Thoughts

Go College Soccer Website

2010-01-23T17:42:35Z

I got a call from one of the Virginia Tech soccer coaches who needed some help overhauling his website. He said he was getting around 100,000 hits per month and he wanted to redesign his site. I don’t know why, but I really wanted to work on this project so I spent the better part of yesterday working on a redesign of his home page.

No money or agreements have been made, I just got excited about the project and started working on it right away and I’ve had a lot of fun redesigning his site and learning about soccer. I guess I just needed a distraction from working on my book for a day or two.

American Package Design Awards

2010-01-18T13:47:29Z

I received notice today stating that my 2009 Holiday Promotion piece won an American Package Design Award. I had a lot of fun working on promotional pieces with my Intro to Graphic Design class. I used mailing tubes to create the kit and laser cut a pattern I drew into the tubes. I then included a bottle of wine and spices to make a mulled wine.

The letter I received said there were over 1,500 entries and fewer than 150 were given awards. It’s been really rewarding to see how people react to this promo and their reaction has made all the hard work that went into it totally worth it—winning an award doesn’t hurt either!

Shel Perkins: AIGA Richmond

2010-01-12T14:52:57Z

On Thursday I’ll be driving 3 hours to Richmond, Virginia to hear author Shel Perkins speak about what it takes to launch and sustain a successful graphic design firm. He’ll be talking about legal and financial issues, how to avoid common mistakes when hiring, intellectual property, client contracts and cash flow.

I’m hoping some of what he says might be able to be scaled back to the student level and work its way into the book I’m authoring. I invited my colleague Somiah to come with me and I hope to catch up with some of my old friends in Richmond and VCU while I’m there!

Holiday Mulled Wine

2009-12-15T05:42:33Z

01. Cut orange and squeeze juice into a pot. Using a knife, cut thick strips (including peel, pith and fruit) and add to the pot. Add water, sugar and spices to pot and bring to a slow boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

02. Add wine to spice mixture and place over medium heat, stirring occasionally (do not boil). Strain wine and pour into mugs and add a shot of rum to individual servings as desired. Serve hot.

03. Enjoy your mulled wine with family and friends. Happy Holidays!

UCDA Conference

2009-05-01T14:05:36Z

My colleague Dane Webster and I will be presenting the paper, “Facilitating Independent Academic Learning Environments and Merging them with Professional Practice: Case Studies at Virginia Tech” to the UCDA Design Education Summit: Design for the Common Good conference in Mobile, Alabama at the end of May.
Unfortunately, Dane will be teaching summer school so I’m going to have to present our paper by myself, but the good news is I’ll get to see my buddy Diane (Gibbs) Smith from graduate school and catch up. I’m looking forward to the conference and hopefully some good seafood!

Risky Business

2009-03-09T19:52:55Z

I’ve always been intrigued by graffiti. I do not support it’s destructive nature, but semiotically and graphically speaking—the graffiti scene is ripe with potential. I think what I like best about it is that “good” graffiti is that it is often unexpected, a reflection of our culture, and depends largely on the amount of risk one is prepared to take. This week I delivered a lecture on the difference between creative and logical thought in an effort to encourage my students take bigger risks in their design work and process, but I also have to stop and ask myself—what risks am I taking? I hope to answer that question soon.

Constraints and Solutions

2009-02-22T17:05:02Z

I remember watching a Charles and Rae Eames interview where designer Charles Eames was asked, “Do you ever compromise?” and he replied “No, but I’ve accepted constraints.” [ great answer by the way ]
Pictured left is a screen shot from the video game Call of Duty a popular first person shooter game. A father and his son negotiating the terms of his gameplay. The father writes, “I asked Evan to google the Geneva Convention and he had to read it and we discussed it. The deal is that Evan has to fight according to the rules of the Geneva Convention. If he or his teammates violate the Convention, play stops and Call of Duty goes away for a while.” I think this was a brilliant solution!

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

2009-02-17T20:39:21Z

If you haven’t been to TED: Ideas Worth Spreading—stop what you’re doing and check out their lectures. There are some very powerful ideas and concepts and it’s a great place to go to engage your brain.
The most recent entry is by Barry Schwartz who makes a passionate call for “practical wisdom” as an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy. He argues powerfully that rules often fail, incentives backfire and practical everyday wisdom will help rebuild our world. I’d like to think that I practice practical wisdom, but I know that my Myers-Briggs ENTJ profile means I’m prone to hold on to rules and justice.

Prayers for Virginia Tech

2009-01-25T04:19:07Z

The beautiful woman on the left is Xin Yang who was recently murdered at a campus cafe at Virginia Tech. My heart is heavy with sadness that violence has once again found its way to our campus. Xin was a 22-year old graduate student from Beijing who arrived on campus January 8th and was murdered only fifteen days later.
I’m not sure why so much violence has found its way to Blacksburg, but it’s clear to me that this campus needs to be covered in prayer. I didn’t have the opportunity to get to know Xin, but my thoughts and prayers are with her family—I’m sorry for your loss.

Constructivist Learning Theories

2009-01-12T17:55:25Z

I just found this weekend that a paper I’m helping co-author was accepted into the Architectural Education Forum 4 in Istanbul. I was also recently accepted into the FATE Conference in Oregon, so I’m going to be busy writing papers the next few weeks.
I think I’m going to write about Constructivism in graphic design education. Constructivism in a nutshell means that the teacher acts as a guide, rather than acting as the keeper of information. It creates a classroom with a lot more flexibility, but can be difficult for some students to get used to because of its rather organic structure.