3D concept for iPhone and iPad

I see great potential in this new free app for the iPhone and iPad. Just like the augmented reality app String, this actually shows 3D effects without use of glasses or special paper. Possibly a great tool to use for designers (architects?) or animators! Check it out here!

Arts graduates find jobs & satisfaction

Here is a good article about the perspective of the job market and outlook for graduating art students. I find it interesting that, statistically speaking, artists find more success and happiness when pursuing a career in the arts, breaking the old notion of "artists are a dime a dozen." As a graphic designer, it's somewhat true that one third of us are satisfied with our work but the average annual income for artists are satisfied with their position, which I find surprising. The following excerpt intrigued me:

"It's clear that we need to be doing a better job of preparing our students for the business realities that they face after graduation...every call for curricular reform has to address the zero-sum realities of what we must squeeze into a curriculum and what we can afford to leave out."

Digital Pottery Wheel

So this is a very interesting concept; making pottery without touching real clay. Unfold design studio shows how the concept works and it even has a 3D printer that produces the pottery with real clay! I definitely see a possibility for augmented reality collaboration.

Sir Ken Robinson's presentation about STEM & Creativity

I really like his talks. He's a very interesting thinker and educator. It would be an honor to interview him for my thesis...(sigh) someday.

Evolving Technology via Classrooms

Here is a cool article to check out that talks about the various equipment that we've used in an education classroom setting. Some of these are definitely old school while others you probably haven't heard about before or didn't realized what it looked like back then (for all of those newbies and Y generation folks!). It's good to know a little bit of history from each object. Ask your parents if they ever used these things before - I bet you'd be surprise with their stories!

Making QR codes more artistic

Another great find from the twitter world. I'm sure everyone has heard of the QR codes that can be scanned and takes you to a particular website (found in magazine ads, newspapers, etc). But their mundane and bland looking. Well instead of the boring black and white look this site you examples of how you can jazz up your own personal QR codes. Good idea to put on a art website or business card :D

Clock for Procrastinators

I found this to be an interesting idea: a clock that reminds of things to do. I've always been a fan of analog clocks. I rather prefer them for my wrist watches (Egads! Those things still exist?!) since their a lot faster to read than digital clocks, well, for me anyways. I'm sure the idea will generate an online version (hint hint for any developer out there). But still an interesting concept to remind us not to be too lazy!

The power of 140 characters

I found this article from one of my Tech & Learning newsletters and thought this author had a interesting point about Twitter. Overall you have to be careful what you post online. Just like the incident about a teacher being dismissed from her frustration tweet, Twitter has become a venue where people can express anything they want to say. Sure we know our rights and so forth to say whatever you darn want to say (I can be emotional and angry too) but putting that in 140 characters and tweeting it out there makes it fair game to the online universe. Overall think before you tweet. You'll never know who'll pick up your message and interpret it the wrong way.

King Philip IV visits the Metropolitan Museum of Art

In highlight of museum interactivity, Improv Everywhere just recently did a stunt at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Although they did this for fun, and not planned at all, I think it's pretty awesome to meet viewers at the museum and to get to know a significant icon. Great idea for the AIC - wink wink.

Chicago School Reform at UIC

It was definitely worth attending the CPS Reform meeting at the UIC Forum last Tuesday evening. Much of the panel brought some very interesting and valid viewpoints in Chicago's educational system and how much it needs to be restructured both financially and creativity (I'm sure there are more points that can be stated but those were the top two things that I was concerned about).
A few general comments stood out for me when they each reviewed and discussed the visions of the education reform. For instance, Vision 1, Provide bold leadership that addresses difficult systematic problems and avoids scapegoating the "usual suspects, adresses the financial situations for both faculty and schools. One of the panels discussed that test scores are based by student's income. I was a bit surprised about this and made me question: shouldn't students deserve a fair testing oppertunity like all other students? Is testing that expensive?
During the Vision II, Develop and implement education policy and reform initiatives that are primarily research driven, not market-driven, one of the speakers talked about equal educational rights for all students and neighborhoods, remembering the issue of Neighborhood School reform, and our education in Chicago should establish "living, democracy, & opportunity."
I agreed with Isabel Nunez's discussion about Vision III, Improve teaching and learning effectiveness by developing standards, curricula, and assessments that are skills-based, not sorting-based, saying that there should be a "flexible delivery of a standard education" among all students.
Lastly Vision IV, Ensure the support, dignity, and human civil rights of every student, was importantly stressed by Therese (the arts and creativity as well as equality) and a thorough discussion about class sizes and fair education among all types of students.
I also enjoyed listening to the other speakers, especially Jackon Potter's rousing and motivating speach about more action rather than talk.
Overall it was a great review of what CPS need and all educational schools in general should have. Hopefully change comes soon and Chicago can lead that example for all schools in the nation.

CPS and iPads

Here is a video that Apple presented during their announcement of iPad 2. Notice at 2:10 it talks about Chicago Public Schools and the iPad:

Visual comparison between Chicago and New York

So I found this awesome poster that shows a visual comparison between Chicago and New York. It's very well designed and colorful, making it attractive to read. Check out the image:

Advertising as a Superhero

Being a graphic designer and all, I thought this was an interesting read on how advertising saved Pixar (in the early days) as well as how it has become embedded in the art world.

Is the Internet really unsafe?!

I found this blog a few days ago and thought the author raises some good points in reference with the internet as a risky learning resource. Sure we've all heard of the dangers of the internet: gambling, porn, stalkers, trolls, etc. But our culture is constantly evolving, where people are accessing information as much as possible from almost anything. It's kinda freaky to think that we as a society are collecting information so fast that I begin to wonder if we'll become "the collective" (reference to Borgs from Star Tek - yea I'm a treky ✌). However with proper internet etiquette (netiquette) and moderate access for younger students, we don't have to live in fear from the WWW. The internet will always be a vast unknown for the new but with some helpful guidance the net won't be a scary place as most will think.

Hardcore Photoshop work

Found this cool video of an artist making the alphabet with 114 photoshop files. Yes that's right, 114 files:


114.psd Type from Emilio Gomariz on Vimeo.

My Thesis 2 Playlist

I posted this on my Ning page and thought I'd share it here on my Cyberped blog. This is another handy website called Grooveshark (free!). I made this playlist after attending our first Thesis 2 workshop this week:


My Thesis 2 Mix - Vol 1

1. Monday Morning - Melanie Fiona
2. Workin' for a Living - Huey Lewis and the News
3. Bad Day - Fuel
4. Respect - Aretha Franklin
5. Time - Hootie and the Blowfish
6. Don't You Worry About A Thing - Stevie Wonder
7. Who Needs Sleep? - Barenaked Ladies
8. Maniac - Michael Sembello
9. Faith - Limp Bizkit (R rated)
10. Drive - Incubus
11. Relax - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
12. Sweet Home Chicago - The Blues Brothers

Digital Media - New Learners Of The 21st Century

So I have a twitter account and the main purpose is to get information on the latest design issues and news, whether it's the latest environmental problem to solving the aesthetic function of a product. I almost didn't get Twitter since I didn't want to be into this new web 2.0 too much. Yet I was forced (literally) after attending a user interface conference. There I discovered that contacts can be shared via Twitter accounts and streaming, or tweets, of information viewed by many. I was hooked.

Recently I just found a tweet regarding the same issues and practically the same project as my thesis. PBS is showing a program this Sunday, February 13th. Although the difference between my research is that I'm focusing on college/university level while I assume this will focus on K-12. Definitely must check out! Thank goodness for Twitter.

Cartooning & Humor by Liza Donnelly

I found a CNN article about Liza earlier this week and just recently found an interesting TED talk about the power of cartoons and humor as a woman in this day and age. It's a great perspective about women today and the culture we live in like social media and stereotypes:

• Liza Donnelly: Drawing up humor for change (TED)
• Cartooning has been my Savior (CNN)

Designing a Carbon Footprint

I found an interesting quote clip from my usual Graphic Design USA email newsletter. Kinda makes me reflect about excess stuff we print & advertise:

For a company [Starbucks] that has a large portion of their website devoted to promoting the claim that they’re very environmentally aware and making constant efforts to reduce their footprint through methods including recycling, constructing “green” buildings and ethically sourcing their coffee sources, what does it mean to add up the countless building signs, road signs, printed items for every product they carry, window graphics, gift cards, etc. that are all going to have to be re-made, re-printed and shipped to every corner of the globe? It means a pretty deep carbon footprint.

— Freelance Writer Tara Alley who promotes green coffee and coffeemakers for Coffee Home Direct.