the DESIGN theory track

[Chad Smith]

hey there web dorks.
Gosh it's not Sunday and I am considering composing a long post. what gives?
My long posts usually arrive around Sunday morning.
This one might fall flat anyway but I was interested in thoughts from
you kids in this direction.

I am now in the midst of thinking about neomodernism and how that
affects us as web and new media designers.

I am writing up something on this and didn't know that the term
existed. I thought, hmmm. I wonder if I add 'neo' to 'modernism' and
then google it if anything will come up? of course it did because as
the post modernist will say 'there is nothing new under the Sun'. I
may look up neoanimal husbandry and see if that gets me any hits.

I am curious to know what you guys think about the bigger picture of
how what we are going to school to learn affects society. Are we going
to school to get a 9 to 5er or do you have higher aspirations. Don't
get me me wrong, I'm not dissing the 9 to 5ers that has its own
merits.

My line of thinking started when I was considering the utopian
idealism of our early modern design ancestors. The idea that through
design one could create a perfect society.
Utopian idealism was thrown out after 2 World Wars and the onset of
post modernism, but I think that as web and new media designers we
should revisit some of the ideas of the early modernists.

A perfect World may be impossible to achieve, but with our embracing
of new technologies and being designers in the middle of the
Information Revolution make it more of possibilty than the early
modernists during the Industrial Revolution?

How can your web work make a difference?
Should it?
How will or web designs affect the environment?
Will we be in bed with big corporations or be against them?
What's the political significance of our wired world?
What products can we make that will change people's lives? How can we
make them more usable?

After being in the Advanced Graphic Design class last term, I got the
notion that those kids were still all about print. A student almost
started crying when I mentioned once (and only once) in class that the
future was all about the screen. In the future paper will be saved for
our bottoms.

I think we are in a good spot with future thinking if we can let go of
print. As web and new media designers we may have a years head start
over the print kids.

I'm starting to head off on tangents.

I think the point is the neomodernist World that is developing is a
web designer, new media expert, Information architect, programer
playground that should be embraced and expanded on by us.
Lets get in the design history books kids!

Here is a forum on those ideas. It's from a graphic design perspective.
I found the forum quite interesting and read several of the topics.
It's from the Cranbrook School which if you are not familiar with has
a lot of kick ass designs and designers come out of it.

http://www.cranbrookdesign.com/forum/threads.php?id=477_0_7_0_C

[Dru Kepple]

My goals in life:

a) be a good husband
b) be a good father
c) be a good friend

For me, fulfilling a and b are partly (notice I said "partly") about
getting a decently-paying job that I don't mind doing. Right now,
that happens to be ActionScripting. Yay, I have a job that I like,
and that will hopefully pay enough for Trish to be a stay-at-home mom
(which is what we want to do, no sexist motives going on here) and
raise a family, preferably in Hood River.

Oh wait, I'm not talking about design.

I'm NOT being combative or trying to discourage anyone from taking to
hear Chazizzle's excellent discourse. I'm just stating that for me,
"changing the world" is much further down the list than "loving my
family." Of course, we could get into the nitpicky argument that by
changing the world I make the world a better place for my family,
yadda yadda yadda and blah blah blah. Call me self-centered, but I
don't care what I do in life so long as it 1) doesn't fil me with
dread to do it and B) pays well enough to support a family.

That's me. That's I. That's Dru, the Dancing Kepple. Sure, I'm
passionate about things, and I want to be the best ActionScripter I
can possibly be, but that's all secondary to Trish and our as-of-yet
unnamed fetus.

Again, I don't mean to sound like a downer...I'm just chiming in the
conversation with my opinion, which is mine alone, and by statement of
said opinion I in no way mean to express, implicitly or explicitly,
that anyone else should share said opinion. I support Chad in his
quest to lead the charge, and I hope he has company. Maybe I can even
direct traffic from the homeland, but i won't be screaming down a hill
on horseback with my sword drawn, aiming for orcs.

Hooray for Sundays.

Dancing Dru

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[Chad Smith]

perfect! Thanks for the discourse.
Exactly the comments I was seeking.

I don't know if I will be leading any battles against orcs but am
definitely in support of my brothers and sisters in Hood River.

I am thinking of starting up a design cult in Astoria if anyone wants
to move out there with us and live on the compound.

weeeeeeee!