visual advocacy, the reflection.

I really loved the experience of designing for social change. I'm pretty passionate about helping others that truly need the help, connecting with people + creating impact. I'm addicted to stories + information, both of which directly connected to working with Manheim Park + designing for social change in general. There also is this direct feedback + positive emotional state that comes from helping others that truly appreciate what you did for them. I've always been connected with volunteering and working with those who didn't have the greatest start in life and then overcame it. There is so much power in that push for helping others, especially when and make a name for their self...and to be able to help is a great feeling; it brings importance + life + pride back into my life. Designing for social change + volunteering, truly is giving back with no expectations of reciprocation + it's one of the best feelings. I just want to make an impact + be helpful + possibly be remembered somewhere in there; we are but the footprint that we leave, it's up to the finder to add meaning to it. So it was definitely an enriching + overall good experience for me.

From the interaction that we had with community members, our work appeared to have a positive impact on them. In the beginning of our interactions, they seemed pumped about the idea of us helping. Throughout the process, all the way to the end, they seemed more excited each time that we met. The community members were excited that we: listened to what they had to say, took interest in them and created work that aimed at what they were needing.

Overall it was an interesting way to spend a semester + definitely was a semester of more involvement within the Kansas City community. I connected with more proactive + motivated individuals within the community as well, which is always a great person to keep contact with, you never know when you may need to make contact with them again.

final branding booklet. manheim park/historic manheim park association.

Below is the final booklet style for the rebranding of Manheim Park + the Historic Manheim Park Association. This was included in the final packaging for Manheim Park + the Historic Manheim Park Association as well as all of the logos, flat PDFs of promotional materials, typefaces within the new branding, possible vendor options for purchasing promotional materials + environmental signage + Microsoft letterhead templates.

new design practice presentation: andrew shea.

presentation. branding. manheim park neighborhood meeting.

This is the branding presentation from the 11.09.13 Manheim Park Neighborhood Meeting. All of our materials are almost final. We just need to finalize the Brand Standards + Website + start packaging all the files to pass on, then we're done.

presentation. branding group. brand standards.

Branding Presentation

brand standards. take 1.

VA midterm self reflection.

I feel like I have attended a lot of meetings, but not done a ton of work yet. Designing of a logo is not my strongest area of design, so the class to me as felt pretty lackluster at the moment design wise. I also realize that we as a class first needed to brand the Neighborhood before we started working on our various areas, but that branding process felt very drawn out to me and not focused, thus causing us to take longer in that area. I feel better at home now in working on the brand standards files and figuring out what the details are going to be for Historic Manheim Park Association's logo/mark now. My group has been dealing with personalities or simply the members not always getting along (I know we all had issues at one point or another), which is super representative of life outside of school, not primarily a school only scenario. I think we are still working as a team, just figuring out the best way to structure our time for that. The rest of time left is class is pushing forward with our current thoughts about where our group is focused, changing a bit based on how the Neighborhood board sees it + then simply presenting those ideas. It's a totally attainable goal right now + my plan is to keep it that way...and then eventually finish that goal.

VA reading response. Week 7.

article. Are Humanitarian Designers Imperialists?
This article speaks about how some people believe humanitarians to only be people who find a need to force change on others, not simply the ability to help people get to somewhere better. The author argues that her partner + she are not forcing change on people in Bertie County, but instead are giving students what they need to help better their county. I'd never thought before that humanitarians were imperialists, but some definitely are. We as people, often strive to let others experience what we had and grew up with, believing that what we had was the best way to grow or live. That however, is not always entirely the best way to experience the world, but it's almost a second nature thought in most people.

article. Politics Please, We're Social Designers
This article starts by talking about people whom have simply started to work with their current resources and rework the way that those resources are used, in an attempt to be more sustainable. Although there currently are some government groups or businesses attempting to instill more sustainable means, not many are and many people are waiting for these groups to enforce sustainable means. This article also speaks about how you can’t effectively help any area with design/creative thinking without being a part of it.

article. Human Dignity and Human Rights: Thoughts on the Principles of Human-Centered Design
The proper term is human-centered design and not user-centered, because the term human is more correct as it takes in the thoughts, actions and memories of a human. We as designers often forget that part of being human, that we are thinking about how information is perceived and then reacted to based on their past experiences. That part at least is interesting to me, the idea of how we forget often as designers that we’re designing with the idea in mind that the human user has thoughts + connections that we cannot control, but are attempting to move around it.

article. Massive Change
This article really talks about how we really need to come together as a people to help this disease and poor epidemic that tends to always be a part of the world. The rich really need to give help to the poor in order for us to get people to the health and conditions that will best help them grow and lead better lives. There however, is always going to be at least one apathetic group and often times, those are the groups in which can help make + sustain that difference. The problem that we then are left with, is how can we address these concerns without the proper materials?

VA reading response. Week 6

article. "Why Being Less Bad is No Good" + "Eco-Effectiveness"

Even though we’re recycling materials and other waste, it is essentially helping and hurting us. Yes, we are helping the planet, but we continue to lose valuable materials, harmful chemicals go into the air and cheaper products are created. Also, downcycling is expensive for businesses. Despite what some people may think a totally efficient world is not the best kind for the human population. In some instances being totally efficient lacks originality + inspiration which many people hold as more important than helping the environment or world. I think in the end, this is the big reason why we won’t ever be fully efficient. Not only are people not willing for change, but also it could drastically change how we experience the world + all of that which we currently experience.

+

Humans, as a race strive for control and cannot let nature+ life simply exist without our touch. Things that are set in place, as a cycle with nature that would essentially give back to help, and us are the things that we are aiming to control. An example would be leaves, although letting them sit and decompose on our lawn would create a great repetitive cycle we do not allow + instead clean up the leaves. The book believes that we should aim for building new structures that bring back more than they put out, such as solar powers that create more power than the building consumes. As a whole though, I highly doubt people will ever be able to adapt to this, because we are too stuck in the here and now, we hardly care for things that take time, that we may never see the changes for. So, even though this debate + talk of sustainability may continue to grow as the idea of the community, we will never be able to push forward, because we hardly will get back what we put in.

article. Catherine Gray on Sustainable Business
This article spoke about how The Natural Step is an organization that teaches huge corporations/companies how to be and stay sustainable. They've worked with Nike, McDonalds, Starbucks + Ikea. Their reason to aim at these larger brands is because the larger the brand is, the larger the impact will be if they go more sustainable. The world is currently at a state, where we need to start looking carefully at all that we're doing + start to right our wrongs, before we no longer have these resources that are diminishing.

VA reading response. Week 5.

article. He Might Be Giant: Shepard Fairey
This article was talking about Shepard Fairey's rise to fame and his thoughts on himself + his work. What I found interesting was that this side art project of his, became his career and lasting impact on culture. It's also interesting that he had this defy/forget the world attitude, even though he came from an old money background. He does not think highly of himself or his work at all and appears to just almost laugh at the idea of him being cool. He says that he didn't put nearly as much concept into the idea of the obey stuff being cool, he said that it was really some fan following that decided it and he was cool. It's weird to me that he's still doing design work for larger companies, as well as still throwing up his new age propaganda-esk design everywhere.
--

article. Guerrilla Street Postering
This article spoke more about how street postering Guerrilla style could be good, but how in the end it does not 68hold much impact. This specific user's style is one that lightly makes fun of something that is going on, as well as informs the user. I thought of this more like another version of the news, getting the word out about something, but in a bit of funny or jarring way without being super aggressive. The user states that there was no money in this at all + is done by large teams of individuals that wish to get a rush and do something illegals such as put up posters.
--

article. Adbuster Veronique Vienne Interview Kalle Lasn.
Kalle Lasn proposes that the field of design uses another judging area when accepting jobs to work. She believes that there should be a judge of how much the design is going ti impact its users and those around them. She believes that designers are really causing impact on on the world negatively through psychological impact of these products that we're designing for. I can see where she is going with this, but I feel there are too many variables to actually take this proposed plan into actuality. And I really feel that many people will just come in and swoop up these projects to create design for, because they need the money. I don't think that you can honestly base a system off so much uncertainty.

VA reading response. week 4.

article. Can Graphic Design Save Itself?

In the nineties, there were many debates about the visual aesthetics and rules of graphic design. Those debates brought us to where we are now, still looking at those aspects, but putting new spins on them. Designs now vary based on the company products own style, not relying heavily on the once mandated design standards. Some have even gone as far as to say that graphic design does not currently exist, as it is not one unified body, but rather a set of individuals.

--

article. Cultural Catalysts, Cultural Agency

There are two main ways to look at designing, either we are after making a customer accepting of what they have and where they are at OR we motivate them to take charge and change their life.  The designer main role as a catalyst or motivating the consumer is in the presentation of information that creates almost a two way conversation, inviting the consumer to take the information presented and react in an accordingly way.

--

article. Massive Change

we will explore design economies.

Design is becoming one of the most important influences on a new product, where as it used to have one of the smallest impacts. There has been more thought in general in relation to products, processes, services and their cross platform/product relation.

we will tap into the global communities.

The world of design is no longer focusing on the ideas of a single minded designer, but in the ability of multiple designers + thinkers coming together to create one great project/idea.

we will distributive capacity.

The best ideas/designs will be created with the help of discussion with others, test audiences, other designers, specialty individuals, as well as thinking about problems, solutions, and the ability for flexible change.

we will embrace paradox.

The book is calling for more discussion between personal responsibility of designers and their projects, as well what happens when designs are open up with no one in direct responsibility for the work.

we will reshape our future.

The future is based on those who put in the time and hard work to deal with tons of testing and experiments to find the answer; the experience is needed to ready us for whatever else lies ahead.