GRAPHIC DESIGN / FALL 2015 Log in
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Thoughts
I found this project very interesting. This is really my first experiences with mind mapping. Taking objects from my mind map and combining them was both exciting, but challenging. I found  it difficult to create pairings that I could incorporate and create multiple designs for, but it gave me the opportunity to think outside the box and get really creative.

Mind Map

SAM_1438
This was my Mind Map.

Tool Combinations

  1. Mouse + x-acto knife= X-Acto Mouse
  2. Chainsaw + Sandpaper= Sandsaw
  3. Hammer + T-Square= Thammer
  4. MAC + Sheet Protector= Mactector
  5. Screwdriver + Screws= Screw’d
  6. Grappling Hook + Bike= Brapple
  7. Computer + Printer= Comprinter
  8. Car + Utility Knife= Utility Car
  9. Book + Keyboard= Book Board
  10. Grill + Truck= Barbecue Drive- In
  11. Mouse + Shifter= Mouster
  12. Cutting Mat + Shelf= Cutshelf
  13. Gasoline + Chainsaw= Chainline
  14. 2X4 + Ruler= 2 by Ruler
  15. Helmet + Computer= Commuter
  16. Hammer + Nails= Nailer
  17. Car + Bookcase= Read ‘n’ Go
  18. Cutting Mat + Utility Knife= Utilimat
  19. Crowbar + Filer= Crowfiler
  20. Steering Wheel + Crowbar= Steerbar
  21. Grappling Hook + Harness= The Hooker
  22. Sander + Filer= The Smoother
  23. Deck + Grill= DeRill
  24. Training Wheels + Screwdriver= Screw Wheels
  25. Mouse Pad + Cutting Mat= Mouse Mat

Chosen Ten
X-Acto Mouse
This would be interesting because it would be very useful for graphic designer’s since they usually use x-acto knives to mount their artwork and incorporating a mouse with it since they constantly use computers, obviously.
Sandsaw
I thought this would be fun to do because I could see it being a very useful object and there are a lot of different ways to combine these to objects together.
Thammer
This concept was on of the more simpler ones because both a hammer and a t-square have a similar shapes and wasn’t really difficult to design.
Screw’d
I thought this one was very practical and usually when you need to screw something you need a screwdriver and screws. Putting two in one makes it very handy.
Comprinter
I would honestly buy one of these if they actually exsisted. It makes the hassle of having to have a computer and a printer simpler and could possibly be used on the go.
Utility Car
I thought this one was fun because there were so many options for design. It was two different objects you would not usually see together.
Barbecue Driver-In
This one was a lot of fun because when people go tail-gating and have to bring a  grill, instead have the grill built in.
Mouster
This would be fun because it could be made to just an exterior design or have an actual use for it.
Commuter
I really like how catchy this name is. This is a cool concept. Instead of having to worry about holding your phone you have the internet on the top of your head.
The Hooker
This one would be fun to do because it is a really cool idea and seems like having a grappling hook on a harness would make it the easiest way you didn’t loose it.

Thumbnails
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This photo was the best quality I could get. I do not have an Iphone/ smartphone or camera/

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Response
This project was very enjoyable. Getting together with fellow classmates to create the mind-maps was fun and using the ideas generated from them to create thumbnails was a very fast way to generate decent ideas. The thumbnail sheet was very useful, a small space to draw in forces you to only focus on the important details of the image.

 

Mind-map
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Tool Combos (red=the 10 combos I drew, blue=unused)

  1. Clock + Eye Grandfather clock with an eye instead of clock face, or an eye with a clock instead of cornea.
  2. Diamonds + Dogs — Dogs with diamond strong teeth, or royal diamond dogs.
  3. Sign + Pyramid
  4. Trees + Fuel
  5. Board + Flowers
  6. Socks + Money
  7. Cable + Plane
  8. Football + Ella Fitzgerald
  9. Feet + Shell
  10. Ship + Coal
  11. Cacti + Treasure
  12. Cards + Gems — Cards made of gems or a card game using gems. Just a nice card game perhaps.
  13. VHS + Earbuds
  14. Ocean + Rock
  15. Sun + Golf — I imagine super powerful deities would enjoy playing golf with the sun.
  16. Chocolate + Wrench
  17. Turkey + Car
  18. Uniform + Grass — Thought of ghillie suits that snipers use. Also grass that is uniformly cut.
  19. Smoke + Plane — Some sort of anti-smoking plane or plane made out of smoke.
  20. Time + Shoes
  21. Robot + Nukes — Basically just a badass super weapon. Robots are really fun to draw, but doing the thumbnails was hard.
  22. Stereo + Headphones — Thought of headphones that play outwards rather than into your ears.
  23. Bolts + Zipper
  24. Headband + Hardhat — Would be very useless for actually protecting your head.
  25. Bread + Chips — I’ve always wondered why there aren’t many bread flavored/shaped chips out there…

 

Favorite Thumbnails

Clock + Eye                                      Stereo + Headphones                              Smoke + Plane

0908151435 0908151434

 

 

 

 

My organized collection of images is in dropbox: GD_todd_gaunt –> ToolMontage –> Pictures

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This project was very interesting and the mine map was a new exciting way to brain storm ideas that are original and different. There was no extreme difficulty in this project either in which made it a lot easier to understand and complete. I also liked creating the multiple thumbnail designs for each tool because its helps bring more ideas in for a final image.

.MineMap  ToolsThumbnails

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My Response

I thought this was a very fun and enjoyable project that was also helpful and educational on the creative/invention process. As I have never done a mind map before, I was surprised by how many great ideas can actually come out of them. I enjoyed getting together with my group members for the mind map. It was fun to see how different minds can think of totally different things when they hear a word and still work together and be as imaginative as possible.

My Mind Map

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25 Pairs

  1. Snake + Vase
  2. Rose + Umbrella
  3. Zebra + Bubblegum
  4. Hand + Ice
  5. Lizard + Lollipop
  6. Loud + Quiji board
  7. Dentures + Makeup
  8. Penny + Lipstick
  9. Piñata + Garden
  10. Snowman + Wine glass
  11. Mittens + Sweatpants
  12. Foam Finger + Water gun
  13. Rollercoaster + Music
  14. Bubblewrap + Car
  15. Haunted house + Party
  16. Book + Ladder
  17. Candy + Paint
  18. Salsa + Water Bottle
  19. Zamboni + Party
  20. Candy + Pickle
  21. Fishing pole + Tree
  22. Reptile + Airhorn
  23. Candy + Salsa
  24. Boat + Party
  25. Hand + Airhorn

My 10 Choices

  1. Snake + Vase: A stylish vase for reptile lovers to hold their flowers made of perhaps snake skin pattern or maybe an actual snake!
  2. Zebra + Bubblegum: My first thought was patterned gum. Our clothing, bags, scarves and accessories all have perhaps tribal, cheetah or even zebra print, why not our gum? Would someone be willing to spend extra few cents to have “pretty” gum as opposed to “regular” gum?
  3. Loud + Quiji Board: My first thought was a creepy voice that narrates whats happening on the board and maybe it will “hear” and “translate” some things that our human ears can’t just for extra spookiness. Maybe a speaking Quiji board could be helpful to any blind users as well?
  4. Snowman + Wine glass: We have chilled mugs for beer, why not a chilled wine glass that is also cute and winter-festive. I thought of a snowman doing a handstand would be the shape of a wine glass. Or perhaps an actual wine glass made out of snow or ice?
  5. Mittens + Sweatpants: I thought of cold nights when you don’t want to take your hands out of your sweatpants pockets. So what if in each pocket was a mitten with a string attached so you can keep your hands warms and never loose your mittens/gloves!
  6. Foam finger + Watere gun: How much fun would a sports game be if you could cheer on your team with your #1 foam finger and at the same time squirt some playful water at your opponents fans? It would keep your kids entertained for longer as well!
  7. Rollercoaster + Music: A lot of people resort to music when they are feeling anxious or scared or sad. These feelings can definitely come up on a roller coaster so what if a little music selection was offered as you ride to your death and it streamed through the bars over your shoulders.
  8. Candy + Paint: We have rock candy, candy cigarettes, insect candy, why not add another misleading candy to the list and make a little can of “paint” that is actually a sugary/syrupy liquid that kids can “paint” on their tongues with the “paintbrush” included.
  9. Candy + Salsa: My first thought was salsa being a mixture of various vegetables so what if there was a jelly bean, m & m, licorice, with a batter/ dough type substance as the base.
  10. Hand + Airhorn: A small, but effective hand held airhorn that is made to fit the mold of one hand making a fist.

Thumbnails

FullSizeRender

(Mittens + Sweatpants)

 

Unknown

(Wine glass + Snowman)

 

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(Candy + Paint)

 

FullSizeRender-2

(Foam finger + Water gun)

 

FullSizeRender-1

(Loud + Ouija board)

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Christian Alejandre

Tool Montage September 8, 2015

Mind Map
FullSizeRender 4

This is one of the three mind maps that my group of four came up with. Mind mapping is actually a new concept to me, and I think they’re pretty cool so far. It’s interesting to see how far you can run with a thought and what those thoughts can develop into, especially in a group of people who all think differently. Having the ability to bounce ideas off of each other was definitely helpful.

My 25 Original Pairings
1. Saw + Teeth
2. Elephant + Megaphone
3. Trampoline + Drum
4. Snake + Stapler
5. Drill + Noodle
6. Brush + Puzzle
7. Phone + Shovel
8. Spatula + Lamp
9. Keys + Ponytail
10. Shoe + Rocket
11. Suitcase + Computer
12. Scissors + Hook
13. Mittens + Cheese
14. Dish + Boat
15. Match + Bug
16. Sword + Fan
17. Nun + Clown
18. Pencil + Whip
19. Fork + Worm
20. Gun + Cup
21. Telescope + Cannon
22. Car + Hula Hoop
23. Meat + Tree
24. Bottle + Glasses
25. Chain + Tail

My 10 Choices
1. Saw + Teeth
I automatically thought of the “teeth” on a saw, and thought it’d be comical to have them look like actual human teeth. I doubt that would actually help in cutting anything down though… unless you brushed and flossed every day, of course.
2. Megaphone + Elephant
A megaphone is slightly similar to an elephant’s trunk appearance-wise, so why not switch them up and maximize the volume of their breathing, am i right?!
3. Snake + Stapler
This probably would have worked better if the snake was paired with a staple remover, because of the resemblance between that and a snake’s fangs, but this was the next best thing in my opinion. All you have to do is bop the (hopefully dead) snake on the head and voilà, you have a stapled set of papers and you looked cool (and brave) doing it.
4. Drill + Noodle
This idea popped into my head while thinking of drill bits and the similarities in appearance between them and certain pasta noodles, so I thought it would be fun to see where the combination could go.
5. Phone + Shovel
I have ABSOLUTELY no idea as to why or how this combination popped into my head so fast, but I automatically thought of the slide-out keyboard cellphones we used to have in middle school. For some odd reason, I thought it would be a fantastic idea to replace the slide-out keyboard with a shovel… y’know, just in case you need to go digging and you forget your actual shovel at home.
6. Match + Bug
For this combination, I kept coming back to the idea of the way certain bugs’ bodies are, and how thin and similar to a match some of them look (praying mantis, dragon fly, stick bug, etc.), so I thought of replacing the actual body with one.
7. Sword + Fan
I had a feeling that, in medieval times, fans would have been made out of the same blades swords were made out of as a sort of torture device (or just to circulate some air). I also thought of how nice it would’ve been for knights to have a fan built IN to their swords, especially with all of the heavy armor they had to wear. Refreshment on the go.
8. Fork + Worm
For this one, I thought it would be funny (and gross) to shape worms into the shape of a fork and/or wrap the worms around a regular fork to make them look like spaghetti.
9. Car + Hula Hoop
I had a few different ideas when it came to this pairing. The first two were to make the wheels on a car and the steering wheel inside a car into hula hoops, and the third was to make a person look like they were hula hooping a limousine (because of how long they are, which I thought was fitting).
10. Suitcase + Computer
I call this one “The TRAVEL Computer”, which makes no sense at this point in time because that’s why laptops were invented. I thought that the way a suit case un-hinges and the way a laptop opens was pretty similar, so I went with it. I wouldn’t recommend buying it, though, because I can guarantee you won’t have too much space left to use to pack clothes.

Thumbnails
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Overall
I thought this assignment was very interesting. Like I had said earlier, it’s something I had never done before and It was cool to branch out (even literally too, in the mind maps). It truly showed me how much thought goes into the early stages of design work, and how helpful it is to have a plethora of different ideas to grab from.

 

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This assignment was great. I liked how our groups had to get together and brainstorm off each others ideas. What truly helped me in the process of creating my own tools were the extra mind maps. I know that everyone has different ideas, it was helpful to branch one of mine with another person’s idea.

Mindmap3

 

This is one of my group’s mind map. Exercising mind mapping helped me organize my thoughts with the others. It’s always tough for me to quickly think of creative ideas, however brainstorming on a mind with a team of designers made the process simpler. One of my favorite ideas on this mind map is how we got the idea Cat Nip from others branching off the idea Call.

Here are my 25 tool ideas based off mind mapping. The bold Tools are the “Chosen Ones“.

  1. Bed Head Balloon
  2. Cat Nip Cookie
  3. Prom Wrench
  4. Tiger Knife
  5. Water Vacuum
  6. Cat Call Alarm
  7. OCD Pillow Vacuum
  8. Toilet Backpack
  9. Alphabet Guns
  10. Lighter Pocket
  11. Karate Skateboard
  12. Karate Lighter
  13. Throw Up Vacuum
  14. Grill Knife
  15. Smart Grill
  16. Banana Foam
  17. Chocolate Band aid
  18. Energy Honey
  19. Hospital Bed Weights
  20. Pumpkin Spoon
  21. Dirt Ball
  22. War Nails
  23. Bear Belt
  24. Bulimic Banana
  25. Language Machine

The Bed Head Balloon is the perfect solution for crazy hair mornings. Imagine a balloon which you rub on your head to get rid of that jungle you call hair. Prom Wrench is a useful tool to have the perfect Prom experience without any troubles. Car has a flat tire on the way to your breath taking night? Use the Prom Wrench to switch out the tire, it will even impress your date. The Tiger Knife isn’t your dad’s normal knife. It’s the sharpest tool in the shed, great for trips like camping, self defense, and learning how to throw a knife. Toilet Backpack is a sanitary on-the-go Porta Potty for long trips. Adventures behold a revolutionary way where you don’t make a mess yet still go to the bathroom whenever and wherever you wanted. The Vomit Vacuum is a college students best friend. Did your roommate come home late and puke on the floor? No worries, this Bluetooth puke sucker will get out all the nastiness from tough areas like carpets or couches.  Smart Grill is the next generation of thug life wireless mouth connectivity. With the power of Bluetooth and smartphones you can track what goes in your mouth, calculating caloric intakes. The perfect tool to help figure out weight loss by dieting. Energy Honey gives the right nutrients for a good days workout. Put Energy Honey in tea, on toast, or even eat it by spoonfuls to get great work out results. Hospital Bed Weights are for those who struggle in hospitals yet want to stay in shape at the same time. This revolutionary mattress set holds different types of weight lifting exercises to keep your body in tip top shape. The Bear Belt is a sturdy leather belt with a Tiger Knife sheath extension. Show off your belt fashion sense while intimidating others proving that you can get out of any death like situation with a comfortable belt. And finally, the Language Machine is a portable device which will translate your language so you can talk to anybody in the world. This incredible device will be the worlds next hottest item, proving that technology can help nations talk freely with one another without the frustrations of learning a whole new language.

 

Here are a few of my thumbnails

Thumbnail-1

Language Machine

Thumbnail-2

Prom Wrench

Thumbnail-3

Toilet Backpack

Thumbnail-4

Hospital Weight

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Thoughts:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                I found this project to be different from what I usually do, but at the same time enjoyable and interesting. The process itself was fun to do, especially sketching out the tool combinations. Being able to get with another person to create the mind maps, helped expand our ideas and made it easier to pick out what I wanted to create on the thumbnails.

Mind Map:

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This is one out of three of the mind maps that me and my partner created. This one seemed to have the most ideas on it.

Tool Combinations:

  1. Sharpie + Drill
  2. Paper clip + Button
  3. Broom + Eels
  4. Keys + Knife
  5. Pen + Nails
  6. Spoon + Scissors
  7. Button + Soda can
  8. Ruler + Hammer
  9. Fork + Panda
  10. Carrot + Wires
  11. Shark + Magnets
  12. Compass + Headphones
  13. Chalk + Cheese
  14. Hamburger + Elevator
  15. Box + Bulldozer
  16. Paintbrush + Shoes
  17. Sunglasses + Socks
  18. Sun + Cigarettes
  19. Needle + Arrows
  20. Train + Phone
  21. Butter + Hose
  22. Cage + Bowl
  23. Mushroom + Toilet
  24. Birdhouse + Marble
  25. Puzzle + Plate

Top Ten Tool Choices:

  • Sharpie + Drill – This would be a fun combination to draw because right away I thought of a sharpie where the drill bit would go.
  • Broom + Eels – I thought since eels are wet and slippery, it would be cool to make a broom that could slide across the floor and clean by itself.
  • Keys + Knife – I thought of a sharp object that could protect you, cut your meals, and at the same time get you into your house.
  • Pen + Nails – I thought this would be easy to create but at the same time a useful tool to have around.
  • Spoon + Scissors – I thought of creating a multi-tool that could be useful but weird at the same time.
  • Ruler + Hammer – being able to have a ruler to measure out where the nails should be placed, and then having a hammer right in your hand to hammer them in
  • Shark + Magnets – I thought it would be fun because it would attract more fish to feed the shark.
  • Compass + Headphones – Right away I thought of the headphones being the arrows to the compass
  • Hamburger + Elevator – I thought this would be fun to do because who doesn’t want to ride in style.
  • Mushroom + Toilet – I thought it would be fun to create something funny, but at the same time “stylish”.

Thumbnails:

20150907_160245

These are only a few of the thumbnails that I created out of 30.

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The reason I am taking graphic design is for another passion. I wish to become better at communicating. I want to learn to communicate and express my ideas and thoughts more clearly to those around me, which can be used in any field or major. I am a nursing major, which does not really have much to do with graphic design. However, being expressive and well at communicating is greatly important in this field, and by learning the ability to express my ideas, I will be better equipped for my major. I also have always had a desire to be more artistic, but have never followed up on it. So, this class will also be helping me with increasing my artistic abilities.

Motion Design
I thought motion design was interesting. It is not only deciding how a picture should be designed, but adding sound and movement to the picture to tell a story. As an example of why motion design is interesting to me- I often think the trailer to a movie is more interesting than the actual movie, which shows how motion design advertises the movie well. This video, in the link below, shows how many different ways motion design can be used, and how long motion design has been used for (I thought that using it in a 3-D way was the best one). I have always wanted to create a short film from animation, so this was very interesting to me!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzGXSpmNHzc

Type Design
I also thought that type design was very interesting. I thought so because I had never thought of fonts and typeface as graphic design. Fonts are always needed for anything and everything on a computer, and would be incorporated with basically every type of graphic design that has any word or number involved with it. I was interested to know how the designer would think of a font and write it out, so I searched for it. This is what I found: http://www.fastcompany.com/3028881/most-creative-people/what-its-like-to-design-a-font-from-scratch

This article explains one man who designed famous fonts, such as Times New Roman and Ariel. In the pictures on the side, it shows how they write out each letter, scan it, and get as close to the outline of the letter as possible. My aunt actually does calligraphy, which is another reason I thought this was interesting! My handwriting can be really nice (when I try…), so this would be a good design for me to work on.

I also found a few typeface design that I thought looked cool.


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Paul Rand
Design and the Play Instinct part of the reading caught my eye. It was in the first question that really spiked my interest when the question was answered by stating that there are no formulas in creative work. Design is something that must be made up from your inner artist. It has to come from with in and be original and I believe that this specifically is a huge part in design that an artist has to display in their work in order to be original and successful.

The article called Failure by Design was another one that interested me. The title was a little strange to me and honest I clicked on it because I was born in 1993 and I saw the year and immediately went to it. There is a quote that says, “Why is the average graphic design effort today merely average at best?” and I partially agree with it. Art will only get better and will change it’s path constantly over time. That’s what I like most about art. If art was at it’s peak pack in the 80’s then there would be no chance for artists of this century to prove themselves. That’s why art is by opinion and every piece attracts a new crown which I love about the job. It gives each artist to make it their own.

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What draws me into graphic design is just that I’m a very visual person and I absolutely need to have some form of career where i can get involved with visual things of any kind. I thought about numerous academic routes i could go down to fulfill this passion. At first i decided to major in computer science as i have always been interested in making videogames, but then the realized the amount of nitty gritty technical stuff i had to learn before i could get to anything fun like working with computer graphics just wasn’t worth spending four years in college. After leaving computer science, i flip-flopped between architecture, product design, and studio art. I eventually landed on graphic design because i figured that as a major, it would have a nice emphasis of on working on visual things, while being balanced out by the fact that it is a fairly transmutable skill, unlike probably studio art. Also the notion of taking images and repurposing them for other motives is a really appealing one to me. It’s always entertaining for me to think about what something means if taken outside of its natural context. Like what if an Olympics took place underwater, or inside of a department store, or at my house. It would completely change people’s perception of the event. The ability to play on perception and expectation is a pretty intriguing prospect to me.

Two of the graphic design fields that have peaked my interest would be environmental design and advertising. I might be able to appreciate environmental design because I like the restriction of designing for a physical space. I enjoy thinking about how to cater to demands of a facility while keeping a consistent and appealing aesthetic motif. As for advertising design, i admire the tight interplay between text and image. I feel like making a good advertisement might be like making a comic that tells it’s story in the course of a single panel. One of my favorite things about advertisement is how it’s never just about what is there, but what isn’t. A good advertisement should instantly grab your attention and afford the viewer space to continue thinking about design after they’ve looked over it.

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