Brain Matters

Blend

2011-11-25T14:11:00.001-08:00

The Blend Tool in Illustrator

By Connie DeMillo On November 12, 2011 · Leave a Comment

This is a fun way to grab students’ attention and enthusiasm for Illustrator.
Start by drawing a wavy line with the pen tool. Choose a color for the stroke, and make sure there is no fill.

Add another wavy line and make it a different color.
[...]

Continue Reading →

Financial Literacy

On November 4, 2011 By Connie DeMillo

Via: Credit Score
Continue Reading →

NCPN Conference Presentation

On October 20, 2011 By Connie DeMillo

The powerpoint file from my NCPN Conference presentation is too big to upload so I will recreate it in a few posts. I presented with Deanne DeGraff, the principal of our school, and Erick Lehet, our math coach, about how I have integrated mat into my Design and Interactive Media class over a period of [...]
Continue Reading →

Steve Jobs

On October 7, 2011 By Connie DeMillo

When I started out in the graphic design biz, I was a keyliner. I cut galleys of type with an xacto blade, waxed or rubber cemented it, and stuck it onto Crescent board. In 1989, I was the art director at a small b to b magazine, and was charged with converting the magazine from [...]
Continue Reading →

What does success mean to you?

On October 1, 2011 By Connie DeMillo

I had a speaker from Minneapolis Business College in my class yesterday for a presentation called Psyched Up for Success. It was extremely engaging and I would recommend it on several levels. MBC has eight to sixteen month programs and helps graduates find jobs, so students can get a credential and start working with a [...]
Continue Reading →

Edupunks Guide to a DIY Credential, by Anya Kamenetz

On September 18, 2011 By Connie DeMillo

This free online book is a trove of valuable information that I will use in my Design & Interactive Media class as well as in my role as college and career coach to my students.
The main premise is that there are many options besides a four year college degree. Not that there [...]
Continue Reading →

Adobe Illustrator CS 4 and 5 tips

On August 31, 2011 By Connie DeMillo

New CS Insider tips and tricks from Rufus Deuchler at Adobe:
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/csinsider-design/illustrator-5-cool-tips-and-tricks-in-adobe-illustrator
Transparency in gradients: great for shadows that fade to transparent. How to fix a dashed stroke on an arrow so the corners are evenly stroked. How to make a palm tree into a brush that only scales [...]
Continue Reading →

Adobe Education Exchange

On August 9, 2011 By Connie DeMillo

I received an email from Adobe Education Exchange today about how teachers are using Adobe products creatively in education, and found a teacher named Luci Rios, who has created several Flash-based worksheet generators:
Multiplying Polynomials by a Monomial Multiplying Polynomials by Negative One (-1) Absolute Value of Integers Worksheets Adding Like Terms An Introduction to [...]
Continue Reading →

High Schools that Work Presentation

On July 20, 2011 By Connie DeMillo

Here is a link to my part of the presentation on July 21 at the Southern Regional Education Board’s High Schools That Work conference:
http://www.demillodesign.com/DesignMathHtml/DesignMeetsMath.html
Leave a comment!
Continue Reading →

Illustrator for Math Teachers

On July 18, 2011 By Connie DeMillo

Adobe Illustrator is my favorite application. It is an area where design and math intersect, which is what I am all about, so that’s the reason for this post. I’d recommend looking at my Illustrator Intro page if you are a newbie to Illustrator.
UNIT 1 Draw Accurately

When I take a math [...]
Continue Reading →

CGI in Design Instruction

On July 13, 2011 By Connie DeMillo

I’d like to thank my students in yesterday’s TIES Illustrator Intermediate class. We went farther than any other class I have ever taught there. Since I took the CGI Talking Math class, I have modified my approach to teaching. When we started to recreate a SIGG ad, [...]
Continue Reading →

Meatless Monday

On July 11, 2011 By Connie DeMillo

We have been going meatless on Monday for a couple of months now, and, to our surprise, we look forward to it!
Last week we made homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Yummy blast from the past. Today a meatless lasagna is on the menu.
Why meatless?
Lots of reasons. Health, sustainability, and cost [...]
Continue Reading →

Talking Math

On July 5, 2011 By Connie DeMillo

Our district offered a cognitive guided instruction class called Talking Math, an excellent class in many ways. I got to know really cool people from all over the district, learned a ton, and have some new ideas for math integration for fall.
Cognitive guided instruction is a shift from telling a student what to do [...]
Continue Reading →

We Seed

On July 5, 2011 By Connie DeMillo

I am piloting a bare bones financial literacy with my students at the end of the year, when they don’t want to learn anything new. I found a slew of infographics about credit card debt, average American savings, which college majors pay off with the highest salaries and which cost more [...]
Continue Reading →

Southern Regional Education Board Conference: High Schools that Work

On July 20, 2010 By Connie DeMillo

I attended mostly math based presentations and learned a lot that I can take back to the classroom. I also presented, and my audience was all math teachers!
Continue Reading →

Page 1 of 212

Sign up for email newsletter
My Fieldset
1. Your Name(required)
2. Email(valid email required)
3. Website
4. Message
cforms contact form by delicious:days
Tweets
- Financial literacy formula: live on 80%, save10%, give 10%. 2011/11/21
- RT @WebDesignMash: Interesting Photoshop Tutorials Released in October 2011 http://t.co/7DfNuC3h 2011/11/20
- RT @Creativesuite: Practice makes perfect! Here are 9 great practice resources to keep your creative skills sharp: http://t.co/NEO0Uj1q ... 2011/11/18
- RT @DesignNewz: Best Vector Resources for Speedy Work - http://t.co/xHkuHWqf 2011/11/18
- RT @WebDesignMash: 50 Creative Type-Based Logo Designs For Inspiration http://t.co/t9i0HIh5 2011/11/18

" Financial literacy formula: live on 80%, save10%, give 10%. " — conniedemillo

Sustainability

2011-11-25T14:09:00.001-08:00

Sustainability

Mason Bee House

As our population of honey bees declines, an alternative pollinator is the mason bee. It is a small black bee that doesn’t make a hive. Instead, it deposits eggs in small holes in wood. The mason bee is extremely friendly to people; the male bee doesn’t sting at all and the females sting only when extremely harassed.

                                     Sign up for email newsletter
      My Fieldset   Your Name(required)
Email(valid email required)
Website
Messagecforms contact form by delicious:days
Tweets
 Financial literacy formula: live on 80%, save10%, give 10%.  2011/11/21
 RT @WebDesignMash: Interesting Photoshop Tutorials Released in October 2011 http://t.co/7DfNuC3h  2011/11/20
 RT @Creativesuite: Practice makes perfect! Here are 9 great practice resources to keep your creative skills sharp: http://t.co/NEO0Uj1q  ...  2011/11/18
 RT @DesignNewz: Best Vector Resources for Speedy Work - http://t.co/xHkuHWqf  2011/11/18
 RT @WebDesignMash: 50 Creative Type-Based Logo Designs For Inspiration http://t.co/t9i0HIh5  2011/11/18
    Math
Illustrator for Math Teachers
Flash for Math Teachers
Links
A History of Symbols
AIGA Aquent Survey of Design Salaries
Buy, Use, Toss
GOOD Infographics
Photoshop and Illustrator Gadget Tutorials
Slideshare
Swiss Miss Blog
Technology Student
Ten Unmissable TED Videos for Designers
The Edupunk's Guide to a DIY Credential
Thinking With Type
Categories
Previous Posts

                                          " Financial literacy formula: live on 80%, save10%, give 10%. " — conniedemillo              
                                                                                    
               Pages
About Us
Books
Design and Math
Flash for Math Teachers
Illustrator
Illustrator for Math Teachers
Sustainability
               The Latest
                         The Blend Tool in Illustrator
This is a fun way to grab students’ attention and enthusiasm for […]
               More
         Thanks for dropping by! Feel free to join the discussion by leaving comments, and stay updated by subscribing to the RSS feed.       
                        © 2011 DeMillo DeSign

Illustrator

2011-11-25T14:08:00.001-08:00

Illustrator

Getting Started in Illustrator

I highly recommend that you go to adobe.com/downloads and download the free 30-day trial of Illustrator CS5.5 before beginning this class. This version is a major upgrade from the previous versions. However, many of the movies you will be watching and learning from are from the Adobe Video Workshop and were made using CS3. The two interfaces are slightly different but the CS3 movies have files that can be downloaded and used by both you and your students, and everything that can be done on CS3 can also be done on CS5.

UNIT 1

The Interface

Screenshot taken from the online Illustrator Help menu.

Click on the image above to be taken to a description of the Menus, Toolbar, Control Panel, Document Window, and Panels in the Illustrator interface. Familiarize yourself with the terminology to be prepared for what lies ahead.

UNIT 2

Customizing, Setting Up, and Manipulating

These are the first steps in learning Illustrator. I use these movies with students and then ask questions as a way of assessing if they are ready to move on.
Click on the Adobe Video Workshop link, scroll and select Illustrator on the left, Getting Started on the right (highlighted in blue in the screenshot below,) and watch the following three movies:

Customizing the Interface
Creating and setting up a document
Selecting and manipulating objects

UNIT 3

Line, Shape and Eraser Tools

Screenshot from Adobe Video Workshop

Geometric shapes are the base of Illustrator. In my Accelerated Drawing class, my students learn to draw by breaking down any object into circles, rectangles and triangles. Add volume to those and you have spheres, cubes and prisms.
Play around with shapes, combining different shapes to draw. The example below shows how to combine a rectangle with an ellipse (or oval) to make a simple vase.

Mondrian Assignment

Piet Mondrian was a Dutch artist that used only black, white, and the primary colors of red, white and blue. He was part of the De Stijl movement, and used nonrepresentational shapes to express ideas like movement and rhythm.

Screenshot of Google results from the Image search of 'Mondrian."

This is a simple assignment that students (and you!) can do to start using the rectangle tool. First, under the Illustrator menu, select Preferences, Guides and Grid.

Make a gridline every 1 inch with 4 subdivisions to make a quarter inch grid.

Next, under the View menu, select Guides, Show Guides. Also under the View menu, select Snap to Grid. Now students can make their own Mondrian and practice using a fill with no stroke to get a Mondrian in minutes.

UNIT 4

Drawing and Painting with the Pencil and Paintbrush Tools

Watch the following movies at Adobe Video Workshop in the Drawing and Painting section:

Using the Paintbrush Tool
Using the Pencil Tool
Using Brushes from Brush Libraries

One thing that students tend to do is draw an image with the straight line tool, and then wonder where the paint bucket is. The sad fact is that there is no paint bucket in Illustrator. You need a closed path like the Shape tools provide in order to fill it consistently.

UNIT 5

Using Live Trace and Live Paint

Watch the Using Live Trace and Using Live Trace movies at Adobe Video Workshop. I have my students download the files and work along with the movie. Every year there is some rather withdrawn student that is either a cartoonist or a manga or anime artist that finds themselves in Live Trace and Live Paint. Bookmark these videos; I had to watch them several times before remembering all of the steps.

UNIT 6

Color, Gradients, Blends and Color Groups

Ellen Lupton has written the best graphic design book I have ever found, called Graphic Design, the New Basics. She has a companion website that gives an excellent overview of the basics of color theory. Here is a link: http://gdbasics.com/index.php?s=color
Here’s a link to a great intro movie from Adobe Video Workshop on Gradients and Blends:
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop
Color Groups in Illustrator could be a new way to teach or spiral back to Color Theory.
Here’s a video from Adobe Video Workshop on how to use Color Groups:
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop
The color assignment I use in class is a food illustration for the annual cookbook that is a collaboration between my class and the Food Service class at the NE Metro Career and Technical Center. The book is called “Our Favorites,” and each Food Service student chooses a favorite recipe. My students find a photo of the food on the Internet, Place the photo in Illustrator, Lock it, and draw over it, changing it into an illustration that is unrecognizable from the original. (This is a good time to talk about copyright law.) Then the students Place their illustrations into an InDesign file, where we assemble the book.
Recolor is also an amazing tool:
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop

UNIT 7

Typography

Most people never give a thought to the art of typography, but it is the hallmark of graphic design. Ellen Lupton )can you tell she is my favorite graphic design author) has a great site to accompany her book Thinking With Type. Browse through her site; maybe have the students take a look. She even has some games there.
This unit’s movies from Adobe Video Workshop are in the Filters and Effects topic:

Creating Point and Area Type
Creating Type on a Path

Logo Assignment

This is the point where my students design their Corporate Identity: it all starts with a logo drawn in Illustrator. The other components are done in InDesign: letterhead, envelope, resume, cover letter, and business cards.

UNIT 8

Avatar Portfolio Piece

When my students finish this project, I put their avatars up on the board. Most students like this project, and the ones who are slow to finish are motivated by wanting to get theirs on the board.

Step 1: Take a Picture of Yourself

We use Photobooth on the Mac. But you could also upload a photo from your camera or phone. This should be a talking head type of photo of head and shoulders only.

Step 2: Place the image.

In Illustrator, go to the File menu , and choose Place… Navigate to your photo and place the image.

Step 3: Lock the image

With your photo selected, choose Lock, Selection. This will keep your photo from moving around while you draw on top of it.

Step 4: Start from the back and proceed forward.

Every object you draw on your document is stacked on top of the last one you drew, so if you start at the back, your objects will be in order when you are finished. Draw your neck and shoulders, as much as you can see of them. You can draw behind your clothing and head, this is just the backdrop. Use a stroke color you can see, and no fill. As you get pieces drawn, select them and move them out of the way.

Step 5: Draw the Head

I start with the Ellipse tool and press Option (Alt on PC) to make the circle draw from the center. Have a stroke color you can see, and no fill. Get the oval as close to your head shape as possible. Then, get in there with the White Arrow tool and move points, handles, or lines. You only need to be perfect on the parts of your face not covered by hair. Under the Window menu, go to Swatch Libraries, Gradients, and open the Skintones and Earthtones swatch libraries. Make sure you have the Gradient libraries selected; these both exist as flat color libraries as well.
Choose a skintone that matches yours and fill your head and neck with the color. Remove the stroke. A Radial gradient on the head and a Linear gradient on the neck makes them look 3d, but play around until you are satisfied.

Step 6: The Eyes

Start with the Ellipse tool and hold down Option and Shift to get a circle that draws out from the center, and draw the iris. Even though you don’t see the whole circle in the picture, draw it as a circle and we’ll mask it later. Fill it with an earthtone radial gradient that is close to your eye color, or a color you’d like. Change the gradient color points if you’d like to. When you are satisfied, use the same process to draw the pupil. Fill the pupil with the black to white gradient on the default swatches. To get a little spark of life, get the gradient tool and go just inside the upper left corner of the pupil and draw a short diagonal, so there is a little white but mostly black. Select the iris and pupil, align their horizontal and vertical centers, and go to the Object Menu and select Group.
Next, select the Ellipse tool and draw an oval that is as wide as the corners of your eyes and as high as your eyes are open. Get the Convert Anchor Point tool from the Pen Tool pod, and click on the left and right anchor points of the oval to make them into corner points. Use the White Arrow tool to manually move the corners of your eye to match the photo below. Make two more copies of the eye opening shape.
Place the eye opening shape on top of the grouped iris and pupil. If they don’t stack up right, select the eye opening shape, go to the Object menu, and select Arrange.., Bring to Front. When you have the iris, pupil and eye shape set up the way you want them, select them and go to the Object Menu, Clipping Mask, Make. This will mask the iris outside of the eye shape. Now make one of your eye shapes the white of your eye and make the other have no fill and a stroke to your liking and get them all in position.
Don’t worry about the other eye yet. We’ll get the eyebrow done and use the Reflect Tool to pop it into place.

Step 7: The Eyebrow

Most people can get a fairly realistic eyebrow by using the brush or pencil tool and tracing the arc of the eyebrow. From the Window Menu, open the Brush Libraries, Artistic, Chalk Charcoal Pencil. Scroll down to the thinnest brushes and see if you can find one that looks right to you. Alternatively, use the brush or pencil and draw the main shape and fill it, or draw the individual hairs.

Step 8: Reflect the Other Eye

Select the eye and eyebrow with the black arrow tool. Get the Reflect Tool (it’s in the same pod as the Rotate Tool), hold down the Option key (Alt for PC) and click right between your eyes to set the point of reflection and also bring up a dialog box. Select Vertical for the axis, and Copy. Bingo! Your other eye may need a little moving or rotating to perfect it.

Step 9: The Nose

The best thing I can say about the nose is less is more. One strategy is to find a color from your face gradient that barely shows up and draw just the bottom of the nose. Another is to show one side. If you draw nostrils, think of them as apostrophes, not ovals, or you will get a piggy nose. Experiment.

Step 10: The Mouth

This can be done many different ways. I usually draw the lips separately and fill them with one of the pinker skintones. The boys in my class struggle with color on lips, but by editing the gradient color points, they come up with something they are satisfied with. If you are smiling and showing teeth in your photo, one strategy is to draw the lips as two separate objects, select them, go to Window, Pathfinder, and choose Exclude, to make the shepe in the middle see-through. Make your teeth nice and white and don’t put the lines between the teeth in or you almost always get George Washington teeth.

Step 11: The Hair

I usually use the pen tool to start the hair. It always looks like a swimming cap until I go to the Effect menu, choose Distort and transform, and then ____________. Turn on Preview so you can adjust as you go. Some people use a gradient to fill their hair and brush strokes over it. Spiky hair can be achieved using the Crystallize or Wrinkle tools (in the same pod as the Warp Tool.) Double click the tool to customize the presets.

Step 12: Finish up

By now all you have left is your clothing. Use the pen or pencil to draw it. Sometimes students fill with a pattern if they are wearing a patterned shirt. Otherwise, a nice gradient with a few wrinkle lines over it works well. Put everything back together, go to the Object Menu, Select Unlock All. Your photo will be selected. Delete it. Done!
UNIT 9

Opacity Mask

http://layersmagazine.com/creative-masking-techniques-in-illustrator.html
is a great tutorial on opacity and clipping masks.

                                                      Sign up for email newsletter
      My Fieldset   Your Name(required)
Email(valid email required)
Website
Messagecforms contact form by delicious:days
Tweets
 Financial literacy formula: live on 80%, save10%, give 10%.  2011/11/21
 RT @WebDesignMash: Interesting Photoshop Tutorials Released in October 2011 http://t.co/7DfNuC3h  2011/11/20
 RT @Creativesuite: Practice makes perfect! Here are 9 great practice resources to keep your creative skills sharp: http://t.co/NEO0Uj1q  ...  2011/11/18
 RT @DesignNewz: Best Vector Resources for Speedy Work - http://t.co/xHkuHWqf  2011/11/18
 RT @WebDesignMash: 50 Creative Type-Based Logo Designs For Inspiration http://t.co/t9i0HIh5  2011/11/18
    Math
Illustrator for Math Teachers
Flash for Math Teachers
Links
A History of Symbols
AIGA Aquent Survey of Design Salaries
Buy, Use, Toss
GOOD Infographics
Photoshop and Illustrator Gadget Tutorials
Slideshare
Swiss Miss Blog
Technology Student
Ten Unmissable TED Videos for Designers
The Edupunk's Guide to a DIY Credential
Thinking With Type
Categories
Previous Posts
                                       " Financial literacy formula: live on 80%, save10%, give 10%. " — conniedemillo              
                                                                                    
               Pages
About Us
Books
Design and Math
Flash for Math Teachers
Illustrator
Illustrator for Math Teachers
Sustainability
               The Latest
                         The Blend Tool in Illustrator
This is a fun way to grab students’ attention and enthusiasm for […]
               More
         Thanks for dropping by! Feel free to join the discussion by leaving comments, and stay updated by subscribing to the RSS feed.       
                        © 2011 DeMillo DeSign

New Blog Spot

2011-07-05T06:57:00.001-07:00

This blog has moved to demillodesign.com/wordpress. See you there!

We Seed

2011-05-19T07:24:00.000-07:00

I am piloting a bare bones financial literacy with my students at the end of the year, when they don't want to learn anything new. I found a slew of infographics about credit card debt, average American savings, which college majors pay off with the highest salaries and which cost more they are worth in terms of earning power.

We start each day with a discussion about what the average American is doing wrong ($10,000 in credit card debt vs. $2100 in savings for starters) and ways the students can avoid those pitfalls. I heard on the radio over the weekend that the main obstacle of financial literacy is instant gratification.

Yesterday I told the students I was giving them each $10,000 to invest in the stock market, and I did, through weseed.com, a stock market simulator. It is fake money, but I showed them my portfolio on weseed that has earned more than 10% in less than a year.

Some of them really got into it and were having a competition on who was making/losing the most money during class time, completely missing my point that the way to make money in the market is to buy wisely and for the most part, hang on to your purchases.

My hope is that they will take something on this topic with them when they leave my class that will lead them to happier lives.

Thrivability

2011-04-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

I encourage any educator to Google "Buy, Use, Toss" and download the excellent free curriculum that is available there. I am using only miniscule pieces of it but it is transforming the way I am approaching my unit on advertising.

I started on Monday, as I like to do with a new unit, and showed the first segment of "The Story of Stuff." Yesterday we looked at Aquafina and Dasani websites, oh how ecological and earth friendly-looking! Next we visited chrisjordan.com, Running the Numbers, and I showed his work entitled "Plastic Bottles, 2007," which looks like an Impressionist painting until it zooms in and you realize you are looking at a mountain of plastic bottles, two million to be exact, the number used in the US every five minutes. Then I showed the Story of Stuff Bottled Water movie, which told the story of how Coke and Pepsi saw their sales start to slump and decided to make us afraid of our own, almost free, tap water, and sell us bottled water at a 10,000% markup. Remember how we laughed at Perrier? I admit I bought bottled water for years.

Most "recycled" plastic is shipped to India and thrown away in a mountain of plastic that will be there for thousands of years. Speaking of mountains, many bottled water labels show mountains as a symbol for purity, but most bottled water is filtered tap water.

We invent our life story with every purchase we make. A reusable water bottle and a Britta filter is all it takes to save thousands of dollars and mountains of plastic.

AIGA Minnesota Faculty Forum

2011-04-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

April 9, 2011

Keynote presentation:

Thomas Fisher is Professor an Dean at the College of Design at the University of Minnesota. He has written extensively about architecture.

The promise and paradox of design education in the 21st century
Four dilemmas we face as design educators: there is a promise and a paradox in each

1. Change in Media: the IPad effect

Are ipads productive or disruptive tools? They transform space and time, just like the printed book did. The IPad presents a new change in media that is as revolutionary as when the printing press was invented. People now have the web, social media, and their own web of interconnection all on one devide that they can carry with them at all times.

Prior to the invention of the printing press, a handlettered book cost as much as a house, so only the very wealthy could afford to read. The printing press changed all that, making reading and information available to the masses. The Gutenberg effect is the idea of rationality as a way of understanding the world, viewing the world as a machine. It also derailed the Catholic church and ushered in the scientific revolution.

Bran Ferren, former Disney Imagineer and futurist asserts that Ipads will profoundly shift every industry.

2. Change in Metaphor: DesCartes Effect

Today we view the world, not as a machine, but as a network or web. The brain is no longer a supercomputer but neural network, cities are now connected communities.

The role of design thinking in all of this is that other industries want our thought process. Design thinking is a weblike way of looking at the world— abductive. Abductive is the third piece of inductive and deductive thinking. It’s the moment in the design process when we intuitively know a solution to the design problem. It is lateral, intuitive and linked, not linear.

Design thinking will be as important in the new world as math was in the old world. This is the promise. This is the paradox: people want design thinking on a plate, everybody thinks they are a designer. They ask us to explain our way of thinking to them over lunch.

3. Disciplinarity: breadth vs depth of knowledge. Foucoult Effect: discipline is punishment, forces people into boundaries

If the world is a web, interdisciplinarity is everywhere. Fascination with breadth.

There is a change in method with interdisciplinarity. Power becomes whoever has the most links. The way to accrue power is to have as many interdisciplinary connections as possible.

Design thinking can solve the really difficult problems that are left in the world, and can only be solved be everybody getting together to form a solution. Problems like poverty, climate change, and population control. Like the Gutenberg effect, disciplinarity is a change in the method of communication.

The University of Minnesota has adopted a challenge curriculum in their design school. Students major in a discipline, minor in a challenge. Education is a T shape: deep in one aspect and broad in the other.

Designers will be on bigger teams and our skills will be used to solve bigger problems. This is the promise. The paradox: how do we go from disciplinary to interdisciplinary?

4. Design Education: Richard Ford or Daniel Pink Effect

Design pedagogy is evolving from a marginal to a central model. Engineering, which has seen the world as a machine, is trying to figure out what we do in the studio.
Students need to think entrepreneurially about problems.

Promise: this encourages outliers. The term outliers refers to a Malcolm Gladwell book of the same name that describes people like Mozart or Bill Gates as essentially people who have such passion about something that they spend 10,000 hours doing it while still at a young age, making them the top in their field. Outliers think divergently, rather than convergently.

We need to innovate more and more rapidly to solve today’s problems.

Paradox: our form of education will become more broadly used in other disciplines.

Our students are heading into a world that is a vast delta of opportunities.

Discussion after the keynote (open to all attendees):

Portfolio reviewers want to see the process that led to the end product. What did you eliminate and why?

The number of letterpress studios opening up on campuses is boggling.

Design thinking is taught by what problems go into the sketchbook, they can solve bigger than graphic design problems.

Studio pedagogy is mostly conversational based learning.

This is a great time to be alive, like the Renaissance and the Gutenberg eras.

Get the students out of class and walk around helps students link ideas to place, they always rate those classes higher.

Leaders tell new stories about the world in compelling ways.

Politicians are still arguing about 20th century problems. There is a lack of leadership in that arena.

Graphic designers are engaged in telling stories through media.

A panel discussion followed:

Panelists:

Paul Bruski is an assistant professor at Graphic Design University. His interests include cultural iconography and mapping, and has presented on information design, design education and visual literacy.

Alex DeArmond is Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at UW-Stout, worked as a senior designer at the Walker Art Center and is fluent in exhibition and signage design.

Bill Moran is a 3rd generation letterpress printer, graphic designer and professor of printing history at the University of Minnesota. He teaches “travels in typography,” which looks at the history and evolution of the printed word.

Doug Powell is a designer, entrepreneur and business strategist at Minneapolis-based Schwarz Powell Design and is incoming national president of AIGA.

Bill Thorburn opened Thornburn Group in Minneapolis, specializing in brand development.

Panel Discussion

Bill: Telling the story of what we do is critical. What is the value that a designer brings to the table? We sell innovation, we think visually (the new global language), we have the ability to grab mission/vision ideas and distill them into logos, we think systematically into the whole brand experience, which ends up being trust. We sell experiences. We also print business cards on letterpresses, and these make our fingers smile.

Alex: first year teacher. Typography is the DNA of his design practice and the critical skill for graduates. It is the discipline that we can claim as ours as graphic designers. Typography translates between print and digital media.

Paul: artistry and craft are the pillars of design. It shows that someone cared about something. Architecture, interior design and graphic design, landscape design, integrated studio arts students at his school are together in their first year, then diverge into their own discipline, then are brought back together in their last year, an I model. The more interesting design problems are broad. Students want to get to the end point but need to be encouraged to go back and generate more ideas and concepts.

Bill: Writing is really important in the class, find out what students are experts in. Give them a piece of history and ask them what is the contemporary analogy? Blog format = many to many. Students are asked to comment on each other’s commentary. If they write a paper it just goes to the teacher but if they blog it gets many more views.

Stephen McCarthy, U of M: We merge the literary and the visual. You can’t teach typography without teaching writing. What do the words say, what do they mean? Why does Zapfino work better to say I love you than Cooper Black?

Alex: Give them fantastic content and high quality images to work with. Spend time outside of the classroom.

Seth Johnson: When we went to school, we were not content creators. Now we have the ability to make typography real instead of tracing it. We need to develop our own content.

Bill: What does that mean to a design curriculum that has limited resources? How do you incorporate these new ideas. Our students need to acquire new skill sets.

Who is our audience? What is our client trying to say? Get into the head of a baby boomer when you are a twenty-something.

Bill: We can’t teach everything. Typography is an essential component to communication. Type is a foundational element but so is color. So is texture. These create cues that our audience picks up on and responds to. THis is how we bring these stories to life. What is the relevance in the cultural landscape? What can we own? We don’t want to make Apple look like Microsoft.

Tom Fisher: pidgin languages are emerging on the web. What about Arabic typography, Chinese calligraphy,

Bill: There is an exhibition on the 2nd floor of MIA that has Chinese characters in bone, in jade, there is a permanency of iconography.

Stephen: went to see rosetta stone as an icon of typography.

Alex: Holland’s designers are required to be multilingual.

Paul: Designers are problem seekers as much as problem solvers.

Tunisia

2011-03-05T03:35:00.000-08:00

I was in Tunis on December 23, 2010. I am writing this because I feel like I am a small part of the world changing into a global economy and maybe even government. I happened to be on a cruise over the Christmas holidays with my daughter, who was in Madrid on her semester abroad, and was about to fly to Australia for her next SeeChange assignment there, and we decided to travel during the break.

During our travels, we watched BBC news, and at the time Julian Assange of wikileaks was accused of rape in Sweden. But, I know now that some of the info that was leaked by wikileaks set off the revolution in Tunis, which ignited some of the other African countries to demonstrate against their ruling despots.

I think it is time for the earth to become one economy (well, that has already happened), maybe one government, (could we handle that?), and I love it that the ordinary people are the ones rising up against the greedy and demanding their rights.

Amazing Day

2011-02-02T14:43:00.000-08:00

Today started off like any normal day, but spiraled into something really amazing by the end of the school day. We had visitor day today, and I had two girls visiting first time block that I hope had fun making Flash animations, and hopefully they will take my class next year.

We have a sister school called Don Basco in San Jose, Costa Rica that I was lucky enough to visit about ten years ago, so I know that it is like our school, but with the addition of religion. Every so often they send some students to visit, and today was the day. My second block class was treated to a band concert in the Lincoln Mall. They played Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Looney Toons, a song by a Costa Rican composer, and a medley of Latin songs. That took up almost the whole time block.

Third time block I had four of the band members who take the Graphics program at Don Pablo visiting my class, one of whom works at a multimedia company and who knows Actionscript 3.0, which I have been trying and failing at learning for years. I asked him to teach us a little actionscript because I have about five students in that time block that want to become game designers, and I need some curriculum that will give them a start. Well, thank you Jose, for giving me just enough of the start of a game that students can take and play with, and a really good tutorial site. My two math aces really got into it and most of the class got a little of it. What a valuable class!

One of Dave's students came over yesterday because on the day I had students switching to different computers, I had bizarre problems with three of them. He solved all of those problems and came back today and brought a strip of internet plugs so now I don't have to unplug the server to use my computer when I demo.

Last, Mary and I went to the library, our inner sanctum. We passed some sunny windows on the way there, and smelled the Starbucks coffee, got into the library and checked out some new reads. One of the librarians found the book The Investment Answer, written by a dying Wall Street Broker.

You're not a tourist, you're an art student.

2011-01-30T14:54:00.000-08:00

Dolce far niente, the sweetness of doing nothing

2011-01-21T03:39:00.000-08:00

I arrived at Rome's Fiumicino airport at 3 am. It wasn't a place I wanted to stay, so I hired a cabbie to drive me to the hotel after weighing the options: stay there for two hours and wait for a bus (8 euro but in traffic it could take hours) or the train ( 12 euro but the first one was at 5:30 am and this was a place I didn't want to spend a long time.

What I got was a high speed ride into Rome. We passed by the Pantheon, the spire Constantine had built for his conquest of who knows who. I remember thinking, I have to photograph the type carved into stone to help my students understand serifs.

The hotel Eurostar was tiny but elegant. Julia was asleep inside, and hadn't gotten any of my frantic messages from Brussels, where I had been snowed in for thirteen hours, but luckily did have the hotel info. Otherwise it could have been a disaster: how could we find each other in Rome with no cell phone, no internet? Note to self: it would have been worth it to have a working cell phone because I spent about 75 euro trying to call and send email messages to update Julia on where I was. Note to Apple and ATT: if there are people here in Europe using IPhones, how can you be so regionally minded as to not offer a one, two, three week European or other world travel plan?

An insight into myself: without my IPhone I don't know what time it is, can't use GPS to get a map, can't use the wonderful app My Trip Advisor, can't make a phone call or send an email.

Once in the hotel, we caught up, talked for awhile, and fell asleep until 11:30 am. Checked out by 12 and went in search of food, since neither of us had eaten much the day before. We found a Sicilian restaurant and had some risotto, fried fish, and an antipasto plate. Then we picked up our luggage and walked to the Termini, bought tickets to Civittaveccio (under the watchful eye of a probable pickpocket). Our train was about to leave and we had to find where to catch it, Number 27, about a three block walk. It is easy to feel lost and stupid in a place where you don't understand the language, customs, or where to go. But asking people is most helpful, and Julia knew to stamp our ticket before we got on the train because a friend of hers was slapped with a big fine for not doing so.

The ride to Civitaveccia was alternately trashy and beautiful. The contrast between the old, sometimes ancient buildings and the many cell phone towers on top, the Italian way of using what they have to scrabble together chicken coops out of old gates, scrap wood, maybe even some duct tape. It felt like we were gaining altitude because every time we went through a tunnel our ears popped, but the Mediterranean must be at sea level, right? Another fact I can't check without internet access.

Our room in the ship was small but cocoonlike, and we never regretted not having a window.

12.21.2010

The daily cruise newsletter told us that about 9 pm we would be passing the archipelago off of Tuscany. We huddled together against the cool breeze as some tiny black islands and a larger one went by magically. We were the only people on the deck, and it was dark and almost cold and windy. The Mediterranean salty breeze is a real head clearer.

There was a Mariachi band that we listened to for a little while in one of the bars, then went to our room and finally watched the movie Eat, Pray, Love together. It was after midnight when we went to bed. I'm kinda proud of that.

12.22.2010
We hoped to get up early and catch the sunrise, and we did get up early, but it was cloudy and raining, so we watched the sky change from dark to medium gray as Savona, Italy emerged from the shadows, while we ate breakfast. Don't get in the way of a hungry qtip is my advice. They've been around long enough to budge in front of you just because they can. We both had custom omelets made, yummm, and have sworn off American coffee, switching to tea in the morning and getting due cappuccini in a small cafe in port.

It was raining as we left the Costa Pacifica, (pronounced Pachifica in Italian.) There was a tourist info stand right there where we got maps and a rough itinerary (I had maps all printed out but they got left behind in the bag that didn't make it to Rome in time.) We crossed the bridge, and walked to the Priamar, apparently constructed 205 BC, in alliance with Carthage against Rome, who overtook the rule of Savona around 200 BC. Later, Savona was under Byzantine rule.

We got pretty wet taking photos at the Priamar, so we headed into town looking for a fix of indoor warmth and due cappuccini, which we found at Caffeteria San Michele. It was lively with Italians enjoying a break from the drizzly day, just like us.

Photo captions: Views of Savona (and a little of our ship) from the Priamar and Caffeteria San Michele.

12.23.2010
Will arrive in Tunis today, with a booked excursion to Carthage and the market.

We thought we wouldn't spend much time in our room, but it is our cocoon that we emerge from and return to when we need a break from the action on the ship. One thing I really love is being in an international environment and hearing foreign languages (here on board every announcement is in Italian, French, English, and German, which can get tiring when the announcement is about Super Super Bingo). I love to eavesdrop. I can understand some French, a word or two out of most sentences. So far I can't separate the words in Italian but love the waviness of the sound of it. But after awhile we need to come back to our cocoon, update our blogs, watch a movie in English, so far Eat, Pray, Love 2 times and Inception once. Yesterday at lunch we both became undeniably sleepy and came back to the room for a snooze, We had a day at sea, and had planned a lot of exercise and Italian and craft classes, but we blew them all off to go in the hot tub and lay in the sun on the deck with provided yellow and black plaid blankies.

At 4 pm there is tea time, with snacks of course, but this is something I may carry back to life at home. A time for a break and a delicious cup of tea.

The shows in the evening are kind of bizarre but we go anyway to be entertained. Last night was a bunch of musical numbers and dances about sports. For example the song Kung Fu Fighting, sung by a male and female singer with digital musical backup, and danced by a troupe of maybe 15 dancers. There was also rodeo, basketball, soccer of course, this is Europe, motorcycle riding to the tune of Born to Be Wild. The evening before was a Cirque du Something, a duo doing some kind of clunky acrobatics and mime. I guess it is tough to do a show that appeals to all ages from kids to great grandparents, but I get the feeling Costa doesn't pay that much for their talent. However, I am sure we will attend tonight.

IPhone in Europe

I loved my IPhone until I took it to Europe. Why, ATT, can you not have a two to three week Europe plan, when I see many Europeans using their IPhones here? Or is it possible that in Europe the IPhone is not tied to ATT?

In airplane mode, I have only the date and time, and Scrabble. If I had the Internet, I could use my trip assistant, which would tell me places to eat and hotels nearby.

12.23.10
Tunis

Left at 8 am on the tourist bus and as soon as we got out of the dock area realized we had made the right decision. Very few women on the streets. Our tour guide took us through the ruins at Carthage, and explained that while the Phonecians were the original inhabitants, they built wood houses on mud bases. When the Romans came, they burned Carthage for 17 days, then largely built on top of it. So what is left is Roman ruins. Except for a canal the Phonecians carved out that is still in use today. Also, there were some baby mausoleums that were used when families were required to sacrifice their first male child for the good of the family and the people.

The souks at Medina are markets, tiny spaces crammed with a specific sort of goods, like leather, gold, ceramics. we were treated to an explanation of rugs: wool woven are the least expensive and poorest quality. There are both sheep's wool and camel wool. Moving up the line, next is cashmere. These are not woven, but tied using knots, and take months to complete. Top of the line is silk, also knotted by hand and take twenty-one months to complete. One of our group bought one for 4500 euro.

On the way back, our guide talked a bit about Tunisian society. Health care is free with a 25 dinar copay. When a couple divorces, the man loses everything because he has to pay the lawyer, even if the woman has a job and more money. The children stay with the mother until age 15, when they can choose which parent they want to live with.

I noticed few women on the street, some in hijab, some not. Older ones vs. younger.

Watched Inception and kept dozing off, which is ironic, I maintain maybe the best way to watch it.

12.21.2010

Photo captions: The canal the Phonecians built in Carthage that is all that is left of a city that was once the largest city in the world. Roman ruins in Carthage, a three foot high sage plant, and a view of Tunis from the ship.

12.24.2010
“You're not a tourist, you're an art student.”
-Julia's art teacher at Hamilton College in Madrid

12.27.2010
At Sea

Yesterday our port was Kotokolan, with a trip to the ruins of the site of the first Olympics. The Greeks didn't use marble, unlike the Romans, and their ruins are centuries earlier, and truthfully there isn't much left but pockmarked discs that used to be part of columns. But, we decided to do it on the cheap and take the train, 10 euro round trip for two, instead of the 40 euro each it would have cost to take the bus and herd around a guide. It had it's plusses and minuses. The plusses were eavesdropping on a French family with a young child that was making rhymes of the alphabet. For instance, Monsieur F est un chef. Monsieur B, il va tombe. There was another French father whose children were not anywhere near as well behaved who was raptly watching, almost glaring at the fun the little boy, his brother, sister, and mom were having to pass the time. The train was crowded, mostly with tourists from the boat.

When we got to Olympia, it was lightly raining. En masse, the tourists on our train figured out where we had to go, and the cost of entrance was minimal. We wandered around for about an hour, hoping to glom on to an English speaking group from the boat, but everyone we encountered was either speaking French or Italian. Julia was afraid her nubuck boots would be ruined, but after a day has passed, they seem to be fine, if a little shrunken. I was wet through and through, and cold, so when we got back on the ship we hopped into bed and watched Toy Story 3 again and filled in the blanks from what I had missed the night before when I dozed off.

I did doze off again, and slept so deeply that when Julia woke me and said it was six fifteen, I had to ask her what that meant. What it meant was, we are scheduled for dinner at 6:30 so it’s time to get up.

We dressed (gala again, so I had to trot out the same tired skirt I've worn all week) for dinner, and once again had way too much. Allen, our main server, has taken to offering us many desserts. Last night was my first Baked Alaska, along with some chocolate raspberry cake from our neighboring table, who were having a birthday. I have given up trying to control how much I take in at dinner and am almost looking forward to being able to choose how much I ingest. However, this week of holidays and desserts has been wonderful. And, I don't need to have dessert in order to be satisfied.

My recommendation is to sign up for a tour in Tunis, and maybe one or two other places, and go it on your own in the smaller ports. You could actually walk everywhere except Mdina in Malta. And I do highly recommend the trip to Mdina on one of the outdoor double decker buses that cost 10 euro, not the 40 euro trip on the Costa plan.

Today we have a day at sea, on our way to Civittaveccia, where we disembark tomorrow morning. There are a plethora of activities to choose from, exercise, Italian lessons, how to detox for weight loss, and of course just doing nothing, reading on the deck, lazing about. June, our dinner mate, is having a birthday party for her daughter Melissa tonight, I'd like to get a drawing done for both of them but who knows.

My tee shirt smells like it dried too slowly, so there is one more casualty to my dwindling wardrobe.

We are now passing by an island with a small town by the sea, and a few settlements up farther in the hills. I wish I had a world map, or at least a detailed map of the Mediterranean, this is all so fascinating to witness firsthand. And internet access so I could look up the history of the places we have visited without a guide and those we have passed by without stopping. The ancient Romans have been everywhere we have been on this trip. I thought I saw a piece of an aqueduct on this island we are passing.

Two things I never want to forget: the humid Mediterranean air and the beautiful light in the mornings and evenings. Julia and I struck out for the most part on seeing the sunrises and sunsets, a combination of rain, not having a window, and needing to sleep.

While I am still proud of packing lightly, I am sick of everything I brought and feel like I have worn it all 3 times at least. I am tempted to buy something for tonight's dinner but will instead do a different combination of pants, boots, top and scarf that I haven’t done before. I wish I had brought more scarves and jewelry, note to self.

This trip has been one of the most memorable of my life, many thanks to Costa staff and the general organization of the whole cruise. I would recommend a Costa cruise to anyone who wants to experience Europe without having to pay attention to every little detail like lodging and meals. This cruise is friendly to all ages from toddlers to seniors in wheelchairs.

Caffeine for the Creative Team, by Stefan Mumaw and Wendy Lee Oldfield

2010-04-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

Subtitled "150 Exercises to Inspire Group Innovation"

This book is full of creativity-generating ideas.

These are some of the exercises I love and use in class:

dailymonster.com
Use a pencil, large paper and have a partner. Once you put the pencil down you can't lift it up again. Draw a monster with your partner.

Record sounds from everyday life. Each person on the team of four makes a repeating rhythm that adds to the previous person's rhythm.

Team of 4: Shotgun doodling: use an index card, first person puts a squiggle, second person has 10 seconds to make something out of it. Do it a few times and switch.

Team of 2: screenwrite a story based on what is going on in class

Guerrilla art. Leave a sketchbook with the start of a drawing for others to find

Create the most fantastic excuse you can for being late. Already heard excuses or the truth only lower your grade.

Make an origami box with a cover. Draw on the outside with how the world sees you; make the inside with who you want to be.

There are many, many more ideas in this book. It's a lifesaver when you need a quick team project.

Notes from a presentation by Karl Schlotterbeck on mental illness in schools.

2009-08-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

Depression has doubled in nearly every generation since the 1920's.

20% of kids with diagnoses get treatment; most of this is in school.

Anxiety can show up as recurrent physical symptoms: headache, need to use the bathroom...

An overload of information creates either anxiety or depression.

More Vietnam vets died by suicide after the war than died in the war.

Book by David Walsh: Why Do They Act That Way? addresses hormones in teens.

Anam Cara means soul friend.

Success is 1/3 talent and ability; 2/3 ability to work with others.

When talking to students the ratio of positive comments to negative comments should be 4 to 1. Use strong compliments with no good or bad, "I can really read that" or "You worked really hard on that."

Say things while students are working; don't wait until they are done.

Describe what you see.

One out of five students has a diagnosable mental disorder.

High Schools That Work Conference Notes

2009-07-13T03:34:00.000-07:00

Heads-On, Hands-On Learning: Key to Student Motivation and Achievement was presented by the Southern Regional Education Board, in Atlanta, June 8-11. All of the handouts from the conference can be accessed at sreb.org. The following is a review of some of the presentations I attended.

Diagnosis: Mathematics Deficiencies; Prescription: Targeted Planning for Instruction, by Jill Zeigler

" If the kids aren't working harder than you, back off!"

Jill Zeigler

Jill taught math in what she calls Juvie Jail, and developed strategies for helping the kids pass the ACT test. She determined that there were only four questions on the test about Trig, and the students could still pass the test if they got all of hose wrong, so she targeted her instruction based on the following statement:

Every kid who takes the _______ test gets _________ or higher.

A pretest tells you where your students are.

Because the tesst questions are not in any particular orer, she gives students opportunities to practice figuring out what the questions require them to do. Give them a foundationof analyzing test questions: What is the skill being measured? How is the question presented (in what medium, meaning text, word, graph, etc.) How complex is the thinking process required to answer the question?

Jill's method of targeted instruction includes these components of sorting out what needs to be learned:

Teach no more than 2 targeted skills, for example, solving equations.
What are the prerequisite skills needed to solve equations?
what parallel skills (like whole numbers, decimals and fractions)need to be taught to increase the comprehension of solving equations.

Spend a little time each day working on scaffolding these skills: solving equations, writing algebraic expressions, parallel lines cut by a transversal, perimiter, complementtary and supplementaary angles, probability, area, proportion and statistics.

The three piece learning and teaching cycle components are curriculum, assessment, and instruction. Measure and keep data on everything. Give a quiz about every 5 days because that's how long it takes to see significant improvement. Give pactice opportunities and change the Bloom's leveel 4 times before changing the medium of the problem.

Her lesson plan form consists of 3 columns ( Reteach, for severe weakness, Review, where you bump it up a notch, and New Material, parallel skills brought in when there is little in the reteach category) and 3 rows, one for eac period.

She has the students fill out a form that I will make a link to that has them be accountable for their learning by placing a + or - on a skill based on their quiz results. They soon see which skills they need to improve on. Students go to the board is an expectation for test item analysis.

Jill teaches students to find the question mark in the test question and back up to underline the question. Then determine what symbols, key words, operations and numbers are involved in getting the answer.

She pairs up students and has themm ask each other, How did you get your answer, why did you do that, what could you do differently. She has a siz step process in teaching a skill that I will make a link to. She gives 20 question quizzes that assss 20 skills to assess what the students have and haven't learned and if they are ready for new material. She builds skills with a systematic approach, for example addition becomes perimeter.

Jill suggested Don Deshler's presentation next, so that's what I went to.

The Adolescent Reading Problem: What every Teacher and Principal Should do to Strengthen Reading Skills, by Don Deshler

There are free downa\loads at http://www.all4ed.org

30% of secondary students are proficient readers.

To get an accurate profile of each kid's literacy, have them take the Test of Silent Word Reading Proficiency, available at proed.com for about $150. It takes 3 minutes and the kids like it.

Embed strategy info like here's how to go about reading. Add intensive strategy instruction (Brigid and Kevin at our school). Intensive basic skill instructin at 4th grade level.

New Tools, New Schools at Hamline

2009-06-17T16:46:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to teach a class at Hamline ever since I was working for my masters degree there. And yesterday and today that goal was partly realized. These two days also mark the end of this year's E2T2 program, which I will miss. What a great blend of collaborators! We have decided to keep in touch through our blogs, so I am about to get the RSS reader so I can follow everyone's blog to stay in touch.

Technology in my classroom

2009-05-20T06:41:00.000-07:00

My classroom consists of 22 Imacs loaded with Adobe Creative Suite 3. Throughout the year my students learn to use Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash, InDesign and Acrobat in their designs.

This year I had several students who had prior Photoshop experience, so I gave the assignment to get online and find a tutorial on something they wanted to learn, and share it with the class. I printed the tutorials, but next year I will start a wiki so students can refer to the tutorials whenever they want and be paperless. The project worked because students could choose a tutorial that was at or just above their knowledge level of Photoshop. I'll probably use that again in other software, too, because it takes a lot of pressure off of me and it is always better when students learn from each other.

Next year I plan to add an online component to my class. Because my school is experiencing declining enrollment, I opened up my class to 30 students. I have 2 classrooms side by side, a hands-on room and a computer lab. The idea is that half the class will be drawing and the other half on the computers using the online environment. This will force them to read more, which is always a goal.

I also have an online class through District 287 and I am using Wordle, Glogster and Animoto already. I want to find some online free drawing software; I know it's out there somewhere. I want to add an online critique with the site where you can put up a piece of work and others can comment on it.

My plans are to increase both the use of technology in my class and the hands on time for drawing, planning on paper, storyboarding, journaling and sketching. My thought is that those activities combined result in the most opening up of the brain so knowledge can pour in.

E2T2 Reflection

2009-03-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

The blog assignment was to reflect after each session of the Technology Leaders group meeting. I realize that I haven't done that and am hoping to meet that assignment with one longer reflection now that things are drawing to a close and I can see the big picture. Designers are always big picture people.

First, my comments on the act of blogging.

It's not for me. Maybe if I hadn't skipped out of mmy high school typing classes in defiance of my mom's wish for me to be able to fall back on being a secretary. (I didn't foresee the computer and how much keyboarding would be a part of my life. But having to go back and fix at least one typo per line is frustrating.

I don't need to share personal details or rant on about a topic or make friends in cyberspace. I find reading the blogs of others to be a waste of time, of which I have very little to spare.

My day is spent on the computer and I like my evenings to be analog.

Next, the evolution of the E2T2 class.

At first it seemed like we talked endlessly about the same topics; how to access it in schools without much, does technology really change any of the other fundamental things that keep our students from learning, like hunger or parents that don't care. The same info was echoed by many of us repetitively so that I was forced to turn to my laptop and multitask while I listened as my students would do when I talk too long.

We spent a lot of time hashing over theory, which in my experience is a bit like statistics; you can find research to support every angle of the argument.

At the same time we were required to start a blog and try to define our personal learning network (note to self, you haven't turned that assignment in yet, either), and find other blogs to read. There was a lot of grumbling at first but I have talked to at least one colleague, a ghost librarian, who explained why she enjoys both blogging and reading others blogs, and it made sense once I saw it through her eyes.

I have used a lot of e2t2 tools in creating my new Design Basics online class. I learned from Carl Anderson that video is a good way to communicate with students, so I'll add that. Other tools I've inserted is a final portfolio in Animoto, a Glogster about the elements and principles of design, and Wordle as a way of introducing ourselves. I'd like to use voice thread to have an online critique.

I'd have to say the last few meetings were the meat of the class or me. I loved the presentation Mike Mazyck's presentation about The Cutting Edge, what the future holds. I'd like to take his class.

One of my students is really into making designs for Second Life (he designed a series of skateboards) and has tried to get me interested many times. I try to see what the big deal is, but the experience leaves me flat. Like in class when Carl went places and nobody was there. To me, waste of time.

I think the real value of this class is when we present to other educators this summer. I hope to bring several from my school. If we can aid teachers in achieving technological literacy then we have accomplished our goal. We can continue to work with them on a one to one basis next year and beyond. I plan to start having Tech Third Thursday where I coveer one topic a month. I'll start there and see what develops.

What I am taking away from this class is the desire and the commitment to get organized and use web 2.0 resources to do it. I am assembling all of my autistic daughter's health records online through Health Partners, as well as my own. I hope to use delicious or diigo to organize bookmarks. I have two computers I use at home and five at school and they all have different bookmarks. I'd like to also use the social bookmarking sites to organize web searches for students and get part of my design class online to reduce paper usage. And to put together some bookmarks of sites teachers and students would love.

I am starting an online collection of favorite recipes (one of which, it's only fair to note, that I got off a blog from someone who was using their crockpot every day for a year and blogging about it.)

My contacts are now in the cloud so if I'm at school and need to contact my daughter's OT, I don't have to go home to get the info.

The other thing that I am taking away from this class that is irreplacable is the people I have met and grown to know over the course of this class. My one feedback if you do the class again is have more activities where we break into different groups like the coaching role playing. Not so much of the groups by age of kids we teach. In those exercises, I have made some valuable connections with people that will now be part of my PLN. The experiences we shared really opened my mind.

Feb 28 E2T2 class reflection

2009-02-28T07:04:00.000-08:00

What is my plan to share technology with others in my district?

What will the classroom and school look like in 5 years.

99 designs

Cutting Edge: what the future holds

Mike Mazyck presentation

Web 3.0: the semantic web, the thinking web: our computers wil organize our data and be able to suggest where to have lunch

Aurora: concept browser from Mozilla

rdf will replace html, data will be read by machine and turned into different kind of document

Google suggest: contextualize the web based on the people that use it.

2009 Horizon REport: emerging tech impacting teaching and learning

Key trends:

1. Increasing globalization: connect with people all over the world, collaborative workspaces, skype,

2. Collective intelligence: the crowd, active learning, learners control environment

3. Games as learning tools, increased social interaction

4. Visualization tools: visual literact helps encode and decode and establish authenticity of data from net

5. Mobiles: innovation and competition

Six technologies to watch:

1. Mobile phones is top

3rd party mobile applications:

TinEyeMobile: photo of book, cd, it can tell you where to buy

Spacetime and Quickgraph converts Iphone into graphing calculator

IStanford: campus life, maps, courses, register for courses

Shazam: waveform of any recording, tells you what the music is, where to buy it

Short messaging service response system: cell phone as clicker

(joomla: open source site)

2. Cloud computing

Open apps:

Google health

Gmail

Mint: retrieves bank statements, tells you where you're spending your money

Utility computing:

Amazon web services: installs patches, prevents viruses, your hard drive is in the cloud

Google app engine: developing your own open source apps

Desktop in the cloud: Microsoft LiveMesh

Yahoo ZImbra desktop: email, calendar, doc editor, tasklist

I Cloud: like google docs, social networking, online docs
Ghost: uses Amazon's web service, virtual desktop, can access from IPhone

Cloud storage: Box, Dropbox, Syncplicity, SMEStorage

Resources:

EBook: THe Tower and the Cloud

20 More online desktops

Web 2.0 and Cloud computing: blog post by Tim O'reilly

3. Geoeverything

Record precise location and save its location on your media

Radar

Buzzd: mobile device social networking

Geotagging: check the travels of Marco Polo, Community Walk: annotate maps
Geocding with google spreadsheets

Resources:
7 things you should know about geolocation (educause)
geotagging photos to share field trips with the world
GoogleLitTrips

4. The personal web

Zotero: bibliograph your web browser

The Open Publishing Lab: create online books

Omeka: open source web publishing

Smarthistory: online art history

5. Semantic aware apps
Hakia: search engine uses semantic algorythms
calais: integrates semantic into blogs, moodle
worldmapper: changes map based on info represented

Article: the semantic webin education

6. Smart Objects

Any object that includes a unique identifier and can provide info about it and respond
SmartCards, can tag people-carried or worn by people

Carl Anderson: 3d web, virtual worlds

Second Life

Chek out: our story, photostory, jamstudio, zoho polls

Biz Math

2009-02-24T11:44:00.000-08:00

My students are spreadsheeting all of the expenses it takes to start up their own freelance business. Some want to be photographers, videographers, lots of game designers (which one of my students insists is ten jobs), graphic designers, and a fashion designer or two.

Today they are accumulating tax deductible business expenses, like phone, internet, and web site hosting.

Tomorrow will be what type of business they will be and why: sole proprietor, limited liability, corporation.

Then on to estimates, time sheets and invoices.

Last will be taxes. I'm working with a math teacher on how this integrates with the math they learn at school.

Design

2009-01-02T06:44:00.001-08:00

I have used a lot of e2t2 tools in creating my new design basics online class. Carl Anderson told me that video is a good way to communicate with students, so I'll add that. Other tools I've inserted is a final portfolio in Animoto, a Glogster about the elements and principles of design, and Wordle as a way of introducing ourselves.

I'd like to use voice thread to have an online critique.

AIGA Design Camp

2008-10-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

10-3-08

Brian Collins, originally from Duffy Design in Minneapolis

Branding in the future

Doves campaign for real beauty
gallery of 67 photog images of real beautiful women

Mpls is an anomaly in terms of scale of city and creative output

Bozo: first trans media multi _____ brand

Sputnik: most important design object of 1957

Civic archetecture: Philadelphia station: toilet paper ad in beautiful public space

Sao Paulo has banned billboard ads

creation, dynamic problem making, everyone creates, lots of small ideas, perform

street architecture on the west coast

BP beyond petroleum thegreencurve.com

BP gas station in LA; billboards became kids backpacks given away

Denver restaurant/broadcast studio

quotes about politics on the wall

The world is a closed ecosystem like a spaceship

emerging global water crisis

index: 10000 design students from around the world

Create connecetions to use design to help make the world a better place

Al Gore

hummers are about me, bicycles are about we

wecansolveit.org

Digital storytelling assignment
2 stories:
one you were so happy you had to tell someone
one you were so depressed you couldn't get through the day without telling someone

Use storytelling to create connections to people that are so compelling they need to share them with other people

Help them create the change they want to see in the world and in their community

Brian works with people who have never done anything like branding before: book designers

There is no such thing as a small job

Tell a story in 60 sec about something that compels you, what you want to see in the world, as though you were talking to Katie Couric

James, famous graphic designers

quotes from Americans used on side of building, in creative studio

Discover your katra and domnate your dogo

Ann Swanson, Briget Brongich

helps find folks that are a good fit for jobs, vocational work

leveraging your strengths

katra: personalities are developed in first 6 weeks

Big 5 personality factors: ocean

openness to experience: curious, distractable, imaginative, original...unimaginative, literal minded

concientiousness: planner, perfectionist, neat, dependale...impulsive, reactive

extraversion: gregarious, energetic, self dramatizing...shy, unassertive, withdrawn

agreeable:

neurotic:

external locus of control: negative thinkers, blamers, it's genetic

Internal locus of control: I control my future

tmz 7:30 fox

low commonality: people who are unique and feel that they don't fit in

Strengths finder: test to start thinking about strengths

talent + investment (practice) =strength

end of every week, clean up work area

AIGA

Can apply to board of aiga for funding for???
Find flash presentation on website

Political propaganda, Coleen Pitner

Books:
Iron Fists: branding the 20th century totalrian state, steven heller

War posters: weapons of mass communication, james aulich

Political propaganda appeals to feelings

seeing through something is the beginning, use your own mind, critical thinking sorts through clutter

swastica was ancient symbol of god luck until nazis coopted it

techniques of persuasion: can be used for god or ill

idea of the enemy: society's greatest weapon, dehumanize in creation of enemy, hard to convince mormal peiople to kill other people

Symbolic transfer: shift symbol to object, eg american flag on pencils etc

swastika as symbol of oppression, broken up as symbol of allies victory

Testimoneal, Identification, Hitler portrayed as hero

Objectification: create emotional distance

Belonging

Carrot and stick: links an action with real and imagined consequences to make a point

Fear

Appeal to base emotions

Love and fear, properly packaged, bypass the critical mind.

Charles Dana Gibson: illustrator

Howard Chandler Christie, Illustrator

Joe Landecker

James Montgomery Flagg, Uncle Sam is self portrait

Encourage sacrifice at home

hate evil, not people in fighting a war,

copies of posters at weisman museum and mpls public library in private collections

Norman Rockwell: average people doing average things to portray lofty goals: 4 freedoms, religion, from fear,

European modernism emigrated to us after the war, container corporation of america, developed paperboard packaging

Vietnam war didn't have popular support

Seymour Quast, war is good business, invest your son

Milton Glaser, peace works

Ben Shahn, mccarthy peace

ivan chermeyoff doves of all nations

I want out ''

Tommy Unger political cartoons

9/11 fighting terrorism isn't killing terrorists

Patrick Oliphant cartoonist

Iraq: no wmd, no connection to 911

Poster offensive, Jeff Johnson, spunk design, now showing google it

Advocacy advertising: care about an issue and do something about it

Civil rights Tommy Unger white/black rights

Environment: Smokey the bear was 1st environmental activist

Social problems: aids, literacy, human rights (amnesty intl)

Get out the vote aiga nonpartisan posters

Do your part to save the world

Screen printing: Aesthetic Apparatus

225 threads per inch, nylon, (used to be silk) aluminum frames

Serigraphy: bs term for screen printing

Diagonal measurement of screen is how far the light should be away from the screen

They use French paper; they sell it in small quantities

Speedball inks

Tronic Studio

Theodore Daly, Vivian Rosenthal

themes: space, humanity, experience, technology, perception

through shoping people want to create a new identity or maintain an existing one

lebron james nike ad like his feet are painting a canvas

new advertising paradigms: brands need to create emmotional relationship with the consumver

tronic adds archetecture into the mix

experiential design

ge go big ad : concepts groqth and imagination

wired magazine nextfest

target, victory park, dalas, target logo park

target revolution, glowing cubes, art for all

tronic focus is visual storyteling not about product
animatic
bloom: the time of mimicry

shaarp: bloom
mood board: like a storyboard for mood
dialog between physical form and digital form

Teaching Critical Thinking to Underdeveloped Frontal Lobes

2008-10-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I had an opportunity to take a couple of classes at Carleton College, and it was an eye opener in terms of how to teach a subject and require the students to use critical thinking.

First was Appreciating Western Art Music (with a focus on music in literature), taught by Laurence Archbold. We focused on a Strophic song that was written, but not composed, by Goethe, and sung by the character Minion. In his book (I am looking for details and will revise when I find them), Goethe wrote very specific instructions on how to compose the song. It was to begin in a stately manner, then become mysterious, thten be filled with longing, and last, _______________ (something like vivid action but those words aren't right.

We listened, stopping often, to three compositions of the song. The first had never been recorded, so a student sang it. The second was by Schubert, who took liberties with the words, like repeating Fahine over and over, and the third was by Schumann.We dissected each piece according to Goethe's specifications.

The second class, From Artisan to Star, was taught by Allison Kettering. The students had read a biography of the 17th century artist Artemesia, and also watched the Hollywood adaptation of the story. Students compared the bio and the movie, mostly disconcerted that the movie took so many liberties with the truth and added a bunch of kinky sex.

The teacher had a slide show of some of the art of the characters in the book and also brought in some of her own work from a conference. Every sstudent participated in the discussion in every class.

Class sizes were 8 and 15. The teachers mainly asked questions, then threw in a little info of their own just before the conclusion of class.

I have adapted this into my classroom, asking my students to read a fascinating article on a new nanotechnology called buckypaper, talk in small groups about how it could be used in the future, and bring their ideas to the class. Success in two out of three time blocks. Students were told the purpose of this is to prepare them to discuss in college classes, and we are practicing until we get the hang of it.

I'll keep you posted.

Notes on The Best of Guerilla Marketing, by Jay Conrad Levinson

2008-09-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

Invest time, energy and imagination, not money. Make it interesting.

Measure performance by profitability. This takes time.

90% of purchase decisions are made by the unconscious mind, and (at least in the past) you could tap the unconscious through repetition.

Stay focused. Make a commitment to the marketing to gain credibility.

Grow geometrically. (Not one customer at a time.)

Follow through. Master active listening through active questioning. Be data driven.

Everyone is involved in marketing.

Find partners.

You marketing: Here's how you can benefit from this service.

Help customers succeed.

Use a combination of marketing: print, web, direct mail.

Build relationships.

Embrace technology.

Notes on Consumed, by Benjamin R. Barber

2008-09-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

Kidults: Infantilist ethos

Example: Shaq’s 30th birthday party had balloons and superman cake with him playing the role of superman.

Main concepts are:
Easy over hard
Simple over complex
Fast over slow

Civic Schizophrenia
Multiple identities, consumer identity trumps civic identity
Walmart: get cheap goods vs. having just well paying jobs and sustaining economy

Brandscaping
Lifestyle reflects brands at the foundation instead of culture and tradition
Nike and Starbucks are not about coffee and sports as much as they are about the emotion of enjoying coffee and sports; Coke/new coke, loyalty beyond reason

Notes from the Frontline video, "The Persuaders"

2008-09-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

James Rushkopf
Hidden Persuaders
Frontline

New spaces to advertise: sides of buildings, subway tunnels, wherever it doesn't already exist

Break through the clutter: term for standing out among all of the other ads

Naomi Klein, No Logo

Modern machinery of selling: Hip party; opening salvo of a marketing blitz for a new airline, Song (Delta)

Marketers
1. Invent a new culture around flying
Focus group: showed them women were being ignored
Low fares, organic food, connection with women
Kate Spade: fashion market same as Song
Song ethos: optimistic, emotional, soul of organization
Book called Lovers
Does the message feed the bulldog?
Become a part of culture to become a success
What differentiates products communicates on another level: head or heart>

Old ads: er words, whiter, brighter, cleaner. These words stopped working, there are no differences in products.

Today, not what the product does, what it means: super brands, Nike, Starbucks. Pseudospiritual marketing. Transcendence through sports: Nike Bennetton: racial diversity.

The product isn't a ___________, it's a ____________.

Study cults, why do people join, apply that to brands.

People want to belong and make meaning, same reason to join cult or brand.

Saturn homecoming invited buyers to factory, called it the Saturn family. Based on old time values.

Emotional branding fills the empty places left void by schools or other institutions.

Omnicom, WPP: big agencies

Kevin Roberts, Saatchi & Saatchi
We feel the world through senses
Formula to turn a product into an object of devotion: Lovemarks
Loyalty beyond reason=Lovemark, has an iconic place in your heart
You can build mystery as long as you believe in the story.
We have moved from brands into experiences.
Tide: liberator

"I know I'm wasting half my ad dollars, I just don't know which half."

Upfronts: fall season programs and stars

Advertising returns are diminished by Tivo, smaller market.

New ideas: insert advertising in programs. What if Friends took place in Starbucks.
Starbucks is a character in I Am Sam. Castaway: Fedex. PAackage delivered at end of film, also found romance.

Madison and Vine.

Search through Hollywood scripts to find places to insert products. Nobody knows if integrated ads work.

Consume crap.

BMW put 8 minute films on the internet, sales went through the roof.
AmEx cut TV budget in half, make webisodes. Consumers want to be entertained.
Singers are debuting songs in ads to make more money.

Market research: Cloterre Rapaille is guru
Why do you need a 4 wheel drive in Manhattan?
Began as psychologist with autistic kids, decoded mental connections.

Code on luxury: secret

All purchasing decisions lie in the primal core, past mind and emotion. Tell a story to a five year old from another planet. Reptilian hot buttons propel us to action.
Code for SUVs is domination; make them larger and tint windows.

Political Advertising
80% of our life is emotion and 20% is intellect

replace the bad with the good: analogy for politics
the right name makes the policy sell better

estate tax became death tax, everybody accepted estate tax but now death tax can be gotten rid of and people will support it.

Tax relief instead of tax cuts
Climate change not global warming
Politicians can say what they want

narrowcasting: reaching out to voters on a one to one basis

tailor your message for each narrowcast groups

acxiom: processes data from credit cards etc, produce narrowcast lists or lifestage segments

solution to clutter: narrowcast ads that appeal to narrower market

Kenneth Strasma

Brain Matters

Blend

Sign up for email newsletter

Math

Links

Categories

Previous Posts

Sustainability

Sustainability

Sustainability

Leave a Reply

Sign up for email newsletter

Math

Links

Categories

Previous Posts

Pages

The Latest

More

Illustrator

Illustrator

Getting Started in Illustrator

UNIT 1

The Interface

UNIT 2

Customizing, Setting Up, and Manipulating

UNIT 3

Line, Shape and Eraser Tools

Mondrian Assignment

Drawing and Painting with the Pencil and Paintbrush Tools

UNIT 5

Using Live Trace and Live Paint

UNIT 6

Color, Gradients, Blends and Color Groups

UNIT 7

Typography

Logo Assignment

UNIT 8

Avatar Portfolio Piece

Step 1: Take a Picture of Yourself

Step 2: Place the image.

Step 3: Lock the image

Step 4: Start from the back and proceed forward.

Step 5: Draw the Head

Step 6: The Eyes

Step 7: The Eyebrow

Step 8: Reflect the Other Eye

Step 9: The Nose

Step 10: The Mouth

Step 11: The Hair

Step 12: Finish up

Opacity Mask

Leave a Reply

Sign up for email newsletter

Math

Links

Categories

Previous Posts

Pages

The Latest

More

New Blog Spot

We Seed

Thrivability

AIGA Minnesota Faculty Forum

Tunisia

Amazing Day

You're not a tourist, you're an art student.

Dolce far niente, the sweetness of doing nothing

Caffeine for the Creative Team, by Stefan Mumaw and Wendy Lee Oldfield

Notes from a presentation by Karl Schlotterbeck on mental illness in schools.

High Schools That Work Conference Notes

New Tools, New Schools at Hamline

Technology in my classroom

E2T2 Reflection

Feb 28 E2T2 class reflection

Biz Math

Design

AIGA Design Camp

Teaching Critical Thinking to Underdeveloped Frontal Lobes