Writing for Visual Thinkers is an e-book textbook. The book explores various relationships between writing and design, allowing students to incorporate various ideas and methods of writing into their work. The e-book format allows for dynamic media (such as podcast interviews, video and downloadable PDF exercises), to be easily accessed. The book is currently under development and this blog is intended to create a dialogue and share ideas for book content.
{Publisher: New Riders/AIGA Press}
Friday, April 27, 2007
critiques
I am curious if anybody uses writing in the critique process? If so, how do you integrate it?
Andrea - I sometimes use writing in the critique process.
I have several methods.
1. I hand out index cards, and each student chooses a project which has been done by another student. They write comments, words, phrases, sentences, about the project they've chosen. As the critique begins, they use the card for reference, and give the designer feedback. I then allow the entire class to comment.
2. Each student writes about each project. I choose a student at random, and they read what they've written. We continue with another student making comments, etc... until there are no new comments.
I’ve used writing critiques as one of several kinds of WIP (work in progress) critiques. Usually, it occurs after an initial concept critique, and after the students have developed their visual constructs to a point that is conducive to critical re-direction. While I’ve done this with several classes, the one class I’ve found it to be invaluable is Package Design. How can anyone, after all, critically assess the level of success of a three-dimensional object without first handling it?
For this particular critique, they are required to build a blank construction (for scale relations with products, scale relations to the hand, function, weight, balance, etc.). This blank is a pretty highly refined package—it’s been through several ‘Frankstein’ re-workings already (hat have been analyzed by the class) and it’s accompanied with an illustration of the proposed surface graphics, die-strikes, and swatches of materials. They are also asked, on the spot, to write out the objectives of the project, define the target audience, list the price-point and the proposed retail outlets (while they’ve determined these long before this point, I’ve found that the exercise of writing this down succinctly on the spot is helpful in reiterating the importance of clarity). The space that they set up at their desk also includes their process book so that students can comb through the early development (the class has already seen the early process in earlier discussions, but it’s important to remind them).
The critique is timed, and ordered so that after each timed segment (between 6 and 8 minutes, depending on the complexity of the project), students move to the next project in line. Everyone is given a one-minute warning so they have the opportunity to write what they want to before moving to the next one. Once that last minute is up, the entire class shifts, and moves to the next package in front of them. This continues through the entire class, or until the students have gone full-circle and ended up in front of their own work.
I tell my students that the goal is to critically analyze the work of someone else as if they were the art director, and all remaining ‘problems’ have to be identified before the package moves to a client presentation. I also tell them explicitly NOT to look at the comments made by individuals who have come before them (there has been any opportunities up until that point to ‘build’ a critique through class interaction, and the final critique is also a typical class critique. The entire point of the critique is to design a personal interaction with the package.
Finally, I tell them that the entire point of the exercise is to develop the ability to critically analyze someone else’s work, and that a wonderful byproduct f the exercise is that they walk away with a wide array of observations from heir classmates.
I’m happy to say that this technique has been wonderful. If done properly, the students will be exhausted at the end. It’s difficult to jump from one person’s vision to another, and to then provide critical feedback. They have to stay on their toes. They get one 15 minute break.
2 comments:
Andrea - I sometimes use writing in the critique process.
I have several methods.
1. I hand out index cards, and each student chooses a project which has been done by another student. They write comments, words, phrases, sentences, about the project they've chosen. As the critique begins, they use the card for reference, and give the designer feedback. I then allow the entire class to comment.
2. Each student writes about each project. I choose a student at random, and they read what they've written. We continue with another student making comments, etc... until there are no new comments.
Hope this helps.
I’ve used writing critiques as one of several kinds of WIP (work in progress) critiques. Usually, it occurs after an initial concept critique, and after the students have developed their visual constructs to a point that is conducive to critical re-direction. While I’ve done this with several classes, the one class I’ve found it to be invaluable is Package Design. How can anyone, after all, critically assess the level of success of a three-dimensional object without first handling it?
For this particular critique, they are required to build a blank construction (for scale relations with products, scale relations to the hand, function, weight, balance, etc.). This blank is a pretty highly refined package—it’s been through several ‘Frankstein’ re-workings already (hat have been analyzed by the class) and it’s accompanied with an illustration of the proposed surface graphics, die-strikes, and swatches of materials. They are also asked, on the spot, to write out the objectives of the project, define the target audience, list the price-point and the proposed retail outlets (while they’ve determined these long before this point, I’ve found that the exercise of writing this down succinctly on the spot is helpful in reiterating the importance of clarity). The space that they set up at their desk also includes their process book so that students can comb through the early development (the class has already seen the early process in earlier discussions, but it’s important to remind them).
The critique is timed, and ordered so that after each timed segment (between 6 and 8 minutes, depending on the complexity of the project), students move to the next project in line. Everyone is given a one-minute warning so they have the opportunity to write what they want to before moving to the next one. Once that last minute is up, the entire class shifts, and moves to the next package in front of them. This continues through the entire class, or until the students have gone full-circle and ended up in front of their own work.
I tell my students that the goal is to critically analyze the work of someone else as if they were the art director, and all remaining ‘problems’ have to be identified before the package moves to a client presentation. I also tell them explicitly NOT to look at the comments made by individuals who have come before them (there has been any opportunities up until that point to ‘build’ a critique through class interaction, and the final critique is also a typical class critique. The entire point of the critique is to design a personal interaction with the package.
Finally, I tell them that the entire point of the exercise is to develop the ability to critically analyze someone else’s work, and that a wonderful byproduct f the exercise is that they walk away with a wide array of observations from heir classmates.
I’m happy to say that this technique has been wonderful. If done properly, the students will be exhausted at the end. It’s difficult to jump from one person’s vision to another, and to then provide critical feedback. They have to stay on their toes. They get one 15 minute break.
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