Pre-Foreword; after the fact.

At the time of writing this post I am 23 years of age, and I graduated from the Communication Design BFA program at The Cleveland Institute of Art nearly six months ago. I was lucky enough to have a full time job prior to graduation, which has kept me very busy in those six months. I just want to say as a precursor to this tome I wrote, that I still believe in everything I say; the importance of interaction within a community between all outlets, and the outcomes that are achievable when they are embraced fully. If you'd rather not read this in chapters as separate blog posts, you can download a pdf version of the physical publication here. Enjoy!

Foreword

To my friends, my family, and my community- without you this truly would have no meaning

I still remember how I felt my first day coming into The Communication Design at The Cleveland Institute of Art. I was so excited to finally be starting my education in something I knew I would love. I was full of wonder and astonishment, ready to take everything in and become the best designer I could be in three short years.

The excitement I felt for design then has evolved and matured into something even greater. It has evolved into to passion, obsession, integrity and even sometimes frustration. Together, all of these qualities have given me the mind set to capture the big picture, formulate ideas, and develop detailed work. I wouldn’t change any of those feelings that I’ve developed over the past three years, for they have helped shape the designer I am. They are the feelings that I rely on day-to-day that tie my everyday experiences together.

The excitement I felt at the beginning was accompanied by a plethora of other emotions including hope, desire, fear, and anxiety. I was hopeful for the future, I desired to learn and become something great, but at the same time I felt fear and anxiety towards all of the uncertainties that I knew awaited me. The big bad year long BFA Thesis was one of those uncertainties.

I spent my first two years in the Communication Design Department wondering where I would be at the beginning of my senior year. I always asked myself ,“What could I possibly devote an entire year of school working on?” Instead of brainstorming and preparing like I would for any other project, I just brushed those thoughts off and had it in my head that I would figure it out on a whim. Needless to say, when the first day of class rolled up, I was still clueless of what I would spend my year developing. Needless to say, this did not help the fear and anxiety dissipate.

The first week of senior year was hell for me. I was panicking that I wasn’t interested in anything enough to spend a year working on. I made lists of things I enjoy, things I hate, and things I wanted to learn about. After those lists and about a million post-it notes on my studio wall, I had it in my mind that I would do my year long thesis project on outer space. I’ve always wanted to be an astronaut, to experience weightlessness and the fear and wonder that is the universe.

I think outer space had become a cop-out for me at this point. I’ve done at least three projects on outer space since being accepted into the Communication Design Department. Luckily for me, my classmates and good friends were there to talk me out of something that would have been a big mistake. They asked me why I would do my thesis on space and I didn’t have a legitimate reason besides “I’m interested in it.” Next they asked me what do I want to do in my career. My response to them was somewhere along the lines of, “I want to design meaningful experiences for people that change the way they look at things and interact with them.” That was the moment when it clicked in my mind what I should do: investigate the intricacies of experience and how one can design an experience. I knew almost instantaneously that I would be investigating and designing for The Communication Design Department that I had been a member of for the previous two years.

I knew coming into my senior year at CIA that there were a couple of major changes happening in the Communication Design Department. There were important faculty changes, class changes, and a large sophomore class entering the department. It was then I started to really think about my experience and my role in the department.

I had always seen myself as an ambassador to the department when it comes to discussing pressing issues with the faculty, starting critiques and rallying students to get involved with the department. It wasn’t until half-way through the spring semester of my senior year that I truly identified these traits as qualities of leadership. I am a firm believer that you should leave things in a better state than when you arrived if you are truly passionate about them, and this becomes a duty if you are a leader. I have a love for all things design that I try to get others excited about, and our small community of designers in The Communication Design Department is definitely one of them.

I came to the realization that I could have a positive, lasting effect on how the Communication Design Department functions. I knew then that my BFA thesis was going to be about creating a starting point for a new culture to develop for this community.

I’ve definitely had my ups and downs with this project. It has affected me emotionally and physically because I have given it everything I possibly can in one year. I have poured my body, mind and soul into this because it is something I believe in. It can and will make the positive change I have planned for if it is embraced.

Chapter One: Knots & Puzzles

Before We Start

Before I start to explain my thesis, there is a little bit of background knowledge I need to share with you. In order to fully grasp the concept behind my thesis, you must understand a little bit about the structure of experience and what designing [for] an experience means.

What is An Experience?

Experience is what gives structure and meaning to life. It is something you have to embrace, to interact with, and put to memory in order to have a lasting effect. Experience affects your future interactions, perceptions, and helps shape your values and personal beliefs. It shapes who we are, how we do things, and is the reason why we do them.

I would like to share two metaphors for experience that I have come up with. The former will be an introduction to what the structure of an experience is, and the latter is about the importance of integrating interactions to form an experience.

Imagine a long straight thread. This thread represents your life time line. There is a beginning and an end, but what is most important is what falls in between. This part of the thread is where all of the experiences you will have occur. As life moves forward your thread starts to develop little tangles and loops along that middle section. These loops are representative of your previous interactions and experiences. The more you progress, the more the thread tangles, eventually weaving the tangles in and out of each other. As your life progresses and your experiences build upon each other, your thread will become a ball of tangles that all affect each other’s perceptions, aesthetics, and interactions. The ball of thread is the culmination of your life’s experiences, and the emotions that connect all these in your life.

Now step away from the ball and imagine a puzzle. Puzzles cannot be considered complete until every last unique piece is in its place. The puzzle pieces represent interactions. Without even one piece, the puzzle cannot reach completeness (fulfillment). It is crucial that these pieces all fit together to create the complete image. Only when the puzzle has all of its pieces can we consider an experience to be had.

Designing (for) an experience is a method of integration that leads to achieving an overlying purpose. Designing things that influence relevant interactions will contribute to the overall experience and purpose. Without the context of the designed experience, these interactions have no definition for integration.

Regardless of the form an experience manifests, it will always require subject specific qualities in order to be successful.

Onward to Chapter Two.