This is a design manifesto I created last quarter to express some of my beliefs and thoughts about mainly interior design, but i think it can be carried over to other aspects of design as well.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Freak Factor
"Freak Factor: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness” - David Rendall
This article was about focusing on your strengths and weaknesses, and why it is ok to have both. I thought this was a really interesting article/manifesto. I have never thought about strengths and weaknesses being connected before. I think every single one of his suggestions was valid and they are all very thoughtful ideas to concentrate on while trying to improve some of your strengths and weaknesses.
4. Forget it. Don’t try to fix your weaknesses
I think all of the reasons he explains for why this is a good point are completely true. He says that it is hard to fix your weaknesses because it is slow, it is painful, it distracts us from activities we could make progress on, and it doesn’t actually work. One of my favorite reasons he lists is that it is a distraction. Recently I have had many problems working on assignments for some of my classes. More than the fact that I don’t feel like doing them and it’s almost finals so I’m burnt out on homework anyway, is the fact that some of those things seem like weaknesses to me. I think it is because I might not know enough about what I am trying to accomplish, or that it is not the type of work that interests me. Therefore I feel like I am wasting time working on something that I don’t even care about, when I could be working on something much more productive for myself. However, in terms of actual weaknesses I feel like he makes a valid point in saying that it doesn’t work. If you spend too much time working on getting rid of something you don’t like, you lose focus on the things you actually do like.
6. Focus: You can’t do both
First of all, I think the Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart analogy was a really good example of this point. He explains that it is nearly impossible to fix your weaknesses and build your strengths at the same time. I definitely understand his explanation that we have limited resources and therefore cannot spend enough time or energy doing both things because we can’t put 100% of the focus on one thing. I have always tried to be well rounded in my skills, so that I know a little bit about everything, and when I’m working on something I know there are some things I can do better than other. His statement, “If you try to be everything to everybody, you’ll end up being nothing to nobody” is very interesting, and it makes me think a lot about the things that I try and focus on. Adding to this is the statement he makes about the fact that no one will pay you to be mediocre. It would make me more successful as a person if I were able to excel in one area, and could sell that point to a possible employer. To put this to work in my creative life I think I want to put a lot of focus on fewer things that I know I am really good at.
7. Fit: Find the right spot
I loved all the analogies he came up with to explain the meaning of each of his points. They all work perfectly to make you understand what he is trying to explain. The main goal of this point is that it’s important to figure out situations that will help you become better, not trying to squeeze into something you don’t necessarily fit in. “He didn’t succeed in spite of his weakness; he succeeded because of his weakness”. If you find someone that appreciates a ‘weakness’ or uniqueness that you have, it suddenly becomes your strength, and you find something that works for you. The best thing about this is that everyone has their own unique talents, so there are limitless ways for them to find something right for them, even though it might take a little longer than jumping on the first train that passes you by. Following this advice will help me progress in my creative life because I will more readily look for places and situations that fit and focus on my natural strengths.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Game Presentation and Reflection
Here is our game presentation:
The game we created and presented was called Aberdeen, and it is a first preson RPG set in 19th century Victorian Britain. One of the weaknesses in our presentation was possibly how we actually presented the game. We definitely presented it like a class project instead of selling it as an idea to investors. I think doing this would have made the project seem more interesting, because it would have been explained in a completely different way. This was not really part of our actual game design, but it’s possible that some of out other ideas for the game could have come across better if we had changed the way we presented it. I also think one thing we could have improved on was the explanation of our plot. One of the most difficult things to do while presenting is to remember that no one has any idea what you’re talking about. While working in our group we all were pretty much on the same page when it comes to knowing how the game was going to work, and we started to get into specifics of how things would work to make the entire game make sense. However, I think in the short time we had to present everything, it was hard to give a solid summary of what the game would actually be like, and how the story line was going to work with all of the game concepts.
As for the actual concepts themselves, I think once you understand the game you are trying to design, the mechanics are the easiest thing to talk about with another person. You have an idea of how you want people to play, and it becomes (if you are using an existing console) picking pre-determined buttons for specific actions that you decide. I think one of the more difficult concepts for me personally to figure out are the rules. I understand what they are, but it was hard to figure out how to actually explain them. When playing games I could figure out what they are, but it was difficult to actually try and explain them to other people. I also had the same problem for the objectives at the beginning. It would take a few minutes to process the definition, and then be able to articulate the way the game would actually handle these situations. However, the one great thing about working in a group is that we could all process the information and come up with the most accurate way to describe what we wanted to do.
The game we created and presented was called Aberdeen, and it is a first preson RPG set in 19th century Victorian Britain. One of the weaknesses in our presentation was possibly how we actually presented the game. We definitely presented it like a class project instead of selling it as an idea to investors. I think doing this would have made the project seem more interesting, because it would have been explained in a completely different way. This was not really part of our actual game design, but it’s possible that some of out other ideas for the game could have come across better if we had changed the way we presented it. I also think one thing we could have improved on was the explanation of our plot. One of the most difficult things to do while presenting is to remember that no one has any idea what you’re talking about. While working in our group we all were pretty much on the same page when it comes to knowing how the game was going to work, and we started to get into specifics of how things would work to make the entire game make sense. However, I think in the short time we had to present everything, it was hard to give a solid summary of what the game would actually be like, and how the story line was going to work with all of the game concepts.
As for the actual concepts themselves, I think once you understand the game you are trying to design, the mechanics are the easiest thing to talk about with another person. You have an idea of how you want people to play, and it becomes (if you are using an existing console) picking pre-determined buttons for specific actions that you decide. I think one of the more difficult concepts for me personally to figure out are the rules. I understand what they are, but it was hard to figure out how to actually explain them. When playing games I could figure out what they are, but it was difficult to actually try and explain them to other people. I also had the same problem for the objectives at the beginning. It would take a few minutes to process the definition, and then be able to articulate the way the game would actually handle these situations. However, the one great thing about working in a group is that we could all process the information and come up with the most accurate way to describe what we wanted to do.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
This American Life
This American Life – Superpowers
Act One: Invisible Man Vs. Hawkman (minutes 6-20)
Super power I wish I had: Time manipulation
Super hero with this power: Tempo (Marvel Comics)
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