Author Archives: kyle.fowlie

11/24/13

Kyles’ Taquitos!

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This project was one of my first experiences with Photoshop and although it was incredibly infuriating at times, I felt very accomplished at the end. I don’t remember how I came up with the idea to do a Mexican-themed project for our mock website assignment but I do remember feeling a stroke of genius – the name just fits too well. I went with dark, spicy colors to aid the Southern vibe this site demands. I accented these darker colors with some bright yellow to make things stand out. I felt like the font choice really helped as well. Also, if you read the descriptions of the food items you may get a sense for the fun I managed to have building an approach for this site. I now prefer to do most of my designs in Illustrator, although the lessons I first learned here in Photoshop carried over and helped me a lot.

 

11/13/13

Vector Portrait

Original PictureVectorPortrait

For NMD 295, Matt had us do a vector portrait. I had seen a few of these done before and they all looked fantastic so I assumed that it wasn’t difficult… Of course, I was horribly wrong. I had used Illustrator a few times before, although my novice with the pen tool shows up in this portrait. We only had one hour to do the entire assignment and I had to go a tiny bit over to add detail to the hair and beard. The hardest part, for me anyway, was moving on when something didn’t look perfect. Overall I really enjoyed the project and will be doing a few more of these later in the year.

10/29/13

Spontaneous Intervention Projects

1.) Skipping Only Zones [Installation]

Skipping_Only_Zone

Premise: Put up signs declaring a particular section of a walkway, crosswalk or path to be a ‘skipping only zone.’ I thought this would be interesting if used on campus.

From http://www.spontaneousinterventions.org

“For most, the choice route to and from work (or anywhere, for that matter) is the fastest, most direct, or most familiar. Bent on breaking up the monotony of rote passage by introducing a little fun, Sierra Seip and Alison Uljee created Skipping Only Zones, with signs that riff off the standard pedestrian-crossing sign installed at various crosswalks, sidewalks, and pedestrian paths throughout New York City. The designers were heartened to see people follow their sign’s prompt, goofily skipping across streets or bonding with strangers over a funny, shared moment. Skipping Only Zones is part of Seip and Uljee’s larger project, Design That Moves You, a series of urban interventions that uses fun as a motivator for increased physical activity and social interaction.”

Created by: Sierra Seip and Alison Uljee

New Media Strategies:
Mobilize People (get people thinking)

Other Resources:

http://designthatmovesyou.wordpress.com/design-interventions/skipping-only-zone/

2.) Stairway Stories [Installation]

Stairway_Stories

Premise: Make large cut-outs of a simple story and past the lines on the face of stairs (not the top) starting at the bottom.

From http://www.spontaneousinterventions.org

Would you forgo the elevator if climbing stairs promised a great story? That’s what industrial designers Alison Uljee and Sierra Seip hope to achieve with Stairway Stories, which is a part of their larger project, Design That Moves You, aimed at combating obesity through public design interventions. Stairway Stories entices people to take the stairs, with snippets of a story adhered to ascending risers. Uljee and Seip tested their project at the High Line park, posting a sign on an elevator suggesting visitors make the two-flight climb. Those opting for exercise were rewarded with “a romantic and educational encounter between two angler fish.” It might have been more work, but then “Her gorgeous face glowed…”

Created by: Sierra Seip and Alison Uljee

New Media Strategies:
Mobilize People (get people thinking)

Other Resources:

http://designthatmovesyou.wordpress.com/installations/stairway-stories/

10/29/13

Yes Men Projects

Project: New Orleans and HUD

The_Yes_Men

In 2006, the Yes Men appeared at a “Housing Summit” in New Orleans pretending to be members of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). One of the Yes Men gave a speech in which he claimed that HUD would reopen public housing facilities in the area and that the department had changed its mind about tearing down undamaged housing units in favor of mixed-income development.

It is widely known that some Maine residents are currently living in poor conditions unsuitable for the winter months. This Yes Men project got me thinking about the lack of ‘affordable’ living situations for the people of Maine. I wonder if a project with the same goals as the Yes Men could be developed in this state to help people live comfortably throughout the changing seasons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yes_Men#New_Orleans_and_HUD

http://www.mainehousing.org/

10/29/13

NMD Strategies 2

New Media Strategies Exercise 2: Invent your own many-to-many solutions

Human_Network

Pick one of the following problems and brainstorm a solution that embodies a many-to-many approach.

 

Problem: Student films are always set in dorms.

Develop a network of set seekers and owners. See the Many-To-Many Solutions for a detailed description of how this idea will plan out.

10/28/13

NMD Strategies 1

New Media Strategies Exercise 1: Which is the new media solution?

New_Media_Name

For each of the following capstone ideas, identify which solution embodies many-to-many principle, and explain why in one or more paragraphs. You should have at least 4 paragraphs, one for each problem.

 

1. Problem: A disappearing language

Ian Larson wanted to help preserve the Passamaquoddy language from extinction.

Solution A

Create a taskforce from a select group of Native American language experts, and ask them to write down a dictionary of words and their definitions. Enter these definitions into a database and build a Web site that allows anyone to search for terms and hear their pronunciation. Hire a high-profile Web designer and marketing firm to ensure that as many people as possible learn about this resource.

Solution B

Distribute laptops with video cameras to schoolkids in the Passamaquoddy community, and ask them to record their grandparents telling stories in Passamaquoddy. Upload these to a Web site along with the grandparents’ definitions of particular words used in the story, and make these words searchable via a tag cloud.

 

Answer: B is the New Media resolution.

 

Link to the whole PDF.

09/25/13

Many-to-Many Solutions

Problem: Student films are always set in dorms.

         How can you help filmmakers find better locations for their videos?

 

Solution: Develop a network of set seekers and owners.

         This solution would require some definite planning. The idea would be to develop a web page (or other many-to-many vehicle) that could allow directors of all talents access to normally private areas. Local companies and businesses would offer there ‘set’ for a proper incentive (hopefully just a large area of the credits, or use of there products in the film). Ideally, there would be a rather large selection of parking lots, business locations, farms and structures for students to use. Owners of the space could post available time slots for film-making and then directors could select a time and be given the owners contact information. Obviously there are some possible dangers to this, so precautions would have to be made to ensure the safety of everyone involved as well as the preservation of the property being used.