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Week 15 - Final Thoughts

Throughout the course of this class, I have learned so much about the history of design. There are so many different influential people that were necessary in getting design to be where it is today, and without them, who knows where the world would be today, and what what it would look and function like. I am only nineteen years old, and I have already seen the influence of design change technology immensely. Just thinking about where design is headed in the future blows my mind.

One part of design that I have already been seeing changing is that of architecture. Obviously architecture is always changing, but lately it has been largely growing skyscrapers. Even in Milwaukee, high rise buildings are becoming more and more popular. I can only imagine what cities will look like in the future.

Another part of design that I can see being more prominent in the future is the changing of our roads and highway system. There is constant construction going on all over Milwaukee, and I can only imagine what our roads and highways will look like in the future. The design that goes into the interchange systems amazes me, and they will only get more complex as time goes on.

The third way that I see design growing in the future is through graphic design. This is becoming a very popular major for college students, and it is becoming a very prominent part of our society today. Almost anywhere you look there is a form of graphic design, and I think that this will continue to grow, and will be used more and more. There is definitely going to be a need for graphic designers and it will be a great field for students to get involved with.

It is hard to picture where design will be in the future, because it is already such a large part of our society today, but I am excited to see the course it takes in my lifetime.

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Week 14

For this journal, I don’t have much to talk about, but there are some things I want to rant about. For example, my thoughts about design vs art have definitely changed since the beginning of this class. I especially noticed this when I was working on Project 2. It is crazy to me that almost everything around me in this world can be considered either design or art. I catch myself when I’m driving thinking about how a certain building is so much more than a building, because it is design. Or I will catch myself on campus noticing works of graphic design in the Union.

Since this class started, I have gained a higher fascination with old buildings and other architecture. I have always enjoyed photographing building and architecture, but I have gained more than just an artistic interest in them. I have learned to appreciate buildings for more than just their beauty, because they are all works of design. There are hundreds of hours of work put into designing every building I look at, and that is amazing to me.

I have also been very interested in works of graphic design, especially maps. In the office where I work there are three large maps of different areas of Wisconsin, and I have found myself looking at them more than usual. The time put in to create a map is crazy, and people don’t appreciate maps that much anymore. Everyone uses their GPS on their phone or the dash of their car instead of using a paper map. I have started to try and navigate more with a paper map, because it is a unique work of design that used to be necessary for everyday life. I think it is important to know how to work a map, because technology doesn’t always work!

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Week 12 - New Media

There are a few different things that I believe have had the greatest impact on interactive design. The general term for what has changed interactive design is technology. I believe that this is the largest impact to interactive design over the years.

Technology has changed different parts of interactive design, as discussed in this week’s lecture. For example, technology has drastically changed how we listen to music. People started listening to music with phonographs. This then changed to record players that were created by new innovations in technology. The design of the record player helped create eight track tapes and the Walkman. This transformed into compact discs, or as most people know them, CDs. The compact disc brought us to where we are today, with digital music on MP3 players and smartphones.

Technology has also changed another part of interactive design, television. Television has not grown much through the years until the recent creations of Netflix, Hulu, Youtube, etc. These new forms of television have changed when and where television can be watched, and is transforming the idea of “watching TV”. This used to mean sitting in front of a box in a house, but that is hardly what it means today.

Along with television, the radio has changed interactive design, and has given people the ability to listen to music virtually anywhere. Radio can be streamed through smartphones with apps such as iHeartRadio and in a car using Sirius Radio.

The inventions of the GoPro and smartphones have created a new way to capture video almost anywhere in the world. These forms of technology have been a huge impact to interactive design, because any part of the world can be captured in seconds.

All of these changes to interactive design have continued to shape technology, and will continue to change technology drastically. It is hard to picture where technology will go in the future.

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Week 11 - Graphic Design

The end of this week's reading talked about the “citizen designer”. The exact definition of a “citizen designer” that the author, Stephen J Eskilson gives is, “a professional who attempts to address societal issues either through or in addition to his or her commercial work” (Eskilson, 425). The book states that the idea of the “citizen designer” probably came from William Morris, the leader of the Arts and Crafts movement which took place in the late nineteenth century. It is shocking to see that ideas from hundreds of years ago have been passed on and are still used in the world today, and are taught to college students.

In today’s design world, there is controversy between designers on who agree with citizen designers, and those that oppose the idea of a citizen designer. Those who are advocates of the citizen designer feel that “design” is “better understood as engineering, activism, or even administration.” The book continues by saying, “This philosophy of inclusiveness also aligns the movement with some of the ideas behind DIY projects, emphasizing that everyone in society can make a contribution to repairing the world’s problems” (Eskilson, 426). Designer Bruce Mau backed this up as he talked about his idea of Massive Change, and how his practice has been thriving since 1985.

Those against the citizen designer, such as designer Katherine McCoy, “criticize the apolitical direction followed by many of their peers, McCoy laments, “‘We have trained a

profession that feels political or social concerns are either extraneous to our work, or inappropriate”’ (Eskilson, 425).

As far as who is correct on the issue of the citizen designer, I don’t have a large opinion, but I do know that I enjoy DIY projects that are within my capabilities of doing. I also enjoy buying other DIY works that are too difficult for myself to complete, and without the “citizen designer” I don’t think I would be able to purchase these pieces of design.

Eskilson, Stephen J. Graphic Design: A New History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012.

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Week 10 - Graphic Design

This week’s lesson and readings were all about typography. When I saw that was this week’s focus, I was excited because I don’t know much about typography, but I am very interested in it. I was also very excited because I got to learn about another new topic that I didn’t even think would fall under design when I chose to take this class. After doing the readings, I was amazed at how important typography is in the design world, and how there are so many different types of typography.

One part of typography from the readings that I was shocked about was that sans serif has been around since 1816. I thought that this was just a name of a common font that is used today, not an influential phase in the history of typography.

Another part of the readings that I found interesting was that of the linotype and monotype. I have heard of the linotype before, but I could not really remember what it was, so it was interesting to learn what it actually was, and what the linotype and monotype were used for.

My favorite part of these readings was learning about the German script called blackletter. Blackletter is when the black lettering overpowers the white background. As I am writing this, I am looking at a tapestry in my bedroom that has giant black letters on a white background, and it is crazy that a term coined in Germany in the 1800s is still in place in the United States today.

It was also super interesting to learn about the typography used in today's age. There are many different computer programs such as Adobe Illustrator, Fontographer, and FontLab are used to create digital fonts and graphics, as well as make changes to fonts that are already existing.

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Week 9

When I saw the topic for this weeks journal assignment, I was extremely excited to see that it was about Brooks Stevens. For Project One, I actually chose a piece of work by Brooks Stevens as my focal point for the paper. I did a lot of outside research about Brooks Stevens and his history with Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Art Museum. This research I did got me very interested in the history of Brooks Stevens, as well as the history of how he brought industrial design to Milwaukee, and also to other parts of Wisconsin, and other parts of the United States.

Brooks Stevens was born in Milwaukee with design in his blood. His father encouraged him to practice drawing and design after he was struck with polio at a young age. This encouragement pushed Stevens to keep practicing design, with an end goal of a Model T. Finally, Stevens got the car, which was the motivation he needed to continue his career.

When he was old enough, Stevens left Milwaukee to go study architecture at Cornell University. Luckily, Stevens returned to Milwaukee and started his industrial design career. Stevens said that his business was in Milwaukee, and that is why he decided to stay.

All of these events in Brooks Stevens life led to his amazing career in industrial design. He started his own company which had over 600 clients. Out of everything that Brooks Stevens did, my favorite part is the Oscar Meyer Weiner car. As a kid, I had a Hot Wheels car that was the Oscar Meyer Weiner car, and it was my favorite one to play with. Little did I know that I would be studying the creator of this car in my life, and that he was born in the same city that I was.

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Week 7 - Architecture

There are 7 main principles of Universal Design. They all serve their own specific purpose, and each have products and things that fall under each category. The first principle I am going to talk about is the principle of Equitable Use. The idea of Equitable Use is when a designer has the intention of making something accessible and user friendly to people with different types of abilities. Some examples of this principle in real world design is a ramp for strollers or wheelchairs to enter buildings more accessible. Another form of this principal is when signs have braille on them to help those who are blind be able to understand what something says.

The next principal of Universal Design that I am going to talk about is that of Flexibility in Use. Flexibility in Use is a principal that makes elements of design available to be edited, altered, or changed to the user’s liking. For example, most chairs can be moved up or down to better fit the height of the person using it. The movement of the chair can also be changed to better fit the desk or table it is sitting by. Another example of this is the ability of cell phones and computers to adjust its brightness for users in different environments. Another big example of flexibility in use is the idea of right and left handed scissors, desks, notebooks, etc. These products make life a lot easier for many people, and it would be very difficult if there were only one standard product.

All of the principles of Universal Design are important, but I found that these two are very important to help make products more inclusive for all people. Today’s society is focused on themselves, and these two processes focus on the needs of the individual.

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Week 6 - Architecture

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Week 5 - History of Design

Cubism is “an art movement focusing on painting that originated in Paris between 1908 and 1911. Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso were the key figures who developed a new type of abstraction that would influence generations of future artists” (Eskilson, 433).

I looked for cubist architecture in Milwaukee, but I wasn’t able to find specific buildings in the area. I did find other examples of cubist architecture around the world. The brown building lies in the Czech Republic, and the gray museum lies in Switzerland.

International Style is “a term coined in 1931 by Museum of Modern Art curators Philip Johnson and Henry-Russell Hitchcock to explain the new geometric style in architecture” (Eskilson, 434).

I did a Google search for International Style in Milwauee, Wisconsin, and the first two search results that came up were the U.S. Bank Center and the Chase Tower. Both of these buildings are sights that I see more days a week than not. I was very interested to learn that the International Style created in New York worked its way to my hometown, Milwaukee. After this search, I did another search for International Style in Wisconsin. I found a company called Brio Design Homes. Brio is centered in Madison, Wisconsin, and focuses on building international style homes. I have never heard of International Style before, and I never knew it played a big part in the city and state that I live in.

Orthogonal “relates to a design that is structured mostly with right angles, such as a grid” (Eskilson, 435).

I had trouble finding orthogonal design in Milwaukee, so I had to use images that the book gave.

Eskilson, Stephen. Graphic Design: A New History. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.

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Week 4 - Found Object

Because of the procrastinator that I am, I always leave my blog post for Saturday. I work as a receptionist on Saturday every week, so I have a set quiet time to write my blog. With that being said, I am not able to leave the office to go for a walk, but I am able to walk around the office to look at types of design, as well as look at the types of design on the outside of the office I work in. The office where I work faces a very busy intersection, and I am noticing many different types of signs advertising businesses at this intersection. From the view I have at my desk, I can see nine different business signs. I had never really thought about these signs before, but looking at them, they are actually very helpful. Without these signs, nobody would be able to tell what kind of business is located at these different buildings. The one I am going to talk most about is the biggest one I can see. It is a tall pole that holds two different signs. It has a brown paint on all of the pole, and then the face of each sign is white. Both signs are double sided to be seen from both directions on the street. On the larger of the two signs is the company name and logo. Below this large sign is a smaller sign that contains the company phone number. Both of these are written in brown text. This sign is probably between fifteen and twenty feet tall, and is a great indicator for the company I work for. It does not light up, which is a disadvantage that it has compared to another company across the street that has a light up sign. Attached in this blog is a drawing of the largest sign, as well as the open sign I described, and another sign from a business next door.

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Week 3 

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Week 2 - Design Thinking

After reading the Design Thinking article from the Harvard Business Review, I was able to create my own definition of what design is. To me, design is ‘using innovative techniques to create a new idea, product, or system to form a solution to a problem.’ This article talked about many different types of design that created inventions that changed the world. The design invention I thought was most significant was that of the “Keep the Change” program. Keep the Change is described as follows, “Customers who use their debit cards to make purchases can now choose to have the total rounded up to the nearest dollar and the difference deposited in their savings accounts” (Brown, 92). I found this to be such an amazing idea, and I hope to start it soon myself. I currently follow a similar program myself, by saving all my leftover change in a jar at home. I never knew I could do the same with the funds I have in my checking account. I prefer to use my debit card rather than cash (because I lose money easily), so I think this would help me save lots of money that I could use towards my college tuition.

Another form of design that this article mention was that of the iPod as being one of the most famous forms of mp3 players. This is extremely important today because Apple has taken over the technology industry. In my opinion, Apple is the biggest company for phones, computers, and basically all things technology. For example, I own an Apple iPhone, Apple Watch, and a MacBook Pro. All of these together is around $3,000 just for technology. Although Apple is creating a solution, I think they are also creating a problem with their products. But that’s just my opinion.

Brown, Tim. Thinking. 2008.

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Week 1 - About Me

Hello, my name is Hailee Jeske. I am a second semester freshman at UWM. I grew up in Milwaukee, and moved to Germantown prior to high school. I could never stay out of the city, so that is why I decided to go to college here. I commute from my house in Germantown, but I’m hoping to soon get my own house or apartment closer to campus or in downtown Milwaukee. I am going to school for a JAMs major with a concentration in advertising and public relations. I am also starting classes to pursue a minor in communications.

I decided to take this class because I enjoy art and design, and I am also very interested in photography, which I enjoy doing in my free time. I also decided to take this class to help determine if the design aspect of advertising is something I’d like to pursue, or if I want to do more of the copywriting or corporate parts of advertising.

I am very inspired by old architecture, as well as capturing these forms of architecture. One of my most captured objects is that of old buildings around Milwaukee. Along with this part of design, I frequently choose objects based off of their design. I recently purchased a table for my bedroom because I loved the color and design of it. Being a shoe addict, the design of shoes is very important, and is a large part of my purchases. I just bought a new phone case that is the exact same as one I had during high school, because I was in love with its design.

Design is so important in the world, and I think it often goes unrecognized. I am looking forward to this class to start learning about all the ways design impacts individuals and society.