Prof. Jenna Spevack | COMD3504_D061 | SPRING 2023

Week 13 Agenda

Tasks Due from Last Week

  • The Digital Revolution & Social Responsibility
  • Evaluating Online Sources
  • Research Project Prep
  • Project Presentation Tools & Tips
  • Reading + Discussion Week 12
  • Week 12 Agenda Checklist

This Week’s Topics

Check-in & Announcements

Share your Research Project Presentation (In Progress) to share for feedback on the Discussion Post.

If not, suggest a track for the playlist on the COMD3504 playlist post.

For inspiration, check out this student’s final Research Project Presentation from a previous semester:

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/spevackcomd3504fa21/2021/12/16/research-project-presentation-ea/
Edward’s Research Project Presentation Post

Review Comments from Week 12

Outcomes this Week

This week you will be focusing on finishing your Research Project & Presentation.

You should have a rough cut of your video completed by today to post on this week’s discussion post for feedback before our next class.

The Discussion Week 13 is available to share your Research Project Presentations in progress and get feedback from your classmates before the May 11th deadline. Please add your link(s) now.

If you’d like to meet again to discuss your research project, please contact me to schedule a time. And as always, be in touch with any other questions or concerns.

If you’d like an overview of all of the topics we’ve covered this semester, take a look at the Schedule page. Each week is listed with the topic and readings we completed each week. We’ve covered a lot and you’ve produced some great written work!

Activities

Below find the information covered in this session. Complete all of the following activities, videos, and assignments.

1. New Paradigms (30+ minutes)

Let’s look at a few different technologies and trends that have surfaced in recent years. Some are positioned to alter the future of design. What design trends have you noticed?

AI Designed Products

The impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning is being felt in all areas of the creative industry. We have robots reporting the news, computers generating songs, and paintings by AI machines. Our creative roles are changing once again due to new technologies.

One designer discusses the potential implications of AI in our design processes and provides an example of a shoe designed with AI tools.

John Mauriello. Industrial designer.

Virtual and Augmented Reality

VR (Virtual Reality), AR (Augmented Reality), and 360 Video are working their way into various disciplines, but these are still emerging technologies. Many people predict that these technologies will be a bigger change in society than the internet. Others think they will fizzle out. We have seen how technology can be a driving force in the changes in society and in the field of design, but it may take time for real adoption to occur.

In 2022 Facebook announced it would be evolving into Meta: “3D spaces in the metaverse will let you socialize, learn, collaborate and play in ways that go beyond what we can imagine.”

Inside the Metaverse – NBC News

Augmented and 360 Advertising

Check out some examples below and imagine what VR and AR will look like in five to ten years.

Here are just a couple of the product apps that have been using AR technology for years:

IKEA’s Place app

Here is an example of a 360 world of Oreo Cookie. View on desktop and use your mouse or the arrows to move around the scene.

360 animated Oreo ad
[view on desktop and use your mouse or the arrows to move]

Here is one designer’s dystopian imagining of an Augmented Reality future. Could this be the Future?

Hyper-Reality – Could this be the Future?

Want to learn more?

Here’s a designer discussing his journey and career in 3D and AR.

Here’s an example of the use of VR to share the experience of racism:

Ethical Design

Last week we looked at the Social Responsibility Movement, and prior to that, we explored how the Ethical Design Movement has grown out of the impacts of social media and the internet. The Ethical Design movement is often connected to technology and takes many forms: accessibility, inclusion, open culture, social equity, privacy, security…

Below are related links.

Design Trends

Every year you see lists of current design trends. These often look at visual trends, such as Vintage Design, Minimalism, Maximalism, Metamodernism, etc. Take a look at an example below of one designer’s observations of current trends. Using your Design Theorist skills, I encourage you to look deeper and ask WHY we see these visual trends at this moment in time?

  1. 0:39 Systematic.
  2. 1:23 Midjourney & AI.
  3. 1:59 Collage.
  4. 2:42 Holo-Morph.
  5. 3:27 Military inspired.
  6. 4:19 Dark mode typo.
  7. 5:16 Neu-Brutalism.
  8. 7:08 70’s typography.
  9. 7:42 Lensa-tion.
  10. 8:11 Geo simplicity.
  11. 8:59 Cyberwave.
  12. 9:47 The Blob.
  13. 10:29 Vaporwave 3.0
  14. 11:19 Global Voice.
  15. 12:20 Viva Magenta.

What’s happening NOW?

As you continue your academic career and your career as a designer (in whatever form that takes), keep an eye out for what is happening right now in the broad field(s) of design in relationship to culture, politics, technology – the why of design. Here are a few suggestions. If you have channels that you follow to keep up with what’s happening in the field, share them with this form.

  • AIGA Eye on Design – Published by AIGA an editorial platform covers the issues important to the global design world + elevates the voices of contemporary designers as a way to build a more engaged design community.
  • Revision Path – Podcast by Maurice Cherry. Discover the stories of Black designers, developers, artists, and digital creatives.
  • Works in Process – Prof. George Garresteigi’s podcast about uncovering creative methodologies from people doing inspiring work. Whether talking to a designer, an educator, or an entrepreneur the listener learns the HOWs and WHYs behind what they do.
  • The Observatory– Michael Bierut and Jessica Helfand on design, current events, and current enthusiasms.
  • Design Matters – Debbie Millman features interviews with designers, artists, and cultural leaders.

3. Research Project Presentation Planning

You have just one week left to complete your Research Project & Presentation.

By today you should have completed the first six milestones. Review the project guidelines and see below for the next milestones.

  • March 15: Define your research topic/question and submit your Research Project Outline
  • March 30 : Finalize your topic and start collecting supporting media and sources in an annotated bibliography
  • April 13: Finalize your research, supporting media and sources
  • April 20: Complete your presentation outline and script based on your research
  • April 27: Assemble all graphics and text in a slideshow
  • May 4: Share in-progress slideshow presentation with voiceover, get feedback from peers and professor, finalize annotated bibliography
  • **May 11: Post Presentation to OpenLab site – follow the guidelines**
  • May 18: Review Research Project Presentations in class.
  • May 22: Submit one comment on each of your classmates’ presentations

3. Presentation Tips & Tools

Review the Research Project & Presentation guidelines to make sure you are clear about what the expectations are. Specifically, take note of the requirements for Your Annotated Bibliography and Your Presentation Format.

Below find some helpful links for tips and tools you can use to assemble and record your Research Presentation.

If you have questions about putting together your presentation, don’t wait until the last minute. Reach out and ask: jspevack@citytech.cuny.edu

4. Discussion Week 13 – WORK IN PROGRESS

Add a comment to this Discussion Post with link(s) to your Research Project & Presentation in progress with any questions about your project that you’d like feedback on from your classmates or the professor.

Leave feedback for your classmates by Tuesday, May 9th.

Week 13 Agenda Checklist

Below are all of the tasks, big and small, for this week. The due date is Wednesday, 11:59 pm before our next Thursday class. Timely completion of these tasks will contribute to your success in this course.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Tasks from the Week 13 Agenda
Name

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