I really like this class and I want to do well but I don't seem be understanding what is right and what is wrong. Everything seems to be subjective; especially grading. One assistant would review my work and say that it isn't as good as it should be and another assistant would say that he/she likes it. Im just a little confused at this point. I never thought of design as something that can be taught; it can be fostered from good artists. I understand that in the real world people are being assessed in a subjective way also but there are specific guidelines on what they should and shouldn't do and that is something we don't have.
Nevertheless, I am learning a lot from the team work assignments especially since we are expected to find different teams each time. What I have most learned from in this class is "Marty's life lessons". I think what he is trying to convey is golden information that we will all remember when in the business world. Really great advise!
Nevertheless, I am learning a lot from the team work assignments especially since we are expected to find different teams each time. What I have most learned from in this class is "Marty's life lessons". I think what he is trying to convey is golden information that we will all remember when in the business world. Really great advise!
I couldn't agree more with 'Marty's life lessons' as the stories he has told are more valuable than most concepts that can be taken out of a course. I really pay attention to his life lessons and enjoy hearing tid-bits about real job experience that I could not get anywhere else for that matter. Also, grading may seem to be subjective and there is not necessarily any right or wrong way to design, but 'better' designs are the ones that utilize the principles of 'obvious design' and things that 'can' be taught in a design class such as this. Good designs are also ones that have a strong rationale backing them up. The design itself may be subjective, but if the reasons for each part of the design are strong, then it makes the design much stronger. Really, I feel as though in a 'good design' they look as much for a good rationale that follows why you designed what you did as the actual design itself. I don't know if that makes anything clearer, but those are just my thoughts and hopefully it helps a little. Also, design can be taught in so far as the principles of what makes design good design versus bad design. Although there is not right or wrong in the actual design, there are principles that can generally said make designs 'better' than other designs and there are principles that can be taught to aid in 'good design'.
ReplyDeleteTeaching Design is hard, because it's something that you're not used to it. When you go into another class, such as biology, you learn that your heart pumps blood throughout your body and does what it does, consistently and what it has been doing since you were born. That Science. Science can be argued as observing the world as it is through a repeatable and testable process to come to an understanding of how the world we live in works. It does this really well. Art can be argued as an opposite. It's almost always about the art work and the experience that the art work means to you, the art community, and society. Design can be argued to be inclusive as both of these traditions and yet something in its own right as well. The process is important because people are interested in what you produce and how you did it, but the actual design you make is important too because a design has values and it encourages society to adopt certain behaviors that the design and designer argues are best for the world. If you can answer these questions in a meaningful way, you're on your way to becoming a good designer.
ReplyDeleteI find the question of whether or not good design can be taught really interesting. In a way, I think you're right. There's a lot to it that seems innate, like art. Personally, I'm not a good artist. I wouldn't say design is something that comes naturally to me either, and I don't really anticipate that changing in the course of this class. I don't really think that I'm learning things that will change my inherent "feel" for design, but in learning the process and characteristics of a good design, my designs are certainly getting a lot better. I used to teach piano lessons, and I guess I see it not too differently from that in a way. Some people are inherently gifted at music. Hearing it, feeling it, playing it...think of it however you will. They're just good at it. Other people aren't, but these people can still be taught, and you can still be a very good pianist. It just requires a lot of extra practice and frustration to get to that point. Will the second group ever be as good as the first? Maybe, with enough practice. You can't teach then innate skill, but you can teach the process and the results that one hopes to achieve, and you can still get close.
ReplyDeleteI think why you get different replies from different assistants is because different people have different tastes. What my group did is just follow the requirements at each project and sometimes ask Marty directly about our design or problems in it after class.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I agree with you that Marty's life lessons are very useful. Actually the tips for the interview brings me some new ideas about my next interview. I really can learn a lot from his life lessons. But on the other side, this causes a problem that, such as the midterm, some definitions he did not tell us before and also not in book, I need to find them online to do the review.
Sum in sum, I think the purpose of design is depends on your potential users. If you know which part of people is probably your users, you just think from their side, do research and then just design for them. What grade your design in your future work is the result of that, but not only scores from a person.