Designing Perception

Yes, these are nude women with paint on them, but take a second to contemplate the actual process of painting such a scenery and appreciate the multiple planes being engaged to create such an illusion, especially with the woman and the book. From any different angle, these images would not register as a book or park bench, well maybe the bench. The lines we see crossing the body are in actuality going in all different direction and angles to come together to form what looks like a single line. This is a skill to be admired, for the prefabrication and planning it takes is not a skill many of us possess or can even imagine.

Perception has No Rules

"Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly" - Dalai Lama

Traditionally, His Holiness is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. However, some people are so enlightened that there are no rules. They transcend the conventions of reality, or our perception of reality.

Dr. Oliver Sacks, a British neurologists, wrote a short narrative study, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat." It tells of Dr. P's story, a talented musician that progressively loses his ability to recognize faces and make certain visual associations, but instead uses sound and music to function through everyday tasks. For instance, he would recognize people by their voices but could not physically see them. He only saw pieces... a nose, ear, etc but could not mentally construct them as a face, nor recognize his own for that matter. When viewing some of Dr. P's artwork, Sacks realizes the progression from a naturalistic style to cubism and abstraction over time. Many would see this as a natural development in an artist. A development in which the artist expands their knowledge and skills, referring to the quote that now they understand shape and form to such and extent that they can break it. Yet, Dr. P is different. He actually views the world in a cubist and abstract way. There is no higher thinking to it. He simply sees shapes that the rest of us do not because of our automatic ability to associate and group things of understanding so the brain does not get overwhelmed with sensory information.

So the Dalai Lama may be bestowed with heightened knowledge of the world, but it does not apply everywhere. This is also why children and mental patients are able to create works of art worth notice and appreciation as well. As opposed to the studier as the Dalai Lama refers to, this category of artists simply hold a different perception of the world, and one they act on impulsively. The child does not go in with paint with the intention of living up to Rembrandt and Picasso. He just 'does.' And with that said, it makes you wonder if famous cubist and abstract artists, like Picasso, were indeed avid studiers or more simply mentally altered or 'ill' later in life.

Designing How We Learn

Technology is increasingly being used to shape the way we learn, from programs such as Baby Einstein (which is apparently bull#$*%) to Your Baby Can Read (which involves much more advanced brain development skills of which we do not know the consequences yet of screwing with for later in life of the child).

However, something that was mentioned to me was Spreeder, an online program for adults to develop their speed reading skills through identifying the shape of the word as opposed to having to sound it out or say it in one's head, which I do myself. It looks legit as well as promising, and even if it is not, you can still enter your own text into it and get some needed school reading out of the way regardless : )

It allows you to enter your own text, choose your words-per-minute as well as goals and so on. If anyone tries it out, let me know how it works for you.

www.spreeder.com

Snow Day for Pratt!!

It's amazing that I can find out about a snow day, not from looking outside the window or searching the radio and news stations in the morning, but from an instant text message directly from the schools database. Oh how technology has evolved to make our lives easier :)

Telling me where I can't live in a design friendly way :)

So I came across this interactive map, which I thought was well designed in a unique way to relay the demographics information of NYC. It breaks down the city into areas, such as Fort Greene, and basically shows in a colorful, simple, and aesthetically pleasing way as to how many New Yorkers are living in areas beyond their means. Yea, nice thought to have as I will be looking for an apartment in the city in the next few months.

Toy Design on Steroids!

I came across this some how doing research and was blown away by the technology and the detailed thought process that went into the creation of this 'toy.' I like the way in which the characters can leave the platform as well as interact with each other to the point of physical contact as seen with the bird and machine. The machine seems typical and mechanical in such technology, but the organic nature of the bird creature from film takes it to a whole new level. Very impressed and can't wait to see what else starts emerging in this line of design!

Information at your Finger tips

I ran across this video about a year ago and found it very interesting in the advancement of technology, which in time, can revolutionize the way we as consumers interact with our world. As well the field of advertisement and branding as we know it. This is truly global information at your finger tips! It brings a whole new meaning to the letter "i" than the iPhone.