Initial Assignments 2025

2 years ago

Start a design notebook. Carry it with you always. Continually doodle in it, sketch details of design that catch your eye, practice shading and rendering etc. We will often have short sketching assignments during class, so please bring it.
We’ll be using Iclicker Cloud in class. Everybody (remote and in-person) should sign up ASAP: https://join.iclicker.com/HGFJ. It won’t be used for attendance or class participation, but we use it frequently for opinion polls like ‘should we move the due date for the next report’ and ‘what do you think of the Eames chairs at the airport?’.
Read the syllabus: https://www.aesdes.org/syllabus-2025/ . Then state that you have read it and agree to the policies by midnight Friday January 17 in the Canvas assignment.
We’ll be using Slack for communications and to share in-class discussions. Join the class workspace, AesDes2025, by midnight Friday Jan 17: https://join.slack.com/t/aesdes2025/shared_invite/zt-2xpclmhm8-Q6232xJSF0fWEDhG3lulUA
Complete your login to AesDes.org which will allow you to post blogs. Due Friday Jan 17. Here’s how You’ll get an email invitation for this. Contact Dev Mahajan on Slack if you have trouble with your login. Posts and critiques are due every week. Your first required blog post is described below. Required: read my post on Blog and Comments policies.
Blog Post #1: Explore an aesthetic. Due at midnight Wednesday Jan 22. We will go over the definition and examples of aesthetics in class, but keep this assignment in mind. For your first blog post, identify an aesthetic, include at least 6 images and/or videos illustrating it, and discuss the context a bit. When was this aesthetic created? Who were the big players? What influenced it? What has it influenced since then? Be sure to find the original authors of your images and videos, and provide citations for all your information sources. Be sure to categorize your post as ‘Post 1 – 2025 Aesthetics Explorations’, but the title of your post should be your chosen aesthetic, NOT ‘Blog Post 1.’. Aim for around 500 words in length.
Complete the CATME survey by midnight Friday January 24. You’ll get an email invitation. This survey will be used to put teams and pods (groups of teams) together. The teams will be used for support and critiques.
Critiques/comments on two other student’s Blog Post #1 will be due Sunday Jan 26 at midnight. Details: Blog and Comments policies
Revise your post based on the comments on your post by Tuesday Jan 28 at midnight. Details: Blog and Comments policies
Students enrolled in the graduate sections are expected to give a 5 minute presentation to the class on a design movement, topic or designer. No repeats please, of other grad student presentations this semester. You can cover one of my lecture topics as long as you do it before me. Content from student posts (including yours) is OK too. Use this Sign-up Sheet to save a spot and a topic.Use lots of visuals to define the work, and give plenty of context. What was happening in design before, after and during? If you need inspiration, look at

Fiell, Charlotte & Peter. Design of the 20th Century. Taschen America, 2012. http://www.amazon.com/Design-Century-Charlotte-Peter-Fiell/dp/3836541068

Links to an external site.. This is an A-Z list of famous designers and schools of design.

I have a copy in my office.

You might also want to look at winners of recent design competitions to find contemporary examples.
Upcycle Project. This will be your individual warm-up project, due Feb 17. Create an artifact that conforms to an aesthetic, either the aesthetic you researched, or one that someone else in class posted about, or another one that you choose. Upcycle means that your artifact should be constructed of inexpensive or recycled material, something easy to manipulate using additive or subtractive techniques: cardboard (can be laser cut), foam core, drywall, sticks, plastic forks or plates, soda cans/bottles, Legos, bubblewrap or packing peanuts, stir sticks, paper cups, pine cones, cloth, papier Mache, tires, DVDs, PVC, food, plastic bags etc. Try to avoid buying new materials. (A hint: repetition is a common component of many artworks, so for example, if you use rubber bands, use a lot of rubber bands). Here is a post with places you might find materials. You’ll be asked to document your design and construction process, so keep track of where you find inspiration. In particular, if you use an existing design you must document the source, but hopefully you will use this opportunity to create something new. Your artifact should be of moderate size, something between 0.5 and 8 cubic feet; can be small but must be viewable without a microscope, or up to as large as a chair. Plan to video the finished artifact for a short in-class presentation during the week of Feb 17, and a formal report will be due as a blog post 5 on Weds Feb 19. You might want to make one of those time-lapse assembly videos for extra awesomeness.
Main Project. Deciding on your main project has been called the hardest part of this course, so don’t wait. You can get started on it right away. You can make anything you want, as long as it has some sort of dynamic component; a moving part or something that changes with time. You are expected to pay for the materials (cost at least equivalent to a hardcopy textbook, say $150) and the project is yours to keep at the end of the semester. Keep in mind your other constraints; limited access to manufacturing facilities, appropriate workspace, delays in getting orders filled, etc.