BDS 101 and 102 Syllabi

BDS 101: THINK AND MAKE I COURSE DESCRIPTION Design Thinking and Making provides Department of Design freshmen with a comprehensive introduction to creative problem solving; and the fundamentals of two, three and four-dimensional design. Drawing, photography, 2D and 3D models are used in this course as a means of design thinking to visually represent problems and opportunities. This course encourages freshmen to think critically about the world around them, use the design process as a powerful tool for finding solutions, and hone craftsmanship skill through studio making.

STUDIO FOCUS making: encourage students to achieve a skillful level of craftsmanship in the making of both investigative and finished work. thinking: prepare students to think critically and creatively by pushing accepted conceptual, formal and technical boundaries. community: nurture a rich working educational environment through presentations, demos, discussions, critiques, and writing. presentation: expect students to persuasively articulate motives and detail plans for solving various tasks and assignments.

COURSE OUTCOMES /// Students will be able to: identify “goodness of fit” the appropriateness of form to content (concept) and contexts (audience + cognitive, social, cultural, physical human factors). apply the principles of visual organization/composition to 2, 3 and 4-dimensional artifacts and experiences. organize a given area of two or three-dimensional space with respect to some specific, stated aesthetic and/or communicative purpose. analyze and employ imagery for meaning, particularly semiotics, emotional content and subtext (connotation and denotation). understand and apply the formal design process to identify and solve problems, including the skills of research and information gathering, analysis, generation of alternative solutions, prototyping & testing and evaluation of outcomes both independently and collaboratively in teams communicate their design work effectively through oral and written presentations; communicating ideas clearly and concisely. participate in discussions and critiques; providing feedback and responses to peers in a courteous and constructive manner.

COURSE EXPECTATIONS DESIGN PROCESS The central factor in determining your design ability will be your understanding of design concepts as they apply to assignments.

The process of designing and how you got there is as important as any final artifact you make. Research and multiple ideations are required for every assignment. It is vital to a successful design solution, as well as your development as a design student. Note: While the computer will often be the ultimate tool for production, preliminary work will often be done on paper. Mock-ups, thumbnails and sketches are a way of exploring relationships quickly by thinking and making simultaneously. It allows you to see multiple ideas, compare, and arrive at a point in which to select the “best” example to develop further.

CRITIQUES Design does not happen in a vacuum. Clear verbal skills are all important in communicating your ideas to clients and design team members. For all critiques, students are expected to come prepared to present their concepts, discuss how the form of their design supports their concept, and describe how they arrived at their ideas. Providing comments to your peers is a privilege. You will benefit from both giving and receiving feedback—you do not have to “like” another’s work, but you must provide insightful commentary in a courteous manner.

PERSONAL BLOG This semester you will be keeping a personal blog, and it will be linked to a class blog. Think of it as your online journal to reflect what you see/hear/experience in class, outside of class, what inspires you, resources you have found...Add an entry twice a week. Comment on what was discussed in lecture, post your ideas for lab, things that have inspired you or prompted questions. This will make up 10% of your final course grade.

Set up personal blog on Blogger: www.blogger.com Click here for a tutorial.

PROFESSIONALISM Professionalism is very important and will affect how you ultimately do in your major. attend class on time and stay throughout the whole class period be prepared for every class turn off cell phone, do not answer calls or text during class; any cell phones or laptops in use during lectures will be confiscated and you will be counted absent participate in classroom discussions/critiques maintain a positive and open-minded attitude demonstrate neat, self-disciplined and timely work habits progressively achieve the highest standards of quality EXPECTED WORKLOAD Throughout the semester you are required to work a minimum of three hours of homework per one credit hour.

A three credit hour studio will have a minimum of nine hours of homework per week.

Many will find the need to spend even more time per week. Studio course projects require a great deal of time in order to develop and complete. Please be aware that not all project work can be done at home or at your convenience. If you are expecting to work a full-time or near full-time job (over 20 hrs. per week) it will most likely have a negative impact on your performance and grade. It is very difficult to try and balance both a full-time job and a full load of studio classes.

COURSE RULES work only in rooms 316, 317, & 321; clean your work area. Any supplies or projects left from the daily class period will be discarded. no spraying of spray mount, glues, or fixatives in the rooms, building, or entryways; use spray booth in the Common Shop. always use a self-healing cutting mat or cardboard when using your x-acto or utility knife on the tables, floors, etc. use a protective surface--paper, newspaper, cardboard, etc.--when painting on the floors or tables. no painting on the sidewalks or concrete surrounding the building. visual or written plagiarized materials will not be tolerated.

COURSE STRUCTURE GRADES At the end of each project, students will be evaluated on overarching course outcomes and the particular concrete deliverables of the investigations. Students will also be evaluated on their engagement with all class materials presented: briefs, presentations and demonstrations, discussions, critiques, and supporting writing components. Project deliverables - posters, objects, etc. - are 50% of each project grade.

A process book will be handed in with each project. The process book contains class notes, lecture notes, research, inspiration, all your sketches, refinements, etc., from the project. Process books must be spiral bound unless otherwise noted. Directions will be given specifically for each project. It should be organized, neat, and professional. Process books are 50% of each project grade.

The final grade for this course will consist of the following: 20% Project 1: What is Good Design?

25% Project 2: What Language Looks Like 25% Project 3: Make it Better 15% Project 4: Light - Lite - Lantern / Materiality - Immateriality and Design 10% Blog 5% Participation LATE PROJECTS All projects are due on the date and in the condition set by the instructor. If you are late to class on the day our project is due. IT IS LATE. Late projects will be penalized by lowering the project grade by one full letter grade.

After two class periods the late project will no longer be accepted.

PLEASE NOTE The grade “C” is considered the average for evaluations given in this course. If a submitted project meets the stated requirements for the project – concept, preparatory work, homework, design exploration, variations in design exploration, final product – a grade “C” will be given. Work that exceeds expectations will earn a higher points in the “B” range, work that is exceptional earns an “A”. Conversely, work that does not meet the requirements for the project will earn a lower grade than “C”.

Each student must earn a “C” grade or better to be able to enroll in BDS 102: Design Thinking & Making for the spring semester.

THE DEPARTMENT OF DESIGN GRADE REQUIREMENTS This course is required under the majors studies section on your degree check sheet you must receive a grade of C (2.0) or better to continue on to the next course in the sequence. A grade of C- (1.7) or lower will require you to repeat this course. In most cases these courses are only offered once a year. Students in the Department of Design must maintain a cumulative 2.0 GPA to graduate with a degree in Design.

LOCKER SIGN UP Find a locker, take the yellow sheet out of the locker and fill out with your name, KU ID, major (also your locker partner if yours is for double occupancy. Put your names on the tape on the front of the locker and return the yellow form to the Design Office Room 200 Marvin. Do not give the form to your instructor.

SUPPLY LIST Everyday in class you will need the following: personal laptop (strongly suggested) with Adobe Creative Suite, iMovie and Adobe Acrobat flash drive (at least 1GB) or comparable device to transfer files point and click digital camera something to put your design and drawing supplies in, such as a tackle box.

The Art & Design Shop has a pre-packaged kit containing the following list of supplies plus the required supplies for BDS 101 and 103: Drawing for Design. tape: artists tape (white tape), masking, transparent pencils: H, HB, B, 2B, 4B, 6B pens: Micron pens 005-002 , Thick and Thin Sharpie kneaded rubber eraser, white eraser x-acto knife and a box of blades utility knife scissors self-healing mat to cut on in class (18x24�) straight edge (24 inches) push pins (always bring to class) glue stick rubber cement and rubber cement pick up ruler additional materials needed on a project-by-project basis, such as foamcore, Studio Tac, corrugated cardboard.

BDS 102: THINK AND MAKE II PROJECT ONE: MACHINE FOR SITTING. Materials: Drawing supplies, corrugated cardboard, utility knife, glue (wood glue) There is a direct connection, a thread of sorts, that connects an Egyptian pharaoh setting poised atop a gilded throne to the common office worker slouched deeply into a rolling chair. The act of sitting does not always require an object to do so, though increasingly we develop objects to perfectly suit and cradle our bodies. As well, we know assume and expect that each task facilitates it’s own machine for sitting–the lounge chair, the desk chair, the office chair, the rocking chair, the swivel chair, the kitchen chair, the deckchair, the car seat…Each function demands a form.

This project focuses on 3-dimensional design and it’s relation to function and form. Building two cardboard chairs, you will explore the mechanics and physics of material, the shaping and directing of functionality, and the inherent aesthetics that exist in between. The evolution of ideas through prototyping will reveal the relationship between mock-ups and 3D drawing/designing.

“A cardboard prototype can tell more about the true identity of a design than a studio photograph of the final product. A drawing can show something of the momentum with which design ideas are born. A picture of a product detached from its usual context can reveal the beauty or originality of the object. Snapshots of meetings and working sessions in the studio and of different stages of the production bear witness to the design process and its transformations in time.”

Florian Bohm (KGID Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design) Allowing materials to inform your design decisions will add a new tool to your process. Utilizing new terminology–including adjectives to describe form, ergonomics and human factors– will round out your creative vocabulary and add depth to our critiques of form and function. The ability to develop physical strength with structure in old, new, and creative ways will see design as a method of problem solving. As well, we will strive for a professional level of craft in all that we do.

For the next few weeks, we are all furniture designers. We will dive deep into the collected history and future of this field. We will learn to see this art form as yet another place to experiment. .

“You can only renew a tradition by understanding it, and you will only understand it by renewing it.”

Mogens Koch (Danish Chair Designer)

PROJECT TWO: What is Wayfinding?

Kevin Lynch in his book The Image of the City (1960), coined the term “wayfinding� to describe his concept of environmental legibility. Wayfinding encompasses the information-gathering and decision-making processes people use to orient themselves and navigate through space; simply put, how people get from one location to another. Lynch identified the skeletal elements of city form:

The Elements of the Environment: Paths: Familiar routes followed such as streets, walkways, subway routes.

Edges: boundaries between two phases, linear breaks in continuity. The physical barriers of walls, fences, rivers, or shorelines.

Districts: areas with perceived internal homogeneity such as midtown, residential areas, industrial areas, suburbs, college campuses etc.

Nodes: centers of attraction that you can enter. Major intersection or meeting places, such as New York’s Grand Central Terminal Landmarks: point of reference such as building, sign, store or mountain.

Architectural Wayfinding: Wayfinding design is a human-centered approach that builds on the findings of research in cognition and environmental psychology to design built spaces and products that facilitate the movement of people through urban settings and individual buildings. Susan S. Hunter defines the successful design of wayfinding as systems that allow people to: determine their location within a setting; determine their destination; develop a plan to take them from their location to their destination; and execute the plan and negotiate any required changes Objectives: Learn that the user is important and should be part of the design process Learn specific knowledge, literature and language to help you become a better designer (study what others have written and made, and share their language) Learn to work in teams, and learn leadership and communication skills Learn to apply current, appropriate design methods Incorporate research from other disciplines in the design process

CONTINUATION OF PROJECT TWO: THINKING ABOUT DESIGN Design = Problem Solving - Defining design What do you think about the design criteria for this project?

How does this limit you?

What does it do to your design process?

In what ways do design criteria effect process and final product?

How does this idea relate to real world design scenarios?

Materials and Process What does structure have to do with this project?

What did you learn from working with this material? What are some of the tricks you learned?

What are some of the structural principals that are evident in the projects you’ve created?

What is “good craft” in respect to this material?

Share and discuss your design process.

Is there a conclusion you can draw between the process and the final product?

Design = Problem Solving - Critical Thinking - Assessing whether something is good design or bad design What makes a project successful?

What makes something a good design? What does this have to do with the design criteria?

Which projects meet design criteria? Which do not? Why? It looks cool but does it work?

Art vs Design... Any thoughts?

What are your opinions on what Art is? How does this relate to Design?

What is Creativity?

What is Beauty? _________________________________________________________________________________________ ___ Think: What considerations have to be taken about the cardboards material properties when thinking in terms of structure?

Why is cardboard corrugated?

What happens to cardboard when you crease, score, fold, or cut it?

What adds strength and integrity? What reduces the materials integrity?

What techniques improve structure?

What techniques improve craft?

Which of the structural terms and principals on the website listed below, and in the structural principals vocabulary list are in play in your seat when it is sat upon? In other circumstances?

PROJECT THREE: Person, Place, and Thought Vessel Materials: Wood, sandpaper, glue, carpet tape and Wipe on Poly/Mini-Wax Tools: bandsaw, rasps, files, carving/printmaking tools, etc.

Design is communication. Objects speak a language. As designers we have the ability to utilize everything around us to communicate our intent and to shape our ideas. This creation of meaning is innate and intuitive to our human nature and is a fundamental trait of our collective human intelligence.

The challenge of this design project will be to communicate an idea through form. It will be up to you to determine a specific person, place, or thought which will inspire the form of your vessel.

Our work consists of many layers and here we will focus on: Perspective which changes with the person Context which is dependent on place Meaning which is birthed from thought In short, we will design and build a wooden vessel that holds meaning. The most explicit way to communicate meaning is through words. Here the use of more figurative and metaphorical elements of shape (form) and context (environment + surroundings) will deepen the meaning you are attempting to communicate.

The shape of a vessel reflects it’s use, it’s surroundings, and the thoughts that respond to these two elements.

Your selection of inspiration will guide you through your form-making process–from mind mapping to sketches to a three-dimensional object. Your vessel should communicate your concept through chosen physical details (size, shape, texture, color, finish etc.).

Our design process will mirror the way in which an author writes a story, a musician sings a song, or a dancer performs choreography—each a process that conveys meaning. As Marshall McLuhan was famous for saying “the medium is the message.” Our medium will be our wooden vessel.

As in previous projects, the person, or user, will also play a central role in your design. Whether you decide to focus on your own wants and needs or those of others, understand that a personal or shared perspective will motivate many of your design decisions.

Context—the natural and/or built environment—will add to the overarching experience of your vessel. Design is encountered and embedded within our daily lives. Notice that objects have their own form language which changes with each type of space they exist within–objects that live in the kitchen; objects that live at the office; objects made and used in other countries.

As well, ideas come in many forms–poetry, mantras, words of truth, words of wisdom, quotes, lyrics, sayings, truisms, maxims, koans, metaphors etc–discover a message that resonates with you and will motivate your design choices.

Questions to keep in mind: How can form communicate meaning?

How does context effect/affect metaphor?

What cannot be expressed with language?

How are perspective, context, and meaning related? (AEIOU)

PROJECT OVERVIEW: DESIGNING A BOOK/THE BOOK AS DESIGN You will research a designer in your area of interest and create two double-page spreads (four pages that are two sets of facing pages) about that designer including text and images. You will be using InDesign for your book design, and you should bring your laptop with InDesign to each class period.

Later in the project, your instructor will assign groups of 4-5 students who will combine their articles for a small book that includes each student’s two-page double spreads. Each student will also create a Table of Contents and Title Page for their own book. Once the spreads have been combined and sequenced, each student will print and bind the book. For their copy of the book, each student will also create a jacket that shows the front and back covers and two inside flaps. The final book (sequenced, printed, bound, and jacket) will contain the same content for each member of the group, but will have a unique Jacket, Title Page, and Table of Contents.

Technology: Adobe CS5/CS6 InDesign (bring your laptop to class each period) Process: Choose one designer in your area of interest from the lists below: Graphic Designers Industrial Designers Illustrators & Animators Interior Designers, Furniture Designers, & Architects Photographers * You may choose designers that are not on the list suggested by your Photo, Illustration, Drawing for Design, or Basic Visual Communications Instructors. All chosen designers must be approved by the instructor in your section of BDS. Presentation: Once you have selected a designer, start researching their work. Collect images and information for a short presentation about your designer for class on Tuesday, April 7th.

Save your presentation as a Powerpoint or PDF on your flash drive and upload to the classroom computer. Presentations will be displayed on the classroom projector.

Research Paper: Research the life and work of your selected designer, and write a 400-word essay. Include biographical information, education, influences, characteristics of style, awards/publications/clients, etc. Be sure to use two bibliographic sources as well as internet resources. Cite all sources at the end of the essay. Collect 25 images that you would like to use in your final layout in a file. The research paper is due on Thursday, April 9th.

Book Design: In groups of 4-5, compile each group member’s two double-page spreads. These spreads will provide the content for your book. The final book (sequenced, printed, bound, and jacket) will contain the same content for each member of the group, but individually, you will design a unique jacket, title page, and table of contents. The completed book is due during your designated time during Finals Week.

There is no process book for this project, however, you will be graded on your daily progress and time management.