THE INSIGHT OF MARSHALL MCLUHAN
The Medium is the message - Media changes the world around them by effects that supersede the very content they seek to communicate
Hot and cool Media - Sensory experiences with differing levels of message definition under various technologies.
Acoustical Space - pre-literate, oral traditions in communication
The Global Village- Electronic media gave people equal access to public information and re-established the simultaneity of the pre-literate acoustical culture.
Questions to ask:
What aspect of society or human life does the medium enhance or amplify?
What aspect of earlier media does it eclipse or obsolesce?
What does the medium retrieve or pull back into center stage from the shadows of obsolescence?
What does the medium reverse or flip into when it has run its course or been developed to its fullest potential?
A CONVERGENCE OF MEDIA
Convergence - move from media specific content to content that flows across multiple media channels. Describes interdependence of media systems.
Remediation - process through which characteristics and approaches of competing media are imitated, altered, and critiques in a new medium
Hypermediacy - bits and pieces of other media assembled as fragments within the context of the new medium
SYSTEM - We need a broader understanding of systems and system behavior. Need to think of systems as things that are affected by what we make. Consider design as an element or force that produces some kind of change within other systems that are included in the definition of the problem.
Ex: Design for Packaging - affects frequency of damage as products travel to market - the placement of products in stores - impact of waste on the environment
COMPLEXITY AND EXPERIENCE
Complexity - the degree to which design problems increasingly involve interdependent systems: action aimed at one part or aspect of the problem causes change in another part or aspect.
CONTEMPORARY DESIGN PROBLEMS ARE INCREASINGLY COMPLEX AND DEFINED IN TERMS OF EXPERIENCES RATHER THAN OBJECTS!!!
THE CHANGING NOTION OF AUDIENCE
Now that user behavior can be observed, communication designers find themselves accountable for their decisions in new ways and under increasingly social-scientific methods.
Interactive design - scenarios - concept maps - personas - ethnographic
Activity Theory - Analysis of activities as goal orientated interactions of people with their environment, through the use of physical and psychological tools.
Goals - Actions - Operations
A NEW PARADIGM
Design requires new information - expansion of the research culture in design and the development of methods of inquiry that respond to the particular concerns of designers, as well as to the interests of other disciplinary experts.
Design task of the future will be to develop systems and extendable platforms under an organic ethos that is in marked contrast to the mechanical, object orientated design processes of the past.
Chapter 6 Outline (UPDATED! REVISED!)
POST-MODERNISM - "Modernity without the hope and dreams which made modernity bearable." A rejection of the traditional visual forms of modernism - distrust of theories and ideologies associated with how meaning is constructed - later capitalism and the media saturation of western societies.
SIGNS OF DISCONTENT
Low Culture - the taste or means of the general public and the use of forms often associated with contemporary commercial media.
Rick Valicenti - Designed insert for magazine that represented stereotypes in popular culture.
Seems randomly thrown together, but was carefully put together to create the look of low culture.
Jencks - Pluralism - two or more theories, visual references, principles, meanings, etc, coexist in or are called forth by the same design.
Jencks - Double Coding - objects can inspire plural meanings. That things will mean different things to different people depending on their own knowledge of visual language.
Post Structuralism - emphasizes plural and deferred readings of text - reluctance to ground the analysis of text in any single theory. No reading of text can be innocent of the values or biases that come with such a position.
THE READER WRITES THE TEXT
Readerly vs. Writerly
Readerly - Author imposes a singular meaning on the text
Writerly - Reader constructs or writes the meaning as an active participant in the communication process.
DECONSTRUCTION - Form of literary and philosophical analysis that arouse out of post-structuralism. Literary Text professes & undermines its own authority.
Characterized by fragmented form and jagged shapes.
"Practice of disjunctions."
ONE VERSUS MANY
Literature may be viewed either as a work or as a text
Metanarrative - Modernism relied on these overarching concepts/stories that provide comprehensive explanation for historical/cultural experience. Post modernism questions these narratives and reveals their biases.
METAPHOR AND METONYMY
Metaphor - analogy or implicit comparison between two things/concepts. Metaphor asserts that two things are alike in some way.
Metonymy - something is called by the name of another thing. Or when a single attribute is substituted for a larger concept.
CULTURAL POSITION
We all have cultural positions - certain identities and subjectivities that frame our interpretations of the world. Dominant cultures marginalizes others cultural positions.
HYPERREALITY AND LIVING IN THE IMAGE
hyperreality - simulations created by post-modern culture in which all cultural forms and language have taken on the expressive character of advertising.
The act of designing is essentially one of social production . . .the images we create produce the society in which we live, over and above any short-term goal to sell or persuade.
Post-Modern Design - "Overly Ambiguous Form" - lost on the public audience, which was a major concern.
DESIGN IS A FORM OF CULTURAL AND SOCIAL PRODUCTION. AND OUR CONCEPT OF THE AUDIENCES FOR DESIGN AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE MAKING OF MEANING CONTINUES TO EXPAND AND DEEPEND.
SIGNS OF DISCONTENT
Low Culture - the taste or means of the general public and the use of forms often associated with contemporary commercial media.
Rick Valicenti - Designed insert for magazine that represented stereotypes in popular culture.
Seems randomly thrown together, but was carefully put together to create the look of low culture.
Jencks - Pluralism - two or more theories, visual references, principles, meanings, etc, coexist in or are called forth by the same design.
Jencks - Double Coding - objects can inspire plural meanings. That things will mean different things to different people depending on their own knowledge of visual language.
Post Structuralism - emphasizes plural and deferred readings of text - reluctance to ground the analysis of text in any single theory. No reading of text can be innocent of the values or biases that come with such a position.
THE READER WRITES THE TEXT
Readerly vs. Writerly
Readerly - Author imposes a singular meaning on the text
Writerly - Reader constructs or writes the meaning as an active participant in the communication process.
DECONSTRUCTION - Form of literary and philosophical analysis that arouse out of post-structuralism. Literary Text professes & undermines its own authority.
Characterized by fragmented form and jagged shapes.
"Practice of disjunctions."
ONE VERSUS MANY
Literature may be viewed either as a work or as a text
Metanarrative - Modernism relied on these overarching concepts/stories that provide comprehensive explanation for historical/cultural experience. Post modernism questions these narratives and reveals their biases.
METAPHOR AND METONYMY
Metaphor - analogy or implicit comparison between two things/concepts. Metaphor asserts that two things are alike in some way.
Metonymy - something is called by the name of another thing. Or when a single attribute is substituted for a larger concept.
CULTURAL POSITION
We all have cultural positions - certain identities and subjectivities that frame our interpretations of the world. Dominant cultures marginalizes others cultural positions.
HYPERREALITY AND LIVING IN THE IMAGE
hyperreality - simulations created by post-modern culture in which all cultural forms and language have taken on the expressive character of advertising.
The act of designing is essentially one of social production . . .the images we create produce the society in which we live, over and above any short-term goal to sell or persuade.
Post-Modern Design - "Overly Ambiguous Form" - lost on the public audience, which was a major concern.
DESIGN IS A FORM OF CULTURAL AND SOCIAL PRODUCTION. AND OUR CONCEPT OF THE AUDIENCES FOR DESIGN AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE MAKING OF MEANING CONTINUES TO EXPAND AND DEEPEND.
Chapter 4 Outline (UPDATED! REVISED!)
SEMIOTICS - Study of the life of signs (initially just the study of words, but is now expanded to include all sign systems)
FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE: THE BIRTH OF SEMIOTICS
Structuralism - the approach/method of focusing on the relationships among parts
Signified - The first component of a sign. The Concept for which the signs stands
Signifier - The second component of a sign. The sound/image that represents the concept.
The relationship between the signified and the signifier is arbitrary - depends on cultural consensus.
Langue and Parole - Language is a dynamic system in which meaning is constantly subject to the structural relationships within the system
The meaning of any single word depends on its horizontal position in relation to the other words in the sentence. The set of rules governing that position or SYNTAX is grammar.
DIACHRONIC - One word follows another in the sentence in spoken or written time.
The assault on Syntax - Sergei Eisentstein - Collision Montage
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti - blew apart traditional linear structures of layout - interest in "speed, simultaneity, and sensation."
Associative Axis - menu of possible words with associated meanings that could have been used at a particular point within a sentence but were not.
Vernacular - everyday language of ordinary people that is characteristic of a region/culture - visual language produced by people who are not trained in design and contains connotations of a particular culture, place, or use.
CHARLES SANDERS PEIRCE: A PRAGMATIST'S APPROACH
Signification - Consumption of signs - mental process in which meaning is actively determined and resides in the mind of the interpreter, not in objects themselves
Semiosis - to create meaning by interpreting signs.
Icon - A sign that factually resembles a concept or thing for which it stands - require no formal learning on the part of the audience
Index - A sign in which the relationship between the sign and what it stands for is causal. They are a bit more elusive. Ex: Smoke is an index for fire
Symbol - A sign in which the relationship between the sign and what it stands for must be learned - is governed by a code of cultural convention.
ROLAND BARTHES: A BRIDGE TO POST-STRUCTURALISM
Myth - how bourgeois society imposes its values on others.
Myth is a vehicle of the Petite Bourgeoisie - lower-middle social classes
FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE: THE BIRTH OF SEMIOTICS
Structuralism - the approach/method of focusing on the relationships among parts
Signified - The first component of a sign. The Concept for which the signs stands
Signifier - The second component of a sign. The sound/image that represents the concept.
The relationship between the signified and the signifier is arbitrary - depends on cultural consensus.
Langue and Parole - Language is a dynamic system in which meaning is constantly subject to the structural relationships within the system
The meaning of any single word depends on its horizontal position in relation to the other words in the sentence. The set of rules governing that position or SYNTAX is grammar.
DIACHRONIC - One word follows another in the sentence in spoken or written time.
The assault on Syntax - Sergei Eisentstein - Collision Montage
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti - blew apart traditional linear structures of layout - interest in "speed, simultaneity, and sensation."
Associative Axis - menu of possible words with associated meanings that could have been used at a particular point within a sentence but were not.
Vernacular - everyday language of ordinary people that is characteristic of a region/culture - visual language produced by people who are not trained in design and contains connotations of a particular culture, place, or use.
CHARLES SANDERS PEIRCE: A PRAGMATIST'S APPROACH
Signification - Consumption of signs - mental process in which meaning is actively determined and resides in the mind of the interpreter, not in objects themselves
Semiosis - to create meaning by interpreting signs.
Icon - A sign that factually resembles a concept or thing for which it stands - require no formal learning on the part of the audience
Index - A sign in which the relationship between the sign and what it stands for is causal. They are a bit more elusive. Ex: Smoke is an index for fire
Symbol - A sign in which the relationship between the sign and what it stands for must be learned - is governed by a code of cultural convention.
ROLAND BARTHES: A BRIDGE TO POST-STRUCTURALISM
Myth - how bourgeois society imposes its values on others.
Myth is a vehicle of the Petite Bourgeoisie - lower-middle social classes
Chapter 3 Outline (UPDATED! REVISED!)
THE FIT BETWEEN FORM AND CONTEXT
-Design as "action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones."
-We can judge design not only on the object and its form, but also on how the designer "framed the problem-context to which the form responds."
-How the designer crafts the message depends largely on how we define the context.
THE SCALE OF CONTEXT
System - set of things interconnected in a way that they produce their own pattern of behavior. Together they have a purpose.
Community - Set of interacting / interdependent systems
THE COGNITIVE CONTEXT FOR DESIGN: HOW WE ARE ALIKE AND DIFFERENT
Gestalt Theory Principles - Scientific understanding between human perception and the physical world.
1) Proximity 2) Good continuation 3) Closure
Fixation - Time the eye rests on a single object/element
Saccade - Rapid eye movement between periods of rest
Design should bring about some kind of affect, emotion, behavior, or reflection
Visceral Emotion - unreasoned emotional response to something
Reflection Emotion - Involved contemplation, memory, and learning.
Learn as ABSTRACT (reason experience) or CONCRETE (sense and feel) perceivers.
We all have a learning preference - prefer by thinking (reflectively) or by doing (actively)
THE SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT FOR DESIGN: THE SEARCH FOR PATTERN
Culture - Network of relationships with congruent ways of seeing the world.
Design has both illustrative (Design expresses culture) and formative roles (Design shapes culture)
Social Schemas - mental structures that contain general expectations and knowledge about people, social roles, events, and places.
Role Schemas - contain norms and expected behavior - Achieved roles
Stereotype - A role of schemas that contain social expectations and behaviors
"What makes negative stereotypes so difficult to dislodge is that an array of social and behavioral expectations is grouped within a mental category that is recalled simply by the presence of any single visual trait."
THE TECHNOLOGICAL CONTEXT FOR DESIGN: MATERIAL MATTERS
Materiality - physical qualities of a representation that give it individuality and allow it to be categorized. This is an important aspect of what signs mean.
Media / Tools influence the meaning of a representation and establish associations that affect our perception of meaning.
Technology can be enabling or constraining in terms of action possibilities.
THE PHYSICAL CONTEXT FOR DESIGN: EVERYTHING IS RELATIONAL
Physical context is important in regards to legibility and readability
The effect of one variable may depend entirely on the presence or absence of another variable.
We organize experience in our minds via Embodiment / image schemata
THE ECONOMIC CONTEXT FOR DESIGN: EXPANDING THE DEFINITION OF "COST"
Design Strategy - helps companies / organizations determine what to do and make, how to innovate, how to implement processes for the benefit of the consumer.
Strategy - Consumption - Sustainability
Context drives design decision making - responsibility of the designer to be well informed and to hold a perceptive on the variety of theories on these issues.
-Design as "action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones."
-We can judge design not only on the object and its form, but also on how the designer "framed the problem-context to which the form responds."
-How the designer crafts the message depends largely on how we define the context.
THE SCALE OF CONTEXT
System - set of things interconnected in a way that they produce their own pattern of behavior. Together they have a purpose.
Community - Set of interacting / interdependent systems
THE COGNITIVE CONTEXT FOR DESIGN: HOW WE ARE ALIKE AND DIFFERENT
Gestalt Theory Principles - Scientific understanding between human perception and the physical world.
1) Proximity 2) Good continuation 3) Closure
Fixation - Time the eye rests on a single object/element
Saccade - Rapid eye movement between periods of rest
Design should bring about some kind of affect, emotion, behavior, or reflection
Visceral Emotion - unreasoned emotional response to something
Reflection Emotion - Involved contemplation, memory, and learning.
Learn as ABSTRACT (reason experience) or CONCRETE (sense and feel) perceivers.
We all have a learning preference - prefer by thinking (reflectively) or by doing (actively)
THE SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT FOR DESIGN: THE SEARCH FOR PATTERN
Culture - Network of relationships with congruent ways of seeing the world.
Design has both illustrative (Design expresses culture) and formative roles (Design shapes culture)
Social Schemas - mental structures that contain general expectations and knowledge about people, social roles, events, and places.
Role Schemas - contain norms and expected behavior - Achieved roles
Stereotype - A role of schemas that contain social expectations and behaviors
"What makes negative stereotypes so difficult to dislodge is that an array of social and behavioral expectations is grouped within a mental category that is recalled simply by the presence of any single visual trait."
THE TECHNOLOGICAL CONTEXT FOR DESIGN: MATERIAL MATTERS
Materiality - physical qualities of a representation that give it individuality and allow it to be categorized. This is an important aspect of what signs mean.
Media / Tools influence the meaning of a representation and establish associations that affect our perception of meaning.
Technology can be enabling or constraining in terms of action possibilities.
THE PHYSICAL CONTEXT FOR DESIGN: EVERYTHING IS RELATIONAL
Physical context is important in regards to legibility and readability
The effect of one variable may depend entirely on the presence or absence of another variable.
We organize experience in our minds via Embodiment / image schemata
THE ECONOMIC CONTEXT FOR DESIGN: EXPANDING THE DEFINITION OF "COST"
Design Strategy - helps companies / organizations determine what to do and make, how to innovate, how to implement processes for the benefit of the consumer.
Strategy - Consumption - Sustainability
Context drives design decision making - responsibility of the designer to be well informed and to hold a perceptive on the variety of theories on these issues.
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