Author: Design Incubation

Conscious Interventions With The Personal Beasties Breathing Mobile App

Marianna Trofimova
Adjunct Professor
Communication Design Department
New York City College of Technology
City University of New York
Principal at Marianna Trofimova Design

Paula Murgia
Co-Founder Personal Beasties Group, LLC

A common definition of an intervention is to interfere or intercede with the intent of modifying an outcome. To that end, we designed the Personal Beasties Breathing mobile app with a very specific therapeutic intervention in mind.

Adapting mindfulness techniques for the stressed out, millennial, Internet generation via a minimal viable product (MVP) mobile app interface.

The Personal Beasties Breathing mobile app design personifies the amygdala glands of the primitive brain using animated characters. Appropriate character themed music is provided for each short “breathing session”.

To help our stressed out Millennials develop the emotional intelligence skills of the rational brain, necessary in the modern workplace, we made sure to provide them with goal setting and tracking functionality.

While promoting our app, we hit a crisis of confidence dilemma…

  • Really, just who cares?
  • What were we doing?
  • Making more compliant workers for the digital age?

We questioned our original design intent, and found it lacking… until Eric Garner died on July 17th last year, and his infamous last words were “I can’t breathe…”

Informed by a broad range of visual, spatial and cultural experiences, Personal Beasties is now taking its therapeutic mobile app into the streets, in the spirit of the Interventionist Art movement.

Personal Beasties Breathing is currently working toward raising awareness of injustices and social problems, specifically, police brutality and racism.

By attending and participating in the plethora of public events and protests in New York City, where NYPD officers are guaranteed to be working, we are engaging directly with police officers… discussing the value of using ‘simple’ relaxation techniques while under stress.

Learnings from these very public interventions are documented regularly on our blog.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 2.4: CAA Conference 2016, Washington, DC on Wednesday, February 3, 2016.

Who Does This Internet Artwork Belong To? A Study on Art Appropriation and Youth Identity in a Digital Age

Laura Scherling
GreenspaceNYC, Co-founder
The New School, Design Lead
Teachers College, Columbia University, Doctoral student

This pilot study explores meaning making in art appropriation practices. As practices of appropriation continue to expand with Internet use, the disciplines that fall under the umbrella of visual arts education also widen. Contemporary Internet artists, such as Ryder Ripps, are influencing changes in artistic production, by experimenting with new media and methods of appropriation. These emerging practices inspire youth to reframe their compositions through the lens of reinterpretation and remix. In order to understand these changes in art appropriation practices, I collect interview and survey data. I present these research findings through a method of constant comparison. Responses suggest a growing intersection between media consumption and production, and contemporary remix culture. In this research, I advocate for dialogue around participatory remix culture and deeper consideration of how it can transform traditional schooling environments.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 2.4: CAA Conference 2016, Washington, DC on Wednesday, February 3, 2016.

Envisioning South Africa’s Global Struggle Against Apartheid

Steffi Duarte
Curatorial Research Assistant
Product Design & Decorative Arts Department, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Decorative Art & Design Department, Cleveland Museum of Art

How can materiality and visual communication provide insight, however fleeting, into histories of past struggles?  Drawing on the ephemera and visual language of the global struggle against South African Apartheid, from 1960 to 1990, this presentation is a critical investigation of the relationship between design and a struggle for one country’s freedom fought across vast geographical distances.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Design Incubation Colloquium 2.3: St. John’s University on Saturday, January 16, 2016.

The Fine Art of Persuasion: Corporate Advertising Design, Nation, and Empire in Modern Japan

Gennifer Weisenfeld
Professor
Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies
Duke University

This book tells the story of the birth of commercial art in Japan from the turn of the twentieth century through its global efflorescence in the total design event of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Until recently, there has been little systematic effort to analyze Japanese advertising and commercial art production within the broader context of world design history, while also taking into account the wide-ranging cultural implications of Japan’s emerging consumer capitalism and the ideological formations of nation- and empire-building. Such a study requires the challenging integration of the disparate scholarly spheres of art, design, business, social, and political history as aesthetics are read back into the sociology of consumption. This integrative interpretation illuminates the immense creativity imbued in aesthetic responses to new business systems as well as the profound impact that consumer capitalism has had on the development of modern Japanese art and visual culture.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 2.3: St. John’s University on Saturday, January 16, 2016.

Big Data in Interactive Web Design

Vinoad Senguttuvan
Senior Data Scientist
Metis

Big Data/Data Science has had a significant impact on the web, influencing the way we price flights, recommend movies and predict elections. Web Design, especially interactive web design, can now use Big Data to validate specific design choices and thereby improve upon its effectiveness. This talk will address how data science can pinpoint various parts of a web design and fine-tune them to maximize performance.

While Data Science has been an immense help to Web Design the inverse is also true. The scope and size of Big Data has grown exponentially over the years, and various interactive web design
techniques are being created specifically to visualize Big Data and provide an interactive interface that is easy and intuitive to use.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 2.3: St. John’s University on Saturday, January 16, 2016.

Self-Publishing in Higher Education: Meaning and Approach

James Pannafino
Associate Professor
Interactive and Graphic Design
Millersville University, Pennsylvania

Publishing a book is one of the most ambitious goals an educator can have. Recent changes in the publishing industry have created unique opportunities for new forms of distribution. Educators can now create legitimate scholarly outputs with self-publishing platforms utilizing both online and print on demand (POD) technology. Pannafinno, the author of Interdisciplinary Interaction Design: A Visual Guide to Basic Theories, Models and Ideas for Thinking and Designing for Interactive Web Design and Digital Device Experiences will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of various modes of self-publishing.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 2.3: St. John’s University on Saturday, January 16, 2016.

Design and Culture: Peer-Review Journals From the Inside Out

Elizabeth Guffey
Professor of Art & Design History
State University of New York at Purchase
Editor, Design & Culture

Rarely do we get a chance to see from the inside what the editorial process of peer review journals looks like. We will provide an unusual chance to see what the editorial process looks like, from the editors’ point of view, beginning with initial review of submissions through the peer review process and to final publication. We will also discuss some of the realities of publishing—including the timely pressures on editors to produce well-balanced journal issues with a variety of high-quality articles.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 2.3: St. John’s University on Saturday, January 16, 2016.

Design Incubation Colloquium 2.3: St. John’s University

Saturday, January 16, 2016
2:00pm – 4:30pm
St. John’s University Manhattan Campus
101 Astor PL, New York
(Local subways: 6 at Astor Place; N,R at 8th Street)

To attend: RSVP@designincubation.com. Include name, email contact, and affiliation. All are welcome.

Presentations

Design and Culture: Peer-Review Journals from the Inside Out
Elizabeth Guffey
Professor of Art & Design History
State University of New York at Purchase
Editor, Design & Culture

Self-Publishing in Higher Education: Meaning and Approach
James Pannafino
Associate Professor
Interactive and Graphic Design
Millersville University, Pennsylvania

Envisioning South Africa’s Global Struggle Against Apartheid
Steffi Duarte
Curatorial Research Assistant
Product Design & Decorative Arts Department
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Decorative Art & Design Department
Cleveland Museum of Art

The Fine Art of Persuasion: Corporate Advertising Design, Nation, and Empire in Modern Japan
Gennifer Weisenfeld
Professor
Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies
Duke University

Big Data in Interactive Web Design
Vinoad Senguttuvan
Senior Data Scientist
Metis

Attendees
  • Jen Roos, Mercy College, NY
  • Gigi Polo, Parsons
  • Dimitry Tetin, SUNY New Paltz
  • Aaron Ganci, Indiana University–Purdue
  • Meaghan Barry, Oakland University, MI
  • Anna Pinkas, BMCC
  • Janet Esquirol, BMCC
  • Liz DeLuna, St. John’s
  • Kathryn Weinstein, Queen’s College
  • Grace Moon, Queen’s College
  • Matt Ferranto, Westchester Community College
  • Kathryn Simon, Parsons
  • Lynne Foster, Pratt Institute
  • Jon Santos, Common Space Studio
  • Amye McCarther, U Texas Austin
  • Hui Xie, St. John’s
  • Scott Fowler, Chelsea High School
  • Bonnie Blake, Ramapo College
  • Dan Wong, CityTech
  • Aaris Sherin, St. John’s

Design Incubation Fellowship: January 14–16, 2016

The 2016 Design Incubation Fellowship was held January 14–16, 2016 at St. John’s University’s Manhattan campus. This year’s participants may choose to pursue one of two modes for engaging with original research projects.

2016 Design Incubation Fellows:

  • Jen Roos, Mercy College, NY
  • Gigi Polo, Parsons The New School for Design, NY
  • Gennifer Weisenfeld, Duke University, NC
  • Steffi Duarte, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, NY
  • Dimitry Tetin, State University of New York, New Paltz
  • Aaron Ganci, Indiana University–Purdue University, IN
  • Meaghan Barry, Oakland University, MI
  • Anna Pinkas, Borough of Manhattan Community College, NY
  • Janet Esquirol, Borough of Manhattan Community College, NY

Agenda

Day 1: Thursday, January 14th

9:00am–10:00am

Introduction
Dan Wong
Co-founder, Co-chair Design Incubation

11:00am-12:00pm

Book Proposals
Georgia Kennedy
Managing Editor Fairchild Books,
a division of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
Synthesis

1:00pm–5:00pm

Writing for Journals: Workshop Session
Maggie Taft
Managing Editor, Design and Culture

Day 2: Friday January 15th

9:00am–12:00pm

Break Out Session / Working Groups

1:00pm –5:00pm

Writing Process and Feedback
Andrew Shea
Author of Design for Social Change
Principal of design studio, MANY

Structuring Scholarship
Aaris Sherin
Director of Fellowships at Design Incubation

Day 3: Saturday January 16th

9:00am–12:00pm

Presentation of Participant Work/Progress
Feedback; Wrap-up

2:00pm–4:30pm

Design Incubation Colloquium 2.3
(open to the public)

Villages in the City

Hui Xie
Visiting Scholar in St. John’s University
Associate Professor
Graphic Design
School of Art and Design
Shenzhen Polytechnic
XiLi Lake, Nanshan District
Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

“Men and women do not want to move back, but the mark of youth has been branded in their heart. This is not their hometown, but with a deep nostalgia as well.”

As a unique specimen of Chinese urbanization, the villages “DaChong” and “GangXia” in Shenzhen, China represent a bridge between rural and urban. With the huge gap between disadvantageous groups and mainstream society, the existence of villages in the city created a buffer zone between low-income workers and the high cost of living. Unfortunately, in recent years because of ongoing urban renewal development, the villages have been razed and are now flat ground. Victims of high speed economic development, the villages of Shenzhen are disappearing, and because of their absence the names “DaChong” and “GangXia” are becoming as meaningless and vague. The multimedia installation “Villages in the City” incorporates vernacular typography used for signage with phrases like “ I LOVE YOU” and “I MISS YOU” to explore what should we learn and remember from these places.

The names “DaChong” and “GangXia”and shapes used to create their Chinese characters are data carriers as are the handwritten advertisements found on the walls of buildings. They provide with a wealth of living information about daily life in the most densely inhabited district in Shenzhen. Documentary photography, neon and stainless steel characters are used to create compositions, which reveal traces of the environment where immigrant working class citizens used to live. Text and imagery of messages from people for looking for or advertising jobs, information about selling Chinese herbal medicines, and telephone numbers of movers are combined with house numbers, street names, and the price tags from street foods to produce site-specific installations which serve as constructive links to former residents while recreating memories of village nights. “Villages in the City” is a memorial for the loss of history and an exploration aspect of village life that should be remembered.