INSTAPORTRAITi-design + visual brand design master courses september 2012

The term PORTRAIT implies an external point of view that - through a specific visual and/or narrative technique - describes a PERSONAL INTERPRETATION OF A SUBJECT, by highlighting some relevant characteristics and qualities, thus depicting/showing its IDENTITY.

The prefix INSTA- places its origins in the culture of INSTANT PHOTOGRAPHY, introduced by Polaroid, followed by Kodak and lately Lomography, widely exploited by nowadays Candid Photography trend and mobile apps.

The I-DESIGN & VB-DESIGN INSTAPORTRAIT INVESTIGATION aims at:

- on one side, exploring new ways for developing a personal/collective VISUAL DEFINITION of what respectively Interaction Design and Visual Brand Design ARE, by COLLECTING, ANALYZING, INTERPRETING, MAPPING a number of different RESOURCES, including (but not limited to) projects, researches, cultural interpretation, people, theories, intuitions etc.;

- on the other side, looking for a way to capture and share EXPERIENCES and INSIGHTS, taking into consideration both the DYNAMIC and EVOLUTIVE NATURE of I-Design and VB-Design disciplines, and the potentiality to use a wide range of DIGITAL MEDIA SOLUTIONS that can serve the purpose.

DESIGN OBJECTIVE

INTRO

- to define some VISUAL LANDMARKS, reference points, that can help us orientate ourselves in the LEARNING (today) and PROFESSIONAL (tomorrow) JOURNEY on the ever evolving DESIGN TERRITORY.

- to avoid FINAL DEFINITIONS: on the opposite, to be able to tactically capture and make it visible through different media, the richness and complexity of the design activity, to create a PLATFORM based on existing SOCIAL MEDIA and DIGITAL COMMUNICATION tools.

- to answer to the following questions:

What is the ROLE of Interaction Design and Visual Brand Design within our society, culture and business practices?

Who are the main ACTORS and KEY DRIVERS?

Which are the current PARADIGMS?

What are the BEST PRACTICES in the different fields of application, from artistic experimentation to research to products and solutions for the market?

What are the STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS in term of market, technology, communication etc.?

What are the TRENDS, what is HYPE (and what SUCKS)?

...and to many other questions too.

- to act as CURATORS, CRITICS, DISCOVERERS and DISSEMINATORS of an emergent culture, and therefore to be able to design both TOOLS and METHODS for capturing, elaborating and sharing

AIMS

TO BOOKMARKDelicious - http://delicious.com/Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/Pocket - http://getpocket.com/ (formerly Read It Later)

TO ANNOTATEEvernote http://www.evernote.com/Instagram http://instagram.com/Statigram http://statigr.am/viewer.php

TO CONVERSATETwitter https://twitter.com/Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Google+ https://plus.google.com/

TO INFORMBlogger http://www.blogger.com/homeWordpress http://wordpress.com/Tumblr http://www.tumblr.com/dashboard

TO SHAREDropbox https://www.dropbox.com/Google Drive http://drive.google.com/startWeTransfer https://www.wetransfer.com/

TO PUBLISHIssuu http://issuu.com/homeYoutube http://www.youtube.com/Vimeo http://vimeo.com/Slideshare https://www.slideshare.net/login

TO AUTOMATELaterBro http://laterbro.com/Ifttt https://ifttt.com/dashboard

TO SEDIMENTMemolane http://memolane.com/siteTweetbook http://tweetbook.in/

TO BROADCASTTwitterWall http://www.tweetwallpro.com/Little Printer http://bergcloud.com/littleprinter/

FUNCTIONS

The Brief is shared between MID and MVBD.

Each group will choose 2 functions (but one group will choose 3) and will explore them in detail, to understand how each service/application works, which purposes does it better serve, which are its main features, its hidden ones and its limits, which kind of users and contents better fit the system and why.

The two courses will work in parallel, with the same aims, but each one working on its specific design domain.Information Exchange between the two groups is a way to enrich the results, so we’ll spend some time together during formal revisions, and we ask you to talk frequently with your fellow students “of the other MA” to get inspiration and inspire them.

phase 1: investigate, choose, test18/9 afternoon - Launch + Groups Formation19/9 afternoon - Media Tools Research2/10 afternoon - InstaPortrait Platform Design

phase 2: information stream design4/10 afternoon - Revision (idesign only)12/10 morning - Refinement + Next Steps

The conclusion of this activity will also be the setup of another, long-lasting activity, which is going to build and spread a shared knowledge-base all year round.

PROCESS & RESULT