The Process Project : NCSU

Assignment #7: Synthesis

So here we go...taming the exploratory beast. For the final project of the semester, you will create a system of materials across media. This is your opportunity to harness the broad nature of your explorations throughout the semester and use them toward a clearly articulated, pre-defined project goal.

]]> Begin by identifying an interest that has developed over the course of the semester; perhaps a previous project that had "legs" and suggested deeper investigation. The project should be situated within, in response to, or inspired by downtown Raleigh; it needn't be limited to Moore and Nash Squares, though the body of work you have surrounding those spaces is certainly a good foundation from which to embark on this final adventure.

Key dates:

April 04: Review project proposals. These should be printed one-sheeters outlining the different components of your project; what comment you are making or purpose your project serves; who you are talking to; why the format/media in which you choose to work is appropriate to that audience; and, of course, why does this matter?

April 08: Review "visual explorations." I'd like to see these on the wall. Find some space. If there's a reason your explorations should live in a different format, let's talk about it.

April 11: Physical sketches of two components

April 15: Critique of first two components

April 25 + 27: Final critique

Yee-ha! Go to it, pirates.

Assignment #6: Leaving [pronoun] Mark

The last of the weekly assignments is set up to be a real humdinger, brave pirates. The components/parameters are as follows:

TITLE: This is what you are responding to. It might be useful to reflect on what this means, who it implicates (by virtue of your chosen pronoun) and, oh yes, why it matters. We are expanding the site to be about downtown Raleigh instead of just the squares for this project, so please consider what you have learned and let this title be a guiding force/inspiration in some way.

]]> PROCESS: You have all researched artists and designers working with chance operations, procedural, or other systematic ways of generating work. What excites you about this? How can you set up a system of process for generating content, visual or otherwise, in a similar fashion? The idea is that you cannot know the results when you set out. Embrace the unpredictability of this process, while setting yourself up for "success." This is a difficult balance.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS: Please collect at least ten reproductions of archival documents relating to Raleigh. These will serve as part of your image bank. They may or may not be used in your final product, but they will help nurture your explorations by providing another set of materials to which the data generated by your process might relate. Additionally, select a pair of typefaces that speak to the notion of "then" and "now."

Go to it. Dive in. Trust yourselves. Make, make, make.

Process, Chance Operations, Etc.

A thread to which you may post and discuss links relating to artists/designers working within this realm.

Final Projects: Initial Discussion

Use this thread to bat around ideas about your final projects. Consider which projects may have suggested deeper exploration—or use something that excited you about the square(s) as a departure point. This is just the beginning of this conversation—details will emerge over the coming week.

Speak.

Assignment #5: Backing Into a Poster

For this project, we will start with the form studies we did in class last Wednesday. "Read" the vocabulary you generated and look for feeling, meaning, emotion, physical responses.

]]> Choose a play (either Shakespeare or Ancient Greek) that best fits to develop a poster for an outdoor production in Moore Square announcing the production by an outdoor company (avant-garde, community, youth, other?)

Please include:

theater company
title of work
director
dates
free

Gorgeous

Moods of the North Pole

Assignment #4: Sister Cities

Raleigh is a sister city to Hull, England; Compiègne, France; Kolomna, Russia; and Rostock, Germany. For the purposes of this assignment, let's imagine that the councils of the respective cities have decided to focus on "town" squares as the theme for an exchange intended to promote the sister city program.

You have been asked to propose something for the citizenry of our sister cities that represents Raleigh through Moore Square. The work will be disseminated to each of the cities. For this project, Raleigh will be taking the lead with design and the other cities will follow the format, so your system should be applicable across cities and languages with that in mind.

]]> Note: You will not be required to work with translation for this project; it's okay to create your project in English or use dummy text in foreign languages, but please acknowledge how translation might figure in. This issue alone is a big nut to crack (especially with the Cyrillic,) so don't go down that rabbit hole unless it's central to your concept.

Dates:

07 Feb: visual statement due
11 Feb: pre-crit
14 Feb: final crit; documentation due; ♥alentines due for extra credit

Mus[e]ic

What are you guys listening to? How is (or isn't) this relevant to your work in studio?

Discuss.

Assignment #3: Power

This week, you are charged with illuminating a power relationship present in Moore or Nash Square.

]]> In class, we spent several hours translating concepts of power into formal characteristics. Perhaps this will be useful in building a vocabulary for this project. Your project need not be related to your drawing experience so don't furrow your brows too deeply trying to connect the two.

Try to expand your research methods. Thus far, all of you have used observation and documentation of some sort; some of you have used interview techniques. What other methods might reveal the dynamics of power relationships?

Questions to ponder, if you're not sure how to begin:

Who (or what) has power in these squares? Who doesn't? Why?
How is that manifested physically? Spatially? Emotionally?
What is the relationship between power and order? How are these squares orderly or disorderly? What creates this order?
How do the power relationships in these squares reflect a broader phenomenon in the world?
How do you feel about all this?

For Monday:

Generate at least three studies that illuminate something on the subject. Remember, these are explorations at this point—not sketches for a final piece. These can be three ways of looking at one thing you've noticed or each examining a different phenomenon.
Bring in three examples of existing visual languages used to represent power in our culture (acknowledging that "our culture" is a loaded term—perhaps you'd like to remind us why...) These might be something from magazines, newspaper, clothing, architecture, ads, whatever.
Bring what you need to work in class.

Assignment #2: The Fleeting

Inspired by the sudden transformation of the city in the snow, this week we will turn our attention toward illuminating something fleeting, temporary, or ephemeral in Moore or Nash Square.

]]> This project will be designed for someone within one or both of the squares. Identify a single person to whom you wish to make a comment on this theme. You should be able to articulate what the comment is, who it is intended for, and how the medium or format in which it is presented supports the message.

What were your first ideas? How did they change when you revisited the site? How did your process/mood/tool/circumstances affect your observations and motivations? No, really, think about each one of those words between the slashes. And post a comment. Really.

[Update 02.02.04: Check out finished projects here.]

Jens Gehlhaar

Creative Director of Brand New School

Lecture at 1:00 on Friday, friends. Yes: 1:00. Kamphoefner auditorium.

Assignment #1: Collection, Part II

++Check out the finished projects.++

Part II is a two-parter: making and writing.

Making:

"Read" your collection. What themes emerge from the process of collecting and/or from what's before you and how you've chosen to display it?

]]> How can you design the presentation of the collection to better communicate this theme, insight, or pattern? This may require editing, rebuilding, or re-representing your collection. The eventual artifact or experience may exist in any format or medium you see fit. Consider your final piece for this project a sort of analysis of the collection you gathered in the first phase.

Go to it! We'll look at the final pieces on Wednesday, January 19.

Writing:

Also by classtime, Wednesday, please respond to this post (click on "comments") with your comments on the following:

Describe your first impressions of the site. Be subjective. How do you feel there? What do you notice? Is there anything you find particularly delightful? Unpleasant?
How is this space used? By whom?
Describe how your collection was affected by each of the following: the parameters of the assignment; the tools or methods you used for collecting; and the circumstances of your visit (time of day, weather, your mood, etc.)

Assignment #1: Collection, Part I

Part 1, due Wednesday, 12 Jan:

Collect 50 things from the site. Things may be images, artifacts, sketches, video or audio clips. Or?

]]> Be prepared to describe your collection process.

Questions to keep in mind:

What method/medium did you use for collection and how did that affect what you chose to collect?
How did the number of required items affect what you chose to collect? How would be it be different for 5 things or 500 things?
What level of distance/proximity did your method of collection offer?
Did you talk to anyone?
What does your collection reveal about the site? Conceal? What does it reveal about you?

Please bring your collection in a shareable format on Wednesday.

Ahoy sailors and stowaways!

Welcome aboard the NCSU Chapter of The Process Project's maiden voyage. This shall serve as the primary webspace for the work of a band of spirited, young designers from NC State's College of Design, who have boldly raised their designing paws as willing participants. Good luck, all!