        1011 frankSantiago Rios As I re-read the reflections, I realize the amount of progressive that has been made. In exercise 1, we learned the basic drawing skills such as line weight, perspective drawings, tone and value, and etc. However, we never clearly received the exact instruction we needed to follow. After each homework, we usually did the same homework again to get to the point where our works met the point what they should have. Since ending the first semester, I cannot help but think intuitively about the world around me. I think of all the possibilities a space could have been and reflect on the good qualities of the space as well. Learning to take a clearly laid out approach to an assignment, is something that I will definitely take into 1012. In 1011, I would act upon my first instinct for an assignment. 1011 encouraged me to use notecards as a tool to record ideas that would come to my mind at first and, then, throughout the day reflect upon the assignment and continue recording ideas on notecards. This way, I could gather a lot of different ideas and choose the best one before ever beginning the assignment. I plan to pay attention in 1012 to the direction in which the exercise is heading and have multiple drawings or final products that have an interrelationship. The instructor’s role is to provide a few different ways a student can approach a project. The projects are designed to expand the thinking of the student and force them to think critically about certain issues. The review processes give constructive criticism to the students about their projects and often times are able to show the students a better approach to the project. The inquiry books are reflections of previous assignments and allow the students to reflect on the different thought processes they undertook throughout the semester. Fellow students provide other possible approaches to projects and, at times, serve as key influences on the final products. The studio space is a wide and lively place that consists of many resources, tools, and other students that provide a student support with their projects. In this way, the studio learning experience is very similar to that of a job. I believe that the three exercises were presented to us in a very well thought out manner. The skills that we learned are self reliant upon one another. Exercise 1 required intense looking in order to carefully create new compositions through a wide range of tools. Exercise 2 again incorporated intense looking to help us investigate our object of study. Exercise 3 built off of exercise 2 by allowing us to riff on the qualities of a particular part, whole, or system. My favorite exercise was exercise 3 because I really enjoyed the riffing, testing of theories, model building, experimentation, and documentation. I acquired numerous skills while preparing for the competition and I know for sure that they will be handy next semester. Ainsley Hatten 1011 Exit Reflection ONE I think that there is a growth in the way I look at my work now. Throughout this whole semester in my reflections I have commented on a new way I perceive the world around me whether through lines or abstraction. A common theme I saw in my reflections is the idea that I need to know when it’s ok to go completely out there and as abstract as my mind will take me, and when to bring those skills into perspective. I will take this idea with me into next semester, because I think it is an important concept to grasp when working in the design world. My skills have definitely grown from 1011 to the point where I don’t think I could go back to my pre-1011 mindset. Though the thoughts don’t always show, I find myself applying what I have learned to every element of the world around me, not just 1011. I also have a newly acquired confidence. I took a lot of art classes in high school, but I was always shy to put up my work and would get nervous when people commented on my work even if they were saying positive things. Now, even if I know that what I’m pinning up isn’t the best, I have learned to take the criticism as a friend and a tool that is meant to help me grow as a designer and to help my work grow. Yeah there is still the twinge of embarrassment when I know my work is sub par, but I have also learned that I control what goes on the board, and if I didn’t put the time and effort into making it so I could stand there with perfect confidence, then it is my fault for any criticism I get. In terms of my thoughts on drawings, and modeling, as well as other forms of representation such as Illustrator or Photoshop, now that I have gone through 1011, I see a definite change. I know find a need for depth instead of just a pretty picture. The same goes for formulating and exploring ideas, analysis and inquiry, and designing. Before, I would make a beautiful piece in my favorite, most known medium and make my teacher happy. Now I feel like I have been instilled with this thought that each piece, each drawing, each effort should have a foundation behind it that reflects upon me and what I want people to know about what I have done and what I want to do. TWO The “learning” in 1011 that I will carry with me to 1012 is the idea that I discussed above about having a purpose and a meaning with all of my work. What’s the point of working so hard on something if it has no purpose? I also plan on working on my abstraction skills and where to draw the line. I want to be creative and different, while being able to appeal to the general public, which I think is a daunting task, but one that can be mastered with good guidance and a lot of self-control. THREE The instructor in Exercise 3 was meant to act as a guide, not necessarily telling us what to do specifically, but to give us the parameters of what we needed to do and to tell and not tell us what was going on in order to reach the best result. The briefing was meant to bring inspiration and start the ideas flowing in order to keep a thought in the back of our heads. The pinup and final jury was meant to instill a sense of competition and necessity for the best, as well as to drive us to explore the spectrum of our abilities. The inquiry book was meant to act as a reflection upon where we started and what we came to. It was a scrap book that showed the steps we took and what brought us to our conclusion. Our fellow students were mentors as well, giving input and advice as well as a drive to bring out the peak of our abilities. The studio space itself allowed for a cumulative creative environment that ideas would flow through and opinions dominated. I think the studio is similar to that of the workforce in that theirs competition, but it is only to bring out the best and to make you better. Also, it is like a classroom because of the learning process not from books, but from peers and mentors. There is a learning and understanding about yourself and the design world. FOUR I believe the sequence of the three exercises is the most obvious in that each was a stepping-stone to the next. Exercise 1 created a tool kit that could be used in Exercise 2 and brought a new way of thinking that would need to be utilized in both Exercise 2 and 3. I think the goal for Exercise 1 was the whole idea of creating this array of tools that would come in handy for the ret of our studio experience as well as to break down the preconceived notions of the world around us that we brought in with us. Exercise 2 I believe was meant to show us how to learn in depth about a certain object and how something so ordinary could be taken to a different level depending on how much effort and time you put into the object. Exercise 3’s goal consisted of brining together all the ideas that we had from the previous sections and culminating them into this idea of expanding upon the world around us. So I think the sequence in very general terms went from dematerializing the world, to dematerializing an object, then reflection back upon the world. My favorite was Exercise 1 because it broke down a lot of barriers that had restricted my views before and I believe gave me a more inquisitive and deeper view of everyday. Lydia Kalinke 1011 Reflection One As I reflect back to my expectation of the previous exercise, I begin to realize the enormity of what I have learned. I came into the 1011 studio class expecting a sort of art class where I would simply have to practice artistic skills. However, collectively the exercise reflections show that I have learned a great deal more than how to draw. Each exercise expanded upon the development of making the brain think a certain way. The class is all about analyzing everyday objects in a manner that looks beyond simple function. A pattern that I discovered is that each exercise builds upon the previous exercise. For example, the first exercise set up the possibilities of unpacking an analyzing an object, while this second exercise set up the potentials of developing abstract thought. I believe that I have personally grown in my confidence to understand the abstract qualities in objects and my ability to look beyond what I simply see with my eyes. Before this studio class, I was very proper and exact in my drawing experiences. I believed that the best drawings are those that depicted objects exactly as they appeared. However, now I have started to develop this thought process that makes me look beyond the ordinary and think of possibilities in an imaginative and creative sense. I would have to characterize the change in how I look at objects as the ability to ask questions. The whole studio process, whether it involved building models, drawing, creating ideas, or designing, causes people to ask questions. In questioning the objects around you and wondering about the possibilities found within the object in terms of design and abstraction, a more open an creative mindset is brought about and success in the studio program will be found. Two Throughout 1011, I learned to look at objects in different ways and abstract the information obtained from these objects to formulate new discoveries. These discoveries led me to question my object in ways that I would not have in simple analysis. I wish to continue this thought process and perhaps develop the abstract thought process in terms of clarity, procedure, and purpose. I need to learn to consistently ask myself what I am doing and why as I work on the exercises. Three The different aspects of studio that define the program play certain roles in the learning process. For example, the instructor is there to guide us along the way in the process of developing a certain way of thinking. Every student thinks differently, so the instructor does not necessarily teach, but shows us along the way to becoming successful designers. The handouts play the role of traditional instruction, for they set up the general guidelines of what is expected. The review process is probably the most important aspect of studio, for it serves as an affirmation of whether the learning has been completed. The inquiry book is a personal collection of the path along which each person has come because we document what we learn as we move through the exercises. The fellow students serve as resources in exchanging ideas. It is always helpful to hear other ideas and to see if you are moving in the right direction. The studio space serves as a pathway to this exchange of ideas. Not only do we talk about our projects during class time, but there is a student exchange of information, progress, and other ideas as we work at other times outside of the regular studio session. The studio learning experience opens up opportunity for peer involvement. When working with others who are working on similar ideas, an exchange of ideas occurs. People are more likely to develop creative ideas when working collaboratively with others and listening to constructive criticism. Other experiences such as a seminar, workshop, or internship may offer helpful information relevant to real world practice, but the development of thought processes in a peer environment opens up the opportunity of developing a more creative thought process. Four I believe the first exercise was meant to force us to think about everyday objects in terms of qualities that characterize a designer. We then used these qualities to analyze the object in exercise two. Analyzing the object caused us to extract information that we had not considered before when analyzing everyday objects. This abstraction of complex ideas was a useful skill that became quite relevant in the riffing process of Exercise 3. This sequence of the pedagogical goals makes sense, for each part plays off of the previous exercise. My favorite exercise was Exercise 1 because I enjoyed looking at objects in terms of characteristics like line, lights, shape, form, geometry and many others, and then documenting my discoveries in a visual format involving work done by the hand. I believe this Exercise was the most relevant to architecture, and therefore it seemed to interest me the most. lisa west 1011 exit reflection In hindsight, what I feel the class teaches us in the first semester of CFY is observe objects with more depth than ever before. From our first assignment, a blind contour drawing, to our last assignment, relating an abstraction of a shoe to the body, we were asked to look at our objects in a totally different way. My drawing skills have greatly improved over the semester, especially with charcoal. I have also learned how to use computer programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and In Design. Through out the semester, I have gotten faster at drawing. The process in which I plan my drawings has changed so that now I like to use note cards to plan out my work before beginning on my final drawing. I used note cards to analyze my ideas to see if further exploration could be made. In exercise 3, the way in which I designed my “drawings” changed because I used the computer more than I used pencil and paper. I look forward to making more models and having a curriculum that focuses more on architecture. I think that we will learn a lot more about observing, but now it will be more related to buildings than general objects. There are some questions about this past studio. One of my questions is why did we not do the cube exercise? I would have really liked making more models this semester. Another question is, is there any specific reason we did not address architecture as much as industrial design? In exercise 3, our instructor encouraged us to vary our original object much more than many of the other classes. At first I thought this was slightly overwhelming, but after we were done with our riffs, our exploration into new images seemed to be much more in depth. I really like the review process because you get to hear what your peers think of your work and it seems to move much faster. Inquiry books helped refresh my memory of earlier exercises when I needed to write a reflection or explain something in a review. I really liked that studio is an environment which encourages us to interact with our peers for input. This is one of the classes that I got to know my fellow classmates. The studio space is a disaster area but that is because almost no one will clean up after themselves. I think the exercise one’s goal was to teach us to look deeper at objects such as a drape, a glass, body parts, and the architecture building atrium. Exercise took exploring objects one step further and asked us to examine a single object, such as a shoe, until we had a complete understanding of that object. In exercise three, we were asked to take our knowledge of that object we were previously investigating and abstract it as well as find common characteristics with another object. Personally, I liked the first exercise the most because it taught me to look at my surroundings and it helped improve my drawing skills the most. leeland mcphail PART 1 As I looked back, I feel the same way about what I wrote, and I could really connect with the thoughts. It makes me realize that I understood the process and the pedagogy then, and could follow it. I did notice that I would have left out working in a group. I remember being more satisfied when working on my project, and felt the representations were how I wanted them to be. I have learned to ask questions to inform my final compositions. This notion that the process is just as important as the final pinup (although the final jury did not judge accordingly) resonates within me when having to do with my architectural education at its infancy. Those are the changes. I can now ask questions about the world in a way that lets me represent it through the asking of more questions. PART 2 I will continue to investigate through filtering, finding replication or patterns, riff, asking questions, and measuring. I seem to get very abstract very quickly. I would like to see how this relates to formal studies in buildings, and learn how see not only this process, but how the abstractness resonates in my own psyche. Do I tend to get abstract in the same ways? At what point in the assignment do I get abstract? Is it abstract for the sake of getting abstract, or is it investigation through abstraction? It will be interesting to see. PART3
I loved the studio learning experience, because typically the people who were there all night were the other ones who cared about what they were doing for their understanding and creating, and not just for a grade. I also think that e3 had a great group of students who typically wanted to learn and criticize. It allowed for learning. PART 4 It was a basic building of skills in ex1, with the introduction of asking questions and reflecting to lead investigations. This was continued in ex2, nut at a deeper level. We had to start learning how to foreground and background certain information, and start to understand how information could be connected. It was great that it precedes ex3 because we were given tools in the previous exercises, and could use them to make. I think that the school’s pedagogy is “The students should rigorously be taught skills to investigate and break down the world around them, and take those tools to build back the world in a new light to them. Zhuangchen Zhao Part I I think there are many things in this semester worth to be saved in my mind. Every exercise introduced us new knowledge and tools and every exercise is based on what we learned previously. It is like building a tower, what we build today is based on the thing we did before. The exercise three also allows us have a chance to participate a competition. It is a fresh experience to me. The procedure of how to prepare for a competition is a important thing that I will memorize. The growth is for sure. I gain more skill in sketch drawing, charcoal drawing, and digital drawing with Illustrator. Beside the knowledge, I also learned how to document my work, how to make the inquiry pages and time management. Team work and communication between each other seems also important because, sometime, I might get some helpful advise when I talk to my classmates and instructor. Part II I think I will bring pretty much everything I learned in 1011. Of course, the unremitting effort is very important. I will pay more attention on time-management. I assume the studio work will get harder each year, so, I should be able to more efficiently use my time. Think about the studio work everyday, and take note cards to write down the ideas. Don't leave all the work load for the last day before the deadline. Part III Instruction's role is to lead the student to finish its work, explain the thing which we are not clear, give advise towards our work and finally evaluate our project. The exercise brief handout is a written documentation that give us guidance through the working procedure. The review section give us a feedback to our studio work. It is also a time that we can show our work to the public. We can learn a lot of thing from the reviewers The inquiry books are play as the role of our personal 'database'. It documents our work as well our thought and question. It will be valuable in long term. If we keep doing the inquiry book, we will have an rich storage of thought for future use. The fellow students are my mentor as well as my instructor. We share the same pain and stress. They are the people who encourage me. The studio space acts as the second dorm for me. I spend a lot of nights here. However, I really like the atmosphere in studio. It is a good place for me to concentrate to do my work. I feel I work more efficiently working in studio. The studio experience is quite special compare to other learning situation. It trains our creativity and crafting skill. We did a lot of fun stuff which we can not do in other place. For example, the plaster cast model. I also feel that studio is an isolated experience. We have a smaller group of people and the studio occupied a big part of our time. Part IV The exercise one teach us how to represent what we see. It challenges our normal way to observe the world around us. Then, exercise two to teach us to look at the world around us deeper. Besides to answer the question "what does the object look like?", we also have to tell "what is it?". We are taught the skill to describe the object in terms of its function, fabrication, and quality beside its appearance. The exercise three then bring us to a higher level of how to represent the object. We are not objective any more but we can have more creativity to play with the object. I like all of the exercises, because they are really one big exercise in my point of view. Lee Urquhart 1 I notice now that I have had some time since writing my reflections that many of the things from each still hold true. For example, I stated in my reflection for example one that I sometimes did not understand the assignment, but through perseverance figured it out and succeeded. This still holds true through all of the exercises. I also commented on the importance of looking closely at things, which I now realize has more importance than I knew at the time. Through the three exercises some patterns have emerged. In each we learned many new things, but some things remained the same. Most notably, each exercise required careful observation and skillful use of tools to depict things. Although the way we went about these things may have changed, the concept did not. Also, each exercise challenged me to look at things differently. Exercise one required that you use blind contour to see things how they are and not how you think they are. Exercise two required me to literally take apart a shoe, forcing me to see how things are designed and put together to serve a purpose and to realize how much thought and effort goes into making things. Finally exercise three finished up by making me see things in ways where they can be entirely removed from what they actually are and even made into something else. A cumulative growth in learning is definitely present. Each exercise has built up to increase my skills and my confidence in and understanding of those skills. When I started the year, I had little confidence. I did not think I could draw or learn to draw and felt that I would never perform on a level comparable to my classmates. However now, I feel confident in my abilities and the notions that I had have been shattered. The change from pre-1001 to post-1011 is in some ways difficult to characterize. The journey has changed me in such a way that I did not even realize the change was happening until I looked back and it was done. Whereas before I saw drawings, models and representations as nice things to look at, I now view them as vital parts of any process. They define and depict our world so that it can be displayed, many times before it is even created. I also think differently about formulating and exploring ideas. I now know that my thoughts of it being a random process were wrong. There are usually specific steps that should be taken and ways to formulate new ideas and explore old ones. In addition, the meaning of analysis and inquiry has changed for me. It now represents a much deeper investigation. Finally, I now see designing as an essential component of progress, without which little would be accomplished and what was accomplished would be, at best, terrible. 2 We learned many important things in 1011. Some of them were specific to the class, but many of them will carry over to 1012. Things such as careful looking will be vital in any studio class. Computer and drawing skills will also be vital. I am sure many more things will carry over, but until confronted with the exercises of the class it is difficult to say what. However, I know that whatever the class requires will not be a problem because of the skills that will carry over. Again it is hard to know exactly what you need to pay attention to when the focus of the class is unknown, but from what I have learned this semester, I will place a large emphasis on paying attention to all of my surroundings. The things learned in class are very important, but take on much more when compared with and applied to things outside of class. This is a very important supplement. 3 The role of the instructor is to provide guidance to the students and introduce them to new ideas, materials, and skills. He should be the one to introduce the project and make it clear. He should encourage the students and help them when they are having trouble. The instructor however, should always encourage the student to do his own work and never do it for him. The project brief serves to introduce the students to the exercise. It should give them a feel for where they are going and what is to come. It should make clear the goals and intended outcome of the project. The purpose of the review process is to give the student feedback on his work. It should indicate both his strengths and weaknesses and provide him with the tools required to create better work and to succeed. The inquiry book should act as a tool to work with ideas and to analyze ones work. It should help provide direction for the next step in the project. The role of fellow students is to provide a surface to bounce ideas off of. Fellow students should critique others work and provide ideas. Through collaboration, each student benefits from different ideas and viewpoints. The studio space should be an environment where students have enough space to spread work as well as a place to come together and work in proximity with other students. It should be supplied with materials that promote good work and deep thought. The studio is unlike any other learning space. It combines lab and lecture, workshop and classroom, and much more. It is a place where learning is hands on and instruction is available. Unlike many learning situations, studio provides a place for both class and homework and even socializing. Whereas most classes do not promote building relationships, students in a studio become like family and share a bond. 4. The three exercises unfolded in the sequence they did for a clear reason: each built on the last. Each exercise was necessary to the next. Exercise one taught basic looking and drawing skills, which were necessary to exercise two. Exercise two taught new skills on how to unpack an object, which were necessary to exercise three. Finally, exercise three taught how to consider things differently in a context that we are not used to. Of these exercises, my favorite was exercise three. I really enjoyed getting to use the computers more than in previous projects and found it interesting to learn to use some new software. I also enjoyed the competition aspect of it and was thrilled to see all of the work of the semester come together. David Manhart ONE The main thing I noticed as I reread my reflections was the change in what my main struggle with the exercise was. For Ex.1, my problems arose with the struggles of drawing objects and using new ways of drawing. In Ex. 2, my focus changed from drawing, which had become easier by then, to figuring out how to deconstruct a shoe. And then in Ex. 3, my focus shifted from deconstructing and struggling to find the essential pieces to trying to figure out what I was going to do with one single piece of the shoe. I would say that from pre 1011 to post 1011 I have really learned a new way to look at drawings and I have a new respect for designers. TWO In 1012 I will take with me the new ways of looking and investigating that I have learned. I would say that that is the most important thing I have learned in 1011. In 1012 I will definitely pay attention to any new methods of thinking that I may be exposed to. THREE • the instructor The instructor was there to introduce the new ideas and topics to us and then help guide us through the creating process as we did it for the first time. • the project or exercise brief/handout The handout was nice to have because when I came back to finish my work the next day I could look at the handout and have a nice review of what was introduced the day before. • the review process (pinup, final jury) I think the review process was a good way to see how your work was read by an outsider. The only real read you can get of your work is from an outsider because everyone in studio already knows the assignment so their view of it will be skewed. • the inquiry book The purpose of the inquiry book was to catalog the work and ideas we learned throughout the semester for easy access. • your fellow students My fellow students are what got me through this class because without the help and critiques of my classmates my work would have not achieved the level that it did. • the studio space itself The studio space created a sense of community because everyone worked in the same place and because of that everyone became kind of friendly to each other. I think the space itself could go for some better installation and heating because it was pretty cold in there in the winter. How would you describe the studio learning experience compared to other learning situations and experiences: for example the classroom, the seminar, the lab, the workshop, the tutorial, the internship, the job. I liked the studio learning experience a lot because it was a very loosely structured way of learning. A topic was presented to us and we were shown how to generally go about answering the topic and then the rest was up to us. Although it was frustrating in the beginning, I ended up really liking the independence and the chance to figure things out for youself. FOUR I think Ex. 1 was there just to teach us how to draw and represent what we saw with our eyes on paper. Ex.2 is when the real meat of the course started because it went away from basic skills to using the skills to investigate something. And then in Ex. 3 we took the results of our investigation in Ex.2 and we were able to create something brand new. My favorite part of the year was Ex. 3 because it was very open ended and I was able to go in the direction I felt most comfortable with. Saa Camanor 1011 Reflection Part One: • As I re-read my assignments the one recurring theme that the assignment always seemed to have was a connection to either other disciplines or other scenarios. This is important because finding the universal appeal of processes or objects is important. • The pattern is that at first we learn a skill or perform a task for the purpose of investigating a single object and then later we learn the universal appeal of the procedure and how it is connected to a larger procedure. An example of his would be how we performed blind contours to find out where the most detail is in our view. Late in the semester we performed the blind contours once again but it was to familiarize ourselves with what we wee drawing. We also used it as a technique to find out what part of our object we wanted to draw in more detail. • Yes though the exercises there has definitely been cumulative growth, procedures that used to take very long take less time and I am becoming more confident in using techniques I was previously hesitant to use. • a)Pre 1011 I thought that drawing was just putting pencil to paper and drawing. Ost1011 I know that there are procedures and steps that must be followed in order to create a good drawing. This can also be aid for all the projects we conducted in the class. The preparation time is a important if not more impotent than the final piece. b) There is a procedure required when formulating and exploring ideas. When enough prep work is done, the concept will be fully investigated and thus yield a more creative product. I did not know this pre 1011.c) pre 1011 I failed to realize the important of analysis and inquiry. Post 1011 I know that it is vital to the creative process. Keeping record of inquiry is also important for looking back and reflecting on past projects. d) pre 1011 I thought that it took a genius to design a great product or structure. Post 1011 I realize that with correct investigation anybody can design great things. Part Two: • The learning that I think will carry on in 1012 was the perspective drawing. • I intend to pay special attention to following procedure because that is an area that I did not focus on at times this semester. Part Three: • The purpose of the instructor is to guide us through our leaning experience. • The project is a means for us to investigate phenomenon rather than just writing a paper on it. • The review process is a learning experience for both the reviewer and student. The students gets to experience their work form an outside perspective and thus learn from their mistakes. The reviewer gets to experience a new way of thinking about whatever is being presented. • The inquiry book is a method of keeping record of the thought that went into the final presentation. The final piece is important but the thought process is more important and this is stored within the inquiry book. • My fellow students are a resource or me as I am for them. We can bounce ideas of each other, critique each others work and explain difficult concepts to each other. • The studio space itself is where our thoughts are relayed onto paper but it is not necessarily the only place this can be done. It is however the best place to do this because of the equipment and the fellow students for assistance. It is also where our instructor guides us through the learning process. • The studio learning experience is better than the other possible scenarios because it uses features from all of them. From the practicality of a lab to the formal setting of a seminar, studio is all these things at some point. Part Four: I think that the purpose of the first exercise was to give us basic analytical and drawing tools. The second exercise made us use them with a specific goal in mind. The third exercise makes us creatively explore the product we have been able to investigate because of the first exercises lessons. The general order was to give us tools, make us use hem and then creatively explore what we have found. My favorite as exercise one because of the perspective drawing exercises. Alex Lowry 1011 exit reflection Part 1 The one thing that I notice from each reflection is that every single exercise has made me reach some sort of conclusion or realization about the world around me. As the exercises have progresses, my view of the world has become significantly broader and more open. Being forced to draw the world and the objects that it consists of in a variety of ways has allowed me to have a greater appreciation for the world. As is probably true for everyone else in the class, my drawing skills improved immensely throughout the semester. Each single exercise had a step by step process that honed are skills at every step along the way. Not only has the way I draw and electronically manipulate drawings changed, but I also now have a greater ability to display my work to others in a clear and concise manner that anyone can understand. This will without a doubt help me in the future when I need to give presentations that require visual aid. Part 2 It may seem simple but one of the main things that I learned in my semester of 1011, is to never give up. There were several late nights and all nighters that tested my will to continue. However, I managed to push through and get the work done. In 1012 next semester I will definitely make sure to pay extra close attention to procedure. In 1011 I found that although staying true to procedure may be tedious and aggravating, it is absolutely essential to creating a successful final project. In the end, the instructors definitely do know what they are talking about so if you listen and follow the guidelines that they set out, your work will speak for itself. Part 3
Part 4 Exercise one mainly was to start us all off with the idea of drawing and how to follow process. We began with blind contour drawings to see the world only as a series of lines. Then we moved on the perspective which forced us to see invisible armature lines in the world and to use them as the foundation of our drawings. We then explored how light reacts with objects in our value section. Exercise two was fairly straight forward. Each group investigated a different shoe. We looked at all facets of the shoes, from elevation drawings, to texture and then even how they were manufactured. Exercise three was definitely the most strange and open ended of the three exercises. We were asked to riff and manipulate our work in a process called morphology. At the end of exercise three we were all then challenged to bring all of the work we had completed from ex. 2 & 3 and display it clearly with some sort of order and clarity. I consider each of the exercises to not be separate but rather three exercises that work together to hone the skills of the class. Each exercise created a stairway, leading us all up to a place of higher intellectual and design awareness. Taylor Frost 1011 Exit Reflection Part I For me there has been huge growth personally. At the beginning of the semester I was really frustrated because I believed that I was not a good artist and that my drawings were not up to par with the rest of the class. But through a lot hard work and encouragement from my instructor, I gained more self confidence and valuable skills that I believe will really help me in 1012 and later on in life. Before 1011 I had no skills in making models or drawing. I felt really under prepared for studio, but after a lot of learning and practice I now think about things much differently. I no longer get frustrated when I cannot figure out what to draw, I have learned that sitting back and looking at the big picture really helps me relax and come up with new ideas. Analyzing and reflecting on things did not come naturally for me. I was the kind that liked to finish something and never look back, but we were forced to analyze our work I was not very excited. Although it not my favorite thing to do, I have to realize that it is necessary in order to better understand what you are doing and come up with a better product or idea. Part II • The type of learning that I will take forward into 1012 is an active learning. I learn better by seeing some examples and then doing it myself. I need to mess up myself before I realize what went wrong. In 1012 I fully plan on asking more questions and asking for more examples of what we are supposed to be doing. • I plan to pay attention to how the final project is going to look. I had trouble this semester with just finishing a exercise and not thinking about how it fit with the project overall. Then when it came time to pin up for the final review I was left with a hodgepodge of different types of work that seemingly were not similar. I am going to work harder to create a standard for each exercise and continue through with it throughout the rest of the semester. Part III • My instructor was the best!! That sounds corny to say but he really encouraged me throughout the semester and saw my potential. He noticed that I was trying my hardest even though I was not the best, by any means. He really pushed me and I thanked him for that. Sometimes he would be a bit frustrating, because I wasn’t getting the types of explanations that I was used to, but when I asked specific questions and really pried I could eventually get the explanation that I needed to hear. • The handouts to be perfectly honest were not that helpful. Because each section was sort of doing their own thing, and the handouts were trying to be general to all sections, they were not as specific as I would had liked them to be. • The final pinups were really scary at first. I was not sure if I liked people judging my work, but then I realized that it was an opportunity to share my experiences, and get feedback from others. • The inquiry book was more a nuisance than a help to me this semester. Trying to answer a question that was asking you to explain something that did not necessarily affect you during the exercise seemed like a waste of time. I think in theory it is a good idea, but maybe it should be structured differently. • My fellow students are awesome. My studio section became really close and we all supported each other. It was fun to bounce ideas off of each other and compare work. They were very helpful and I hope that I have a studio group as fun as the one I had this semester. • The studio space was fine, kind of messy but overall a great place to spend late nights and get all of your work done. Part IV The goal for exercise one was to get us acclimated to studio and all that it includes, its surroundings, the tools, the work. But it was also to get basic drawing skills under our belts. The goals for exercise 2 were to make us think about ordinary objects in a different way, and also to get us acclimated to Photoshop and designing on computers. The goals for exercise 3 was to make us think deeper and analyze more than we ever did, but at the same time show us how to make boards that read for themselves and to make us competitive. Alexandria Evans 1011 Reflections One: As I was rereading the reflections I notice how each exercise built upon the framework learned the prior exercise(s), especially exercise 2 to exercise 3. The group work in exercise 2 really helped in discussing certain aspects of the shoe and allowed each person to acquire more information about the shoe than if they had done all the work themselves and it helped me to begin using critical thinking that was required for exercise 3. I definitely have gotten better at depicting what I want to due to my increase in confidence in using any of the computer programs, Photoshop or Illustrator, and drawing. I was very happy with exercise 1 because it not only helped me to draw decently but also to look for all the little details. From pre-1011 I was not very observant, but now I always notice things that I would never have noticed before. I love looking for specific light conditions and now I can find connections between anything as well as looking forward to have time to use materials I used such as compressed charcoal, which made a mess, but was really interesting to work with, and to study my surroundings with a sketch book with my newly found drawing skills. Although I have yet to design an actual object or building, I learned how to design a layout from the reviews, and I have caught myself a handful of times criticizing the layout of many of the poster found on campus. Two: I plan on carrying all the skills or “learning” I have attained in 1011 to 1012 because that is what life is all about, expounding upon what you have learned in the past. But designing layouts, using Adobe software, and looking carefully are probably the things that I have learned that I will use the most often in 1012 and in the future in general. In 1012 I plan on paying particular attention to designing conditions, and building models, because I haven’t done any of that this semester and am really looking forward to get closer to designing buildings as well as learning new software such as AutoCAD, which I believe we begin to use next semester. Three: The instructors role in the studio this semester began in exercise one as introducing and explaining the different methods of drawing, but has continued through exercises two and three to critiquing our work and keep us on the right track for each activity and exercise. The role of the exercise/handout has been to explain what each project is and set up a framework for the process and the pin-up/final review has served to begin to get us used to presenting our work and getting work done before the deadline, both very real aspects of any of the possible professions of a cfy student. The inquiry book has served to document the process of achieving the final product each studio day, usually made up of the quick images and note cards that we used in order to decide how to complete the work due each day. My fellow studio students have not only served as competition in the competition board but also as way to measure myself and help me to work harder. They also have helped me with the different programs introduced this semester as well as general computer problems (Lee has been a lifesaver his help with this) and comforted me after tough reviews and tough days, during the group project Lydia and Taylor defiantly picked up the slack when I was sick as I did for Lydia on days where she had to work. Most importantly (and slightly covered in the last few things) have become close friends that I hopefully will keep throughout my time here at Tech and in the future. The studio space itself has proved to be a space not only to work in but to receive instruction in and socialize in. However, the mess this semester drove me crazy some days, so much so that I would move and work in the atrium if space was available; a few times I almost went in search of a broom to get rid of all the trash under the tables. Four: I think each exercise had a few different goals. Exercise 1’s pedagogical goals were to get us used to careful looking as I’ve said before, familiarize us to all the different drawing types as well as the many different media, and introduce us to creating specific conditions. Exercise 2’s goals were to let us explore all the different aspects of a relatively simple object, focus on foregrounding the relevant information, use Photoshop, and see how connections and correlations bring the object together. Abstraction, manipulation of images in Illustrator, riffing and layout were the important pedagogical goals from exercise 3. I cannot pick a favorite exercise as a whole, but I have a favorite part from each exercise. In exercise 1, I love using the charcoal for the drapery studies and getting my hand all dirty from smearing the charcoal to get the perfect condition, and I was really surprise when I stepped back when I discovered how 3-D I was able to make a 2-D piece of paper look like. In exercise 2, my favorite parts were attempting to saw through our high heel shoe and making prints or our shoes and feet. Deciding how to layout my final board and following through was my favorite part of exercise three because it was the culminating part of the entire semester and I really liked my layout. Jennifer Lewis 1011 Exit Reflection ONE Every exercise I struggled with staying true to procedure and time management. Although I have not mastered either of these to my liking they are worth noting and remembering for next semester. Every exercise left me wondering what the final project would be. I was forced to work one assignment at a time. I have learned so much in this semester in studio, not only about seeing and depicting objects but also about myself. I have learned that I am able to accomplish a lot more than I thought I could and I perform quite well under pressure but I shouldn’t always wait until the last minute to start projects. I have seen a cumulative growth in my learning, confidence, skills and understanding of the assignments brought before me. I started this semester lost, having no art experience, but I am now more confident in my ideas and thinking as well as the work I know that I am able to produce. I’m not sure if there is a word that can describe my transition from pre-1011 to post-1011. A few adjectives that come to mind are confidence, improvement, new, and inquiry although I don’t think that’s an adjective. 1011 has taught me to ask questions, constantly, and to continue to explore alternatives to my thought process, seeing, and designing. TWO The learning in 1011 that I will take with me into 1012 is staying true to procedure. I have never taken an art class before and I am tempted to make the exercises easier or “prettier” but staying true to the procedures that the instructors have put in place is important. I will also take with me ‘not procrastinating’ although I have still not mastered this skill I have at least learned its importance in my life. In 1012 I plan to pay close attention to the objectives of the exercises and to “seeing” the assignment as it is meant to be seen instead of how I want or have experience seeing it. THREE The instructor serves as a guide through the new concepts and principles that the studio class is taught. The exercise handouts serve as a general to-do list or expectations of the exercise not studio-section specific. The review process allows the work from the exercise to be displayed as a complete thought for the reviewers to interpret. The inquiry book serves as a documentation of the process that I underwent to achieve the final pinup at the end of the exercise. My fellow students helped me put the assignment in lay terms and also provided me with some entertainment to get me through the tedious hours spent in studio each day. The studio space itself was a second home for me on campus. I felt welcome every time I stepped inside of the studio. The studio was a work place for me and is one of the few places that I can work for hours straight and actually accomplish assignments without needing to take breaks every five minutes. There’s something about working in a place where everyone else is under the same kind of pressure and is so engulfed in their work that makes it that much easier for me to give full attention to my work as well. I have never been in a learning environment where the instructor gets to know every student on a personal level and helps every student with their individual work every class. Nor have I been in a class where I knew every student more than just by their name. I love the 1011 studio environment. The experiences are catered to my interests and are on such a personal level. FOUR Exercise one taught us how to see and how to observe the world around us in a new way. Then, exercise two taught us to look at the world around us a little deeper by focusing in on one specific object and how that object relates to the entire world through function, fabrication, and operation. Then exercise three brought us to a deeper understanding of objects and how they relate back to the everyday world by “playing” with characteristics of the object to create a new proposal. It is hard to choose my favorite exercise because within each exercise I had my favorites and my not-so-favorites. I really loved exercise one because it was all so new to me. Some, okay mostly all, of the work was very tedious and demanding but after getting through that I thought I was ready for anything. I enjoyed the beginning of exercise two but researching fabrication, assembly, uses, and operation just weren’t for me. I loved the riffing process of exercise three. I think more than anything about exercise three; I loved being done with it! I love looking back at the process that I had no idea what I was doing while I was doing it but seeing the relationship through everything now. Megan Key 1011 Exit Reflection Part One: I think it is interesting to note the lack of confidence present at the beginning of each exercise and the confidence developed by the end. It is striking to note the differences found within the person over time. Also, it is interesting to note the learning that has taken place, whether it is different techniques, uses, or general knowledge. There has been a huge influx on knowledge over the semester. I can see a pattern in terms of the learning that occurred. For each exercise, there is a time of complete stupidity and blindness that is always followed by an “ah-ha” moment where everything comes together. I do see a major growth in learning through confidence, skills, and understanding. I see the person I was at the beginning of the semester that had little knowledge of what was to come or how to tackle each new task. I was shy, with little skill and knowledge at the start, but now I have developed in all stages far beyond anything I could have imagined. I no longer see images as just drawings, but I can now see the thought process, generation of image, and meaning behind it. I have matured in respects to my process for formulating ideas. Also, my methods of analysis and inquiry was been built up and bulked up within my mind. Finally, designing is now a complex process that I have some personal knowledge about. The changes over the semester are grand and wonderful in my mind. Part Two: I think I will carry my new analysis, designing, and brainstorming skills into 1012. All of these learned skills will become extremely useful in the next semester. Without them, I will not be able to accomplish anything or get any work done. I plan to pay special attention to my methods of exploration and design because in many ways I feel these are the most important aspects I have developed over the semester. I want to see these aspects pulled out and focused on to create the best products possible. Part Three: The instructor serves as a mentor, guide, and teacher of all new concepts. The project handout serves as a reminder of what is expected and a go-to if you forget something important. The review process is the time where you receive criticism that will help you to develop your work over time. The inquiry book serves as a reminder for the things you found important at the beginning of an exercise throughout because you may not remember later. My fellow students serve as mentors and teachers as well because they give advice, criticism, and can help develop technique if needed. The studio space serves as an environment conducive to the creative process and a strong collaborative space. The studio learning experience is a lot like an internship or a job because collaboration is essential and common. Although it serves as a classroom environment, the studio doesn’t seem as formal at times as an actual classroom because the space is so open and less restricting. The experience is far more personal since the groups are so small. Part Four: The pedagogical goals of exercise 1 were to develop deep looking skills instead of just the surface and finding new ways to examine and describe things in the built environment. The goals of exercise 2 were to further develop the techniques used for representation and visual products. The goals of exercise 3 were to learn how to create something new out of something already built or created in the world and to learn how to expand on those ideas. I see a clear progression from fundamentals to development of skills and into experimentation. This process has a clear cut purpose for the development of ideas, skills, and techniques. I would have to say that my favorite exercise was exercise 3 because I was given more creative liberties instead of just being given a set formula to spit out at the end. I really enjoyed getting to use all my skills from the semester and making correlations between my ideas. Liam Ainslie 1011 Exit Reflection One: What strikes me as I reread my reflections from exercises 1, 2, and 3; I notice that there are patterns that arise between the reflections. Each of the reflections asks us in a different way to make connections between previous experiences or previous exercises.The patterns that I see occurring in the learning that occurred in each exercise were that all of the exercises were designed to change our perception and preconceived notions of the object(s) in question. Each exercise starting with one was designed to change our view of the world around us. I have definitely become more confident in myself. I have become confident in the fact that I can accurately complete the task at hand while more importantly growing as a person and designer.a. I now think about models, drawings, and other types of representations as means to something much greater. These representations represent an object on the surface, but go much deeper, and can be related to many more things. b. Pre 1011, I would explore ideas based on the guidelines given to me and do exactly what was asked of me. Post 1011, I still explore ideas based on the guidelines presented, but now I explore what interests me in each assignment, to see if anything significant or interesting will come from my explorations. c. Pre 1011, I didn’t really give any thought to analysis and inquiry. Post 1011 however, I think I have started to pay more attention to analyzing and inquiring about the exercise at hand. d. Pre 1011, my thoughts about design were very basic in approach and procedure, and just meant to get the job done. Post 1011, the way I think about design has drastically changed. I have taken in everything that I have learned over the semester, and tried to apply little pieces of everything to my designs. Two I will carry forward the intense riffing, and how to go about this with me into 1012. This in depth approach to looking and investigating different possibilities in an assignment is in my opinion the fundamental concept behind designing. Never take something at face value, you should experiment with it and see what you find.In 1012, I plan to pay special attention to procedures and laying out the finished product. Paying attention to procedures will allow me to have an understanding of how to answer the many different questions asked, and then with a strong understanding I could make my own variations. Paying attention to how to layout the final products will allow me to clearly and effectively get my ideas across. Three The instructor’s role in studio is to present the assignment/ objective and to explain clearly what is expected of us in each assignment. The instructor is also there to guide us through the process and make sure we don’t go off on irrelevant tangents.The brief handouts give us an outline of what is expected of us, and set a minimum standard of what is expected from each student. The review is a time for outside and internal reflection on the work that we have done. This allows for the student to get a sense of how well they accomplished the objective, and how they can improve on the next exercises.The inquiry book is the place where we can keep all of our ideas behind the thought process of how we got to our end conclusion in each assignment. Fellow students act as a support group who can relate to the problems you have with architecture and school. They also act as inspiration for pursuing the various assignments.The studio space acts as a designated place, where we can complete our work, and not be interrupted by outside distractions. Four I think that the pedagogical goals for exercise 1 were to teach us how to view the world in a particular way, as lines. The goal for exercise 2 was to take an object and look at all aspects of that object: its use, what it’s made of, how it’s made, why it’s made, where it’s used, where else can it be used, etc. Exercise 3 asked us to take in all that we have learned and to now take all the information obtained on our object up to that point, and vary it (riff) to reveal new possibilities and relationships with outside objects. These exercises played out in this manner to allow us to really understand each step in the long process of design, and how that each step is as equally important as the others. My favorite exercise was exercise 3 because this was the culmination of all of our hard work from the previous two exercises. Also, I really enjoyed doing the riffing, and being able to take pieces from a familiar object and abstract them to something unknown, and then make comparisons to other known objects with the abstracted pieces. The whole process of riffing really fascinated me, and allowed for endless comparisons to be made between objects they may have initially seemed to have nothing in common. [ [ :: Melissa Wang :: ] ] [ .: ONE :. ] Aiyah! I thought I realized much, but when I look back I am shown that all I grew to see at the present was that there is always so much more to realize; I only realized that much! I’m grateful that I’ve been endowed a lengthy way to go. I recognize that my chronic self-delaying was deleterious to the quality and quantity of ideas I tried to generate. I was ashamed by the work that I had to reflect on at the end of each exercise because I understood that I ought to have done much better, and if I did not make up my previous unsatisfactory work, I would ensure unimproved work following these base works because they were poor fodder for future riffing and served a lacking foundation. I virtually never upheld my shift of studio work after the beginning of studio, even when I was blessed to be partnered with one of the most ingenious and diligent studio students of the many in studio, and I always failed to set studio and my partner first in my priorities and dished my time elsewhere, resulting in many early morning panics and missed lectures to get work done before class. I wish that I could’ve taken the challenge of studio more seriously and subsequently at least doled out a higher amount of effort to come up with a few ideas on my own rather than running out of time and leaning on other people’s proposals to carry through with the projects. What work I came out with was weak and unimpressive to say the least and my terrible time management left studio splashing over onto the time of other classes. My growth in studio, if there is any to speak of, encompasses only the knowledge that I have just realized that I’ve yet to begin learning. Patterns in learning occurred when others and I would collaboratively discuss the project and we’d each give our take of ideas; these conversations were always rewarding for those involved no matter if the tone was serious (“But the instructor will ask why we did this, and I don’t see how this relates to that,”) or casual (“I think it would be really good if you tried to explore this area! It would be more fun than just drawing this part.”) Each time there would be many new ideas passed around and polished and something new to take in mind. A pattern of meeting and learning soon instigated itself within studio and proved especially refreshing and fruitful, especially during times of brain-blocks. I used to quickly mash my body on top of my artwork to spare anyone from seeing my untalented works, but since inviting the judging and scrutiny of fellow classmates and reviewers is crucial to the progress of your work in studio and your success of your projects hinges on how lucid and legible your oral presentation of your work is, I’ve been blessed to have many opportunities to practice clear speaking and to think of ideas deep and meaningful enough so that I may care deeply about them enough to elucidate on their behalf. (a) I used to try to focus on increasing the aesthetic appeal of drawings, but after being exposed to the worlds that drawings can speak to viewers I appreciate that there is so much more to a drawing than simply appearing attractive. (b) It is really a challenge to think about something that you care about so much and that is deep enough so that when you share that with someone through your presentation and a drawing, you can present it as a meaningful thesis that spurs others to realize that something or, even better, see something beyond that. This is how studio work seems to me at my undeveloped level right now, which differs from in the beginning, when I thought I just had to make things look appealing. (c) Compiling the inquiry books really led me to think about how much external aids such as note cards and pin-ups help me think through and further developments. (d) Designing is so much more than beauty, I’m coming to realize—it’s beauty in function, meaning, existence, and aesthetics, when applicable. It’s a self-sustainable answer. [ .: TWO :. ] I learned that a huge proportion of successful designing encompasses the ability to verbalize your ideas and find something worth seeing and exploring to the audience within your designing. I hope I may carry this start of oration onto the next studio class and be able to delve deeper for more presentable ideas and successfully present them. In 1012, I hope to pay more attention to how industrial designers seek, question, evolve, and present their ideas verbally and through what kind of drawings and captions. Also, I would like to see what kind of questions we will seek to answer in 1012 as a part of our developing our sense of utilizing design as a form of communication on all parts. [ .: THREE :. ] Our instructor spent exceeding effort on crafting a lesson and homework plan that usually differed from other instructors’ but ended up really benefiting us as students in both time utilized in producing the homework, preparation of materials in advance before final due dates, and scope of exploration into the objects of study, and was very encouraging and inspiring in forwarding us toward our goals of study with constructive praise and critique. A great deal of students from other classes and who have had our instructor previously admired his encouraging and effective method of teaching hard material—I heard of the requirements of teachers and what their weekly teaching load was for studio; it must be very difficult at times to develop an effective lesson plan and find the words to convey what students must learn and explore. [ .: FOUR :. ] Speaking from how the drawings were produced, we first explored spaces, objects, and environments without paying attention to the lighting or shadows, or even accuracy of portrayal! Drawing blind contours while imagining that you are creating the object by illuminating its edges—that was powerful imagery and one of the best ways to integrate an object into your mind so that you can accurately capture its essence on paper from multiple degrees while only thinking about it and not looking at it. From then we moved on to spatial explorations on two-dimensional media: paper and Photoshop. Accuracy and cleanliness of line were prime factors to pay attention to in these armature-line drawings of depth and line thickness. Eventually we shifted to portrayals of three-dimensional objects endowed with complex plays of lighting and shadow and attempted to accurately capture these small nuances in saturation and refraction on paper… From these highly detailed drawings we moved back to contour of a shoe and from there on into increasingly abstract but deeper explorations of the shoe until our drawings had developed into a encompassing sort of abstraction, much like our contours in the beginning of the semester but rich with meaning and correlation with each other; over the course of this semester I think this was what we attempted to bring to fruition: garnering only the meaning that matters by feeling the representation of an object to gradual fleshing out of that object to full manifestation of it, and then de-fleshing the object until only the richness of correlation is what remains and the bare bones of the object to describe such correlation. I think my favorite over the drapes was the beginning of the shoe exercise because, while it was challenging to think through scenarios such as, “It’s a shoe—how do I correlate it with this? What do I care enough to represent and explore about this shoe and XXX?” This was such a novel and difficult way of trying on the wide application and correlations of an object to the body, environment, social surroundings, and processes that brought it into existence and getting to know the object’s every facet; I remember thinking, “This is really how design must be born and come about.” Link to this Page
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