Author: Manuel Schmalstieg

Categories
briefs historical

A square, 30 cm by 30 cm

An example of Kandinsky’s assignments during his teaching at the Bauhaus. Cited in Teaching at the Bauhaus (Wick, 2000, p. 201), from the notes of a participant in Kandinsky’s course:

In Kandinsky’s class we were given a real vacation assignment, but it isn’t bad. A square, 30 cm by 30 cm, is to be divided up into 5 by 10 cm rectangles. The following colors are to be used: 3 primary, 3 secondary, and 3 uncolored (black, white, gray). The arrangement of the colored rectangles is entirely up to you as long as they are horizontal and vertical, not diagonal. It’s also up to you how often you use each color, so long as every color is used at least once. The task is as follows:

1. emphasize the center.
2. balance top and bottom.

Categories
briefs

Design deliverables for a WordCamp

In this assignment, students will design deliverables for a WordCamp of their choice. Typical deliverables include:

  • A logo
  • A website header
  • An identity (font and colour palette)
  • A visual style for the website

Students will interact remotely with the organisers they will collaborate with. This will provide them with an experience in project management and professional communication.

Some resources:

Categories
briefs

Digital tools for emancipation

A brief by Geoffrey Dorne. In French: “Des outils numériques pour s’émanciper”. Mentioned during a talk at BlendWebMix.

On va travailler sur les outils numériques pour s’émanciper. On va imaginer des dispositifs pour répondre au besoin d’une personne pour la rendre plus indépendante, plus résiliante, plus autonome. Vous utiliserez la méthodologie d’ethno design et les techniques de prototypage.

Geoffrey Dorne published a blog post describing a similar workshop in 2017.

 

Categories
briefs

One Day Websites

A method designed by Jeremy Keith, applied at the New Digital School, Porto:

Day four was a deliberate step away from [hands-on coding]. No more laptops, just paper. Whereas the previous days had focused on collaboratively working on a single document, today I wanted everyone to work on a separate site.

The sites were generated randomly. I made five cards with types of sites on them: news, social network, shopping, travel, and learning. Another five cards had subjects: books, music, food, pets, and cars. And another five cards had audiences: students, parents, the elderly, commuters, and teachers. Everyone was dealt a random card from each deck, resulting in briefs like “a travel site about food for the elderly” or “a social network about music for commuters.”

Read a more detailed write-up here.

Categories
ideas

Classroom Visualisation

Visualize your classmates :

  • Geographical network: visualize the “migration paths”, the geographic origins of the different students.
  • Map of interests: produce a survey of “favorite art, movies, books, music”. Produce a chart or other visualization of the results.
Categories
ideas

Botanic Exploration

Projet idea for design schools that are surrounded by a green area (parc, garden).

  • Make a survey of the plants – trees and other species.
  • List the different species, their age, origin, and other characteristics.

Present the information in a visual way (data visualization). This project aims to engage student in ways to present statistical information visually, but also to improve their understanding of urban ecosystems.

Vegetation around School of Design Basel
Vegetation around design school Eracom, Lausanne
Categories
briefs

Urban Hacking

Evan Roth, in interview with Constant:

It is really about the idea of hacking. The first assignment in the class is not to make anything, but simply to identify systems in the city. What are elements that repeat. Trying to find which ones you can slip into.

Categories
briefs

Animated GIF Loop

Assignment by Golan Levin: “My students have the assignment of generating an animated GIF loop (with @p5xjs or @ProcessingOrg code)”. September 2018.

Categories
briefs

Future Retro

An assignment by Boris Müller, Professor for Interaction Design at FH Potsdam

In 2017, I gave a web design class at the Interface Design Programme in Potsdam, Germany. Each team was asked to come up with a redesign for an existing website. The assignment was very clear: Treat the browser as a blank canvas and create expressive, imaginative visual experiences. Use the technological potential of current web technologies as a channel for your creativity. Do not be constrained by questions of usability, legibility, and flexibility. Have an attitude. Disregard Erwartungskonformität.

The results: https://interface.fh-potsdam.de/future-retro/

Source: Why Do All Websites Look the Same?, Medium, Oct 30 2018

Categories
briefs

Wikipedia Biographies

An assignment described by Dawn Bazely, University Professor in biology at York University, Toronto:

In 2014, I developed assignments requiring students to edit Wikipedia. One had them choose a woman scientist or an ecologist of any gender, and either start a Wikipedia page or add to their biography. This was partly to lure students into learning some HTML-style coding, but also so they would hone other important, transferrable skills. As a new Wikipedia editor, you learn to follow style rules and policies; you learn how to put work into the public domain while still guarding your intellectual property and how to create fact-checked Open Access Internet resources. I hope, too, this work instills a public-spirited enthusiasm for sharing knowledge.

Source: Washington Post, 8.10.2018