Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Design gyan..C/o DCC

We are approaching the end of a signature course here in NID called Design concepts and concerns.It has been a hectic, chaotic, enlightening and engaging experience that has left most of us thinking.The pressure of understanding a problem, coming up with an apt solution and then conveying it in the best possible manner has left most of us sleep deprived and longing for the weekend.
What follows is a list of the things that have dawned upon me in the process( a few of which need to be taken with a pinch of salt)

* Form and structure go hand in hand in making every design possible.
* Critiques are valuable.Random comments and opinions are not.
* Out of intense confusion comes curiosity, which in turn leads to clarity.
* Group work is hard.Persistence and responsibility are required at all times for the work to be cohesive and successful.
* When the mic malfunctions, it is a sign from above that you should stop talking.
* As an explanation gets verbose and lengthy, attention span decreases radically.
* Humor and interactivity go a long way in making a presentation memorable.
* Doodling in class gets one good ideas at times.
*What you know is as important as how you can communicate the same to your audience
* Taking a stand and doing self analysis is imperative, even if one's understanding of a subject is limited.One should only realize that there is more to learn.
* Sometimes good designs fail.It is possibly because it is close to impossible to impress everyone.
* Resources and experiences when shared lead to a huge database of knowledge that one can refer to
in times of need.
* Design for me , engenders an attitude to 'know more about more'

A few design gyan nuggets that I gathered in the process...wonder what more will I realize in the next 3 days.I'm curious to know...







Sunday, July 4, 2010

Updates

So much has transpired in the time since I wrote my last post that I wonder where to begin.
The folks have been transferred to good old Lucknow, so last few trips to Baroda have been taking up my weekends.I took my driving test, which was a laughable farce. I just had to put the car in 1st gear and move like 10 inches and it was done.This, after my application was already signed by the RTO inspector.
Quite an anticlimax actually.I had too much preparation for the test.

College has been crazy. After 3 long weeks of singing,dancing, being yelled at and general mayhem( that we were never allowed to laugh at), we were 'welcomed to the NID family'.Suffice it to say it was a very wet and wild welcome indeed. A freshers party and a lot of friends later, I can safely say that the campus feels like home now.Classes are good and work is just the perfect amount right now.Not so much that I have to crib, or not so less that one feels useless.
I miss my friends though.Feel like going to Bombay every weekend, but something or the other crops up.But I've promised myself that I will go to my favorite city before the monsoons are over.
 Such a dear diary sort of a post. It was due I guess.
:)