507 Mechanical movements

Emergence

This week's assigned readings:
An excerpt from Stephen Johnson's seminal work on Emergence here and Paola Antontelli's essay "All together now!" here, from Design and the Elastic Mind.

Hand-in Schedule Change: please note

Having considered a few thoughtful requests from students regarding the hand-in schedule for Assignments 4 and 5, it has been decided that an extra week will be given for you to prepare your first draft (Assignment 4). Please note the changes to the original hand-in schedule below:
REMAINING SCHEDULE OF SESSIONS + ASSESSMENTS 
(New hand-in date for Assignment 4 below -- please note!!)
 

April 

6 Wed. week 6: research paper 101 

8 Fri tutorials April (cont.) 

13 Wed. week 7: emergence 

15 Fri. ASSIGN. 3 DUE; no tutorials

18 Mon. Mid-trimester break begins 

May 

2 Mon. Mid-trimester break over 

4 Wed. week 10: morphogenesis

6 Fri. tutorials

11 Wed. week 11: critical mass 

13 Fri. ASSIGN. 4 DUE; tutorials 

18 Wed. week 12: audio-visual culture 

20 Fri. tutorials 

25 Wed. week 13: massive change 

27 Fri. tutorials 

June 

1 Wed. week 14: design4theOther90% 

3 Fri. FINAL PAPER DUE; no tutorials

What is a Case Study?

If you are wondering what a 'Case Study' is and more specifically, what is expected from you in Assignment 3, be sure to attend (or watch) this week's lecture. We will go over the Case Study in detail and how it should relate to your larger research project and paper. Also, please note I have added three prior Case Study assignments as examples for you to review on the Tools+Briefs page of this blog.

case study [noun]
A particular instance of something used or analyzed in order to illustrate a thesis or principle : airline deregulation provides a case study of the effects of the internal market.

Assignment 3: project brief

 

See previous examples below (note these are in CMS not APA style as was previously required)
SAMPLE CASE STUDIES 
1. Sustainable Design Methods
2. Class, status, and identity
3. Manufactured desires
 

Week 5: Information as Ideology

In preparation for tomorrow's lecture have a look at David McCandless's excellent site: Information is Beautiful and Manuel Lima's site: Visual Complexity. Either offers a great place to start an exploration of critical visualisation.

from visualcomplexity.com

Research skills video tutorials: online now+

If you would like to continue to sharpen your skills at finding articles and other materials relevant to your research topic, have a look at the Vic Library's new online tutorial videos (here).

Tardigotchi: steampunk, postdigital, or??

Tardigotchi_English from Studio Bureau on Vimeo. Concept, Design and Fabrication of Tardigotchi by SWAMP and Tiago Rorke. Read more about the Tardigotchi project here.

Steampunk and the E-baroque: background + assign. reading

Week 4: assigned reading is here. For more background on this week's topic, visit The Steampunk Workshop and the wikipedia entry for Steampunk; also of interest, explore the 'history' of the Telelectroscope

Draft thesis statement: bring to tutorials on Friday

Please bring your best attempt at a thesis statement / argument for your investigation to tutorials on Friday. Read the project brief for Assignment 2 for specific examples of what a thesis statement should look like.

Assignment 2: brief

The brief and guidelines for the second assignment have been posted. Note the examples of each required component highlighted in yellow.

Howling at the Moon: thoughts on the everyday

This week's topic: the everyday: in preparation for Wednesday's lecture, please read the excerpt from Nicholson Baker, The Mezzanine and Howling at the Moon: The Poetics of Amateur Product Reviews .

Cat Genie, Self-Flushing, Self-Washing Cat Box

One Source

Don't forget to bring one potential source (the citation at least) to lecture tomorrow. Also remember to do this week's reading: W. Bostwick, How (not) to write like a designer, from Core77 2 Feb. 2009 (you can find a pdf on this blog or in the R-drive).

#POSSIBLEPAPPERTOPICS

Can't think of a research topic? [consider one of these] 
failure in the design process // panopticism and social media // aura and the resurgence of craft // the digital everyday // sustainability and product lifecycles // green design or green-washing // mass customisation and the death of the designer // consumer-crafted identities // e-baroque and the return of the curve // gaming and social activism // processing and the scripting of design // the design of gender // the gendering of design // the history of ergonomics // ecological design // hyperreality in 21st century design // craft and design // spectacle and the image in design // war and design // ornament and crime // postmodernism as design mashup // intellectual property and the copyleft movement // the rise of the digital nomad // cyberspace and the googlocracy // privacy and social media // viral marketing and the post-brand era // wireless computing and the internet of things // science fiction and design....

Helpful tips for creating annotated bibliographies

You can also find the PDF on under Briefs + Tools

What is a scholarly source?

As you beginning developing your Annotated Bibliography, don't forget that you need 4 out of 5 of your sources to be "scholarly". What does that mean? Have a look here or here or have a search here.

Week 1, theme: critical design

Join us in LT1 tomorrow at 11.30am to find out more about 'critical design' and how it might help you THINK about what you do differently...

[and you'll find out more about this dog...]

Tutorial streams: sign up now!

CCDN271: Design as Inquiry -- tutorial sign-up sheets have been posted outside of LT1. If you can't get into a stream that works with your course schedule, email margaret.petty@vuw.ac.nz or stop by Margaret's office, 4.10 Wigan.

Welcome to CCDN271: Design as Inquiry

Why 'Design as Inquiry"?
Rapid innovations, expanding technologies, and a voracious culture of social media serve to increase the impact and implications of the economic, political, and ecological conditions we face today. More than ever before then, it is essential that design as a profession and designers as individuals integrate reflection and criticism into the practice of design. Design as Inquiry asks students to approach the study and practice of design critically and provocatively from a multi- disciplinary perspective.

What can be gained from 'Design as Inquiry?
This course will build upon students' base design knowledge and skills, expanding this intellectual framework and applying new ideas to the examination and critique of design.

Where and when does 'Design as Inquiry' happen?
LECTURES:
Wed. 11:30pm – 1:10pm Room: LT 1
TUTORIALS:
Fri. 10:30am – 11:20am Room: VS204 stream A
Fri. 11:30am – 12:20pm Room: VS204 stream B
Fri. 12:40pm – 13:30pm Room: VS308 stream C
Fri. 13:40pm – 14:30pm Room: VS308 stream D
Fri. 14:40pm – 15.30pm Room: VS308 stream E
Fri. 15:40pm – 16.30pm Room: VS308 stream F

See you there... 


Robert Hodgin's Bait ball