Final Blog Post Reflection

I originally took the Creative and Design class because it was the only class that fit into my schedule. The description described it as a computer design type class with HTML and such so I figured why not. The first day it was made clear that the description was misleading and was not written by the teacher in charge of the class. Although different than what I originally thought it would be the first week seemed ok. We did lots of small activities that were aimed and encouraging us to think creatively and it was fun. I particularly enjoyed when we were given materials and had to move a ball from point A to point B. Building the tallest paper tower was fun as well. Unfortunately as we moved on I found out that the class wasn't exactly my cup of tea. I enjoyed short little activities that could be done in a class, while we moved into longer projects. Our last project was designing a pump. A lot of people in our class excelled at it and while I think it was a fine idea, I just didn't enjoy it. Allow me to speak  bluntly, but I just didn't really care about making a pump. Nothing negatively to do with the teacher, I just was not a fan of designing pumps. Overall the class was alright. I just wish it had stuck with what we had been doing at the beginning because I found that significantly more enjoyable.

Decision Makers

My results show that using Protective Covering is my best option by an overwhelming majority. Might see if I can implement the suction cup idea into it since it is my second best option.  

Becoming an Expert

Untangled:

Brockport High School, 40 Allen St, Brockport, NY 14420
Marc Palmer
(585) 637-1870
ThurisazDay@gmail.com

Problem Statement: Cords are used for everything, but they pose a safety risk. People trip over them and babies/animals can chew on them.

Summary: As technology as become an ever increasing part of our daily life, cords have come along for the ride. Cords are wires coated with a rubbery material designed to protect against electrical shock as well as keeping the cords in good condition. Unfortunately with cords comes the predicament of  keeping them in order and out of the hands of babies and animals. 

Three Problem Statements

Cords are used for everything, but they pose a safety risk. People trip over them and babies/animals can chew on them.

At Brockport High School, it's required to carry an agenda with you and sign out/in to where your going. If you forget your agenda, you can't go anywhere. The pen and paper way it is now seems to be wasteful and outdated.

When my grandfather was in the hospital, they would have to roll him over at various times and it would disturb him while he was resting and it would be uncomfortable for him.

Skillage Post

-Here is the final HTML post, signaling the end of the unit-

Things I enjoyed about this unit

• freedom to go at our own pace

•  learning about something relative to the classes interests 

If anyone is interested in learning about HTML they can go to this site.

It's fairly simple for anyone hoping to get into HTML.

Happy learning :)

Codecademy Badges

So far from working on html at Codecademy, I have earned three badges as shown below

Hopefully as I progress I will earn more badges and will update this post accordingly. UPDATE 3/21/2014: Earned another badge today for completing 25 lessons.

HTML Practice

Day light savings time came at an extremely bad time this year,I was at toracon which meant that we got about 4 hours last night instead if 5 so I'm as tired as bear.

Deep Dive Video Response

In class today we watched a video called Deep Dive, which explored the inside of an innovative company that designs and creates innovative ideas. Throughout the video their group was given the task of redesigning the shopping cart. We saw the inside of their company and were taken through their process of thinking. Even though the video seemed to be at least ten years old, the company's attitude seemed a lot more "new-age" than many companies in now a days. 

Thing to take note of:

• Employees could design their own workspace
• No real hierarchy
• Encourages any kinds of ideas, even if they're a bit out of the ordinary. 
• Everyone works together- emphasizes group work

Overall, I was really impressed by this company and it seems like it would be a challenging but fun place to work at. I'm curious to see where the company is going now in 2014. Hopefully still designing cool stuff.

 

Results for Left Brain vs. Right Brain Test

The Wallet Process

In my Creative and Design class we were required to design and complete a prototype of the ideal wallet for out partner. The objective of this assignment was to familiarize ourselves with the design process so it can be applied throughout the class when completing other assignments.

My opinion on the assignment is mixed. Firstly, I must add that I believe the design process is useful and was worth learning. Wallets were used as an easy example that we could apply the process to. At the same time, I didn't particularly like designing the wallet for a couple reasons. One of them being that I am not a particularly art centric person and even though I managed to create a wallet it was a bit boring for me due to personal taste. Secondly, through several other programs I have created multiple wallets in my life time. Wallets seemed a bit too ordinary for me. In the future designing a more appealing and exciting thing might garner better results. (for example a rocket ship, a business or a electronic device) Obviously a final creation would be impossible using those things, but if this assignment was purely for the design process, I believe those would suffice and possibly engage the students more and encourage more creative ideas. Thirdly, since the assignment required a partner it required quite a bit of collaboration. It was explained that we should get to know our partner so we could design the ideal wallet for them by having an open conversation about their likes/dislikes of their wallet. In theory this works quite well but this is much more harder to produce. If I was designing the wallet for  friend it would be much easier to understand their needs but in this case I was paired with someone I was not familiar with. Many times people are not as open with someone they have no prior experience with and expecting an unguided conversation to flow did not work out in this case. I understand why we were designing the wallet for someone else but I found it made the process much less enjoyable.

While designing my wallet I mainly stuck by the guidelines of size and content. My partner was tired of carrying a larger wallet and wanted to downsize. At the same time they wished to keep the ability to carrying several things, with plenty of room. I made my design circular because cutting corners off saves a lot of room. As shown in the pictures below my design stressed compactablity while allowing room for content.