What is an experience? What does it mean to design experiences?
UX Design – “User Experience” design – is a major growth area in
design hiring today. Recent economic theorists have claimed that
we now live in an “experience economy” that differs markedly from
the economic models of the last centuries. DES 40C, “Design
Aesthetics and Experience” asks us to question experiences, with
examples that range widely from dance to Disney, from the design
of concerts to the Whole Earth Festival, to the design of
exhibition spaces and narrative environments.
Rebecca Creger shows an example of Project 2: Type Hierarchy
Studies. This multi-week project is key to mastering the basics
of typography and expressing what Paul Rand calls “the
relationship between form and content,” his well-known definition
of design. Students experiment with a given set of text to create
compositional alternatives that express clear information
hierarchy and relationships.
The project begins with one size and one weight of Universe and
builds in complexity as more sizes, weights, and styles are
introduced each week.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, how about a diagram or a
map? Diagrams, charts, graphs, tables, guides, instructions,
directories, and maps are all essential materials for
understanding and navigating our world. They help communicate our
ideas and our research findings to both disciplinary peers and
broad non-specialist audiences.
In DES 149—through a series of readings, lectures, discussions,
exercises, and projects—we explore ways to enhance the clarity,
density, and impact of information displays through decisions
about color, language, typography, and form. We learn by studying
exemplary work in diverse fields, including the manuscripts of
Galileo, timetables and timelines, the Pioneer Plaque, notations
describing dance movements, axonometric maps, the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial, electrocardiograms, and a textbook of Euclid’s
geometry. By looking at and dissecting a variety of examples, we
analyze why some graphics are effective and others are not, and
experiment with how they can be improved.
In Fall 2015, DES 180A offers some truly relevant and
cutting-edge educational opportunities. The first assignment is
the interior design of Cruess Hall, Phase II.This project is
currently being developed by campus planners, but so far only a
schematic diagram has been created. Student work will contribute
to the “real” discussion of what Ph II contains and how it will
look.
Exhibition Design is primarily concerned with how to communicate
an object led narrative to an audience in an engaging manner.
Interpretive strategies using spatial planning, furniture,
lighting, images, typography, activities, audio, film and
interactive media help to embellish the story. Content is relayed
through multiple levels (intellectually as well as participatory)
and applied to a variety of environments from museums to trade
show exhibits. Teamwork is crucial in the exhibition design
process and includes curators, writers, educators and technical
specialists.
Environmental Graphic Design (EGD) communicates information in
three-dimensional forms and integrates messages into the built
and natural environment. These messages are geared towards
finding a way from one place to another, identifying a location
or a specific destination, or gaining orientation in unfamiliar
surroundings. This spatial problem solving process is termed
wayfinding. The designer is charged with creating
the tools (signs) that facilitate wayfinding, and the physical
result of a wayfinding problem is a successfully concluded
journey.
Narrative environments are public spaces that are designed to
communicate a story, deliver a message, provide entertainment,
create a sense of place, or sell a product. Examples include
exhibitions (museum ortradeshow), transaction experiences (store
or restaurant), entertainment venues (theater or theme park), or
special events (festivals or parties). Designers for these spaces
are articulate storytellers who use strategies to engage, inform
and entertain multiple audience types.
Seminar—1 hour; studio or field experience—3 hours per unit
(units determined by instructor and student); field trip.
Prerequisite: DES 14, 15; upper division standing and
consent of instructor. Faculty initiated workshops featuring
advanced studies and applications of original work in Design:
Textiles. Letter grading by contract. Field trips included.
Credit limited to 12 units in one section or a combination of
sections.
This graduate research methods and writing seminar covers
different methods of historical research
(book/journal/review of the literature, archival, and oral
history interviews), as well as quantitative and qualitative
approaches useful for researching contemporary topics. We will
read the writing of others (selections from 20th-century design
history topics) in order to study the methods of research the
authors used to construct their arguments and historical
narratives.
