In the studio

Today was my first, long anticipated. studio class, Design Fundamentals I, at the Ringling College of Art and Design, Continuing Studies Program. Seven of us gathered to spend the first of four Sunday afternoons learning from Jeff Schwartz, a professor in the Core Studies area. He went over the syllabus -- explaining that we would be learning about communicating in back and white, without words, using the ideas of line, shape, and composition. I enjoyed his lecture on design principles and design elements, in which he engaged the class by asking for our examples, as he elaborated on concepts listed on the syllabus -- just what I was interested in!

Then came the assignments - not only finding and annotating 6 examples of design, 3 good, 3 bad, for next week, but getting out our required materials and preparing 5 white boards (8 by 10) using black paper cutouts for different design conditions. The first two were to be

done in class, the complete set by next Sunday. First, using a 4 inch black square, cut and arrange the black paper so it is not longer recognizable as a square, second, with the same 4 inch square, cut and arrange so that the design an be moved back into the original square easily.

Wow! This was the hard stuff! Any and all creative thoughts flew form my head, and I stared long and hard at a blank white board and 4 inch cutout of black paper. All around me others

were busy clipping and gluing, and I could glimpse interesting and artistic creations. I tried using my sketch-book, but I couldn't see how the ideas from my head would conform to the assignment specs. FInally I just started cutting shapes, quite regular and repetitive-- I wan't even sure which of the two assignments I was fulfilling. Next task, using rubber cement to commit to one particular arrangement rather than constantly arranging and rearranging. I got rubber cement EVERYWHERE - except under the corners of my more ambitious shapes! Again, a sly glance at my neighbors suggested that they had mastered the 4-year-old techniques of cut-and paste! The professor, Jeff, moved from student to student, commenting, encouraging, and, in my case, moving the cut-ots slightly to demonstrate how a slightly different arrangement looked much better. He didn't evaluate, but used a few of the concepts he had introduced. I did hear him suggest to the man to my right that he might like to retry one of the bo

ards after he had completed all the assignments.

So, here are my first attempts :

The square that isn't, and

the square that recombines.

The remaining 3 boards are much more difficult -- I must demonstrate figure-ground and black-white dominance. I'll show you them when I've completed them!

Yes, the experience lived up to my expectations -- and was harder than I'd imagined!

Sawdust Pie

I deliberately came without any cookbooks, so I searched the internet for plausible recipes for my remaining letters. Found something interesting for all but X, so the search must continue.

Today was the S d ay. The ingredients-in-process certainly looked like sawdust, but the final taste reminded me of pecan pie.

Jack gave the Sawdust Pie a 5-pie rating; it w

as too sweet for my taste. (But

I'll help him finish it!)

Now, what to do with the leftover 7 egg yolks?

A week beyond Stonington

It's time to settle into a serious routine. I have a number of small projects in-process: three Academy of Management papers to review, the book chapter on Follett as a giant "with shoulders' to stand on, the business and design convergence position paper, reading the "great books" of design thinking - where I've been creeping along with Schon's Reflective Practitioner for days, if not weeks, and preparing for my editorship of the "May BDL book." I think that's all, but there may be others, and I know there are several waiting in the wings for the moment when they will bust on stage. I need to decide, shall I just keep flitting from one to another as time and interest allow, or should I set myself a schedule to complete them one by one. The very fact that I am reflecting about the suggests that my ad hoc approach of this past week has started to bother me. A different approach is called for.

Multiple realities

Where am I? In the retiree world, sunning myself at the pool, reading the Historian and watching others engage in water aerobics? Or in the academic world, working over the internet to craft a position in the convergence of management and design? Or in the virtual world of the Avatar, far removed from Second Life? My body is in one location but my perception roams alternate realities.

The calm before the storm

Tomorrow promises to be the beginning of a major work spell - Ulla and I have three important research papers due in at least working draft form by the middle of March. Together they will define much of the underlying philosophy of the Business and Design Lab, at least from the perspective of the founding director who is the only professor in design management in Scandinavia with an endowed chair. That creates some expectations, but we won't worry about that as we settle into our writing rhythm. - there'll be time for that later. Our mantra has always been "not to embarrass ourselves." It's just that the stakes are getting higher! Ulla's rested after several weeks in Australia, and we plan to start tomorrow at our usual Skype time - 8 am US = 2 pm SE.

Check back this time tomorrow to see if I'm still cheerful!

Settling in

Unpacking the car

Setting up electronics (from the car)

Waiting and waiting at Comcast to pick up a DVR

Purchasing required supplies for the design class I'm taking at the

Ringling College of Art and Design

Filling the fridge (no photo - you know what that looks like)

Checking out the beach (late by the time we got there)

NOT planning for tomorrow

Here at last -

@ 7:39 PM after 1495.5 miles

If you ask what took us so long today, you may be shown all 77 photos that I took at the Kennedy Space Center.

Instead, here are some of the realities that I enjoyed the most:

What every (inner) child wants to know -- where do astronauts go to the bathroom?

If you know about my "day books" you'll know why I was fascinated by this log.

Why substitute a two-dimensional or even three-dimensional representation for the real thing -- even if it is far away?

and finally, in an oblique reference to my own (re) design