April 2008
31 posts
Culture of Giving
Only 2 weeks of classes remain at ID, and with the end of the year approaching, projects are finally coming to fruition. Our team was able to talk to Gabe Biller, Kristy Scovel, Alex Cheek and Jordan Fischer, who comprise two school projects that are aiming to improve and add to some of the research techniques that the school prides itself on. These projects allow us to focus this issue on the...
Video Killed the Interview Star
Ok, try to follow me here, but the other day I was interviewing a couple second-year students about their project on interviewing, where they were interviewing expert interviewers. Let me explain…
Kristy Scovel and Gabe Biller are graduating in a few weeks, and to cap off their Institute of Design careers, they wanted to do a project that could be used as a tool to help future students...
The End of the Snapshot
Former New Idiom editors Jordan Fischer and Alex Cheek have been keeping busy in their last semester at ID with an independent study project that focuses on their shared love of photography. The two wanted to do a project with photography after noticing that people’s pictures from user research weren’t so useful in giving them the results they sought. People were taking pictures in...
Commentary on Don Norman lecturette
“You can’t design for how you want people to act.”
Ripping off his fleece to reveal an ID shirt (John Maeda style), “Cantankerous visionary” (Business Week), Don Norman began his discussion about operations, design, services and whatever else came to his mind during the hour and a half he spoke with us on Wednesday.
For being a renowned behavioral scientist, professor and human-centered design...
2 tags
New IDer: Marilee Bowles Carey
Marilee is a first year MDes/MBA, first-semester new IDer that you might have seen running around these walls. I managed to stop her for a few minutes to tell us a little about herself.
Please quickly introduce yourself in a quick sentence.
I live in Evanston, I was born in Detroit the year before JFK was elected president, my major was graphic design, I went to the University of Michigan,...
2 tags
Past IDer: Kim Erwin
Kim Erwin talks about being a professor and ID’s role in the future of communication design.
Please quickly introduce yourself in a sentence or two. Where are you from? Where are you now? When did you graduate from ID and which program?
Born originally in NYC, I moved to Chicago when my father took a full time faculty position at IIT. I spent many years in campus housing at 31st and...
Observed
Science Fiction author Bruce Sterling talks about the future of interaction design.
Seven lenses for visual thinking from Dave Gray, founder of Xplane.
ChocolateID, brought to you by the Economics of Product Development Class
Student twitters his way out of jail
Great vintage watch designs from Watchismo
Cha Cha- human powered search engine for your mobile
Beatbots- Robots with rhythm.
fun...
The end is near…
At this point in the semester, many ID students are angst ridden with their workloads. I know that us foundies are at our wits-end. Between the construction of an elaborate brand book and the attempt at an engaging interaction animation, we are either on the verge of tears or self-pitying anger.
In our extreme distress and exhaustion, we constructed a Mood Matrix (which we found out was not a...
The time may not be very remote…
image courtesy: Culver pictures
More than a 100 years ago, HG Wells, the notable science fiction writer, said:
The time may not be very remote when it will be understood that for complete initiation as an efficient citizen of one of the new great complex world wide states that are now developing, it is as necessary to be able to compute, to think in averages and maxima and minima, as it is now...
Opening Dialogue: ID hosts Chicago IxDA
Last Wednesday, the Institute of Design hosted the monthly gathering of Chicago members of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA). Nearly 70 were in attendance to join in discussing the topic presented by Christopher Finlay (MDes ’08), “Keeping Experience Fresh: Using Character, Theme and Motif.”
Christopher proposed a storytelling framework to understand how great businesses create...
Red Herring Design
No, Red Herring Design isn’t the name of new firm you should be dying to get hired at, it’s a method of creative negotiating that I’ve used and think some people could benefit from.
At my old job, when a project I was working on needed to be reviewed, sometimes I would add small details that I intended on losing. Not a lot, but just enough that when my boss came to...
Chicago ID Alumni Network
If the vast majority of ID graduates continue to live and work in and around the Chicago area, wouldn’t it make sense to have a vibrant alumni social community?
There could be…
To this end, a sociable group of alums and the school have teamed up to connect alums across Chicagoland. Our first event was an intimate gathering in the north side neighborhood of Andersonville. ID alums...
Blogging Lecturette
Ash Bhoopathy and Vince LaConte presented a lecturette last week about “Blogging, Wikis, and you”. Here are a few takeaways:
If you want to blog, it’s relatively easy and safe to get started immediately using ID’s multi user wordpress server.
Get used to using RSS to read news/commentary and del.icio.us to find and classify information for yourself, because you never...
Improv Aloo (Potatoes with Mango)
Gauri Verma improvised a dish for last Friday’s international dinner. This was a delicious dish that used a unique pairing of potatoes and mangoes. It was a hit at the international dinner. Those that didn’t make it should try it at home.
Ingredients:
5 potatoes
1 mango (unripe)
3-4 curry leaves (kari patta)
1 white onion
spices: mustard seeds, chili powder, tumeric, cumin...
ID Tshirt Contest Winner Announced
The winner of the 2008 ID tshirt contest is “Cutting Cubes Out of Fog,” designed by Daniel Erwin. Join us in congratulating Daniel. Stay tuned for news on when you can get a Cutting Cubes shirt of your very own!
Observed
Cool infographics coolinfographics.blogspot.com
Strange Strange Phenomenon Captured
Chicago public radio airs Hugh Musik’s rendition of rock, paper, scissors
Show your skills http://www.sketchswap.com/
Storytelling: Six authors, six stories, six weeks http://wetellstories.co.uk
North Korea vs South Korea
For your moleskin www.engraveyourbook.com
Wake up to your internet life...
Editors: Hard at work
You see what we go through to bring you the most up-to-date news.
Seventh Inning Stretch
Let me start with a shout out to the students who have taken time in their schedules to read the New Idiom this week. B session has just begun, meaning a few new classes for most of us on top of our regular workload of semester-long workshops. (Foundation students get more in deep into all their semester classes.) Although this means we’re halfway done, we can only wish that the work is halfway...
The method is not the trick
“Why are you asking me to watch you tear up a dollar bill? The method is not the trick. The method is never the trick. Once you’ve mastered the method, you’ve hardly begun the trick.”
— Jamy Ian Swiss, closeup magician
You may have seen the Methods Poster. You may even have it hanging on your wall. On it are displayed the methods taught here at the IIT Institute...
John Grimes says “Yes”
After nearly 40 years in teaching, John Grimes, a professor at the IIT Institute of Design, said “Yes” for the first time.
“I honestly thought he was joking,” said a student in Grimes’ Digital Media course, “I mean, he’s never agreed with anyone, let alone a graduate student”.
The startling response came after the student adeptly explained the nature of programming languages.
“I remember...
Recommended Museums
Whether you’re visiting a new city or just going home, a break from school is always a good excuse to see museums. While in Houston, Texas over spring break I visited two amazing art collections: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Menil Collection. Later in the week, while at my parents’ home outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I went to the Milwaukee Art Museum to see the world renowned Foto...
Foundation students resort to “connect the dots”
In a desperate attempt to feign some kind of drawing ability, Foundation students have been encouraged to purchase ‘connect the dots’ books.
“Drawing ability is an essential tool for any aspiring designer,” says Chris Conley, Associate Professor at IIT Institute of Design, “I think this is the best way for our foundation students to learn how to do that.”
In previous years,...
Exploring the edge
A couple years ago I surfed upon a strange little publication called Edge.org. Edge is both a non-profit organization and a publication, organized by “literary impresario” John Brockman, a literary agent who represents more of the world’s leading scientists, philosophers, artists and cutting edge thinkers than probably anyone else. The ostensible mission of Edge is to promote...
Secret Admirer Campaign (SAC) Comes to an End
The three week long Secret Admirer Campaign aimed at Jonathan Campbell finally came to an end with two different groups taking joint responsibility for the attack. The two groups, The Anti Hug Group and The Hug Whore Group, described the campaign as a protest against unwarranted hugs.
Anti Hug (pictured, right) described hugs as a direct threat to its core values and philosophy while Hug Whore...
ID Tshirt Contest
This past Friday night SocialID held an ID T-shirt contest. Students gathered in the Steelcase room with laptops and ideas for ID themed t-shirts.
T-shirts can be viewed on flickr, and voting sheets will be up this week. The winning design will be mass printed as the next ID t-shirt.
Design Research Conference 2008: Truly a student...
The further we get into the planning of this year’s Design Research Conference, the more we see how much of it is carried on the able shoulders of students. We have several teams who contribute to the content development, publicity, print and web communications, and to the day-of support of the event. And we couldn’t ask for better abilities and talents.
A shout-out goes to our planning teams:...
Patrick Whitney: “I can save Britney”
In a startling display of selflessness, Patrick Whitney, director of the IIT Institute of Design, announced his intention to help struggling popstar Britney Spears. Whitney is the latest to join the long line of celebrities who believe they have what it takes to restore sanity in Ms. Spears.
“The problem isn’t booze, drugs, or even deep rooted psychological problems,” says Whitney, “It’s really...
New IDer: Eric Folger
Please quickly introduce yourself in a quick sentence.
“My name is Eric Folger and I’m new to the MDM program as of January. While both native to the US, my wife Angela (also a designer) and I have been living in Australia for the last three years. I had been working as a Design Manager for a larger financial company based in Sydney. I’m originally a graduate of NYU’s...
2 tags
Past IDer: Colleen Murray
Colleen returned to ID during the Intersession to teach the Applied Design Research course, so it was a great opportunity to ask her about life after graduation.
Please quickly introduce yourself in a sentence or two. Where are you from? When did you graduate from ID and which program?
“I’m originally from Chicago. I have by B.F.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in...
Next week in the New Idiom
Graduating second-year student reveals, “I’ve been using the People, Objects, Environments, Media, and Sushi Framework this whole time. And to be honest, it hasn’t made a difference.”
Foundation student totally “gets it.”
After seven year workshop, faculty devise framework that explains to family members what students actually study.
Observed
Coroloft’s Eight things they never taught you about networking
A single glass of water can make a difference for children around the world. http://www.tapproject.org/
Ever take screenshots to explain something to someone? Use Jing Project to record “screenvideo” of a process.
Learn about Twitter in plain English (another good one is RSS feeds)
Microsoft’s vision of...