JRMC 7010 Final Portfolio

This semester, I took JRMC 7010 - Digital Design and Aesthetics - in a bid to "see the other side" of the creation process when it comes to media. This was not my lone reason for taking the course. I needed an elective to fill out hours, and the course seemed interesting on paper. What I gained, though not quite what I expected, was a valuable insight and experience into the sides of project and product design I have not had before. Below is a curated collection of my work over the semester, to reflect and provide insight on what I have learned. 

Final Project: Kitten Commando 20149

Since nobody has ever begun at the end before. This may have been my favorite project of the class, because not only did it allow me a sense of total unrestraint in creating something that I wanted to create, it allowed me to not only apply what I had learned about digital and user interface design, and apply it with skills I had learned in my previous scholastic and professional work, laying the groundwork for what could easily become a very real and realized product. Plus, the kitten is just so gosh darned cute. Click here for more information.

Design Journals

Throughout the semester, the class was tasked with creating something, anything, at least once a week, and keeping a journal of our efforts. A total of ten entries were created. While the entire list of entries can be accessed here, below is my favorite two entries, along with a brief discussion of why I chose them. 

AR Mapping app "UGAmyway"

The very first entry to my design journal, this was my first attempt to conceptualize and design an application. "UGAMyWay" was my first step outside of my comfort zone in designing something completely intangible and conceptual, something I couldn't adjust and mess with in my hands like a model or a piece of machinery. In many ways, you always remember your first fondly. 

Invision test "Morning Board"

I am the kind of person who can best appreciate and learn about things by getting my hands on it and, for lack of a better phrase, try to break it. Furthermore, the "morning board" had been something I had seen in almost every futuretech-type movie, show, and advertising. The launch of Invision's browser-based wireframing and prototyping suite allowed me to indulge in both.

Journal of Digital Design

As part of the team assisting with the development of the Journal of Digital Design, I worked as part of the technical and design team, tasked with assessing the functionality of the journal's site template, ensuring that the template's CSS coding enabled it to fulfill all functionality requirements, and provide opinion and suggestions for the development of JODD's logo and overall design. Furthermore, though the class has concluded, I will continue to assist JODD as copy editor. 

Media Design Lab

As part of the group tasked with suggesting furniture and fixtures for the future Digital Media Lab, I took part in the research and discussion on how to equip the space for maximum utilization. My greatest contribution to this discussion is probably the suggestion of the skid plates that would enable any piece of furniture to be easily moved around a carpeted surface. 

Design Critique
Nintendo Switch Menu User Interface

Each class member was required to make a five minute presentation utilizing Apple Keynote, Apple's alternative to PowerPoint, critiquing the design elements of a program or app. For my presentation, I selected the menu user interface for the Nintendo Switch. While most of the challenge came from having to create a keynote presentation for the first time in ten years, the critique also forced me to stop and take a close look at something I had taken as intuitive, and examine why exactly it was intuitive. The Switch is something I needed next to no instruction to pick up and use, and this presentation forced me to step back and see how the elements of the menu's design enabled this. 

Final Thoughts

If I had known what kind of class this would have been when I signed up for it, I don't think I would have enrolled. Now that I've made it through, however, I know I would have regretted it if I didn't take it, or if I had withdrawn. The fluid nature of the class' structure was stress-inducing at times, something any first-semester Ph.D. student absolutely loves, but here at the end, I can appreciate the flexibility and adaptability the controlled chaos of this course provided. 

That said, the class is clearly geared for digital design majors, and anyone selecting this course as an elective should be made aware of this. Still, elements such as the design journal requirement were a highly valuable aspect in developing my ability to think not just from a functionality aspect, but from a design and presentation aspect. It was like a boot camp for my aesthetic design muscle. While I am by no means as skilled as an EM design student who has had years of instruction and practical experience, I am much further along then what I was when I began this course.

My future, as a Ph.D. student, lies in academe. A life of research and instruction. While the lessons learned in this course may not have a foreseeable direct impact, it will influence the small things as I go forward. Things like how I think about designing recruiting materials, pages showcasing my work, materials for studies being conducted, and so on. It may have taken a few weeks for me to see the full value of the course to someone whose future is not design-centric, but for a student who knows exactly what they are getting into, the insights offered by this course can be an invaluable tool in the scholar's toolbox.