Exchange

ex·change

Noun:	An act of giving one thing and receiving another (esp. of the same type or value) in return.
Verb:	Give something and receive something of the same kind in return.
Synonyms:	noun.  interchange - swap - change - swop - barter - replacement verb.  change - interchange - swap - swop - barter - commute

For our third project of the semester we have been asked to create giant 3D depictions of a chosen word that would later be displayed on campus. Drawing from a hat, all teams were given a single word. My team picked exchange. 

Throughout the idea process we have come up with a handful of different ways to describe this word and correlating locations that they could be placed. We thought about the exchange of money (banks, ATMs), the exchange of ideas (classrooms, lecture halls), cultural exchange (Lippincott Building), and the exchange of goods (mail slots, delivery/sorting rooms).

At this moment aren't quite sure which idea we are going to follow through with. Right now we are working on making smaller models of our words with different font variations. 

I'm having many hesitations about this project, but hopefully over the next few days my team and I will begin to develop more concrete ideas. 

Second Project Summary

Overall I thought this project was helpful, especially with helping me develop creative brainstorming practices. I think if this project was an individual project, like our last one, I would have been very intimidated by the whole process. It was definitely beneficial to work with a team of people from different skill sets and interests. I usually do not enjoy group work but felt this project worked out extremely well. 

It was interesting hearing everyone’s ideas and sharing in the brainstorming process. I think the most difficult part was trying to create prototypes. Considering that we were limited by a lack of certain materials, skill sets, and machinery, this made the design process a challenge. There were certain limitations we had to work within and couldn’t fully develop some potentially innovataive ideas. 

I think the most interesting part about this project was watching the IDEO and Objectified videos. I found a great wealth of knowledge in the two and felt they greatly assisted in this project. It was very insightfu l to understand how designers in the real world work and what they go through daily to create objects. I can confidently say majoring in Illustration better suits my tastes. I can see, however, that there is a lot of overlap of ideas and practices. For example, mind mapping and world lists are important for almost any artistic career. They are a great way to create new ideas.

As  an individual I think word lists, freewriting, and mind mapping are all very helpful techniques. At this moment in my artistic career I can’t say one works better for me than the other; I just haven’t experimented with them enough to know. Though I do enjoy freewriting the best, I think really has no limits and the structure is really set up by the individual, and doesn’t have to be limited to a web or vertical column. 

As a group though I’m sure the mind mapping with sticky notes was the most effective way for developing our flyswatter idea. I think it was a very non-commital way of placing ideas on the paper, no matter what they stated. It led to a very fun, relaxed environment and was a good way of getting the ball rolling. 

Interviews: Original Flyswatter

Questions:

1. How often do you use a flyswatter? 

2. Would you want it to be fun?

3. Most important thing you would change?

4. Would you purchase add-ons? 

5. Option of trapping?

6. Any pros of the flyswatter?

1. Very rarely

2. Sure! I want everything to be fun.

3. Longer, then I could sneak up on it.

4. No 

5. Yes, I might use it

6. Like the feel of the handle, not too   heavy, I can really whack ‘em. 

1. Not very often

2. Sure, making it electrified would be fun. 

3. Self-cleaning

4. Yes

5. No 

6. I like the color, effective. 

1. Never 

2. No

3. Colors too bright 

4. No 

5. Yes, though I would use my bare hand

6. No 

Interviews: New Flyswatter Prototype

Questions:

1. Do you think the prototype is an improvement over the original flyswatter?
2. Would you buy it?
3. What do you like about it?
4. Weakness in new design?
5. General thoughts?



1. Yes, it has a nicer handle.

2. Sure, (hesitant) if it worked better. 

3. I don’t have to touch the dead fly!

4. It is a bit flimsy at the moment. 

5. I love the blue!

1. Yes, a little bit. 

2. No, I would just use my hands to pick it up.

3. It has a nice color.

4. There aren’t any air slots in the head.

5. Neat idea, if it functions properly.

1. Yes, I won't have to touch the fly with my hands. 

2. I might, depends on how much it costs.

3. It is an interesting geometric design.

4. Needs to function better, a bit bulky.

5. It has a comfy handle, now I can get a really good grip on it

1. Yes, it is an improvement for people who would rather not pick up the dead fly. However it seems to be a niche market. 

2. No, not my taste.

3. Cool design, made me interested to know what it was.

4. I think it would need to be stronger, more securely attached. 

5. Definitely caught my attention.

1. Yes, it seems to be more stable. 

2. No, I don’t have a use for it.

3. Nice, sturdy handle

4. It doesn’t look too effective if you really need to smoke a fly, not powerful enough.

5. Interesting to look at, probably would stop in the store to see what it was.