We formed a blog to help document our Super Studio experience this term. Super Studio is a year long design research course here in the MDP. This blog is focused on our work for this term (our 2nd term as Super Studians). Check it out.
To learn more about this year’s Super Studio go here.
It’s week 14 here at Art Center. It’s our final week for the Fall term. The graduating thesis students presented their work today and are preparing for the Grad Show this Thursday and Friday. We M1’s have had some remaining things to finish up as well – a transmedia term paper and a portfolio website. Having to do these two things isn’t even half as hard as all the assignments and presentations we had to conquer last week, but still, I never said it was easy either. I barely made it out of here alive last week.
Wrap up discussions this week weren’t so much about wrapping up, but more about what’s next now that we know what we know. We ended our last Super Studio I class with a discussion about our next steps and our anticipated goals for next semester. This term, we spent researching and analyzing four families using streaming media devices, and next term we are using our findings and analysis to create new media technologies that will play a role in the family dynamic. As much as I want a vacation, I have a feeling my month off over the holidays will still be spent thinking about next term. That’s the nerd in me I suppose. But I guess it’s also an indication of how much I love what I’m doing.
As media design researchers, it is not only our job to creatively and visually represent our analysis of our findings, but it is also our responsibility to take those findings much further, and develop solutions and spaces where culture and society can expand and evolve in a way that is positive and thoughtful.
Something I learned this term is that nothing is ever done. Everything is always just beginning. Even the website I just completed is just the beginning. I posted it and all I want to do now is add and edit it. I suppose that’s one the affordances technology allows us to do. Sometimes that’s good. Sometimes, finishing and closing the book on something isn’t a bad idea either. But I’ll also add that there’s a difference between being stuck on something and improving it. Many of us M1’s struggle to understand the difference, but that’s why we’re here – for praxis.
Hi, my name is Mari Nakano and I’m a first term Media Design Program Graduate student here at Art Center College of Design.
I’m what they call an “M1″ or a first term Media Design Program student. My usual bedtime is at 4am and I work roughly 5.5 to 6.5 days a week. I live most of my days in the studio with my aloha print blanket, space heater and MacBook Pro. I’m thinking of bringing a rice cooker next term. I’ve morphed into a borderline insomniac, but I suppose for a good reason. I can’t walk around in a normal day without thinking about how graphic design and media design can enhance everything around us in a relevant and meaningful way. From shopping, to eating, to driving, to reading, to sleeping, to drinking coffee…design questions and design possibilities are everywhere.
It’s week 12 (of 14) right now and most of our final presentations will be due next week. I never thought I’d say this, but I’d love another week or two of school to get more work done before the holidays. As rigorous and demanding as this program may be, it’s evoked a sense of excitement and motivation that’s been oddly coaxing me to strive further in my endeavors in design research and analysis. I suppose I’m a masochist, but I also suppose I’ve found a place I can practice my passion.
As my experiences grow, I’ll be sure to add them to this blog. It’s about 3am right now and I have to finish up some work before the morning. Goodnight.
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