alex bitterman design.intelligence
this is alex's online home for design-oriented stuff.Archive for What I'm Doing
Annual Survey Time! Do it. You know you want to.
Calling all FORMER students: It’s time for my annual attitudes and opinion survey! Take it before August 31st at: http://tiny.cc/ICRdA
Holy Cow
My Design Applications II graduate students made their presentation to the Hertel Avenue community in Buffalo today. Their work was exceptionally well received, so much so, the presentation was featured as the afternoon headline buffalonews.com, and was also featured on NPR-affiliate WBFO, NBC-affiliate WGRZ, and even the afternoon Shred and Regan show on WEDG. What a day!
You can read the whole article from the Buffalo News at http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/569302.html
6 pack and snow
About 30 years ago, the then mayor of Buffalo, Jimmy Griffin, said to the media, that when snow hits Buffalo, the best thing to do is get a six-pack and wait it out. He was ridiculed in the national press for appearing incapable and unprepared. He was ridiculed in the local press because everyone here knows a six-pack doesn’t last more than an hour on a snowy night.
Every winter, Buffalo gets socked with a winter storm or two, and truth be told, that’s about it, we rarely get much more snow than most of our Great Lakes sister and brother cities, but when we get it, we get it. This seems to be that weekend, and Mayor Griffin’s advice has never been more helpful — especially considering that our new Mayor, Byron Brown can’t seem to keep the streets cleared. We’ve had more than a foot of snow in three days, and as of this writing, my street, and many streets in my neighborhood still haven’t seen a plow. Typical of the new Mayor, he instituted (to much fanfare) a 311 “one stop” line for Buffalo residents to call for questions and answers — and to complain about unplowed streets. However, in VERY typical Brownian fashion, the line is closed for the weekend, and closed early on Friday because of bad weather. Calls to the Mayor’s office are forwarded to the 311 service. Nice. I’m glad to see that my tax money was used to pay for something that works, as clearly, the plows aren’t.
About a month ago, The New York Times ran an article about Buffalo and our rich architectural heritage. Fine piece, that highlighted a few of the better-known architectural gems of the area (and ignored many more of the more gritty and less tourist-friendly.) You can read the full text of the article at NYT.com, or click here.
As I was trudging through the unplowed streets and toward the curiously pristine and cleanly-plowed sidewalks on Elmwood Avenue this morning (thanks, Elmwood Village Association), I snapped a few images of my neighborhood — one to contrast some of the images shown in The New York Times article, two, to show Byron that our streets still aren’t plowed, and three, to celebrate one of the several days we get in Buffalo each year to kick back with a case or two, and just watch the snow fly. Enjoy!
Toronto Star Article
New signs for the TTC: Can you tell the difference?
SUPPLIED IMAGES
The TTC is testing a simplified revamp of its street-level subway entrance signs. The proposed version is on the left, and the existing version is on the right.
May 30, 2008
TESS KALINOWSKI
TRANSPORTATION REPORTER
Take it as a sign of these brand-conscious times.
The TTC is piloting a simplified revamp of its street-level subway entrances that uses the TTC’s traditional red pylon logo in silhouette.
The new design will be installed and tested at the northeast corner of the Osgoode station in April so the TTC can gauge public reaction.
“We have such an iconic image for the TTC, so we wanted to make sure when we do replace it we do it right,” said TTC chair Adam Giambrone.
The pylon design dates back to the 1920s and was the visual cue that designers and TTC officials recommended following a brainstorming session at the Design Exchange in September.
It made no sense to replace the pylon given the public’s emotional attachment to the symbol, he said.
If reaction to the sign is positive, it would become the standard for new stations as the subway is extended, and at new entrances such as one planned for Queen’s Park station at the MaRS Discovery District on College St.
The pared-down pylon is meant to be easily seen and reduce the visual clutter that has grown along with the transit system, said Susan Reed Tanaka, TTC manager of engineering.
“What we would have is the TTC logo on the signpost, which attracts your attention to the location. And then the door, which is adjacent, has the station name, the line colour and the mode logo on it,” she said.
It’s still unclear whether the TTC would survey riders, the general public or design experts on the effectiveness of the new sign.
Whether out-of-towners recognize the TTC insignia “is something we’d probably have to study,” said Reed Tanaka.
There’s a lot riding on a strong TTC brand, Alex Bitterman, a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, told participants at the Design Exchange session. A well-designed brand can give a big boost to transit ridership.
Santa Monica, Calif., for example, increased ridership by 400 per cent when it rebranded its system as the Big Blue Bus.
A must-have for all grads!
About a year ago, I was interviewed by an energetic woman writing a book about life after graduation (from college.) She asked a bunch of really interesting questions, and I thought: “wow, this is going to be a neat book.” It is, and it’s out. Ramen Noodles, Rent, and Resumes: a guide to life after college was just published and is available at Amazon and other fine retailers. Check it out, and let me know what you think of my soundbites.
Honors Trip
I just got back from a trip across Eastern Europe with the CIAS honors students. There were 10 of us (Assistant Dean, Deb Kingsbury, me, and 8 students) altogether, and it was a fantastic trip. I was consistently impressed with the maturity and intelligence of the students with which I was traveling.
The image above is the group at Heroes Square in Budapest.We visited 4 countries in 10 days: Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, and Hungary.
I think we slept about 10 hours cumulatively, but the lack of sleep was definitely compensated by the splendid trip.I took about 1,000 photos (!) so I’ll post some from time to time along with a little commentary about each.
Materials & Methods
I’m going to be teaching a new course this upcoming quarter on Wednesday nights called Special Topics: Materials & Methods.
The course will be cross listed as both an undergraduate (2010.553.71) and graduate course (2010.753.71) and is open to all students that have completed the sophomore core. The official description is here: http://register.rit.edu/courseSchedule/20073/20/10/553/71
The idea of the course is based on the DIY philosophy made popular by magazines such as Ready Made, and by Ellen Lupton’s book, DIY.
As a design educator, I have noticed in the past 10 years, students have really (very quickly) moved away from using materials and, well, methods, to do design work. Too often, a project is assigned, and all of the brainstorming, gestation, design development, and iterative process is forgone in place of the immediate jump to production. The computer makes this possible, and creates the illusion of iterative process. The final product suffers immeasurably, and creativity never really occurs — just production. This shortchanges the design process, and waters down design to simply a decorative art.
Why does this occur? Part of it is a byproduct of accelerated time (in which we all seem to now live). The quest for immediate gratification, shorter attention spans, and the broad availability of cheap materials has spoiled us into believing that “design” is everywhere. It really isn’t. Commerce is everywhere. Design is still, typically, difficult to find.
Too, the computer — and indeed, the mechanical age — has discounted the craft of the human hand. Buildings are now constructed from monolithic steel, and no longer from units (like the brick) that the human hand can hold. Graphic design and type are now consistantly perfect (or nearly so) whether set by a secretary or by a pseudo-celebrity designer. The message to the masses has popularized design and underscores the “everyone can do it” mindset. We as designers know this simply isn’t true.
This course is an experiment in terms of materials used, the work designed, time management, and not only pushing the envelope, but opening it, refolding it, and discovering that it can be something completely different — like a paper airplane.
Over the quarter, students will focus on developing a book that chronicles their rediscovery of materials. This book may feature previously completed work, or may be a journal of sorts that recounts the next ten weeks. Either way, the work will undoubtedly be exciting and different, well designed, and well made.
Stay tuned for details and developments.
Muddy Waters
My friend Jake is opening a new coffee house in Rochester. It’s bound to be a hit, and will be a very cool joint. Muddy Waters Coffee House, in the South Wedge area of Rochester and is located behind the Cinema Theatre, where S. Clinton and Goodman meet, and it’s slated to open for business mid-January 2008. My friend Tony, owner of Rochester graphic design firm Type High did the design of the logo too. Muddy Waters is currently looking for artists who would be interested in some free gallery space. They’re looking for all kinds of work – paintings, hanging sculptures, fiber art, etc. – to place on walls. They will tag the work with the artist’s name and price of the piece, and hopefully be able to help support local artists in the community, while bringing some delicious coffee to the area. The Muddy Waters folks would also like to speak with any potters who may be interested in supplying us with pieces – coffee mugs, cappuccino cups, etc. – for use in the shop, and for sale to the public. Please reply to George at the Craigslist email address: comm-526920512@craigslist.org.
A Vision of Students Today.
This is an excellent short video produced by Prof. Michael Wesch and his students. The statistics presented come from research his students completed in his course. I’m curious to know how my current and former students feel about this video. Is it accurate? Is it true? What can be done better? Is it all hype? Comment below!
SoD
I have published a book of my students work, it’s called SoD ‘06 and represents some really innovative and creative thinking from my graduate Design Issues seminar course last year.
The book was edited by one my students, Joe Hribar and myself, and has been published through Lulu. Check it out here.
