I am breaking my accidental year long hiatus with a post about doing nothing, my favorite pastime. The reason for my absence is almost exclusively due to the fact that I am in a two-year graphic design program at Seattle Central and am just about to start my second year. Many times my fellow classmates and I will… Continue reading Does It Need To Be Designed?
Category: Design
Flocking v Differentiation aka why I’m uncomfortable in IKEA
(image from Flickr Creative Commons) I have a lot of anxiety around IKEA. For starters, it’s always packed full of grubby kids and Noah’s ark styled couples, you know, the kinds that dress alike. Second, they trap you on certain floors and sections, by making you go up an escalator with no way down, urging… Continue reading Flocking v Differentiation aka why I’m uncomfortable in IKEA
Back to School in More Ways Than One
The first back to school was last month. My building had an Artists’ Open House, aptly named “Back to School,” since we live in a school and all. It is always a little scary opening your home up to random people off the street but it was a success for sure! I even sold a… Continue reading Back to School in More Ways Than One
When the hipsters co-opt your lifestyle
“Where did you get this?” Seana’s man-friend says to me, nervously pawing the Klein tools bag that I’m using as a purse. “You didn’t buy it at Urban Outfitters or something did you?” “No. I stole it from S who bought it at the hardware store.” He lets out a billowing sigh, “Well, that’s a… Continue reading When the hipsters co-opt your lifestyle
Growing Up Half Ass[yrian] Zine
The much-anticipated zine is here! Okay, maybe you haven’t heard anything about it, but it is here. We have compiled some of our favorite blog posts and created a zine about growing up half-Assyrian and half-white. We made some drawings with watercolors based on our childhood photos and rewrote the stories on our grandmother’s typewriter.… Continue reading Growing Up Half Ass[yrian] Zine
Thinking on Microinteractions
I just read Dan Saffer’s Microinteractions: Designing with details a great, straight-forward approach to thinking about design details in any given user experience design. It got me thinking about my own UX preferences as well as past pleasant and painful interactions. But first, “What the heck is a microinteraction?” you might be asking yourself. It… Continue reading Thinking on Microinteractions
Why This Anthropologist Loves (and is frustrated by) Design(-ers)*
*Warning. This is a guise to promote the app, Design School Cheats, which I helped create with the lovely and talented Cara Oba and Kyle Oba of the design shop, Pas de Chocolat. At this time, it would be appropriate to visit iTunes and download it. The first section “LOOK” (like a designer) is free.… Continue reading Why This Anthropologist Loves (and is frustrated by) Design(-ers)*
Corporate v. Studio Work Environments
This list is going to look pretty stereotypical. Which, you know, it is. But it is also based on my transition from corporate work environments to design studios and consultancies. These differences are so stark, it’s almost laughable. Obviously I prefer the studio style work environment. You can read more about corporate purgatory in a… Continue reading Corporate v. Studio Work Environments
The “insights” process is not mystical, but it is creative
The most common output of my work are “Insights.” Yes, capitalized, because that is usually the title of the report or slide deck or presentation or whatever it is that I am producing for a client. I usually do ethnography (“ethnography lite” to real anthropologists or just “ethnographies” to most regular folks in the know).… Continue reading The “insights” process is not mystical, but it is creative
What your notebook says about you
I was scrambling to get ready for my morning meeting last Friday and realized that I was out of notebooks. I had just finished my Creativity Explored one, which is tiny and noncommittal, the equivalent of a hotel notepad with a cute cover. I flipped through my red moleskine, just in case there were any… Continue reading What your notebook says about you