The Process Project : NCSU

Well, I think I've finally hit on something that I like. Mostly owing to another class, World Population and Food, I'm really interested in human development initiatives around the world, and in community development initiatives at home. I spoke with my professor in that class (Dr. Patterson, Crop Science) about what graphic design might have to offer in helping these causes, and we talked about designer responsibility and working for nonprofits. I was very happy to find that I could make the last project connect by addressing senior citizens in the context of downtown Raleigh development, and I am continuing for this project in the same vein. It might go without saying, but I get a great feeling from making or supporting design that has a cause behind it, something valuable to society that enriches people's lives by stimulating beneficial activity.

For the final, I will be addressing the audience of students, parents, and teachers at Moore Square Museum Magnet Middle School (M2M3) and Exploris Magnet Middle School, two downtown schools with grades 6 through 8. The kids at these schools are ages 11 to 14, early teenagers. Their parents and teachers are a second, adult audience, who I feel are equally important even though my main interest is in reaching the children. What I'd like to do for these people is to involve them through their school communities in a charity walk/run event in downtown Raleigh to benefit a local organization (yet to be decided).

The purpose of this endeavor is two-part. First, according to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, one in five kids in America are obese, making them susceptible to numerous diseases. Half of young people ages 12 to 21 do not participate in regular exercise. In schools, phys. ed. classes have suffered from budget cuts and are sometimes offered only as an elective, not a requirement. Not all children can participate in after-school intramurals or competitive sports. Without the schools to emphasize the importance of a healthy lifestyle (due to budget concerns), it is up to families and the kids themselves to make exercise a priority. An event like a charity walk has the opportunity to make this priority apparent to children so they can see for themselves, through their involvement, that exercise can be an enjoyable, regular part of a healthy life.

The event also has the opportunity to interest kids in a life that includes community involvement. Through their participation in the event, these adolescents can see the positive effects of their work on the lives of those in need. They can also experience the self-confidence and other positive feelings that community service, as well as exercise, can provide. Community service is another area of our public school curriculum that receives little, if any, attention.

I think these things are extremely important. As graphic designers well know, hierarchy and relationships of objects to one another are a big part of the overall read. In parallel, kids' general impression of a school schedule will be affected by what subjects are stressed and given most attention and which ones are not. Physical education and community service are two programs, along with arts, music, and drama programs, that do not receive enough funding or school time when compared with core academic subjects. I have long since felt that these unbalanced priorites are imposed on our children and affect their decisions about priorities later in life, and that this represents a failing of our public educational system. With graphic design as a tool towards community development, I can't necessarily change the whole system. But I might begin helping by supplementing it through supporting a community event like a charity walk.

I hope I'm not being too idealistic. While I'm passionate about this, I also want to be practical. One thing that Maggie highlighted, and that I'm focusing a lot of attention on, is how one event can be the catalyst for a lifestyle change or at least reverberate beyond the date of that event, to last in the minds of these kids.

ali--sounds like a cool idea! i think it would also be good b/c it would get people to move through parts of downtown that they may not have seen otherwise. i do agree that you need to build it into something that has a lasting effect beyond the actual event. what if there was a lot of build-up to it? like if it was a long walk, you could have groups organized to "train" together once a week or something? that way they're building up this habit over the course of a month or two (or more?), and it puts even more excitement and importance in the final walk. are there ways you could incorporate the event into the schoolday as well? what if there were speakers who came to the school every week or month or something leading up to the event? like one week someone could come in and talk about exercise, another week nutrition, etc. that sounds kind of boring, but you get the idea. just ways to make it into a bigger thing? sounds like a fun idea though!

Oh yeah, thanks Emily. Those are good ideas! I like the idea of a buildup to the event. Kind of like an educational advertising campaign for it to build up hype and knowledge …

I really like raleigh, maybe it is because of where I live or maybe because of the people I hang out with or maybe because I don't like to drive and I feel i can walk most places, or well (i guess i have to say this one) maybe because i have a dog that loves me (and even if she doesn't I THINK she does and that is what matters).

ok back to the project.. . I am going to take a commercial space in the City Market area and change it into something both visitors and residence enjoy and aren't intimidated by. It will be a mix of products from "Raleigh" stores/makers, a contemporary art gallery, and a quarterly magazine.

Every 3 months 3ish new places in Raleigh (an example could be stitch, readers corner, & the lighting store on peace) will be featured together. The artifacts from the stores, will be set up in displays and will also be available for purchase. There will be consistant things within the displays that will carry on from "issue" to "issue."

Why is this important? This spACE would not replACE the plACEs (? haha that sounds funny) it represented. It would just be a small venue for Raleigh residence/Visitors to become familier with places they may not have know of before. Because it would change raleigh people would go more than once to check out what's new, and visitors would see stuff that would speak to raleigh people about raleigh and give them (the visitors) a current resident perspective rather than just the historical.

that is enough thinking.. . now it's time to make.

Brit, great idea!~!! Youre doing something you love and know! The idea of updating this place is a great idea! Youll keep people coming back and always learning about Raleigh. People are always looking for new places and things too see. It will also appeal to tourists: for example, when I was at the City Market for the first project, I had about 2 people come up to me asking what there is to do in Raleigh or that specific area! Plus, the tourists are already directed to that area as somewhere to go because of that wonderful acorn.

Plus, I think you will be able to express a lot of your voice in this and share everything you know about Raleigh. Why do you think I always ask you about places to see or go or eat at? Cuz you know so much about Raleigh and want to make sure people have a good time! You have great taste...wow I really hate that term "great taste" but you get the picture, hee hee

Ok, so I have been struggling a bit on an idea. Let me know what you think...

I had been thinking about my power project and the Bible. I was thinking for this project that I could make people act now and do something about all the horrible things in the world. However, Sarah got a lil boggled down with all these "saving the world issues" and trying to derive a way to make people act. But, then I was thinking, how could these horrible pictures and issues make someone want to do something or instil a sense of hope. It just seems so huge, like we could have no impact!

So then I was thinking about issues in Raleigh, and of course I thought about homelessness and bad things again... why do I keep thinking about all these heavy issues?????? I dunno, but after talking Alison and Graham I saw a whole other side.

WHY NOT DO THE OPPOSITE OF MY BIBLE. Personally, I dont feel like doing my final project on something so sad and depressing because I like to be positive. What if I dont focus on shocking people and creating this guilt of what they are not doing by displaying the horrifying things going on in the world but use GRAPHIC DESIGN TO MAKE PEOPLE FEEL BETTER AND WANT TO VOLUNTARILY PARTICIPATE in good deeds during the day, or slow down, or think for a second while people are walking through downtown. For example, if there was a sort of system I designed..it would have a look and feel that people recognized and knew it was something that was positive and beneficial, it would appear on television as short commericals, stickers, bus stops, sides of building, signs, etc, all mediums that can work in a downtown area. This way the aura and place can be a more inviting and positive place.

So I talked with Maggie and she thinks that it will be too confusing to promote both physical health and community involvement at the same time. She suggested I stick with the Salvation Army since it is right there nextdoor to the schools and make it just about community involvement on the local level. But I think that if it were just about that, I wouldn't want to do a walk. I would want it to be some other activity. Cause why do you fundraise for your neighbor, when they are right there and you could give your time and volunteer? I know I'm not supposed to be thinking about the logistics of it - just focusing on designing this walk - but I can't help it. When I got the idea for the walk it was because I was thinking about children getting exercise at school, and I think considering I've done more research already about that, I'm going to do that instead. So I'm going with the health thing period. I just know more about it already. And my charity will be the Heart Center at WakeMed. DONE. now I'm going to make stuff about that.

I wonder why those schools aren't already doing something to benefit the Salvation Army, since they are neighbors? I think I will ask them. I wonder if they think these kids are too young to be hanging around homeless people, even if they're helping them? Or is it a separation of church and state issue (Salv. Army is religious)?

Saaaaaarah (hee hee) I love your idea about making downtown more positive. That's what I'm talking about too. I am so glad you want to make a difference somehow. Really interested to see where yours will go.

sarah dear.. . yay for going positive. You are the most positive and optimistic person I know so this seems like it fits you much better.

So You all remember how I talked about having this physical space be like a quarterly magazine? well look at this website SITTINGS: Thirty Men by SHOWstudio. Oh also this site is a great example of recording the process and collaboration of preparing and carrying out a project

This final project is exciting to think about but at the same time overwhelming. I have been thinking about what I want to do that might best represent my interests and my work. I really liked the concept of my last project where I tried to define the characteristics of people through what they left behind. From this concept I began thinking of other ways that people might represent themselves. People everywhere wear clothing, and through their clothes they are both consciously and unconsciously creating a specific image of themselves. The only problem about the images that people create is that they are often not truthful to their essence and character. What if there was a brand of clothing that broke down the barriers that people so often hide behind or use to try to fit in? It would be a brand of clothes that clearly spoke of the person wearing them. These would be casual, everyday, one of a kind clothes. People would create their clothes through a complex system of question and answers either within the actual store, or online.

Now where does the project fit in and what am I making? I was thinking a lot about how I could physically make these clothes, but realized that I am not a fashion designer, I'm a graphic designer, so why don't I just create the identity for this place and act as if I am being hired by the owner to get this store up and running. I would be collaborating with the owner of this store and would create an identity to get people interested. I will make the store logo, bags, tags, and eventually a magazine that would represent the brand and the ideas behind the brand.

So why is this so important? I'm not out to save the world, so I am doing a project that is of interest to me. My hope is that it will free people of "the image" and show them their true self. This is more than a line of clothing, it is a statement about people and how image can sometimes consume their personal truth. This concept is of primary importance to the clothing line and will guide the system.

hey jessbeck so people creating their clothes based on other content? I re-came across this last night/this morning.. . n-Generate

hey maybe disreguard that website. I downloaded it and all and it wasn't as cool as I had thought it would be. It actually made me roll my eyes. so i appologize for taking up space and making this list of entries longer than neccessary

some good questions/comments/thoughts above. I have enjoyed reading them. Jess, I would be conscious of what your goals are in creating this clothing identity. Also, with all the selection of clothing out there what makes this process any more unique than the combinations that people create on their own? or design on their own if truly concerned with self expression? Personal creation should surely feel more unique than a algorithmic clothing generator . . it almost seems like your goals and your plan are in direct opposition. Maybe you play with this?

This final project seems to have a lot of opportunity to expand on a lot of what we have already investigated. I am interested in following some of my previous focus on process and branding. How can branding be a more rewarding and convenient vehicle for the consumer? I propose that a richer process in creation with more regard for line extension, product depth and trademark consideration could be the answer...........................

visual audit

All these great ideas and supportive comments are encouraging.
Brit--I love Raleigh too! I think it's a great baseline for this project to be about Raleigh.

I hit the wall this weekend on this project because I couldn't get out of the design hole that I put myself in by continuing from the last project. I feel like I should move on from what I orginially created, but if I add more to the visuals it gets confusing. I think what I need to do is quit working with visuals for awhile and really get the research part done. I think that is more interesting right now and will help with how the project looks later.

I talked to some people over the weekend about the project and I got a lot of encouragement to leave behind the tree metaphor and include photos of the actual people. I think this goes a lot closer to what is going on in Wisconsin Death Trip. Maybe the photo of the person and the quirky story about their death is too morbid? That is why I originally used the trees to get away from the black and white images.

any suggestions on furthering the tree metaphor while incorporating photos of people?

Amanda, I thought it was interesting seeing the illustration/collage of the woman coming out of the tree (in the poster you showed Monday). Maybe if the image of the woman and the tree image were more alike so she seemed to really be a part of the tree. I thought of family tree when I saw that and I thought that was part of what you were showing (maybe not?) Maybe you just show the related members of the stories that way and then have another illustration of the event that the stories are about next to their tree, so like: mother and father and son growing from a tree that characteristically looks like it would belong to them, and then on the ground you show imagery about what happened in their story, so that it's a part of the tree. Kind of illustrating the history of the archives. I think that's the power of the trees and people as imagery that you have now, and why it brings that text to life, because it starts to give you some more information about the story or somehow adds meat to it. It's only a short blurb but it is interesting and you kind of want to know more. Maybe you give that to us, whether it's real or not. Does it matter if you make up the context around them? Isn't that what we do in our imaginations anyway? Some ideas.

Also, someone said Monday that you might use trees other than oaks. I don't think so. Keeping it with oaks makes it about Raleigh, and what's important and connective about these people is that they're all related to this place and their history was intertwined with it like the tree branches; maybe if you include other trees, you pair them with an oak too. I think the oak should be ever-present. Did you consider groupings of trees?

Ok - what do you guys think -

I thought of another route for the imagery and style of my project. What if I build a physical, 3-D heart [anatomical or symbolic (?)] and take it into downtown Raleigh and get some middle school kids to interact with it in active ways, like, a photo of them walking carrying the heart, or jumping over it, or throwing it back and forth, or running with it, or biking around it, etc. And that photographic series becomes the imagery and the type and text that goes with it to provide explanatory information feels more like the kids themselves created it. Or maybe I can actually get the kids to create some of it. What do you think? This seems a lot more exciting than my sillouette people, I'm sure you'll agree.

ali i totally agree with your new direction, i really like combining the graphical and the real into a single photograph. (umm not to be bandwagon hopping but have you seen sin city? theres a few scenes in there that do a really good job of combining flat graphic shapes with the realistic environment; all depends on how abstract you wanna take it i guess)
maybe your type could exist in the photos too? like a changing chalk message scrawled on the heart itself, or maybe steal some doodles out of the kids' notebooks-there might be an interesting language there, i know my notebooks were all doodles and no notes. at any rate, actually interacting with the kids and getting some of their feedback will probably inform your design more than anything we'd say ;-D