readings / project 1

reading 4
politics: context, client, agendas

get a taste of your client's history: with designers, challenges, successes, & decision-making methods. find allies within their team, low and high on the totem pole. make sure you know who has the final say.

create a work plan: design & client roles, process, contact info, timeline (fixed and flexible)

determine the most important audience and prioritize. what response do you want them to have: motivation? emotional? inspiration? how will they interact with the piece? what physical requirements need to be met? type of interaction, demographic concerns.

+lots of information?
alphanumeric organization: A.1, B.2.3, C.17.11
& apply system to documentation to keep info straight

find/create clarity & refinement in the content. sift through loads of info to find the relevant: market research, strategic plans, previous versions, other client materials, competitor materials, client input, completeness, message, resolution.

plan for the long run: updates, management, new material, production, budget

form = function
don't try to fit content to output or format: work logically, the other way around.

process: structure, supporting documents, information flow

+sitemap:
all project components
flowchart
coherent diagrams
navigation flow
very successful website-making tool
team consensus
framework
differentiation
hierarchy

+blueprint
+wireframe
+schematic:
less design / more structure
least & most important
order
templates for later
catalog information
quick
less style / more conceptual

///

the order of order
"THE ALPHABET, NUMBERS, TYPEFACES, TYPE WEIGHTS, DESCENDING AND ASCENDING DEELEY-BOBS, BULLETS, STARS, INDENTS, AND ON AND ON AND ON..."

why do we order how we order? when i stack my piles of papers and books in attempts at "organization," do i ever stop to think about how somebody else could happen upon these piles and make any sense of the personal associations and categories i attach to these to-do lists?

it's an exciting possibility to take something once ordered in a default way and look instead at the content for reasoning behind the default. this article very much made me think of john cusack in "high tension," where he pulls out his entire record collection, originally ordered alphabetically, and begins placing it in the chronology of his own first experiences and memories with the music. nostalgia, attachment, impressions, time periods, phases; it makes so much sense as i (and many, as the movie notices) often end up thinking about my music's history with me in this way already.

///



latest render. getting closer, finally.

small group crit:
- add more color at beginning and take all but 1 or 2 at the end to make distinction between busy busy and calm.
- possibly add more noise
- remember the point IS busy vs. minimal
- general rule of leaving type on for 5 seconds
- over contrast vs. under
- turquoise on purple is hard to read
- use a background-y sound that doesn't distract from visuals

///

agi was lovely! i've missed chicago lots. took bunches of notes, got lots of inspiration, feeling motivated but overwhelmed because am now finding myself incredibly behind (and am going to chicago again this weekend, phew). i think that if i focus reallllly hard today and tomorrow i can make serious progress in all of my classes, and hopefully that will be enough to make it through the next week or so.

!!!