Visual Communication as Spatial Experience
This objective of this design project is to explore the idea of visual communication as an experience. Most of us are familiar with the concept of "user experience" in the design of web sites and mobile apps, but designers have been creating experiences in physical space for hundreds, even thousands of years. The painted paleolithic caves of prehistoric Europe, as well as Michaelanglo's Sistine Chapel ceiling murals, could be considered early experiential design.
We will be assisted in this project by a visiting designer, Scott Bevan of Attune. Scott graduated from Art Center College of Design and worked as as designer at several highly accomplished design groups including Landor (www.landor.com) and SB&G now Brand Union (www.brandunion.com) before forming his own design consulting group Attune (studioattune.com). He has extensive design expertise in experience design and is known particularly for his ability to envision and express identity and branding in architectural space. Scott and I first met and worked together as designers at Design Center, Utah's first multi-dimensional design group, many years ago. Our projects included package, product, experience, graphic and advertising design for a variety of clientele including the LDS Church, Little America, Eimco Mining, Browning Arms and the Utah Museum of Natural History.
Activity/Experience Design
The basic project is to choose an activity, ranging from retail to educational, from historical to entertaining, then create a physical and informational experience which introduces, communicates and delivers the benefits of that activity to a particular audience.
Activities, experiences and spaces could include restaurants, gas stations, clothing stores, libraries, playgrounds, retail outlets, classrooms, museums, visitors centers, sports centers, etc. Your particular project might include the creative development of a new type of informative experience. The underlying requirement of the project is that the experience must be informative, beneficial, physical and visual within a designated space or place.
Group Project
This project will be a student design group project. Each group member is responsible for the success of the group as a whole and will receive two grades for the final project – an individual grade and a group project grade. The student groups are as follows:
Design Team 1 - Blake, Garrison, Stephanie & Rachel
Design Team 2 - Anthony, Jessica, Morgan & Bo
Design Team 3 - Riley, Hailey, Brynn & Sammie
Design Team 4 - Leon, Kim Bryce & Meagan
Design Team 5 - Duke, Sydney, Megan & Jenn
You must name and create an identity and positioning statement for your student design group.
All design process, solutions and collateral will be referenced to your design team.
Project Schedule
The tentative schedule for the month-long project is as follows:
T TH
28- Project Launch
2- Bevan: Presentation & Methodology 4- Work in Class
9- Bevan: SketchUp Workshop (10 am to 5 pm) 11- Work in Class
16- Work in Class 18- Field Trip - UMNH
23- Bevan: In-Progress Project Review 25- Work in Class
1- Work in Class 3- Work in Class15- Work in Class 17- Bevan: Final Design Team Presentations
22- Process Presentation Posters Due
This project will include, but is not limited to:
Activity Research, Concept Development, Ideation, Sketching, Identity Design, Branding, Architectural Design, Market Research, Spatial Planning, Floor Plan Development, 3D Modeling, Architectural Projections/Rendering, Signage, Information Graphics, Marketing and Sales Collateral, Exhibition Design, Furniture Design, Interior Design, etc.
Design Software
This project may require the use of a variety of design-related software including, but not limited to Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash, Muse, SketchUp, Maya, etc.
A day-long workshop covering concept sketching and SketchUp software will be conducted by visiting designer, Scott Bevan, Tuesday, February 9th from 10:30 am to 1:00 pm, and 2:30 to 5:00 pm in the design classroom and digital lab.
First Assignment
A visual presentation of your proposed activity, including a simplified design brief (sender, message, audience, objective) and an image board visually expressing the activity is due on your blog and printed out and posted on the crit wall at the beginning of class, Tuesday, February 2nd.
Subsequent Assignments
The project has been launched, the methodology and process outlined, and final objectives have been set. This project will last 5 1/2 weeks or 11 class periods. Specific dates have been delineated for an introduction to the project, a 3D rendering workshop, an in-progress critique, a field trip, and the final design team presentation.
The remainder of the class days are set apart as project work days. The assignments and due dates to complement the project are now your individual design team's responsibilities. I will be available to consult and critique each of those days.
