Its all coming together

This concept class was also another interesting experience. Our group activity was to assemble a 3 shot story in groups of 3's and using no words only images. While it was interesting seeing what people wanted to do, at least in the groups near me and my own group included, I was curious to see how and what stories people would be creating in the end. Our group was the sore thumb in the room at the end of the project due to the fact that our story resembled something out of a Tarantino film, while the other stories carried much more positive or comedic narratives. The goals for everyone's story were only partially met however it seems. Many people depicted very base and boring stories that, while well portrayed and rendered, simply were not interesting whatsoever. Some stories like my own groups were just not sequentially working in their favor, they could have been excellently rendered but it doesn't matter if the story cannot be found or determined. So it was unsurprising that our next assignment was to create a story from 3 entirely different magazine images. To better help us develop that ability to show a narrative or concept in a few shots. Another thing of interest is that the final project as announced to us, the creation of a video that brings together design and the concept of sustainability and saving the Earth if you will. However a very mediocre example of the project as shown to us in class, I can't help but feel the professor did that on purpose to perhaps trick people into making one just like it.

a who?...a who..Oh a who!

Today's concept development class was quite interesting, and by interesting I mean the almost the entire first half of class was spent on a game. However the game was fun/tedious, some how managing to be both. It was a good tests of memory and teamwork, and I was surprised at how many time we didn't lose/fail. Although the game was more for fun then that single lessons or two lessons technically. After going through the game, which left some people mentally burned out somehow, we moved on to a very important topic;project briefs. These briefs are a very important piece of design paperwork and they can help the designer and client in terms of goal accomplishment. The briefs track what is needed for the project, and many other logistics, the brief itself helps to consolidate the project and forms the essential backbone of the project due to the vital information on it;who, what, why, when, where, and the how of the project. This document is extremely important to design work, and I'm glad this was assigned as homework, so we could properly form one.

Game Day 2

Today the rest of the concept class finished presenting our game concept boards, I was among them. I volunteered first due to anxiousness as well as the critique, which I was looking forward too. I tried to cover everything but as usual many things are lost in translation but the critique, as well as questions, proved very useful. The information that the class and Jimmy gave back to me was very valuable. I saw that my board was not balanced and I needed a better sense of visual hierarchy. The attention to detail must also be followed and never ignored, because those small details make a huge difference. I can see why some people find critiques hurtful or unsatisfying but honestly these kind of critiques do nothing but improve your skills. They tell you what you need to fix and what should be changed. The information they reveal to you tells you how to become a better presenter and how to present with a stronger and more powerful presence. The other people after me had similar issues. Although there were still new lessons to be learned, presenting with a mumbled or monotone voice is unsatisfactory, as it should be. The next class we're going to refine our presentations and boards even further and make sure they are even closer to a perfected concept, ready to be made.

Game day 1

This class we all brought our "developed" concepts to class on our presentation boards,  in hopes that we were ready to present. Like my some of my other classes this presentation was merely a test of our concept and presenting abilities.  As we gathered in the room and began presentations it became clear that no one here would have a perfectly developed concept and presentation, at least not now. Many people had interesting ideas while others simply re skinned existing games or changed them ever so slightly, so as to reflect some amount of creative effort. However no one person that presented had a truly solid concept. Through critique we all learned a number of valuable lessons regarding the development of a board or game in general, as well as presenting. The importance of visual hierarchy and color was lost on many of us and boards were either empty or too lop sided with imagery. Nothing but important and valuable data came from the whole class. The importance of proper body language, as well as verbal language, can make or break a presentation. It also forced many of us, especially those who presented, to look even harder at our concepts and think about what needs to be fixed or simplified.

Hard games

This past concept development class, a majority of us came prepared with our 9 ideas for games. However upon review by the professor it became clear that we had not tried our best. I know I personally had not done all I could, which I should have done. This another issue I found educational, to some degree. I mean should we be working on something for clientele, this kind of attitude would not be acceptable. Of course this was also for class, not payment or work, so therefore not much work or thought may have been put into it fully. Although I don't think this is a good excuse either, let alone any excuse. Another interesting point was that although many of us till had 9 games we had very few good ideas at this point, personally I realized my ideas were all far too similar. So really this class taught me about being thorough, working according to guidelines and general workmanship issues. The only idea I had that people express interested in seemed to dark and similar to other board games so I now have time to create an actually interesting and innovative game

Games time children

Today's assignment had us playing a variety of games we all brought in. Their were some expected game like candy land and trouble and some unexpected ones like an airplane themes chess-like game and tarot cards. The class revolved around 2 different games trying out new games with new people. I realized the goal was deeper then just playing with people, but it was to see what made a game an effective game. The attributes and ideas that cause a game to be successful and remembered. Several of the more popular games were played over chess and dominoes, seeing as more people were looking to have fun with the games rather then actually think or play a strategy based game. The successful games had good presentation and the ideas they were based on were attractive to the player. The game, aside form being designed to look attractive and enjoyable, also had to present the idea in a clear and coherent manner. The game has to be playable as well as attractive. I think the most important part of the game is the emotional response you get form it, our professor wrote some on the board after we played. The emotional impact is what dictates a good game, whether the fear and frustration from monopoly or the joy and competitiveness from Catch-a-phrase. Games have to have a good emotional impact to influence people to play them more then once. 

sins and games

The following  class, when the 7 sins project was due, I was eager to see everyone's own personal depictions. I had stuck with the idea of them as demons or primal evil beings who embodied the sin itself. The amount of variety was quite interesting. There were people such as myself who went with the drawn approach and sketched or drew their own personal depictions, other people with less talent, or perhaps less patience found and printed images that they thought depicted the sin as well. It was interesting to see who did what and perhaps what personal style or influence they have that may transition into their future design projects. The interesting part was when the professor left us to award individual pieces from sets, dictated by criteria we had spent a large amount of time discussing. The awards ranged from the idea itself or the most creative. I couldn't help but notice how some people simply refused to award and those that awarded far more then they needed. to. As curious as this was its a design class not a psychiatric class, but the designs and creations from my peer ranged from cool design work to lazy print outs. The next assignment from the following class, much like this previous one is also intriguing. To bring games and play them with the class, I find myself interested in how this project activity will further our design work as a whole or teach us some lesson we may not know.

Late stuff

A bit late on these updates but their updates nonetheless, Mondays concept class was interesting.there was nothing extremely spectacular about today in my opinion, due to the fact that we watched a long video, at least if memory serves it was long, it could just be I found it dull. I can't remember however it was the assignment for next class that truly got my attention today. The assignment to create a visual communication of the 7 deadly sins. This was a project I could get behind. Such a large amount of options and ways to depict them, I found myself almost over whelmed by ideas. I however stuck with my original idea of depicting them as demons, however that may have been a  poor design choice(more on that next time).

Feelings

This time in Concept Development class, we spent a majority of the day in 2 separate groups discussing two of the questions that had previously been assigned to us for class. In these groups we each went around and discussed our own reactions and answers to these questions. I think the exercise was a bit fun, I mean clearly there were some people who were more into it then others. That's always the case in life though I guess, or more specifically in forced group settings, there are always those who are not so supportive or accepting of working with a large amount of people or they simply aren't that social. However not to confuse people and make them assume that everyone was like this it was a small amount of people since the majority were more then willing to share and continue discussing. The exercise got more exciting as soon as both sides were done answering questions it turned into some sort of social networking party. The TED talks we viewed after the exercise were also very insightful. The idea of simplicity from John maeda and the less inspiring talk from the presenter after him.