Design 21: Social Design Network

Lawrence:

Your images look good. Looks as if many ideas have spurred in the last couple of weeks.

Moving forward, I really want you to think about target users and how your relationships with NFPs might help you to make these upcoming tests more productive. Also, please consider how you will articulate the relationships with NFPs to your audience and critics and in your thesis overall. What role has/will your NFPs play? What have you gained from this relationship? What might you need in coming weeks from them?

Jesse

Hey Thomas:

I wanted to check to wish you good luck tonight and to pose a couple of questions to you.

I don't see any reference to your NFP relationship on your board? Is this because you haven't identified any NFP relationships or for other reasons? Please begin to articulate what is or isn't working with your NFP relationship, how your NFP might be more useful? What you might do to promote that happening and what you might need from your NFP moving forward in the next few weeks.

Jesse

Herng Fuu:

Good work on your revisions! Looking forward to see how things have developed tonight at the reviews.

Jesse

Hey Doug:

I've been following your progress here the past couple of weeks. I look forward to seeing this all live tonight. I also wanted to pose a few questions for you to consider moving forward.

Regarding your mission:

"CREATESCAPE addresses the issue of noise pollution through the design of a product that allows the user to escape the persistent noise of the city, as well as keep their own noise pollution under control."

Though I understand your thesis title points to "escape", at this point I don't think that your product really provides an "escape" from noise, does it? Isn't it more of a retreat from the noise or a mitigation? And, what we produce with our voices, etc isn't really pollution, is it? Though, we could definitely characterize it as that (especially when we're annoyed or interrupted). Aren't these annoyances really everyday micro "sound" aggressions that test our patience and eat away at our ability to focus?

Please consider how your ideas are represented (or not) via your mission. You don't want to overstate your problem or solution.

Next, it's really important that you consider how to articulate your relationship with your NFP, in critiques and in your thesis overall. What is/will be the value of this relationship? What had it afforded thus far? What's lacking? Please consider incorporating some reference to these ideas into your board as well.

Good luck tonight!

Jesse

Karissa:

I like where things are going on your board. You're prototypes and images are really beginning to capture the questions you pose to the consumer.

I look forward to seeing this all live tonight. Meanwhile, I have a couple of thoughts or questions that I'd like for you to consider as we move forward:

-What impact does this overconsumption have on rural communities around the world (the global South, in particular), their natural resources and their chances of cultural sustainability?

You have found creative ways to lead us to confront our greed and materialism and its enormity in the West, but you do not confront us with the death and destruction that this causes in the production chain (land, extraction of materials, labor, trade, etc). What have you uncovered in your research to date? How might you bring this content into the fold?

Until then.

Jesse

I don't know if this would interest you or not:

http://www.japansociety.org/event_detail?eid=674fb1e2

Emily:

Nicely formed question. Do you plan to also get perspectives of families too?

That could be difficult it seems, but really critical. Maybe this could happen through the therapists/case workers? Have you looked at any scholarly journals yet? I'm sure you can find relevant articles there. There are many on the New School's library website.

Jesse

Richard:

Just wanted to remind you that technically, Government, schools are both typically non-profit structures. I assume you make the distinction to demonstrate the "types" of NFPs you know that you will need support from to make the project successful?

Have you identified any groups or organizations comprised of local indigenous groups or those who work closely with those populations?

Jesse

Richard:

Your survey/questions are really coming together. If your focus ends up being bamboo, will you need to adjust the survey accordingly?

Jesse

Emily:

I hope that you didn't think that I was being critical of your ideas. I think they are both very interesting and have great potential if you can focus your research/questions related to the issues. A plus is that there are several potential overlaps between the 2 subjects.

I agree with you that it seems families need to be offered strategies and support to transition into more healthy and peaceful family/relationship settings. Beyond Christina Aguilera, have you identified a great need for these types of interventions? Are there loca organizations of service providers, organizers or victim groups who have verbalized this need? I don't doubt that there is a need and I understand that we are in the beginning stages, but you'll need to quantify this. Perhaps if when you make your initial contact with a group/organization you'll find others. Start local. Your work will be more relevant and more easily manageable this way.

In these first few contacts, you'll also find some interesting choices you'll come across for various directions you could go with this project. It could be the perfect combination of passion+theory that makes a solid thesis.

Best.

Jesse