ian arthur spaeth

Spatial Experience. The Great Unveil.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:28:00 +0000

*The sound made from the monument will be similar to the singing ringing tree that uses the wind and hallow tubes to produce a calm, meditative noise.

The dock will hold a plaque that explains the monument as visitors are allowed to walk around the meaning of Ausdauer. The following text is what we plan on telling visitors. Obviously, this will be read in both German and English as they are the primary languages of the area (95% German, 51% English).

"Fraktur blackletter figures were first designed by Nuremberg native, Hieronymus Andreae for Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (c. 1493–1519). The term Fraktur is derived from the Latin term "to break" and calligraphy from Greek meaning "beautiful writing". This calligraphic hand is made up of repetitive strokes of the same weight with broken lines and a consistent angle. The process of calligraphy emphasizes harmony, consistency and retains a meditative quality. After its creation, Fraktur soon became the primary typeface of Germany and the surrounding countries and was set until the 20th Century. Today, Fraktur remains a reminder of rich history and significance to the German culture."

Ausdauer

SX. Project 1, Poetic. Monument, Calligraphy.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:19:00 +0000

Bethany and I would like to recognize the elegance and emotion of calligraphy. We have identified a few characteristics associated with calligraphy that will help direct our form. These include; motion, strokes, ink, texture, content, and special attention to curves and angles. The location should inform the history. Because there are a number of different histories (arabic, chinese, german, etc...) we would like to choose one and focus on it's individual the qualities and meaning.

We want to focus on the movement within the restriction of German Blackletter. Here, the characters are disciplined yet fluid and spontaneous (much like Rococo Architecture :) We also want to show the fragility and the importance of the paper. We're thinking Nuremberg, Germany for the installation location...

noun

the art of writing beautifully: He studied calligraphy when he was a young man.

Fine Arts. line or a group of lines either derived from or-resembling letter forms andcharacterized by qualities usually associated with cursive writing, especially that produced with a brush or pen.

Here's What We Have Looked At

German architecture as influence for the structure of our monument.

Look over on Bethany's blog to see some imagery, and also this collection over on my Gimme Bar that doesn't have very many photos now, but will grow over time.

Pro Practice. Career Goals and Strategy for Getting There.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:01:00 +0000

My passion is information architecture, user experience, and interaction design, and my ideal job would be designing for the digital space. I've known this for quite sometime without realizing it. In everything I do, I crave order and reason with a splash of flare, including my design. I appreciate design where the content is the main focus with the design supporting it and enhancing it. "Clean" or "minimal" isn't always the answer, but clarity is. Though it seems that I always default back to "clean and simple" (hell I'm typing this post in iA Writer, what's simpler than that?), it's clarity and understanding of content that I'm striving for.

How am I going to get to this type of job?
I plan on using networking, researching, writing, and quite honestly, Twitter(and other social media outlets).

I've already been in direct contact with some bigger-ish names in the design/news field through Twitter. That's why twitter is so awesome, it's direct and fast connection to people that we never had that type of access to before. Use Twitter well, it can help open up doors and start conversations between you and people you admire and look up to. But no, Twitter isn't everything because not everyone has it, but it's a helpful tool to use and harness. There are also other social media outlets that work well, and for someone who is interested in social media, embracing them is smart.
I've also started researching what companies and people are out there that are doing what I want to do. I don't know what setting I prefer yet, whether it's more of a design firm, or something more specific like an in-house team at a company, or even possibly a startup of some sort. But if I can find a place that is in the realm of my interests, contact will be made somehow.
But something that will help me both get in contact with people and initiate conversation with them is writing. I've already been doing this over the winter break and really loved it. It was over social media, news, and design, topics that really intrigues me and gets my creativeness in overdrive. Thoughts and ideas are, at times, more important than actual design work. If you have interesting and thought-provoking ideas, people will take note. But ideas and writings don't have to be ground breaking, the fact that you are typing up your ideas and publishing them to a space that people can readily access is great in itself. It shows that you have ideas flowing in your brain and that you want to share them, plus it can also show off your mad writing skillz (but even if you don't have them yet, the more you write, the madder they'll become). So being articulate on the subjects that I'm interested in is important to me. It helps me talk about them easier and with more confidence, and helps break the nervousness I get when talking about my personal ideas and stances.
All of these things together are how I plan on getting where I want to go. This is all coupled with putting myself out there and contacting/pursuing companies and people that I am interested in.

Degree Project + Other Updates.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:36:00 +0000

I've started blogging for my Senior Degree Project over at ianarthurdp.blogspot.com. (Link also found up there at the top of my blog below the header labeled: degree project. Clever, I know.)

I also have a new, handy, personalized link shortener, ianarthur.info! Weeee! Now I don't have to worry about my blogpost titles being too long for twitter! Exclamation points abound! Whimsy and glee!

The redesign for this blog is, presumably, done. I can't say that I will have any more time to change it starting monday, so it is what it is. Don't like it? Ah well.

Oh yea, and school starts monday! 18 credit hours. Lots of projects. GRADUATION! Busy busy busy busy busy busy busy.

Blog Design Update.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:30:00 +0000

'Scuze any awkwardness in the design of this here blog. it's well past due for an update. that update is happnin' now.

A Fluding Heart

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:41:00 +0000

This post is in response to a tweet I posted about the iPhone App Flud that had two subsequent replies from Flud Support and Bobby Ghoshal, founder of Flud News. I proposed the idea that the button to flud an article in Flud should be more unique and brand oriented than a heart. It was a fleeting question in my mind, but getting responses from two people from Flud made me go back and think about it more. It made me ask myself, "Why did that heart stick out to me so strongly as not being the best possible option for an icon to represent the "flud" action?" This blog post is purely my own opinion of how the visuals of fluding could be stronger. The heart icon is completely valid and works well, and like Ghoshal said, there is a reason they chose the heart. I am curious as to the reason why they went with the heart. If anybody from the Flud community reads this I would be interested in a comment added to this blog about your reasoning.

I have NPR, CNN, BBC, HuffPost, Flipboard, and Flud on my iphone for news consumption. The first four apps are essentially your basic news apps. They give the user access to the news they are reporting about and ways to share it. Overall however, that's about it, no other real layer of interaction. Flipboard is nice because I choose what news is given to me. I get news about design, fashion, apps, etc, because that's what I chose. The tailorability of the app is quite nice. Flud gives me this tailorability, but with a social layer added on top of it.

In the research phase for my MX project this past semester, i came across the idea of the "information bubble." In that, websites, apps, search engines, etc, can all get so customized that the user is missing huge areas of information because the system deems it "unworthy" to the user. This is set through anything from personal settings to the analysis of past searches. The systems analyze all of the data collected by and about the user and creates an experience unique only to them. Part of the reason I like Flud so much is because it has an answer to the information bubble hinderance.

Flud initially only gives me the news and information I chose to receive, then opens it up to what other users I'm following are reading. I can read the articles provided and then "flud" them to my friends and followers if I feel it is worthy to share and have other people read. Once I started following other users, a "flud" of articles is created from everything the people I follow have fluded. This is where the information bubble starts to break down. I'm readily given other content outside of my tailored experience that opens my mind up to other topics and points of views that I may not have known I liked or was interested in.

The term/action "to flud" is uniquely theirs, and helps set them apart from other apps. I enjoy the term "flud" because it creates a strong, all encompassing image in my mind. When land physically floods, water goes everywhere. When I flud an article, I know that all of my followers will see it in their flud curated by the people they follow. I'm saying that this article is important enough to me that I want everyone I know to know about it, and read it. This is the part of Flud that sets it apart from other news services, the strong emphasis of sharing content so easily and readily to everyone. Though it's such a core part of Flud, I feel that the heart icon of "fluding" is too generic.

The "button" I tap to flud an article is a heart, but is that a strong enough icon to use? I argue no, it is not. The heart icon is employed on Tumblr(Instagram, too) to love/like things. It says, I like this post enough to save it, but not enough to fully reblog it to my blog. It's a lower, less important way of denoting content that I like. It works more like a personal catalog of saved items for me. This "like" feature shows up in pretty much every other social network. Facebook's thumbs up "like" and Twitter and Flickr's favorite stars. All of these platforms use these means to denote a lower level sharing/saving. Flud uses the heart as top level sharing, but the fact that all of these other platforms are saving the heart/star/thumb icons for a lower level, makes the heart icon in the Flud app less meaningful. The action that I'm doing when I tap on the heart in Flud isn't "liking", "loving", or "hearting" it, I'm "fluding" it. I argue that Flud needs a more unique and ownable icon for their action of "fluding". Because the action "to flud" is so strong and powerful, not to mention so important to the entire app, it needs a strong icon to support it visually. It should be something that isn't directly affected/influenced by other platforms and ideals like the heart. It should be an icon that users know as the "flud button" that will always flud content and articles to their followers, instead of a heart with a speech bubble above it saying "flud your followers".

But what do I think the icon should be instead? I'm not sure entirely. Initially I felt using the really nice "U" shape in their logo could be a nice alternative to the heart. They're already bringing attention to it in their logo, and the shape itself also looks like a basket/bucket of sorts. The shape that the "U" is on in their app icon looks very drawer-esque, as well. Both feel container-like to me. However, should the icon be so literal or container feeling? Not necessarily. If you go in more of the literal route, the container would have to stay very iconic like simply using the "U" itself. But I don't necessarily think a container is completely the right image either. The articles I flud are saved in my account, yes, but I flud the articles first and foremost so other people can see them. It's less about the saving, and more about the sharing, the fluding. In the mocked-up images above, the "U" seems to fit better between the facebook and twitter icons. The icon to flud becomes its own icon, not only letting the use know what they're about to do, but also reiterate the logo, or part of it.

I love what Flud is and what it's doing. The overall design of the app is top level work, highly crafted and finessed. The color is a smart choice, and works nicely to create an app-specific color, one that people come to associate Flud with if done right. The concept of Flud is awesome and I definitely plan to continue using it as one of my primary news sources on my phone. I can hope to encourage more of my friends with iPhones to download and use it as well. I enjoy knowing what others are reading and interested in, and Flud does a nice job of that.

This is little more than my thought process on something that could be seen as so trivial. But for an app that focuses so strongly on the idea of sharing, or here known as fluding, this is rather important. Creating a strong visual language for the action of fluding could quite possibly help visually strengthen the app even more than it already is. Helping solidify itself as a top-notch app with a huge following.

mx. polititeens final video.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:12:00 +0000

MX. HUB Scenario. Join a Debate.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:23:00 +0000

MX: HUB Scenario: Join a Debate

mx. polititeens branding. round two.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:35:00 +0000

Branding Style #01: Mobile Apparatus

This is the first direction that Taylor and I discussed. This idea of the mobile and how information that's more active would weigh more, visually. So, topics that are discussed more hang lower than the topics that are discussed less. When you get farther down into the content, you move farther down the mobile. I love this concept, however, I'm struggling to get the visuals to look nice. Right now, it still feels gimmick-y, and that is the LAST thing i want this to look like.

the main page of the hub

the overview view of the top 10 current topics under the information tab

Branding Style #02: Circle Dive

Honestly, I feel like I really had an epiphany with this direction. You navigate inside the circles, so when you click on a circle you move into it, diving deeper into the subject to get a deeper, more detailed view of the topic. All of the kinks aren't fully worked out, but I feel like this works much better already visually than the first direction.

the main page

the information main page, inside of the information circle from the screen above

the top 10 main page, inside the Top 10 circle from the screen above

here is the conservative page as it looks within the conservative circle from the screen above.

Here's the page if you hover your cursor on the top conservative topic. in the blue circle in the lower right-hand corner, the corresponding number topic of the liberal side shades over and has a "1" put on top of it.

As of now, I'm really leaning towards the second direction(circle dive). Conceptually it makes clearer sense than the first direction(mobile apparatus). Visually its much more cohesive, less gimmick-y, and already so much more refined than the first direction.

design systems. possible saviors.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 20:05:00 +0000

Here are some possible wordmarks/brandmarks that could hopefully save this project. The logo mark in the second image is the one I'm leaning towards.

mx. possible inspiration.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:01:00 +0000

http://mashable.com/2011/09/30/twosides/

http://www.twosides.co

From the Mashable link above:
Quick Pitch: TwoSides makes it easy to see every side of an issue and compare viewpoints with others
Genius Idea: See how your viewpoints match up against the presidential candidates.

When you submit a topic, its a very simple process. You write down the issue in a concise, one sentence statement, with the option to include background information on the issue, and press submit. Once you do that you associate your issue with topics. I would almost say you must have "background information" for your issue to be "valid".

One thing I like about this website is the option to put in evidence to back why you agree with an issue. It gives it more validity to your vote than just an opinion. (can we create rewards that help encourage more users to do this?)

But the even nicer thing I like is the "ping" option for when you "know someone [who you think is] better suited to add evidence. perhaps an expert." You simply "ping" them to let them know about the issue. It's a quick way to tell other people in the community of a topic being discussed, and I think is a good example of this. It's quick & straightforward, no need to be bulky and overworked.

Also, the "related issues" is a nice simple way to get other issues(advocations) heard/seen. And the simple, circular infographs aren't bad either. Visuals are always good, no?

What's unfortunate, however, is the "Genius Idea" is 3ish+ clicks deep, and in no way shown how to get to there or that it even exists(unless you love digging around in websites, or read mashable.com)

Some things to possibly help inform decisions about our community and how our community works.

mx. outline of 6 initial wireframe scenarios.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:08:00 +0000

Scenario 1; hub; How do I find & sign up for a political event?

log into the community
click on the events tab/section
search for the democratic events
scroll through the list to find an event to go to, click on one

see that friends are going to some of the events
show how many people from the community are going in total

browse the page, rsvp to it

see a list of whats going to happen there
see what politicians are going to be there
see what type of event it is
see the list of who already RSVP'd
location, date, time

confirmation box on top to confirm your rsvp and get a "clout point" added to your "clout count"
from this confirmation page select friends you want to share the event to and hit share

Scenario 2; iphone app; How do I find friends(current and possible) from the community at the event & have a richer event experience?

whip out your hand-dandy iphone from your pocket and open the community app
click on the "check in" button

based on your location(gps feature, it checks you into the right event automatically, no searching for the right one
only have a few options to choose from on this screen

check in (at event)
friend contact information list
update status
upload photo/video
terminology list
possibly others

the event page pulls up on your iphone

who else is there

current friends, and possible friends

have a way to add new friends your friends list from this screen

a list of politicians & other important people who should be attending
list of what's happening at this event
ability to post a status update
ability to upload a picture/video to the event page & your profile

add a few friends to your list
scroll down the screen and make a status update
take a picture and upload it to your profile & event page

Scenario 3; ipad app; How do I prepare and participate in a video debate?

Snuggle down into your couch and whip out your handy-dandy ipad from your back pocket and open the community app

it shows you the options you have to choose from

video debates
your profile
vocabulary list
topic pages
possibly others

you notice the video debates button is flashing and you click on it
the page loads and you click on "my debates"

have different sections

debates currently going on
my debates
upcoming debates
past video debates
suggest a debate

see the list of debates you're signed up for and click on the debate that's going to happen in an hour
the debate page pulls up and click on "make notes"

other parts to this page

time remaining until debate starts
who all is participating in debate
how many and who RSVP'd to watch the debate
overview of what the debate is about and what questions will be asked
make notes
join debate

make some notes
a warning that the debate starts in 5 minutes, click "thanks!"
finish notes, go back to the previous screen and click on "join debate"
the debate participant screen loads

the other 4 participants screens, your screen, and the monitor's screen
the notes you made
how many people are currently watching
how much time the debate has left/how much time you have left to talk
the current question asked

a screen of a person who currently has the floor

Scenario 4; hub; How can I advocate something that I'm passionate about?

Click on the "Advocate" tab at the top of the website(hub)
Click on Submit Topic

other selections

Advocated Topics
Pending Advocations(only active if you've submitted a topic to advocate)
About Advocations

Fill out the topic

Who, what, where, why?

submit topic
(2 days later) click on advocate tab
click on "pending advocations"
see how many people have voted for your topic and how many have voted against your topic, and what they all have to say
(possible) advocate page for your submitted topic
(possible) your profile with the advocate badge

Scenario 5; iphone app; How do I find the definition of Obamacare while having a discussion in Current Events Class?

you're having a discussion in your Current Events Class about the US debt crisis and someone uses the phrase "Obamacare" and you go, "Whaaaaaa?"
whip out your iphone(yes, in class) and open the community app

list of options to chose from

check in (at event)
friend contact information list
update status
upload photo/video
terminology list
possibly others

click on the terminology list
search for Obamacare
the page loads with the different terms(listed most voted up to most voted down)
(possible) click on "related terms"
(possible) up pops a web of terms related to Obama Care and other such relations and how they connect

Scenario 6; hub; I want to vote up Tyler Baldwin's opinion on the US debt crisis and look at his activity within the community.

Reading the discussion on the topic page for the US debt crisis, you read a post from "Tyler Baldwin"
Click on the "vote" button on his post
Click on his username

on his profile

name, picture, basic info
current status update
events he's been to
badges he's earned
"clout count"
activity

Click on "activity"

discussions he's a part of and what he's said
people and posts he's voted for

You see he's active in the community sharing well thought out views, but not always opinions that are the same as yours
Click on "promote this member" and another "cpoint" was added to his "clout count"

mx. conceptual design ideas.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:02:00 +0000

Where do I find Sources? (Websites, News Sources, Television shows, newspapers/magazines?)
User inputs interests by tagging, and marking what they would like to filter out. Through this, they would then be able to see a list of sources that address the issues they first tagged. To get into user to user interaction, seeing your friends sources that they use would also be helpful. So being able to relate and add your friend's sources would also be available.

Where can I find the top ten current events?
When finding a hard list of main current political events going on can get frustrating. So through having a section to be able to always go to and check what the top ten current events of the day are would be available. When checking this list, the user then can click on one current event then see all the stories and information attached to see why it a main current event. As to how the interface sorts through this information, it can be a rating system to see how many people have read/appreciated that article/source/event.

How and where can I register to vote?
User selects voting icon, then inputs where their location is. After inputing their location it then loads all possible places to register to vote. As well as showing them how to register on line, through a specific step by step key to a already filled out form, so they feel less intimidated to start a blank form.

What are some popular political campaigns of the past?
Through a search engine, the system would have a very nice photo gallery space where the user can swipe through with ease, and by clicking on one campaign, it flips the piece over and gives the back ground and history of that campaign specifically.

What are the current currency rates?
When being in a store, such as a grocery or retail store, the user can scan the object and then see what that object would cost in other countries. This then would give them an idea of how much the dollar is really worth. After this action is finished the user can save it's search, so it's easy for them to go back and see what it may have been worth in a jif.

What are the main political parties views?
This part could possibly have an interactive game involved, such as a quiz or word puzzle to see certain differentiating words that describe each political party, therefore the user isn't just reading the information, they are interacting with it on a fun level, so hopefully it would be more fun to remember. This would also have a more list format of events that could relate to a high school student and see why each party is separated.

How can I communicate/get in touch with someone with similar views like me?
One way could be almost “dating website” worthy. Decided by how you filled out your profile and everything else you do, users could be suggested to you who both share the same opinions, as well as users whose views are opposite theirs. The opposite users should be recommended as well to help fuel discussion and growth among the community. The community can’t grow if liberals stick with liberals, conservatives with conservatives, etc. But along with pretty much everything else listed below. Through going to the same events, posting on the discussion boards, video debates, etc.

How do I become apart of/join a political event? / What political events are out there to join?
An ever updating feed from the different parties’ websites listing all of the events they each have coming up. A list that they can sort through by party, location, free/paid, type(fundraiser, rally, etc) and other ways. They could also see what events their friends are going to and if they decide to go to that one as well, the friend(s) who are already going will be notified that a friend has joined them. It could also show how many other people from the entire community are going. This could be one touch point to get the user in contact with others with the same views.

When they’re on the list of upcoming events it could tell the user if they have to sign up on the website to attend or not. If they have to sign up the website it could send them to the page to fill out that they’re going. If these websites are working in cooperation with the community there could be a way(button, etc) on their website to automatically sign them up for event and unlock special things for the user. Discounted rates if it’s a paid event, free shwag, unlock badges (like foursquare or others). When you sign up on the website and it’s working in cooperation with the community, it could automatically add you name to the list of attendees on the community’s website. If there isn’t a way/need to sign up you could simply click on “Attending” on the list which would add it to your profile. You could recommend the event to friends and others who you think would be interested in going.

At the event they could check in with their iphone application. You could post a quick update with the check in through twitter with a special hashtag, or on your profile in the community. It could show you how many others have checked in and who they are so you can find them and connect with them.
After the event you could post a review of the event on the page about how it went, post photos of the event on your page and tag the event in them. Possibly, the more events you go to, the more you could unlock in the community. You would have to check in at the actual event for it to count, however. The more events you go to, the more points you get. The more people you invite to events and that actually end up going gets you points. If you get enough to go to events, maybe get a special status “Influencer” or something.

How do I join a parties campaign? (e.g Obama's Campaign)
The different campaign parties could have public profiles in the community, or public pages for people to access. On the pages, the users could get information about what public figure’s stances are on different topics, videos of them, where they’ll be speaking at soon, events they themselves will be going to, and other information on them. The figure’s campaign could use the page to try and persuade the users to join them through posting about topics that high schoolers are interested in, or topics that directly affect them. There could also be a section to tell the user how they could help with the campaign if they join(or even if they don’t join), wether it be calling houses, volunteering at the local campaign headquarters, or volunteering at an event for them.

If the campaign is working in cooperation with the community, the user could possibly join the campaign right on the profile page in the community, or take them to the campaign’s website with a way to automatically sign up with their account from the community. They could give the user discounted membership rates, or maybe even free memberships and/or other things to encourage the user to join their campaign. Possibly even give them other things for joining, unlock special badges, etc.
By joining the campaign, their profile in the community could change somehow to recognize their support for that specific candidate. Give them a badge to put on their profile. They could recommend the campaign to friends who they think would be interested in the campaign. The more they volunteer with the campaign, or interact with it, or spread the word about it, the user could become a representative of the campaign in the community. They could have special access to things to thank them for their support. The more they interact with them, the more points they could get to unlock badges and other things.

How can I contribute to the communities discussion/event? / How can I bring awareness to something that I want to advocate?
There could be numerous ways to contribute to the communities’ discussions. There could be some sort of a message board / chat system that anyone could join. The message boards could be split up by topic(debt crisis, gay rights, specific public figures, etc) and have sub discussions going on about them. It should be a space where everyone who wants, could join in the discussion about any topic.
There would have to be a way to monitor activity on the message boards. It could possibly be a mixture of things. It could be self-monitored by the users. They could flag posts and/or people who are abusing the boards by attacking others or posting too many entries on topics. There could also possibly be some automatic things that happen. A user can only post one or a certain amount of entires on any one given topic per day, or after every x number of people. Someway to let everyone be heard equally. The more someone posts on a specific thread, the smaller their posts become so the ones who only post once or twice are seen among the other, more talkative people.

The more users post on the message boards, the more they would be seen. Their posts on the boards could lead to their profile. The user’s profile could house a multitude of things about the user. It should have a picture of them, their political stance. How they feel about specific topics, or show the topics that they’re interested in. This could be determined by what topics they contribute to on the message boards the most, what events they go to, and what political party(ies) they join. Their profile could also show, with much attention, anything they are advocating that they posted themselves.

On the message boards, there could be a place for users to start their own threads on topics that they feel need to be addressed. It could be anything they wanted, as long as it was relevant to (first and foremost) the community, to politics, and more than just themselves and/or a few of their friends. There would need to be someway to make sure this happens. Maybe they have to submit it and wait for it to be peer reviewed by 5 or 10 other users who aren’t their friend before it gets put up, or something like that.

There could also be video discussion/debate chats that happen live with video cams between multiple people. There could be specific topics that will be given the chance to video chat about. They would be prearranged for a specific time and topic, and people could RVSP to the events. The debates/discussions could be limited to a certain number of people who could participate in the actual event, but anyone could view the discussion as it happens. Like with Google+ hangouts, there could be a way to automatically highlight the person who is talking. There could also possibly be a time limit for everyone. Once they’re highlighted, they have 5 minutes to speak their side before it moves to the next person, and everyone has to go once before the user could go again. Though, again, there needs to be some way to monitor and flag people who are abusing it. The debates could possibly even be recorded and automatically posted to the community. Possibly, the more video debates you do, the more points you gets, which could unlock badges. When you do debates, people debating and watching can vote for you if they believe you have thoughtful insights and bring something extra to the discussion. But, at the same time, the more video debates you do, the less of a chance you get to do them. Users could have a timeframe to apply to be a part of a video debate and then the people who get to participate are chosen semi-randomly. The more video debates you’ve done, the less of a chance you have of being chosen, but the more votes you have, the chance you’ll be chosen will rise again.

How can I show I value someone's opinion?
When people post on the message boards, there could be a way for people to “+1” them(or something of the like). The more a post gets +1’d, the more attention is brought to it and the user. either through it being bigger than others, or highlighted somehow in the thread. If a user and their posts get enough recognition they could be highlighted somehow for being a vital part of the community. There could be one(or more) person on the front page being highlighted for that day for the involvement they have in the community.

There could be many ways they could got up there though. They could be up there for the reason above, or they could be recommended by other users. The users could recommend other users and give a brief explanation why they believe their should be highlighted. They could even possibly be highlighted because they’ve posted something to the boards that users feel need even more attention. It could be another way for people to advocate ideas or goings-on. They could also be recommended for the work they’ve done around the community, ie, a user is an active and thoughtful video debater constantly bringing ideas to the discussion that others deem highly important and thought out.

The idea that users who arent necessarily the most active users, but bring a high level of discussion and thought to the community should be highlighted. Not saying that highly-active members shouldn’t be highlighted, but content over count should also be taken in account.

How will the debt crisis effect me in the future?
There could be the idea of the message board(stated above in the “How can I contribute to the communities discussion/event? / How can I bring awareness to something that I want to advocate?” section) and having threads dedicated to the discussion of one topic, say the debt crisis. There could be a thread under every topic for the discussion of the users of how they believe this affects them now and how it will affect them in the future. But there could be much more than that.

I wonder if there could be individual pages/sections that are multifacted and house all of the most up-to-date articles found on the web on specific topics(the biggest topics, or all topics). The bigger topics would obviously have more information on their page(s) but they could have more features than the smaller topics. They could be the topics with the video debates. The live debates could be viewed on the topics page, as well as archived video debates on the same topic. Both the bigger topic pages, and the smaller topic pages could act as an ever-updating stream of links to articles being published on the topic. The pages could pull from major news sources, focusing on finding articles posted most recently. All of this to help the users form their own opinions of how they believe topics will affect them in the future, and not just tell them the “correct answer” when there never is one.

How can I keep up to date on political terminology?
There could be a processor intensive program running in the background of the entire community collecting words used throughout the community, and maybe even beyond, and compile a list of the most popular terms from what they find. It could be sorted many different ways(how new are they, what do they mean, etc) It could also be user edited as well. Users could put their own definitions into the system (a la Urban Dictionary & wikipedia) and other users can vote if they feel the definition is right or wrong. The more information the users put in there, the more complete the dictionary will be. there could also be a web-based visual part to this. Something that shows the inter-connectivity of the words to other words and ideas that help the users figure out what words mean, as well as giving them synonyms and other such things.

Design Systems. KCTV5 Rebrand. Phase 1.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 18:21:00 +0000

True news reporting should be about the facts, and not underlined by political views or sensationalism. There are news companies in other countries that are striving to do just that, fact reporting. The US needs more of this.

This is why I chose to rebrand KCTV5, a local news station here in Kansas City. KCTV5 suffers from swayed news reporting like many other news stations, it’s hard not to be, everyone has their own opinions. KCTV5 also has the issue, like many news stations, of not being memorable and standing out in its field. Its overall identity is not as cohesive as it could be to help people remember it.

So, I am proposing to reposition KCTV5 as a leader in fact reporting both in Kansas City, but also the US in general. One that focuses on giving the viewers the facts and let them decide their own opinions on the events affecting them.

KCVT5 (final)

The updated objective for my rebrand of KCTV5 News:

Rebrand KCTV5 for a slightly younger audience who is active in the community. Make KCTV5 known for its trustworthy fact reporting through a structured, cohesive, and considered style. A style that is as visually current as the news it is reporting, and one that speaks of an unbiased nature, riding itself of sensationalism.

visual advocacy. ivanhoe brainstorming.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 05:03:00 +0000

Some initial ideas that have caught my attention.

no grocery stores
carpooling for grocery shopping
create pride within Ivanhoe within the younger community

use that pride and passion to fight crime, and clean up the neighborhood

How to get information out to people quicker
build an interest in Ivanhoe from the outside community to get people to move in
power in numbers, work together to find the crime
religion plays a vital role in their community, possibly work with the local churches some how
working with UMB bank to get more people actively using it
inform people how to take care of their houses, how to do small tasks to make things look nice
bring lights to the neighborhood
bring attention to The Q(The Quilombo Cultural Center), get more kids involved, have the q involved more with the community

from the list above, i pulled out the list below of things that stuck out to me even further and that has potential.

creating pride in Ivanhoe within the young community
inform people about the little things they can do to liven up their houses and take care of them
bring street lights to the dark areas of the neighborhood
bring more attention to The Q and get it more involved with the neighborhood and get the youth more involved with the center

My initial idea was to figure out a way to bring pride to the youth in Ivanhoe. If we could empower the youth, they could bring a new level of help to the community to make it better in every way. However, if I went with number 2 that could lead into a direct correlation with getting people outside of the neighborhood interested in the neighborhood and want to move in. Thinking about number three, installing one street lamp costs $30,000, however, bringing awareness to this need isn't a bad idea, it would help fight crime at night. Idea 4 could work with idea 1. If we get the youth active at The Q, The Q could start to build a sense of pride in the youth needed help get them active in Ivanhoe.

For 1, Yolanda at the Nutter Ivanhoe Neighborhood Center is the Youth Coordinator
For 2, I could approach the local Habitat for Humanity and other local house building company to partner with.
For 3, I would need to work with city engineers and possibly the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council to write a proposal.
For 4, work with The Q directly to update their program and more

mx. generation x politics. summary sentence.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:18:00 +0000

Creating a safe environment for diverse(political preferences) Advance Placement students who are wanting to hold and share an opinion, and be properly informed about current political context.

mx. reading response. sense of community.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 06:13:00 +0000

My attempt at breaking down what McMillan & Chavis are saying. Some thoughts are pulled directly, but I tired to break it down into my own words if at all possible to make sure i get what they're teaching.

Sense of Community has four parts:

Membership

Boundaries

created by things like language, religion, or dress
shows who does and does not belong

Emotional safety

just that, a safe and secure place they can be in

A sense of belonging and identification
Personal investment
A common symbol system

"The symbol is the beginning of the social world as we know it"
flags, logos, architecture style, even rituals, and forms of speech
ie gang signs, tattoos, group names, nicknames

Influence

it is bidirectional

members must feel motivated to influence the group, and group cohesion can only exist if the group has influence over its members
this "bidirection-ality" of influence helps reassure members that they are experiencing things similarly to other members

from trust comes influence

only when two(or more) people trust each other, can you influence them. the mutal trust between persons or person and group needs to exist before there is safety to be influenced

Integration & Fulfillment of Needs

needs meaning: more than needs, also wants
shared values of members of the group can tell which "needs" beyond survival will be pursued
"search for similarities"
"creating an economy of social trade"

Shared Emotional Connection

the definitive element for true community
a shared history becomes the community's story symbolized in art(in a broad sense)
7 important ideas to create an emotional connection

personal actions will increase the likelihood of people becoming close
the quality of interaction
if relationships between members are hazy, they won't feel as close than if they know how each other feels
a bigger event, like a crisis, creates an even stronger bond
invest more time into the group, feel more attached to it
the spiritual bond, hard to describe, but everyone knows it. that sense that you're close to the group, no matter what happens.
if you have positive moments with a community you'll be closer to it, if you have negative moments, you'll feel alienated from it

though it's quite interesting when people try to put the interaction of humans into equation form. i understand the first "equation":

shared emotional connection = contact + high-quality interaction.

if you have a "high-quality interaction" you connected more than just a simple hello and small talk. You were able to connect deeper by agreeing on ideas, think the same thoughts, come to the same conclusions.

"equation" number two:

High-quality interaction = (events with successful closure - ambiguity) x (event valence x sharedness of the event) + amount of honor given to members - amount of humiliation.

I'm getting what McMillan & Chavis are trying to get at, though it's a little late for my brain to wrap around this stuff. I feel like both of these "equations" are not completely rocksolid, but they are a basis for figuring out human reactions to the sense of community.

everything talked about in the article works in tandem. Everything is connected to everthing else. You cannoy have one part of the cycle missing and still have a complete sense of community. Even the slightest bit of alienation in any way, and the community becomes in danger of not being a community anymore. The idea of a community takes time and effort, it just doesn't pop up over night. If it somehow does, though, it would be a very weak community compared to one that has been around for almost 4 years, like the community we, seniors, have created for ourselves here in graphic design.

source: wright-house.com

mx. initial research. high school current events classes.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 04:46:00 +0000

research/brainstorming activity parameters

sharing events directly effecting you
learning about events in other countries
vote on the most pertinent events
pick out an event that intrigues you and learn more about it
talk with someone in a different country about whats going on with him/her
record video of yourself talking about whats going on in your town/city
research what people are talking about and come to class talking about it
if its a gradeschool setting, teachers could relate current events to every subject they’re teaching
be able to pull out the non-biased facts

physical boundaries

one school
interschool

equipment

computer
ipad
iphone
classroom
other emerging technologies

video chat(vlogging)

interschool

space to meet in with other school

one school

classroom to meet in

what & who’s involved

students
teachers
spreading of current knowledge & events

demographics

high school students
ages 14-18
girls and boys
all nationalities

wants and needs of the individual and community

inform people of whats going on in their community
having a safe, unbiased space to research and learn

symbols, icons, tools, markers, etc

motivation for participation

stay informed of whats going on
rewards system

points
ranking
spotlight of most actives

help bring attention to communities in need
good grades

grading system

initial questions

interschool or singular school?
focus on a small demographic?
focus on particular current event?
what should our boundaries be?

links about current events & high schoolers

mx. reading/video response.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 20:06:00 +0000

this is an amalgamation of everything lumped into one, it's not a "typical" response, but isn't that what these readings are about? doing things that fit the person best, not what's "best for everyone"?

The basic/general fact about education, especially education of grade school and high school kids, is that it's behind. My entire grade school and high school experience was lugging around huge-ass books that had old, out-dated text in them. It's pretty darn hard to keep a 500 page textbook constantly up-to-date. Coming from someone who loves making books, and loves the history behind them, it makes my soul sad to say that physical textbooks are dying, but not fast enough. Everything read and watched before writing this points out the blatant fact that we live in a world unlike that of even five years ago. We are constantly being bombarded with so many different types of streams of information, that a textbook is now the most analog and old-fashioned of them all. Why, in an age when everyone(except myself) has twitter, facebook, email, and the entirety of the internet connected to their phone, would someone be equally or more excited about a textbook than everything else. That just doesn't make sense. Ignoring new forms of information gathering is ridiculous. Don't fight the inevitable. The way to keep students engrossed with what's going on in the classroom is to embrace what's distracting them and use it to engage them. Moving to digital devices and using the internet allows the learning to become individualized to what works best with each student, and constantly up-to-date. Why, in an environment where almost everything is at your fingertips, would you restrict learning to be the same for everyone, when one isn't everyone. Format the learning to both what works best for the student, and what interests the student. Like in the video "kids learn to navigate the multimedia world" if you can learn, study, and enhance your writing and english skills through making videos just as well as reading and writing papers, why not choose the more engaging and exciting method? It's a different way of thinking, but it's not a bad way of thinking. In fact, it's an excellent way of thinking. By embracing the excellent ways of learning, it makes it more fun, which interns makes everyone smarter. The faster we embrace new ways of learning, the more educated our entire society will be. No longer will school be a drag and something we have to do. It'll be something that people want to do, and can't get enough of. I've always believed that the best type of learning is when you don't realize you're learning. Take the emphasis off of the information you're trying to teach, and onto the way you teach it, and they will learn faster and be more engaged. It may sound sneaky, but at least it's sneaky in a good way.

By taking learning digital, it also opens up the possibility of group learning. Make it a discussion between students of the same grade all over the country, or all over the world. Make the information the students are learning an amalgamation of hundreds of textbooks. Give them access to different variations on the same topic. Help them to think on their own. The more information the students learn, the better they will be at this. Help them make sound choices and decisions. "Web 2.0 is all about harnessing collective intelligence." Harness the intelligence of the textbooks and turn knowledge from a biased perspective, to an unbiased perspective. Teach students every side to a topic to help them fully, 100% understand the topic, and help them make and form their own, informed opinions. Once knowledge learning becomes a collective, and holistic view of everything, there should be much less reason to not be informed.

infoarch. wireframes.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Mon, 09 May 2011 19:29:00 +0000

Scenario One;

Scenario Two;

Scenario Three; the scenario i went with for the built scenario

ux. nelson-atkins evals.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:13:00 +0000

bethany;

joseph;

infoarch. gestures&icon readings. 5 points.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 02:05:00 +0000

As much as possible, keep the gestures consistent with those supported by the iOS. Inconsistent gestures can lead to frustration, confusion, and usability problems.
Custom gestures are generally not appropriate for Productivity and Utility applications. most tasks within these applications can be done with gestures supported by the iOS.
Icons should be perceived effortlessly; users should not have to pause and interpret them.
Icons should be a cohesive whole, and labels should be clear. If abreviated, make sure the targeted users understand them.
Always use icons in the tabs, keep labels concise in Title Case. Custom toolbar and navigation icons should not conflict with standard icons.

infoarch. proj3. first round concepts.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 08:49:00 +0000

subculture: x-coders

idea one: coding
an app that allows the female coders to have access to code and coding help from other coders, specifically female coders. when coders are in programs like ubuntu and other such things, their entire computer is taken over by the program so they don't have direct access to help from that computer. this app will give the direct access to this help if they want it

idea two: health
an app that helps keep the x-coders aware of the time and their surroundings. this app would bring attention to the amount of time they've spent on coding and remind of them of other things that need to get done that aren't coding related. this app's main focus is to help keep the x-coders healthy and keep them active.

idea three: safety
this last idea is still being planned out but it has to do with social networking like twitter and facebook and creating a safe-space for the x-coders.

ux. kcdiy.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:27:00 +0000

KCDIY from Ian Arthur Spaeth on Vimeo.

When focusing on the DIY subculture of Kansas City, we were required to create a design intervention to help them. I created a bartering system for them to use throughout Kansas City. I focused on creating a physical place that the DIYers could interact with. DIYers are very hands-on so I felt creating a bulletin board would be a very fitting idea. DIYers frequent the places that are catered to them, especially when working on a project. Physically interacting with a bulletin board would help get them to exchange knowledge and skills better, being hands-on to help hands-on.

typefour. experimental type. questions.

noreply@blogger.com (Ian Arthur Spaeth) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:50:00 +0000

How could it be interactive?
How could it be in motion constantly without being excessively distracting?
How could motion add a new, and crucial layer of information to the typeface?
What if combined letters worked dependently of each other when forming a word?
How could motion directly relate to the form? or vice-versa?
What if the motion letter was based off of a static font already in existence? How could motion add to the letterform without being arbitrary?
How could sound work with motion?
How could animated type function on a website?
How could motion add a new or different layer of understanding to the letterform?
?