SUMMER!
PSU students: There are still some spaces left in my summer Design Thinking course! This one will be really fun. I can promise: reading, writing, walking, picnics, presentations, field trips, and at least one afternoon of sitting by the river.
And lots of learning.
Sign up now! There are only a few spots left. All majors and class levels are welcome, this is not just for design students. Also: what this image doesn’t note is that it’s a ten-week course starting on June 26.
SEE YOU THIS SUMMER.
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We will ask a lot of questions. We may come up with some answers, but more than likely we will uncover more questions. We will read, we will research, we will write, and we will talk. We will collaborate with each other, take walks, go on field trips and learn to see the world around us through a new lens. We will engage in inquiry and exploration.
Design exists in THE WORLD, and so it would be a disservice to all of us to stay inside a classroom the whole term. We will be using the world around us as a living learning laboratory.
The purpose of this class is to think critically about the practice of design. You are studying to be a graphic designer, and in order to make successful and relevant work, you must THINK as well as MAKE. This class is intended to make your brain explode.
In a good way.
—Excerpted from Design Thinking syllabus, Winter Term 2012
On March 16, five teams of students gathered at a community workspace in Portland’s Southeast Industrial district to present their ideas for a better Portland. The evening of public presentations was the culmination of their final project for Design Thinking, a course I taught last term within Portland State University’s graphic design department. We named the event GOOD Ideas for Portland, a twist on GOOD Ideas for Cities, the amazing initiative we partnered with to make this project happen. As the audience started filing in, we quickly realized we didn’t have enough chairs; the snacks went fast and the wine went faster, and by the time Alissa Walker welcomed the crowd, there was standing room only.
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PSU graphic design student Paige Lehmann presented a project alongside the rest of Team Rescue at the GOOD Ideas for Portland event at ADX on March 16. Here is her response to the experience, it continues after the jump. I’ll be posting bits and pieces of student work from last term on this blog. Stay tuned for more!
We were standing in front of a crowd of over 100 people. The lights were down but for a projector pointed at us, making us bright while the crowd ebbed into a sea of empty faces. I faltered; we had some technical difficulties with figuring out our slides, and my fear of not entertaining people soaked through. And then, in the distance, I saw them: a pair of bright glasses. They were Jason Sturgill’s. He came to the presentation! Those glasses were uber-reassuring, and I picked up the stroke and went on. That was, for me, one of the defining moments of our presentation.
I can’t say that I wasn’t nervous. I can’t say that I didn’t practice all the time, in weird places. Like while driving. While taking a bath. In front of the TV. I bartered: five minutes of practice and I can watch Arrested Development. I can’t say that we didn’t work really hard for this. And I can’t say that all of our work seemed worth it. But somehow, it was. We pulled it off, for the most part. I felt paralyzed without my notes, and I almost lost them right before we went up (left them at the wine bar, with the wine and the fancy cheese and the empty donut hole bowl).
I’ll be posting bits and pieces of student writing and project documentation from last term. Stay tuned to see more about the paths of inquiry the students carved and the objects and discussions that resulted.
Project #1: Joel Stein
“An element of public spaces that are often indicators or vessels of placemaking is wayfinding signage. Walking around the Hawthorne district, I’m bombarded by how all of the signage is commercial. Every millisecond I’m being sold something or persuaded to check out a particular business. I chose to create what I call “civic signage” that points people in certain directions and tells them what’s there.
With that, I created signage that would go in two relatively major intersections, SE 39th and Hawthorne, and NE Cully and Killingsworth. The Hawthorne signs told people where Division, Burnside and Mt. Tabor park were, and how far it would take to walk or bike there. The Cully signs pointed to an Albertsons and the Sugar Shack (a strip club) and also how far it would take to walk or bike there. Hopefully the contrast becomes obvious; in a place like Cully with high residential numbers there is a strip club closer than there is a supermarket that has fresh food.
This project was interesting for me because it gave me a chance to intimately explore the subtle components of placemaking, the small interventions that can easily be done by anyone. They may not completely transform a community or neighborhood, but they have the potential to make that little strip of space and simply turn it into a place. I like the notion of “tactical urbanism” and “urban acupuncture” because by strategically focusing attention on a specific problem, you can come up with simple, creative and fun solutions to the problems you encounter.”
For their final project in Nicole Lavelle’s Design Thinking class at Portland State University, student teams identified, researched and designed solutions to urban challenges unique to Portland. In conjunction with GOOD Ideas for Cities, the students presented their solutions at a public event called GOOD Ideas for Portland. This series of posts documents those presentations. Find more information about the project and event here!
Team: Team Good Times
Members: Corbin Lamont, Gregor Holzmann, Collin May
Challenge: Portlanders hibernate. Parks and spaces that are bustling with activity during the summer are almost vacant for more half the year. What can we do to bring the community together during winter for safe, fun, all-ages events?
Solution: Team Good Times looked to themselves and their friends for inspiration for their urban challenge: Portland is wet, cold and dreary in the winter. Most of us stay inside and watch Netflix. What could get people out into Portland during the soggy winter months? The team devised a modular tent system to create dry, heated spaces within some of the city’s many parks. The tents would pop up in partnership with local businesses, who would care for the indoor parks in exchange for the use of the space. Free haircuts, poetry workshops, dinner parties and study hours are just a few of the uses Team Good Times proposed for their series of tent parks.
Presentation: See the complete presentation after the jump!
For their final project in Nicole Lavelle’s Design Thinking class at Portland State University, student teams identified, researched and designed solutions to urban challenges unique to Portland. In conjunction with GOOD Ideas for Cities, the students presented their solutions at a public event called GOOD Ideas for Portland. This series of posts documents those presentations. Find more information about the project and event here!
Team: Team Transport
Members: Alie Kouzoukian, Ruben Cadena, Gavin Van Houten
Challenge: Trimet is facing an enormous budget shortfall. Reductions are being planned for September 2012 that will affect all aspects of the public transportation system, impacting many Portland citizens. How can revenues be increased to make sure that Trimet can continue to provide affordable and reliable service for all?
Solution: Team Transport embarked on a rigorous research process, engaging the public to seek opinions and gauge impact of public transportation in Portland . They approached their challenge with a three-tiered solution. First, they suggested improving the experience of the ride by making Trimet FUN. Vending machines, ride free days and wifi on all trains would make riding the bus more enjoyable. Second, they devised a series of incentive-based approaches to encourage more riders, rethinking the function of the ticket. And finally…the blackout! Team Transport proposed taking away service for one day to highlight the importance of a functioning public transportation system in the city. They argued: “Sometimes, you only know the value of something when it is taken away.”
Presentation: See the complete presentation after the jump!
For their final project in Nicole Lavelle’s Design Thinking class at Portland State University, student teams identified, researched and designed solutions to urban challenges unique to Portland. In conjunction with GOOD Ideas for Cities, the students presented their solutions at a public event called GOOD Ideas for Portland. This series of posts documents those presentations. Find more information about the project and event here!
Team: Team Rescue
Members: Paige Lehmann, Jesse Weeg, Yoshimi Kawabata
Challenge: Portland’s Emergency Alert system relies heavily on telecommunications and, while their last alert test was successful, it took twice as long as predicted. At the same time, few Portlanders are prepared for an emergency. How can we both improve Portland’s alert system and prepare our community in case an emergency strikes?
Solution: Team Rescue took on the challenge of preparing Portlanders for a natural disaster as well as thinking about improvements to the city-wide disaster alert system. Using the existing infrastructure of the Trimet public transportation system, Team Rescue transformed busses and trains into mobile rescue units. They designed a summer festival on the waterfront wherein the cost of admission gave each attendee an emergency preparedness kit. The team wrapped up their presentation by handing out checklists to the crowd to help them prepare their own kits for a natural disaster.
Presentation: See the complete presentation after the jump!
For their final project in Nicole Lavelle’s Design Thinking class at Portland State University, student teams identified, researched and designed solutions to urban challenges unique to Portland. In conjunction with GOOD Ideas for Cities, the students presented their solutions at a public event called GOOD Ideas for Portland. This series of posts documents those presentations. Find more information about the project and event here!
Team: The Front Yard Project
Members: Joel Stein, Lyndsay Ediger, Nathan Sonenfeld
Challenge: The Willamette River is an attractive natural feature of Portland. It runs right through our city, but still isn’t a source of local pride or a site for activity. How then, do we turn the Willamette River into Portland’s “front yard,” an inspiring place of community for Portlanders to use and socialize with others?
Solution: The Front Yard project looked at the Willamette River as a site for engagement, and set out to understand how to increase the value of the beautiful natural feature in the hearts and minds of Portlanders. Their solution proposed a number of alternative uses for the river, each designed to get more people to the water. Floating gardens, swing sets, water taxis and a system of lights would, they argued, get instill a sense of civic pride in the average Portlander.
Presentation: See the complete presentation after the jump!
For their final project in Nicole Lavelle’s Design Thinking class at Portland State University, student teams identified, researched and designed solutions to urban challenges unique to Portland. In conjunction with GOOD Ideas for Cities, the students presented their solutions at a public event called GOOD Ideas for Portland. This series of posts documents those presentations. Find more information about the project and event here!
Team: Bags of Fun
Members: Andy Moser, Doug Sherwood, Devin Courtright
Challenge: Many communities have worked hard to outlaw single-use plastic bags, yet people are still using them. Just one person reusing a bag for their lifetime could keep 22,000 plastic bags out of the landfill. Changing habits is hard. How do we help people shift their behavior and reuse bags?
Solution: Bags of Fun approached their challenge with humor, engaging audiences of all ages. In order to instill good habits in youth, the Bags of Fun team created a campaign based on Bagman, a super hero with a bag for a head. Bagman encourages kids to bring bags with them when they leave the house, and to nag their parents to do the same. The team developed games for kids to pick up trash, framed under the guise of destroying the evil Dr. Plasto and his plastic bag minions. Partnerships with local elementary schools to offer parents and kids incentives rounded out the proposal.
Presentation: See the complete presentation after the jump!
Love how Corbin’s Design Thinking class project is living on in the real world long past the class…nice work Corbin!
Your magik is real.
This reminds me of the segment of the This American Life episode “Meet the Pros” in which David Rakoff talks with the Martha Stewart Crafts Department.
good:
Some people specialize in ideas, constantly scheming, iterating, finessing. I prefer doing. I don’t know what makes me want to make, but often the impulse strikes without warning. If I don’t satiate it immediately, it becomes a dull ache that lingers all day.
You’d think this would be a non-issue—after all, I’m lucky enough to be paid a salary to design all day. But increasingly I’ve realized that for people like me, one creative outlet isn’t enough.
Editorial design director Dylan Lathrop writes about why creative people need multiple outlets, whether writing or D&D.
Class might be over but I’m still going to post interesting design-related things to this blog…
I’m going to visit Megan in Detroit next week and I’m excited for all the conversations I know we’ll have.
I have a love/hate relationship with the term social design, mainly because, despite the fact I have no idea what it really means, I still find myself wielding it frequently in conversations with other designers and non-designers alike.
PSU Students' GOOD Ideas for Portland | Blogtown, PDX -
Hey! Last night’s event got a nice little write-up on the Mercury’s blog! Rad.
(P.S. Make sure you ignore the comments.)