[Project] Research in progress

Middle part of my process. I usually kept my notes in the same journal, and it's easier to remind or refresh my mind. It's only for today, I'll scan the one before (the journal a few days ago when we started the project) later on to share my work in progress.

If you cannot read it very well (the image is kind of small), I'll briefly explain it here. It was helpful to be in a different group to talk about our work in progress. Erica and Daniel helped me clear out some production related ideas and gave me advice/feedback on how I can start working on my self-portrait. We also discussed about the title for each one's project. I named my project as "She & I: Darcy Wang." They agreed the title was good, and I should just name it as "She & I."
Short and get to the point.

Amazing Corn!!!

Habana:
Best corn ever in this restaurant!! I've been eating here for several time, but never had a camera with me. The last time I ate the corns was a few months ago. Really missed this place. Originally, I don't eat corn at all. I don't dislike corns, and I'm not a corn person cuz we don't use corn in Chinese food very often. So, I just don't get in touch with a lot of corns. Till my friends brought me to "Habana," I realize how amazing these corns are! The following photo I took is how the amazing corn look like:

So juicy... I went there with another friend today at lunch time. The amazing corns really warmed me up in this cold weather! Good place to go.
It's located at Elizabeth St. and Prince St. in SOHO.
You'll see how good the corns are when you try it out, my friends. XD

ESC== Electronic Social Club

Today Iva and I went to the [ESC] at Hunter College. It was an event that shows current MFA students' work (or thesis) from Parsons DT, PRATT, IPT, Hunter College, etc. Too bad I didn't bring my camera with me to take pictures. Not only it was an event to see students' work from other schools, also a good time to get to know them and also to broaden our art network. Some of the projects are pretty interesting. I scanned one of the project description from the programm brochure:


This piece was an interactive device that senses the speed of hand motion to change the pace and pitch accordingly. If I lay my palm on the sensor, the sound will be played slower and slower till it stops. It is more involved in physical computing and programming.

We saw there's a second year (Drew Cogbill) from our DT presenting his half-way done thesis. The thesis was called "Pigeon." It is a mobile networking between people or family that let user shout out to the world in 1 minute. More like talking to the voice mailbox, and people can access to hear your feelings, opinions, or updates. Sounds like mobile or audio facebook to me if I am correct to interpret the project to my understanding. He did a demo for us by calling the number: 713-574-9488. It worked! Then, follow the voice instruction to sign up an account.

I absorbed so much today, and hopefully I am able to present in that place one day. XD

Don't mean to offend anyone...



I found out there's another version of this same clip, with Spanish!!! Let's take a look.


I don't want to offend anyone who speaks Spanish, really. But, I couldn't stop laughing when I watched this clip. I didn't laugh like this: lol. Just a little bit smile. However, this is really interesting that the anime is so popular that it's even translated into Spanish. I was surprised about this part, actually. (I thought only Asians especially Taiwanese are in love with Japanese Anime...) Don't blame me. It seems like I've been staying in my own little world for so long so that I don't know there are plenty of the anime translated into other languages by subbing the vocal. It's very interesting to see the both languages playing here. One of the good material to explore bi-lingual or multi-lingual.

p.s. I guess this is enough for anime topic.

[Project] Such a nice day in Central Park!

Today we went to Central Park to do our interactive project. However, we went into the Marathon so it took us forever to get to Bethesda Fountain... Even though it is really cold, but the scene is so wonderful. All the leaves are turning colors, and it looks so different from 2 weeks ago. That moment is the prettiest in whole season, in my point of view. In this photo, Erica is carrying a trash can from Film Editing Dept., and Iker, Ira are holding the white board under this nice, dreamy central park scene. 

And, the final presentation will be on Wednesday! 

OH, NO! I'm an OTAKU!!!!

The above image explains what I am recently: "otaku." "Otaku" is a word from Japanese, and the meaning is: a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga, and video games. The link will give you more detailed explanation of "otaku": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otaku

So, let me explain why I say I am an otaku recently. The reasons are as following:

1. The weather: as the weather gets colder and colder, I become lazier to go outside except going to work and school. It's a lot colder than the winter in Taiwan or Tennessee, so the time I spent outside walking around is getting shorter. And, I gradually spend a lot of time at home studying or doing projects or watching anime.
   
2. I found out some anime clips online when I was small (well, middle school period). Those are really great anime stories, even better than the new ones. I can say those anime I like since I was small are classic. Most of people at my age also enjoy those anime (or they are also otaku).

The following image is one of my favorite anime when I was young. It's called "Revolutionary Girl Utena." The girl Utena is the main character in this anime and that is what she looks like on this following image. However...(scroll down)

She and the other girl (another main character) are in this kind of relationship.


Here's some brief introduction of this anime:

Revolutionary Girl Utena is a manga by Chiho Saito and anime directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. The manga serial began in the June 1996 issue of Ciao and the anime was first broadcast in 1997. A movie, "Adolescence of Utena" (少女革命ウテナ アドゥレセンス黙示録, Shōjo Kakumei Utena Aduresensu Mokushiroku, literally "Revolutionary Girl Utena Adolescence Apocalypse") was released in theatres in 1999. A number of stage productions based on the franchise were also produced in the mid 1990s, including the "Comedie Musicale Utena la fillette révolutionnaire", staged by an all-female Takarazuka-style cast.

The main character is Utena Tenjou, a tomboyish teenage girl who was so impressed by a kind prince in her childhood that she decided to become a prince herself (expressed in her manner of dress and personality). She attends Ohtori Academy, where she meets a student named Anthy Himemiya, a girl who is in an abusive relationship with another student. Utena fights to protect Anthy and is pulled into a series of sword duels with the members of the Student Council. Anthy is referred to as the "Rose Bride" and is given to the winner of each duel. As Anthy is thought to be the key to a coming revolution, the current champion is constantly challenged for the right to possess the Rose Bride.

While the show generally has the appearance of a magical girl series, it is also highly metaphysical, surreal, and allegorical. It contains a mix of borrowed visuals from Takarazuka theater, shadow puppetry, and classic shōjo manga.

The anime and manga were created simultaneously, but, despite some similarities, they progressed in different directions.

(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Girl_Utena)

Somehow the story is a little bit hard to understand because it is so abstract, but it keeps me want to watch over and over again these years. I guess because of the abstractness, it makes me think every time I watch it. Can't believe it is already 10 years ago when it was released! Amazing~!!

Japanese Bathroom Joke

While I was organizing the presentation for tomorrow, I suddenly thought of this clip from way before when I was in high school in Taiwan. I remember I watched the video clip long time ago how Japanese made fun of people by renovating public restrooms into a machine that shows all the motions need to be done in the restrooms. (lol) I thought this could be a very interesting precedent in our project. However, I don't think this clip should be appropriate to be presented in our class presentation. So, I just share it here. It's in Japanese with Chinese subtitles though.

Cape No. 7 --A good movie.

A very good movie I watched today. It's a big production from Taiwan. I found an English trailer here for all of you to watch. I was a little bit touched by the story, but it is really funny after all. This is the first time I get to see a huge movie production from Taiwan and the story is about Taiwanese people. I enjoyed it a lot, hope you do too! (I also read the article for class also, not just the movie tonight! XD) By the way, it's called "Cape No. 7."

[Postmortem] Flower Alarm Clock

I was in a group with Iva and we came up a new form of alarm clock, which is called “Flower Alarm Clock.” The purpose for the design is to wake people up with strong impact: scent, sound, and puzzles. The following categories are the analysis for our product:


Strength:

For the solution, we found out it will be an effective way to solve the problems that people have difficulty to wake up in the morning. Our solution for the design was add some elements to the alarm clock that are scent, sound, and puzzles. These three happen at the same time when the alarm is on. In order to wake up fully, the user need to wake up and solve the puzzles in order to cease the alarm. So, the user will fully wake up by finishing the puzzle and won’t go back to sleep.


Weakness:

The scent can be improved to gone faster after the alarm been turned off. We didn’t think about the situation when the scent would still remain after the alarm off. If the user happens to use “fart” scent as a way to wake him up, he or she won’t like the bad scent would not go away after the alarm clock been turned off. This is the consideration we need to improve for our design.


Design Process:

When we first came out to re-design an alarm clock that functions different than the others and started building the design brief, that was the key moment for this design process. At first, I only came up with ideas that I wanted to create something that does not look the way as it functions. Iva and I really thought outside of the box to create a product that looks attractive, functions well, and user enjoys the innovative appearance. Iva and I worked together as a group pretty well. She understood my concepts and my ideas really clearly even though I just told her I really like to make something creative and innovative. We didn’t have conflicts at all. Iva worked really hard on rendering the 3D modeling of our prototype as final storyboard. I mainly threw my ideas into words and wrote major contents for presentation. Along the process, we got together fix and edit the PowerPoint presentation and made the physical prototype.

The only trouble spot we faced was the user or audience we selected. We aimed our user group too broad at the first time. We basically aimed everyone to be our user group. It turned out wrong so that we located our target user as “kidults.” It appears more specific and helpful to our final solution and conclusion.


Conclusion:

With our effort on the finalized version, I consider our product would be a great exhibition piece. Because we added additional elements in the alarm clock that people may not think of before, it will bring a new horizon or dimension into the design world. The proper place for our exhibition should be the gallery of our Parsons building located at 2 West 13th St.

I'm on the MTV blog!!!

Iva told me that my picture* was posted on the MTV blog for the LBP jam. Wow, how exciting!! I am so excited to see my photo posted on a well-known blog even it's really a long shot so I am tiny in this photo. Still, it was a fun competition even my team didn't win anything. At least I learned how to interact with my team, and know how to build a level. It's a good gaming experience! (However, I'm so tired from the weekend...)

*The photo is taken from "MTV Multiplayer" blog, the url is as the following:
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/09/22/littlebigplanet-parsons-pictures/

[Project] Design Brief-"Re-design"

Yes!!! I can go back home!!

Besides school, I did the most remarkable thing today: book plane ticket to Taiwan!!! Finally, I can go back home after the semester ends. I know it's not a big deal, but it's actually exciting for me because I haven't gone home in 2 years. Yes, two years. I kind of miss home already. Luckily, I got the permission from my mom that she allows me to go home this Christmas break. Really looking forward to go home and meet some friends. Before that, I'll put in a lot of work for school and let my semester runs smoothly. The plane ticket really boost me with more energy and passion to work harder. A really good news.
Here's the photo of my chornobook today to share with you what I did.

[Project] MTA Gate Re-design

This is a very brief sketch of my re-design concept.

[Reading] Designing Design

"Designing Design*," I found this book during summer before the semester started. It's amazing that this book is out of stock for almost 2.5 months, and the online waiting list is still really long. I was lucky enough to get the last second copy before my friend told me the book was really popular. I skimmed through the whole book (only pictures and some titles) and started reading the first chapter (during the summer). After a while, stuff (bootcamp, restration, etc.) cut in so that I didn't keep on reading. The new project which we're currently working on in this class reminds me the first chapter from this book. So, what the book is talking about? Well, the contents in this book are separated into several parts. Only the first part, which is "Re-design" reflects Iva and my concept for the project.

The author (Kenya Hara) who is also an art director in Japan started and planned an innovative design exhibition, which was called "Re-design." His plan was to assign one everyday object each artist involved in this project. The main idea was to re-design the object into a different look/ appearance to break the traditional impression on this daily object. The function would remain the same, just the look was different. For instance, he made one architect to re-create the roach house. So, this architect came up with a tiny flat paper tunnel to trap cockroaches. A simple shape out of the traditional roach house. Other artists re-design matches, diapers, toilet paper, and even food!

After we were assigned to create product(s), it recalled me the contents from the book. "Re-design" concept really gives me inspiration. So, I told Iva maybe we could start working on this direction. And, we want to continue this "Re-design" theme and develop more for ourselves. This book expresses a lot great concepts and is a good reference. So, you might want to check it out later.




*Book cover photo taken from "2Modern Design Talk" website: http://blog.2modern.com/2008/01/design-publishe.html.

[Project] Object Studies

The above photo is the daily object I chose to study. Do you want to guess what it is? The answer is the following photo:



Yes, The object is a stapler! This photo shows the portable stapler being switched to the "on" mode, which is ready to staple the paper. It's really flat, small, simple, and has its unique shape.


Placed on my palm. Smaller than other staplers.


I have a habit which is I like to hold on something when I'm reading and mostly in a thinking process. Since I got this tiny stapler, I began to hold it when I was in deep thoughts. Or, reading articles online I even held this stapler to play the switch. This habit became a necessary process before I need to use my brain a lot. I would feel insecure when I have nothing to hold on or play with.


About the same size as my mouse.

Since it's really portable and small, I put it in my pen case to carry it around with me (especially to classes).

When I'm home, I take it out from my pen case to place it around my laptop or on the table where it's easy to reach.

[Project] Self Portrait

The above is my self portrait. I came from graphic design background so that I'm really attached to typography and effective layouts. I like typography a lot. It enhances the image on a poster and gives a great impact to the viewers. So, I combine my favorite graphic design element to my self portrait, which is to use my name "darcy wang" typed in Bold Condensed Futura (one of my favorite fonts) to trace on my photo.

Intro-Overture

I don't do blogs all the time. I tried to maintain and kept updating blogs before, but it never last really long. I normally record my daily thoughts and activities in my own journal book. Since the Chronobook* came out lately, I found out it's really unique and fun to keep daily journal. So, the online blog is even being ignored by me.

However, I decide to build a blog not only for Interface class, but publish and share my thoughts, life (not too personal life), research, laughter, madness, and... everything universally. So, that's why I name my blog as a digital version of my journal/ Chronobook. You may see me really crazy in this my little own world, or you may think I'm extremely random and still crazy. That's ok. Just keep coming back for my new post. Hope you'll enjoy it.

*Chronobook is a product of MUJI Company. Please refer to www.muji.com.