Some are successful and many aren’t. Hyde Park in downtown Sydney is generally considered a relaxing and inspiring place while Taylor Square in Darlinghurst, in spite of many makeovers, is messy and dangerous although it has interesting visual elements.
Why is this, who’s to blame and how can it be fixed – this is the designer’s dream (and nightmare). For any improvements to be made, design research must first take place. What is the history of the space, who owns it, who were the stakeholders then and who are they now, what did they want then and how has that changed, what is local government policy – research can be complex but necessary before design outcome ideas can be generated. And a good design outcome must spring from research.
Because of the complexity of this brief, you will be working in teams of 5 with one person chosen as team leader. Imagine you are a design collective with 4 people doing research and development and one person as the Creative Director guiding the group. Details of your assessment tasks follow but essentially your team is required to find a space that you think works badly, to research its background and design history and to design a new visual identity. To give you some practical background, your team will be required to redesign a space in North Sydney with guidance and feedback from your lecturers.
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Part A – Design Group Presentations – Due Week 4
For this assessment, student working in groups are required to form a collective of 5 and assign 4 roles for research and one for Creative Director. Groups will then be required to research a North Sydney park and come up with a design outcome which they will present on Week 4. During this time, the group must also agree on a space they personally wish to re-design and present their thoughts on Week 5 backed up by photos and initial research. Each presentation is to be for 10-15 minutes and each member of the group is required to present a section. All teams must keep a process journal which will be included in the team mark. There will also be a chance for each team member to give what he or she thinks is a deserved mark to his co-workers.
Assessment mark and criteria:
The presentation assessment is worth 30% and will be marked on the following criteria:
− Attendance at class presentations
− Contribution of ideas
− Evidence of reading and research in contributions
− Skills in asking questions and ability to critically analyse ideas.
− Evidence of understanding the importance of design programs, understanding design program issues and methods and contributing thoughts on all aspects of the proposal including structure and method, problem solving and project planning
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Part B – Create a design program – Due Week 10
For this assessment student groups are required to create a design program for their chosen space.. Students will need to demonstrate the application of the concepts and theories of ideas generation through design research, concepts of core representations and visual metaphors by creating a magazine rough which will outline their research and ideas for their chosen space. The application of general project management skills and the ability to work effectively with a team must also be evidenced.
Assessment mark and criteria:
This assessment is worth 40% and will be marked on the following criteria:
− Process and research documentation
− Presentation of magazine rough
− Relevance of ideas presented
− Teamwork and individual skills
− Evidence of application of basic project management skills
− Participation in in-class exercises and activities
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Part C – Design a written proposal – Due Week 16
For this assessment, student groups will present their finished magazine outcome for their chosen space.
Assessment mark and criteria:
The assessment is worth 30% and will be marked on the following criteria:
− Understanding of key issues to communicate in proposal
− Originality of concepts proposed
− Presentation skills
− Responses to suggestions and questions from group and outside group
− Teamwork
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Plagiarism
Billy Blue Schools considers plagiarism to be serious academic misconduct. Plagiarism includes using the work of others without fully acknowledging it and will result in serious consequences including failing the assessment or the subject. In the most serious cases a student may be withdrawn from the course. Students are advised to seek advice and assistance from their lecturers on how to avoid plagiarism and are required to familiarise themselves with the School’s plagiarism policies in the Student Handbook.
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Recommended reading
Gill B. (2001) Unspecial Effects for Graphic Designers. Graphis
Kliment S. (1998) Writing for Design Professionals: A Guide to Writing Successful Proposals. W. W. Norton & Company
Tomato (1996) Process. Thames & Hudson
Tomato (2000) Mmm...Skyscraper I Love You. Booth-Clibborn
Venezky M. (2004) It is Beautiful...Then Gone. Princeton Architectural Press
Vrontikis P (2002) Inspiration=Ideas: A Creativity Sourcebook for Graphic Designers. Rockport Publishers
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Websites
www.phirebrush.com/
www.idea-mag.com/home/index_en.shtml
www.tomato.co.uk/home.html
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THE NORTH SYDNEY ASSESSMENT BRIEF
Course: Associate Degree (CH2)
Subject: Design Research & Ideas Generation (CDR23)
Lecturer: Peter Worthington/Matt Leach
Title of assessment: Design Group Presentation
Weighting: 30%
Date Issued: Week 01
Due date: Week 04
Learning outcomes/competencies being assessed:
• Discuss the concepts and theories of ideas generation through design research
• Develop core representations in visual communications and explain key concepts involved.
• Analyse and interpret visual metaphors
• Apply an understanding of business practices including the ability to implement projects and work productively as a member of a team.
• Integrate research methods with ideas generation.
Description of assessment:
• Teams of 5 to work together with one appointed as Creative Director (CD) to research and design an outcome for a North Sydney park to be presented Week 4.
• Same team to find a public space they wish to redesign and spend the greater part of the semester researching, analysing and interpreting data. This will come from discussion with your lecturers but should be a "dead" space that ALL team members are happy to visit. This part of the assessment will be presented as an A4 magazine.
Instructions:
•Week 1: Visit the park ALONE and without any research draw up what you would like to see happen to this space. Discuss outcomes with your team and starting thinking about a space the team would like to redesign.
Week 2: Present your ideas in class and consult with the CD regarding design research over the next week. Also, think deeply about the space you wish to redesign.
Week 3: Present your North Sydney Park research and redo your design as a response to it and present next week along with the space you wish to redesign.
Week 4: Present your park makeover and announce the team space for redesign. Back this up with photos.
North Sydney park from above.
Street view across from Billy Blue.
Street view from Post Office.
Marking criteria:
• Creative process (40%): How well do you respond to criticism and development over the weeks.
• Communication of ideas (20%): How original are your ideas and how well do they communicate.
• Elements and crafts (20%): Is the work well thought out and any supporting documentation neatly typed, is the design artfully completed and visually appealing.
• Design processing and consistency (10%): Does all work show intelligent processing of design theory and is this applied consistently.
• Professionalism and presentation (10%): Is work displayed cleanly and professionally. Involvement in group discussion and presentation.
Submission instruction:
The presentation is due week 04 and will require your team to present at the commencement of class. You will need to have all design work on PDF to show and hand to lecturers. You will also need photos/sketches and words on the space you wish to redesign.
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INSPIRATION & EXTRAS
The 2km Bondi to Tamarama walk is a great example of good use of space. Every Oct-Nov the walk is transformed into an outdoor gallery when Sculpture By The Sea sets up. Artists from all over the World show their latest works, some constructed on site, some brought in by crane. Something really nice happens when you view the sculptures outside on the seafront, with many of the sculptures being made with the location in mind. Over the three weeks it is up the site gets 500,000+ visitors.
Alex Kosmas - nexus (2008)
Mark McClelland - she thought (2008)
Andy Townsend and Suzie Bleach - waiting... (2008)
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Letraset people. In the time before computers Architects used good old letraset to add a bit of life into their designs. Where's the dingo?
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