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{ { { { 04 08 12 16 blossom business + the design mind
you can’t do it all yourself.
aid
art that helps
an area for the reader to hear from artists to gain knowledge about future projects.
fluke
what works well?
possible powerhouses of collaboration.
habit
master of all trades
collaborate programs to increase your odds of getting hired for those creative jobs.
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{ { { { 22 26 30 34 gala
workforce pay attention
a product that could alter mass print production.
37 signals
the ultimate collaboration tool this is something you need, don’t just want it, get it.
dream
the new collaboration within it young children share their dreams while artists bring it to life
a paper university of oregon
a paper that explains what we look for in design
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blossom
business + the design mind
you can’t do it all yourself.
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At a glance business
PALO ALTO
CEO Tim Brown explains why it’s now necessary for
IDEO
PALO ALTO. CALIFORNIA. IDEO
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consultancies like his to get involved ever earlier in new-product development.
As companies seek more and more help to find breakthrough products and to
speed up development, they’re increasingly turning to design consultancies such as Palo Alto (Calif.)-based IDEO very early in the process. Rather than just provide
prototypes based on a company’s conceptual design, IDEO now tends to be brought
in at the early innovation phase, working with a client’s engineers and product managers to study the consumer needs and conceptualize products to fit those desire.
Design consultancies also are working early on with other partners that are playing bigger
roles in innovation, such as Taiwanese original-design manufacturers (ODMs). IDEO CEO Tim Brown recently explained these developments in the innovation process to Senior Writer Pete Engardio. Following are edited excerpts of their conversation:
That is one reason companies come to us. We work with 35 different industries. That means we can tap into 35 different ecosystems in the idea process. Q: How are companies using consultancies like IDEO differently than before? A: Companies used to come to companies like us mainly for engineering. These days we’re working more collaboratively. We recently worked with a group of surgeons that had technology for a medical device, for example, but needed help designing how that technology would be used. We had designers watch doctors in a surgery room and observe how they held the instruments during procedures. Then one of the designers made a little model using materials that were lying around and said, “Should it look like this?” Also, we now tend to do more projects similar to a concept car that helps drives the consumer understanding about what to do with a project. This is new. They’re having us help develop concept products as a way to get the original-design manufacturers excited about a new technology. For example, we are working on the Florence [a concept design project with Intel (INTC ) aimed at turning the laptop PC into a better consumer multimedia device]. We’re seeing this happen more and more as companies try to speed up the conversation with new technologies with players who are downstream.
IDEAS OF YOUR OWN
generate enough
OWN ABILITIES TO
rely only on your
summer 2010 immix.com issue 71 Q: Why do companies need outsiders to help do this? A: Even the largest manufacturers are having a hard time getting all the resources and decision-making structure lined up to get goods to market quickly enough. In order to innovate quickly, you need a richer set of ideas in the first place. You need a conscious realization that you can’t only rely on your own abilities to generate enough ideas on your own.
YO U C A N ’ T O N LY
realization that
NEED A CONSCIOUS
Y O U
Q: What are some of the big changes you see in the way innovative products are being developed? A: For one, there’s a big move to design platforms. Companies are establishing design themes that evolve but are not replaced each time a new product is developed. This enables them to bring new products to the market really fast by speeding up their development cycles.
Q: How does the rise of countries like China and India affect things? A: Right now, all of the influence that China and India are having in industries relates to outsourcing. But over the long term, they’ll have a much more interesting influence on the market. If you look back historically at the way Western Europe emerged as a market, it had do to do with a working class that became the middle class. This whole process is getting compressed today in China and India. How we address the emergence of these markets will be real issues. Q: What are the risks posed by the new model of outsourced innovation? A: You have to wonder where, ultimately, influence over margins and brands will end up. If you look at what’s happening in retail, the Wal-Marts (WMT ) and Best Buys (BBY ) are rising in influence and power as they go into brands themselves. With the big classical manufacturing brands, and tech providers as well, you have to wonder who’s going to win. Who will protect their margins the most and build the relationships with the consumers?
The old way of thinking was the original-equipment manufacturers did this. But there’s a risk that the OEM will lose control of the experience with the customer.
CEO Tom Brown, IDEO
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At a glance projects
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Okay, we got such a fun response from the call for
IDEA
At a glance projects
artists blog post that I did a few days ago. I am really excited to tell you about this fun
opportunitytocreatesomething,collaboratewithotherartists,anduseyourgiftstohelpothers.
I really love opportunities to do good with the art that I create. It is really fulfilling and rewarding to create for the greater good. I have wanted to do something to help Haiti for a while now, so I feel that this will fit in perfectly. I want to tell you about a great new organization that will be incorporated into our project.
You will create and submit a small piece of digital art
following the instructions and guidelines of the challenge. At the end of the challenge I will collect all submissions and create a collaborative collage containing all submitted pieces. Every artist will receive a link
THE IDEA
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to download a digital version of the final collage to professionally
print, (OR slice up, recreate, etc) and sell in their Etsy shop as A Beautiful Idea project. All the proceeds will go to the Haiti relief fund.
I actually love challenges with guidelines and instructions because I believe that real creativity comes from limited resources and limitations. I LOVE a challenge especially because it gets me thinking outside of
the box and outside my normal creative routine Plus, its fun to see
what other people come up with when giving the same instructions .
summer 2010 immix.com issue 71 01
INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDELINES: 1. You must have an active etsy shop with products for sale. 2. Create a simple design that depicts any of these words or phrases: Art for the greater good, Haiti, helping, serving, creativity, love wins, people, compassion, humble, humility. 3. Design can be a photograph, vector art, type treatment logo, decorated letter design, photo of shop item, drawing, illustration, etc. 4. The design you create must ONLY contain the colors displayed in the color story above. 5. The design must be a simple unite with a light/white background with no bleeds or edges (see below) 6. Submit your design at 8Ă—8in 300 dpi. 7. Save your file with your name as the title 8. Deadline is Wednesday March 17th 2010 through email at info@promisetangeman.com. (Late submissions will not be accepted) 9. ONLY THE FIRST 20 PEOPLE TO RESPOND IN THE COMMENT SECTION WILL BE QUALIFIED TO PARTICIPATE.
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{
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what works well? possible powerhouses of collaboration.
we l ve beats t
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TWO IS
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TWO IS BETTER [in this case]
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Justin Bieber has already surrounded himself with a number of great collaborators and influences, from Usher to Ludacris to Drake to The-Dream. There’s one collaboration that will have to wait, though. During an event at a high school in California, Bieber told E! that he wants to collaborate with Lil Wayne once the rapper is released from prison. For his part, it seems like Weezy is amenable to the idea, as he gave Bieber a shout-out on a Ustream session (not to mention Bieber acknowledged the nod on his Twitter). We’ve got at least a year before the two will be able to tag team, which gives us plenty of opportunity for speculation about what such a track could sound like. Here’s what we would put on their mash-up EP in the meantime.
“ D r o p D o w n t o E a r t h ”
Combination: Weezy’s “Drop the World” (from Rebirth) and Bieber’s “Down to Earth” Sample Lyric: “Just hope you’re heaven sent/ And you’re hell-proof/ I never thought that it’d be easy/ ‘Cause we’re both so distant now/ And the walls are closing in on us/ And we’re wondering how?” Analysis: You can’t tell whose lyric is whose, can you? The strangely intense words from Bieber’s song would meld nicely with Weezy’s Rebirth single. Also, it would mark a nice transition into rock for Mr. Bieber.
“OneLessLollipopGirl”
Combination: Bieber’s “One Less Lonely Girl” and Wayne’s “Lollipop” Sample Lyric: “Don’t need these other pretty faces like I need you/ She ain’t never had a love like mine/ And I ain’t never seen a ass like hers” Analysis: Every combination needs a slow jam, and Weezy and Justin could become the 21st century version of K-Ci and JoJo.
“ C r a z y F i r s t D a n c e ”
Combination: Lil Wayne’s “Crazy” (from the Da Drought 3 mixtape) and Bieber’s “First Dance” Sample Lyric: “When I close my eyes I see me and you at the prom/ No red lights inside/ Just a bare room with green lights” Analysis: The ultimate mash-up, as it combines Weezy, Bieber, the beat from Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy,” Usher and whatever else happened to pop up in the studio that day. Come on, don’t pretend like you don’t wish this was on a mixtape right now.
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master of all trades
collaborate programs to increase your odds of getting hired for those creative jobs.
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COMBINE COMBINE
COMBINE
MASTER OF ALL TRADES
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With clients expecting more and more from freelancers, learning new skills has never been more important. Dean Evans talks to the creatives reaping the benefits of doing so Have
you ever turned down a job because you didn’t have
the necessary skills?
Clients are increasingly expecting more from freelancers as new design projects criss-cross different media platforms. It’s why many illustrators and designers are keen to boost their creative know-how by trying out new things such as animation, 3D modelling and web design. This typically means jumping in at the deep-end with new software, such as Cinema 4D, Maya, 3dsMax, After Effects, HTML or Flash. But it’s not as hard as you might think and the long-term rewards usually outweigh any short-term pain. Crucially, diversifying to pick up new skills can open up new commercial possibilities. “I’ve always believed in an on-going education”, says illustrator Ben O’Brien, who studied animation at university and originally started his career as an animator. “Around six years ago, I started becoming interested in what people were doing with Adobe Illustrator. So I got myself a copy and dived in to see what could be done. I was amazed. For a couple of months I dedicated all my spare time to learning it inside-out, while at the same time building up a portfolio of illustration work completely separate to my day job. “I had a few small illustration jobs while working for this studio. But it wasn’t long before I made the decision to take this new skill and try my chances with it. So I left my job and started looking for illustration work. My first call was from Airside, which was looking for freelancers with strong Illustrator skills to work on an advertising campaign for MasterCard. Looking back, the opportunity was especially good since it was quite an intensive illustration project – I had to fine-tune my technical skills to pull it all off successfully. Since then I have always worked with Illustrator. It has become my business and my passion.”
animated and produced,” he says. “I needed to work with animators that had to learn the specific way my characters are drawn in the animation realm.” All of which brings us to another useful way of expanding your skill-set – collaboration. “Working as part of a team makes a big difference to your knowledge base,” says Sean Farrow, a visual effects artist on the recent The Da Vinci Code sequel, Angels & Demons. “Everyone has had different backgrounds, used different approaches and had different experiences.
Most of my best techniques and tips come from working with other talented people. Be a sponge and learn by not being afraid to ask: ‘Hey, how did you do that?’” Chris Malbon, senior designer at McFaul is also a fan of collaborative learning. Sometimes it’s the only way. “The past year I have been learning Cinema 4D,” he says. “I had to learn it pretty quickly for a job McFaul Studios did with Nokia. The first phase of the job was completed by our sister company, Dropp. But they got really busy, so it was left to me to learn how they did it for phase two! I freaked out a little, if I’m honest. I come from a 2D, hands-on background of illustration and graphic design, so starting to think in all dimensions was a challenge. But with some great teaching from the Dropp lads, it all fell into place.” “We used Illustrator to create flat stroke line work, then used the 3D package to create 3D objects using the illustrations as a guide. We then mapped the line work onto elements, then composed it all in After Effects and Flash for the interactive/ multimedia side of the job, and Photoshop for all the print side. The overall effect is great, it gave the illustrations that extra oomph, and because the people in the campaign were all photographed, the depth of field made it all that bit more ‘real’. We have been using it more and more on other projects – it’s now just another string to the McFaul Studio bow!”
O’Brien believes that the design industry, technology and client expectations evolve so quickly that you often have to push yourself to keep up. So where do you start? Should you splash the cash on an expensive formal training course, or simply choose to experiment in your spare time? One way is simply to learn new skills yourself. Ask yourself: Who do you want to work for? What sort of projects are in demand? What do you need to know to satisfy the previous two questions? Matt Dent, a freelance illustrator, has already been through a similar thought process, and started by teaching himself how to use Photoshop.
Dutch illustrator Mark Verhaagen was dunked face-first into an unfamiliar discipline when he was asked to animate a bumper, promo and leader for Nickelodeon’s Winternick show. “I had only one-and-ahalf weeks to come up with a story, make the designs and then do the animations,” he remembers. “Because I didn’t have a lot of animation experience at the time, and it was such an amount of work, I couldn’t do it on my own. But as I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn new things, I asked some friends to help me out, and we were able to do the project together.”
“I realised that I needed to focus on a particular set of skills if I was going to attract the type of clients that I wanted to work for,” he explains. “So I started by focusing completely on my personal work. I spent a lot of time working with Photoshop, experimenting and looking at how different techniques and ideas could push my work forward. Now that I feel confident using Photoshop, and after working on a range of projects, I have gone on to learn other programs and skills. I have also taught myself how to use Illustrator, InDesign, Final Cut and Flash, as well as learning HTML and CSS to create my website.”
There are some strong themes that underpin the various viewpoints here: don’t be afraid to try out new things (you have got to keep learning just to keep up with the industry); remember that clients expect more, so try to deliver more; and learn from other people who have essential skills that you lack. Of course, you can always plug your knowledge gaps by outsourcing. For example, Rod Hunt, an illustrator and chairman of the Association of Illustrators (AOI) is moving into animation, but isn’t learning the skills himself. Why? “Working with someone with 10 years of animation experience will achieve better results than me learning everything from scratch,” he says. And it’s a good point.
Jeremyville, aka Jeremy Andrew, agrees that by offering more to prospective clients you can set yourself apart from the crowd. Illustrators and graphic designers are a dime-a-dozen these days, so offering a service that embraces more than one design discipline can give you more currency and earning power in the marketplace. Jeremyville has expanded his own skill-set into animation production, which involves “producing a whole ad, from art, to voiceovers, to directing it, and supplying the agency with the finished files.” He’s also heavily involved in 3D figure design with Kidrobot and is currently working in New York on a new range of toys. “I didn’t get training in these new areas,” he told us. “I was never taught animation, or the various aspects of producing an animated ad, I just learnt it as I went along. You can do homework and research on it, and employ freelancers who help you fill in the gaps you don’t know yet. There is always an answer. I have always worked like that – I never went to design or art school. I studied architecture, so I have always needed to find my own solutions. It’s also more fun that way.” Jeremyville used his new animation knowledge in a campaign for MasterCard New York (McCann Erickson). “It was a series of 30-second spots that we
Of course, you don’t have to work in different places or collaborate with other designers to learn new skills. As Matt Dent has proved, you can still learn a lot on your own. “I would definitely recommend a few websites,” he says. “Illustrator Nate Williams provides some great advice on his blog. There are also some really good books that I often look back to, such as Fundamentals of Illustration by Lawrence Zeegen, and Mark Wigan’s Basics Illustration series.” But don’t get carried away. As Jeremyville points out, whatever technical skills you have, it’s your execution of a brief that is what really matters. “I’m a believer in the quick and easy solution, but heavy on creative and ideas and concepts,” he says. “You can do the most brilliant ad with a great concept, but with very basic skills. It doesn’t work the other way around.”
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{
gala
workforce pay attention
a product that could alter mass print production.
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The concept aims to capture the essence of magazine reading, which people have been enjoying for decades: an engaging and unique reading experience in which high-quality writing and stunning imagery build up immersive stories. The concept uses the power of digital media to create a rich and meaningful experience, while maintaining the relaxed and curated features of printed magazines. It has been designed for a world in which interactivity, abundant information and unlimited options could be perceived as intrusive and overwhelming. The purpose of publishing this concept video is first and foremost to spark a discussion around the digital reading experience in general, and digital reading platforms in particular. Thus, we would be more than happy to hear what you have to say regarding the concept and ideas expressed in the video: the magazine reading experience, digital browsing, text versus images, as well as hear about your own digital reading experiences and thoughts. We are all ears. Follow the discussion in the comments below, in our blog and on Twitter. For additional information, please contact Sara Ă–hrvall at sara [dot] ohrvall [at] bonnier [dot] se (+46 (0) 8 736 4009) or Pontus Schultz at pontus [dot] schultz [at] bonnier [dot] se
01-02 Bonnier R&D
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At a glance tools
{
37 signals
the ultimate collaboration tool this is something you need, don’t just want it, get it.
summer 2010 immix.com issue 71 We make it easier to get work done We care deeply about the products we build for our customers. Quality, clarity, attention to detail, ease-of-use, and usefulness are at the core of everything we do. We put this energy into building web-based apps that make it easier to collaborate, share, discuss, and get work done. We make products for small groups Our products are built for small groups. In some cases that means an entire small company, but in other cases it might mean a department in one of the world’s largest corporations. Every company is made of small groups. We make those groups work better. W
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Useful is forever. Bells and whistles wear off, but usefulness never does. We build useful software. Our customers are our investors. They fund our daily operations by paying for our products. We answer to them, not outside investors or the stock market. Clarity is king. Buzzwords, lingo, and sensationalized marketing-speak have no place at 37signals. Great service matters. We’re known for fast, concise, and friendly customer service and support. We work hard to make sure we live up to that reputation every day. Contracts suck. No one likes being locked into something for a year or two or more. We never lock anyone in. Our customers can cancel at any time, no questions asked (and we never charge a setup or termination fee). Business software should be affordable. Some business software costs tens of thousands of dollars a year. That’s obscene. Our products start at $12/month and our most expensive plans are $149/month for unlimited users. Software that requires training is failed software. Our products are intuitive. You’ll pick them up in seconds or minutes, not hours, days or weeks. We don’t sell you training because you don’t need it. The basics are beautiful. We’ll never overlook what really matters: The basics. Great service, ease of use, honest pricing, and respect for our customer’s time, money, and trust. 01
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executives Jason Fried Jason Fried is the cofounder and President of 37signals. Jason believes there’s real value and beauty in the basics. Jason co-wrote all of 37signals books, and is invited to speak around the world on entrepreneurship, design, management, and software.
David Heinemeier Hansson David Heinemeier Hansson is a partner in 37signals. He has been working with the Net with varying levels of success since 1996 — in the fields of game journalism, marketing, project management, design, and development. In July 2004, he released the framework Rails (also known as Ruby on Rails). It’s the infrastructure software that is used to build all the applications at 37signals and thousands of other popular sites.
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advisors Jeff Bezos Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, has always been interested in anything that can be revolutionized by computers. Intrigued by the amazing growth in use of the Internet, Jeff created a business model that leveraged the Internet’s unique ability to deliver huge amounts of information rapidly and efficiently. In 1994 he founded Amazon.com, Inc., the leading online retailer that offers services which traditional retailers cannot: lower prices, authoritative selection, and a wealth of product information. Jeff Bezos is the sole investor in 37signals.
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come to life, monsters, superheroes, robots, toads and even the Eiffel Tower. “I dreamed that our house was flooded with water and we didn’t know why. We went downstairs and we saw my grandmother was pouring water from a jar,” wrote Beatrice, from Spain. Her dream was translated into one of the most colorful, detailed images in the entire project, containing - among other elements - a cat, a radio/cassette player, yellow stairs and lots and lots of water.
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Another illustration, with cartoon-like panels within concentric circles, is mainly in black-and-white except for the golden egg in the center. “Today I dreamed that there was an egg in the street,” wrote Elena, also from Spain. “I took care of the egg and incubated it for nine months. A little chick was born. It was very ugly but I didn’t mind. I took care of the chicken and it grew and became a chicken that laid golden eggs. And I became rich.”
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“I dreamed it was raining. But it wasn’t raining water, it was raining money and everyone took some and my family got rich because our house didn’t have a roof and a lot fell in,” wrote a girl from Valencia. Barnabe, from Mazatlan, wrote: “I dreamed that I went out of the school and outside it was raining money. I thought I would be rich with all that money. When the rain stopped, I collected all the money and I got rich.” Ernesto, from Havana, Cuba, has a slightly different experience. “I dreamed I was going home from school and it started to rain money. I ran home immediately.” (It is easy to see that only the Cuban boy is afraid to take the money, preferring to hide at home).
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The work on each dream takes about two months. Omar collects and sorts them before approaching the artists, who then create their illustrations. Only a few of the children have seen the illustrations of their dreams. “They like the illustration but they don’t recognize their own dream in it,” Omar says. He plans to send a copy of the book to each child.
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“When adults describe their dreams in writing, there is some purpose they want to achieve. They want to document or analyze what they are experiencing. Dreams written by adults are for the most part much more complicated. They have lots of details and contexts and the writers try to understand what lies behind them. Children are much more direct. Children know that I will read all the diaries and they are free to cut the dreams that they don’t want to share. But a lot of them are not afraid to expose their fears, the multiple ways of dying in a dream and the terrible presence of death. They need to express how they experience death and love in dreams. It’s natural. They also are not ashamed to admit that the river they dreamed about was actually a pool of urine in their bed.”
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Sometimes he receives dream diaries from which pages have obviously been torn out, but Omar says that for the most part the children do not hesitate to reveal even their deepest secrets.
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Another favorite, also connected to death, came from Anna, a young girl from Spain. “The dream talks about a big black snake that can see through its mouth and eat with its eyes,” Omar related. “The snake looks at the girl and swallows her. Inside the snake, she meets other people and finds a beautiful garden.”
Many of the children described dreams about getting rich quickly. Money often rains down from the sky, but despite this superficial similarity, it is in these dreams, in particular, that numerous cultural differences are revealed.
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One of his favorite dreams was that of a Mexican girl, Andrea Lopez. “One day I dreamed that my parents, my brothers and I went to visit three islands and I jumped into the water without protection,” she wrote in her diary. “I felt like I could be in the water and not drown. I was curious and I swam into the deep water and then I saw my skeleton with my name written on it.”
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In all, since then around 8,000 dreams have been collected for the project. From those, Omar selected some 180, which he then asked various artists to illustrate. Whenever he goes to a school, he asks the children to write down their dreams - ostensibly a simple task of jotting down a paragraph or two from what they remember of the night before. But it is not always so simple, he notes, recalling a boy from Mexico and a girl from Cuba who began crying “because they weren’t able to write down their dreams.”
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That was was in 2002. The next, obvious step was to ask the children to briefly describe their dreams. Omar, who travels a great deal, has to date visited 40 schools in Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, France and Germany. In each one he met with children aged 8 to 10 and collected about 200 dreams. Omar says that the younger the children are, the shorter the dreams they write down. It would be too much work to read and type up all of the dreams, he says, but “I have found dreams that are precious gems.”
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SAN FRANCISCO - Roger Omar’s story begins like a children’s fairy tale. “It started a few years ago, in Sidney. On her 8th birthday Melanie, my brother’s daughter, put up for auction the dreams that she wrote in her notebook during a week. I ‘bought’ a short dream that says “El monstruo de colores no tiene boca” (the monster of colors doesn’t have a mouth). At that time I was organizing workshops with kids in Spain and publishing articles in a children?s magazine in Mexico. I started to get in touch with them and asked them to write down their dreams.”
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“Today I had a weird dream because there were some squares and in each square there was a couple kissing each other, and the squares were very little.”
Omar says he would like to include Israeli children in the project. Meanwhile, he too continues to dream. “One of the last dreams that I remember is about my entering a witch’s house. The place is very narrow. At the end of the house there is a big furry fly... I remember that dream because that same day my friend came to my house and while we were talking about our relationship, a big furry fly passed by. I don’t know where it came from. There are no big furry flies here. It was scary!” He recommends to adults that they keep a dream diary, as he does. He put the witch and the furry fly into his, but has no plans to turn them into an illustration any time soon. The dream collector has a fertile imagination, but he believes that children are still better at dreaming than adults are.
Omar, 35 and single, was born in Mazatlan, on Mexico’s west coast, and lives in Valencia, in Spain, “the city where there are dogs that change color,” as one little girl wrote in describing her dream. Omar studied journalism and supports himself by writing for various magazines. A book containing the selected dreams and their accompanying illustrations is scheduled for publication later this year. Many of them can be seen at www.flickr.com/photos/rogeromar/sets/1835379/. Israeli artist Maya Bloch is one of those who collaborated with Omar on creating illustrations for the project. Her pictures are used to accompany dreams from the children of Cuba. One print shows a figure - a woman? a young girl? - being kissed by a large but friendly bear. “I think that in some way a picture is in fact a kind of dream - a kind of parallel reality,” says Bloch, who lives and works in Tel Aviv. “When I began to illustrate this dream, I first looked for the reality, the girl who was dreaming. In a dream, like in the subconscious, there are different rules. There is no linear logic, no past and no future.” In addition to death and frightening animals, the world’s children dream a lot about food (especially eggs, and chocolate), furniture and toys that
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a paper university of oregon
a paper that explains what we look for in design
summer 2010 immix.com issue 71 A b s t r a c t This paper explains the logistical and technical issues involved in design collaboration and how to address them strategically in projects for design, teaching and research. Five years of arranging projects, studying peer results and involvingnovicesinexchangespointoutthebenefitsandpitfallsof Internetpartnering. Rather than a single universal technical solution, multiple solutions exist: Technical means must be tailored to specifics concerning the task and participants. The following factors need to be considered in finding the best fit between technology and group design: 1) Collaborators profiles, 2) Mutual value of produced information, 3) Collaboration structure, and 4) Logistical opportunities. The success of a virtual studio depends upon clear task definition, aligned participant expectations and suitable engagement methods. We question the efforts required in the installation of expensive technologies for communication and visualization. Often technical systems support ancillary and non-beneficial activity. Matching needs and resources can be more critical than hightech equipment. People motivated to interact will work around technical difficulties.
project. Those valuing interaction will count multiple interchanges as a positive mark. Those more efficiency-oriented, by contrast, could see frequent communications as a deterrent to individual productivity. At a certain stage of the design process, generating alternative solutions is a positive trait, but as the need for design resolution increases, introducing wide-ranging alternatives can slow-down the honing process. Resulting projects can be presented to reflect the teaching philosophy of the instructors. Instructors can selectively highlight quality work online or display all submissions neutrally. In the latter case, quality criteria can be discussed in class or online. An example of team synergy took place in a Oregon Spring 2000 project for visualizing the work of Bernard Maybeck. Students were encouraged not only to share components, such as trusses, windows, furnishings and lighting fixtures, but also to work with each others’ room models and renderings. They used the room models either for graphic comparisons of architectural aspects or to create fantasy compositions or animations. In sharing these products, students’ high regard was evident when the most successful efforts were incorporated into other student’s work. The strongest products were reused many times and contributed I n t r o d u c t i o n to the visual richness of the class’s work. Weaker pieces were mercifully forgotten. The availability of Internet communications makes it possible for a wide range of participants to benefit from sharing design ideas and C o l l a b o r a t i o n S t r u c t u r e Successful collaboration is characterized by a high quality of working together. While the accessibility of web authoring, application sharing and desktop video-conferencing applications makes it simpler to communicate, interaction that advances joint objectives.This requires careful scheduling so that getting the most utility of the exchange is not guaranteed. Our experiences time is allotted for developing rapport An online schedule can also clarify timing with design collaboration projects have clarified what leads to vibrant and of actions and expectations for deliverables.. For example, in monitoring design useful collaborations.This paper will explain the logistical and technical work, one critic had to explain when he would review the work. Otherwise, the issues involved in design collaboration and how to address them strategically students were expecting instant feedback as soon as they posted the work. By in setting up effective projects for design, teaching and research. The paper scheduling online interaction twice a week, he kept their expectations realistic. will explain how to tailor technical aspects to suit the task and participants. Logistics of the team structure and role definition must also be considered. Group work requires careful coordination to reach a common goal and minimize C o n t e x t : S o u r c e s o f O b s e r v a t i o n s redundant or contradictory efforts. To make full use of available resources, Observations are taken from both published papers on the work needs to be divided and individual responsibilities clarified.The work collaborative design (for example, Kaga, Comair and Sasada 1997, Morozumi can be divided according to time (sequential turn-taking), location (separate et al 1997) and from our own experiences with architectural student collaboration territories) and team structure (roles), or a combination of the above. (Wing 1999) projects (for example, Cheng et al, 1994, Bradford, Cheng and Kvan, 1994, The Virtual Design Studio project began in 1993 with students working in Kvan 1997). The latter have taken place in a variety of settings: exchanges parallel from different locations. When we first tried teams spanning different within a single campus, within the same city, same time-zone region and across schools, we had difficulty establishing strong collaboration. In the most successful international boundaries.The participants have variously been enrolled in design teamwork of 1995, after an initial charrette, the team split the work by site and studios, digital media and research seminars in which the exchange of ideas with program. In spring 1996, assigned students to complementary roles so that their outsiders would be beneficial. The projects were structured to maximize sharing, contributions would have less redundancy. We gave foreign students a local building on previous virtual design studio projects (Dave and Danahy 1998). contact for designing a Monument to Hong Kong’s 1997 changeover and we Recent classroom efforts have engaged students in generally put programmers and designers together to facilitate use of the Web. (figure3) available media and channels, such as e-mail, web pages, The logistical difficulty of working with many schools lead us subsequently to simpler listservs; with shared whiteboard, application sharing and partnering arrangements. We have arranged a number of two and three school desktop video-conferencing used for the remote partnerships.These studio-based collaborations in which students only have to deal with one partner (fall 1996, spring activities have been complemented by controlled laboratory-based experiments in 1997) or one local partner and a remote pair (spring 1999). Within the short time frame which subjects have used whiteboards, text chat or voice, sometimes supplemented of several weeks available for most of the projects, participants find it easier to create a by video communication. The range of projects used in these various settings working relationship with just one or two remote partners. With fewer partners, tasks has explored a variety of design opportunities and collaborative strategies. and roles can be parsed more casually and results can be coordinated more easily. While the international work did not allow face-to-face interaction, local work R e l e v a n t I s s u e s has confirmed others’ findings that face-to-face meetings much improve the From Virtual Design Studios, we can see what factors shapes rapport achievable with computer-supported interactions and accelerate the design collaboration and use these strategically in planning new projects. In trust-building process. (Tang and Isaacs 1993, Morris et al 1999).(figure 4) these collaborations, we bring together individuals to work on a common To ease the process of large group team dynamics, progressive collaboration can design task using particular digital methods for communicating design concepts. be used. In progressive collaboration, individual efforts are consolidated into larger In deciding what technologies are appropriate, we need to look at and larger groups, allowing relationships to form gradually over time and special the profile of the participants, the desired outcomes and the logistics abilities to come to the fore. (Wing 1999) We did this in Fall 1999 when five sections of team structure and timing. For example, Dave and Danahy of second year design students at Oregon shared responsibilities for documenting the by Arief Prasasti.identify seven categories, with special emphasis on the Design downtown area of the small city of Corvallis, Oregon. Each student was responsible Brief (including site and program) which they use to promote interaction. for contributing to a type of site documentation (physical model, digital drawings) (1998) Kalaly emphasizes that interdisciplinary teams need to have a digital and Web reports about a particular theme. Within each class, there were team leaders P3 framework that represents the Products of collaboration (artefacts created), for the models, the drawings and the Web. Within each class, the subgroups worked their Performance according to different criteria, and the Process of design. on documenting one block of the site and researching the theme of their report, (1997) The participants’ background includes their expectations for creating afterwards submitting them to class leaders to be consolidated onto the Web. From certain products that together satisfy their personal performance criteria. The the results, students could download dimensioned drawings in either raster or vector expected outcomes are the idealized goals of the performance criteria. And form and read about aspects of the city (i.e. outdoor space, uses and users, etc.). the arrangement of the time schedules and team structure shape the dynamic o g i s t i c s group process. This triad is similar to a model of technologies presented L While collaboration is easiest if schedules, objectives and participant inVera et al (1998) in which it is noted that the selection of technology should backgrounds are similar, an exact match is neither likely nor necessary. Even depend upon the task (i.e. design, meeting, conflict resolution, social interaction, etc., Kalay’s Product), types of collaborators (i.e. relative knowledge, social/ small amounts of computer- supported engagement can be valuable. Creating hierarchical relationship, etc., Process) and outcome measures (i.e. quality partnerships that vary from casual, low- investment critiques to highly structured Figure 2. Univ. of California at Berkeley Faculty Club model by Samuel technology-intensive interchanges can expose students to a spectrum of design Adams (upper left) was used by Daniel Leckman in collages & animations. perspectives and collaboration possibilities. Shared interests and agendas start of output, solution of problem, individual satisfaction, etc., Performance). collaborations; logistics of time, equipment and support shape the actual form of collaborations. In practice, differences in schedules, methods and agendas can limit C o l l a b o r a t o r s ’ p r o f i l e s the duration and scope of joint projects. For scheduling conflicts with other schools, Participants bring their own expertise, perspectives and objectives we have found that a short phase of intensive interaction can be enriched through to a task. Within the multi-faceted world of design, team members can be preparatory or follow-up asynchronous phases done at the convenience of each party. trained with different sets of references and vocabularies that enrich the design In the case of the Maybeck project, Oregon students received input from a process but make communication difficult. Specific to computer-supported Maybeck scholar/builder in the region, local architectural and computer graphic communication, attitudes towards technology and technical preparation can experts, and their peers at the University of Washington. Students’ inter-school facilitate or impair communication.What tools work well can depend on both exchange was limited to peer Web site critiques and shared model components experience and attitudes towards new techniques. Technical neophytes are more due to scheduling conflicts that prevented live video exchange. Instructors shared likely to be nostalgic over qualities of conventional design media than early educational resources such as scans of original drawings and digital design resources. adopters interested in exploring technology. Preferences for live or asynchronous In this situation, e-mail critiques allowed ideas to be diplomatically worded and media relate to the participants’ working style (Kolarevic and Ng 1999). For those the relative anonymity provided the benefit of a level playing field. With a very more introverted or prone to silent reflection, the efforts and costs associated low level of technical investment, students at both sites benefited.We anticipate with synchronous technologies are poorly utilized. Careful partnering can that as telecommunications technology becomes more ubiquitous, opportunities match complementary skills and attitudes for more effective teamwork. It can be for low-threshold projects will become more common across the curriculum. postulated that design collaboration is in part a process of negotiation and, as Moore et al (1999) have noted, rapport has an effect on outcomes of negotiations. Although this is difficult to quantify in design contexts, it is a widely held belief. Individual expectations for outcomes influence what is evaluated as a successful
T u n i n g T e c h n o l o g y t o F i t In determining what technology will be employed, a task’s complexity and how it involves site,form and program all shape what tools work well.Technical tools are tuned for the representation of particular parts of the design process and particular content areas. For example, cultural meaning is easily delved in detail with text and still images, whereas composition questions can benefit from dynamic interaction with graphic elements.Text- based methods fit smoothly into many aspects of the design process because of their ease of use. The act of articulating designs from graphics into words encourages thoughtful reflection. (Kvan 1999). Different phases of a project need different kinds of support. In the earlier phases, ambiguous phrases and sketches stimulate consideration of new possibilities. In construction detailing, the need to carefully examine proportions and assemblies and produce detailed construction documentation steers the project more towards CAD vector representations. Live techniques such as video-conferencing and application sharing allow spontaneous interaction. By supporting direct interchanges, video-conferencing supports a level of familiarity unavailable through other means. Live discussion can bring faster or different resolution to issues that would otherwise take many e-mail exchanges (Tang and Isaacs 1993, Morozumi et al 1997, Morris et al 1999). Synchronous interaction in video appears to provide no positive contribution to the design product itself when compared to text. Especially for visual tasks, seeing nonverbal responses of partners is less crucial than responsive audio accompanying shared task graphics (Dave and Danahy 1998, Tang and Isaacs 1993, Gabriel and Maher 1999). When audio and video channels are available, they are often filled with extraneous communication (Vera et al 1998). Simpler asynchronous methods can be very suitable for group work.Work gets done when individuals are tackling tasks, not when they are in meetings (Poltrock 1999) and asynchronous methods allow individuals to work at their own pace without interruption. Indeed, graphic images can, at times, constrain exploration of design solutions when compared to text only (KvanYip andVera 1999).In comparing face-to-face,text and audio/ video design collaborations, both content and attributes of interactions are influenced by the medium of exchange (Gabriel and Maher 1999). Because live methods are dependent on available bandwidth and do not demonstrably provide much benefit, our use of these methods have diminished. Low-cost IP video- conferencing has been disappointing due to the variability of the network bandwidth. ISDN video-conferences have been too expensive for spontaneous interaction, limiting their use to more formal scheduled sessions. Lack of spontaneous access to quality audio and video has limited our ability to evaluate its utility over an extended project. As improved compression algorithms and the faster connections such as the Internet2 may make IP conferencing more viable we need to consider how best to allocate the bandwidth. C o n c l u s i o n Many institutions are undertaking to support distal collaboration in design, either in teaching contexts or professional offices.Typically, these efforts proceed with the installation of expensive technologies for communication and visualization. Our experience in teaching virtual studios and related research suggests that setting up the scenario with people whose needs and resources match can be much more important to a successful collaboration than hightech equipment. People who are motivated to interact will work around technical difficulties. Often technical systems support ancillary and non-beneficial activity. The success of a virtual studio depends upon the definition of the task, the expectations of the participants and methods of engagement.
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