Article Response — Process by Hillman Curtis

As another reading assignment, I was asked to respond to the following questions regarding the Hillman Curtis book Mtiv: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer:

1. What does Curtis mean by using a "Theme" for a website? How can this approach affect how you design the site?
   Curtis discusses the importance of finding common threads within a client's company or product, talking about the importance of "spotlighting" what makes something unique. He states that a design, whether it's a website or a print on t-shirt, is just a "pretty picture" without a theme.


2. The concept is the idea you formulate which illustrates your theme. What advice does Curtis give on developing a concept?
   In order to develop an effective concept, Curtis starts with truly listening to a client, understanding their core, and then understanding who they're selling to. When outlining a concept, his advice is to "keep it simple", and always take note of the great ideas you see around you.


3. What does Curtis mean by "Eating the Audience"?
   When you internalize the audience and consider them in every part of the process (not just the design process), it will undoubtedly produce a successful outcome.


4. When Curtis talks about "Filtering", what is this, and when does this come into the design process?
   Curtis and his team see limitations — like browser restrictions or file size restraints — as filters for designing with the environment in mind. This helps to ensure the end product considers not only the user, but also the tools they have at their disposal.


5. "Justifying": What is it, and how can this relate to filtering?
   Part of Curtis's definition of justifying is when each element of a design is deliberating chosen.


6. What are your impressions of this article?
   Hillman Curtis discusses some interesting points in this section of Process: A common thread throughout is the idea of the designer as a mediator, someone who is constantly listening and creating and communicating. Curtis also describes and discusses the new media field as a totally collaborative process, which is relevant even more so today then when this was written.

Digital Web Media Production — Project Proposal

For the semester, the project focus is to learn and test moderate to expert-level Flash skills by learning Action Scripting (2.0). Through Lynda.com tutorials and readings, the final goal will be to build the components for the BFA Thesis Project.

Article Response — "Hypertext and Our Collective Destiny"

As part of an assignment, I was asked to respond to questions from an article which detailed a talk given by Tim Berners-Lee on October 12, 1995 titled "Hypertext and Our Collective Destiny":

1. What did Berners-Lee think the internet would be used for?
   Berners-Lee imagined that the web would be a "warm, friendly environment" where everyone was "working on [better understandings] together." His dream was that everyone would "[work] from day to day using the web as their notebook, mailer and calendar... ."


2. Who were the first users of the web?
   According to Berners-Lee, web work was triggered specifically by team management and collaborative projects where people's budgets wouldn't allow them to travel.


3. What is the role of w3.org?
   In 1995, Berners-Lee seemed to see the w3.org as a restriction, not necessarily as a place where standards of web practices developed. It is now, arguably, a respected source and the immovable force behind contemporary web standards and practices.


4. What is the potential of the internet today?
   In 1995, Berners-Lee saw potential in the internet as a way to "bring collective teamwork up to a level at which we can ensure our survival." Today, it might be his dreams have come true with countless web applications, like 37 signals' project management tool Basecamp and social networking sites like Facebook.

Favorite quotes from the article:

"Web objects, people and neurons all have the ability to have random associations. The neurons seem to work (on a good day) as a integrated team. The people do in parts. The web documents just sit there."

"But pretty soon the web documents will start getting up and wandering."

"We engineer the microscopic rules in the hope that the end result will be a macroscopic effect that will satisfy us."

"Perhaps as the web grows we will be able to see fractal structure emerge in its interconnections."

Web Post — "Snipplr - Code 2.0"

Snipplr could be described as the del.icio.us for developers and code enthusiasts. When you land on the home page, right away you can sample a juicy list of open source code snippets, sorted by popularity and recently added. You can even save your favorite snippets with the help of a Firefox or Safari toolbar plugin.

Web Post — "Buzzword"

With thanks to the guys who realized the web application Buzzword, word processing has become more dynamic and intuitive. It's everything your beloved Microsoft Word can do, only now with a fluid interface that gives you only what you need. Create an account and see a preview yourself, and you'll surely be sold.

Web Post — "Design Police | Bring bad design to justice."

By visiting Design Police, you can click through the tongue-in-cheek "Design Enforcement Kit". If you run across an inexcusable design, you can mark it with labels like: "Helvetica was an unimaginative choice", "Please do not use Word Art", and "Unnecessary use of Photoshop effect". Just download the kit and go to town.