Erica, a 21 years old graphic design student of Ontario College of Art and Design, rushes to school due to the delayed subway in the early morning. Since she has been thinking how embarrassing she will be in class about her late, she starts to have a bad mood.
After she gets off from the train, she started running to school and trys her best to get into class as soon as possible. Unfortunately, by the time she arrives the classroom, she realizes that the class has been canceled as the professor is out of town for the whole week. Thinking back about all the useless rushes for school, she says to herself, "that's it, I have enough for today."
Erica starts to render around in school and try to figure out which friends are free after class to have lunch with her. She goes to the main building, walking up one floor using the stairs by the express elevator.
All in a sudden, she is stunned with what in front of her.
In front of her, there is an exhibition with the topic of Memories in Childhood. With all the excitment brought by the toys and any works of art that relates to her childhood, she is totally awake and starts to think about all the beautiful memories from her childhood.
Listening to the happy background music and exploring within the exhibition and her memories, she gets a really good refreshment from the unlucky morning.
She says to herself gracefully, "what a great start of the afternoon."
Monday, March 10, 2008
Jessica Rogers - Red Carpet, Meet OCAD.
Dee lays asleep in her pitch-dark room, which is completely silent, except for the sound of bubbles coming from a large fish tank from the corner of the room. Out of nowhere, a loud crowd starts to cheer and clap! Completely terrified, Dee falls out of her bed, hitting the floor harder then a bag of bricks. While rubbing her eyes in confusion, and checking her limps to see if they are all still intact, she realizes that the crowd cheering was not for her, but for the Spice Girls. Laughing at herself, she picks herself up off the floor and starts to get ready for a long day at school.
Dee walks to school (Ontario College of Art and Design), with a smile on her face, despite having to trek through loads of ugly brown slush, and knee-high deep snow piles. Her smile doesn't disappear anytime soon, as she approaches her local Second Cup where she gets her usual drink - a delicious Green Tea Latte made with Soymilk!
About 7 minutes later, still sipping on her favourite drink, Dee reaches OCAD. Even though she has Spice Girls blaring from her Ipod directly into her ear, she can still hear chanting from the Auditorium in the main building of OCAD. She is instantly reminded of her morning incident of falling off her bed due to a crowd cheering, so she lets out a loud chuckle, while spitting out her drink - which then turned into a giant snort, how utterly embarrassing (and slightly charming)! Curious as a cat, she walks towards the noise to check it out. She is hoping that all the cheering is over homemade muffins, or cookies, with lots of chocolate milk!
Pushing open the doors at a snail's pace, she sees crazy neon lights and what looks like a crowd of people laughing, dancing, and talking with each other. As she gradually approaches, she notices that there is an area off to the side where people are taking photos of each other. There seems to be a big box filled with accessories and unique clothing pieces. Walking even closer, she almost fainted. THERE ARE MOVIE STARS EVERYWHERE! She realizes that all the OCAD students are just hanging out and taking with all the celebrities, and then taking portraits with them to document this crazy day in the auditorium! In the back corner she sees Johnny Depp. Wiping the drool off her face, she runs towards him screaming, "JOHNNY... JOHNNY! IT'S ME DEE, YOUR FUTURE WIFE! I KNEW THIS DAY WOULD COME SOONER THEN LATER!"
To clarify: Some of the students from our class would be dressed up as famous celebrities. These celebrities would interact with the other OCAD students, putting on a fake persona of whom they are emulating. There are photo booth areas where the students can go take photos with their favourite celebrities, documenting this important moment in their life! There would be fun music in the background, so people can dance around and just enjoy themselves, making the interaction and environment more pleasant and welcoming.
Activate!!! XX: TWISTER
Wednesday was Derek’s most stressful day. He had ‘Objects and Environments’ from 8:30 to 11:30 in the morning and then, since he was in Industrial Design, ‘Draw like Leonardo’ from 12:00 to 3:00. Derek usually used his half hour between classes to quickly put finishing touches on his drawings for drawing class, but this weekend he had gotten all of his work done and that left him with thirty minutes of socializing time!
Derek Kim, who’s parents immigrated from North Korea in 1985, was quite a social butterfly and couldn’t go anywhere without every other person stopping him to say hi; he loved this.
At 11:34, Derek walked into OCAD foyer of the main building and was unpleasantly surprised to find it almost devoid of people. He resolved to go see who was in the first year wood studio –
“Hey Derek!” It was Danni, and Environmental Design student, whom Derek had ‘Form and Structure’ with during first semester, he also had a huge crush on her.
“Hi Danni, what’s up? Seems like I don’t see you as much, now that we don’t have any classes together.”
“Oh I know! And I’ve been so busy this semester with essays and stuff. But hey, did you see what’s going on in the Auditorium? It looks so fun! I was just waiting for someone else that I knew to show up, I didn’t want to go in alone.” said Danni with a look that meant she wanted him to go with her.
Derek took the hint, “The Auditorium? I don’t know, let’s go find out.”
As the pair approached the doors to room 190, noise could be heard from within.
Danni pulled the Auditorium doors open and just then a loud, deep voice could be heard saying, “Left hand, Yellow!” followed by a short sequence of high-energy techno music.
“Right foot, Red!”
In the Auditorium, Derek and Danni found a giant game of Twister, being played by over 30 people by the looks of it. The projection screen, which was usually a place for students to stare during lectures, showed an animation of a Twister spinner, spinning just as the real thing would if it had been flicked. The spinning was accompanied by more high-energy music until it stopped and a deep voice from the speakers said “Left foot, Green!” and the crowd of tangled students shifted on the patchwork of Twister mats connected on the floor.
“Come on,” said Danni to Derek, “let’s play!”
Derek didn’t have to be asked twice.
Derek Kim, who’s parents immigrated from North Korea in 1985, was quite a social butterfly and couldn’t go anywhere without every other person stopping him to say hi; he loved this.
At 11:34, Derek walked into OCAD foyer of the main building and was unpleasantly surprised to find it almost devoid of people. He resolved to go see who was in the first year wood studio –
“Hey Derek!” It was Danni, and Environmental Design student, whom Derek had ‘Form and Structure’ with during first semester, he also had a huge crush on her.
“Hi Danni, what’s up? Seems like I don’t see you as much, now that we don’t have any classes together.”
“Oh I know! And I’ve been so busy this semester with essays and stuff. But hey, did you see what’s going on in the Auditorium? It looks so fun! I was just waiting for someone else that I knew to show up, I didn’t want to go in alone.” said Danni with a look that meant she wanted him to go with her.
Derek took the hint, “The Auditorium? I don’t know, let’s go find out.”
As the pair approached the doors to room 190, noise could be heard from within.
Danni pulled the Auditorium doors open and just then a loud, deep voice could be heard saying, “Left hand, Yellow!” followed by a short sequence of high-energy techno music.
“Right foot, Red!”
In the Auditorium, Derek and Danni found a giant game of Twister, being played by over 30 people by the looks of it. The projection screen, which was usually a place for students to stare during lectures, showed an animation of a Twister spinner, spinning just as the real thing would if it had been flicked. The spinning was accompanied by more high-energy music until it stopped and a deep voice from the speakers said “Left foot, Green!” and the crowd of tangled students shifted on the patchwork of Twister mats connected on the floor.
“Come on,” said Danni to Derek, “let’s play!”
Derek didn’t have to be asked twice.
Sarah Rafter User Scenario - Take 2.
Michael Drummond, a 21 year old illustration student at the Ontario College of Art and Design, is leaving one of his early morning classes bleary eyed and exhausted. Shouts are echoing throughout the main hall, where he has stopped at the coffee shop to up his caffein intake in hopes of staying awake for his next class. Coffee in hand and some time to kill he decides to check out the commotion going on in the auditorium.
He walks through the doors, and makes his way to the edge of the second floor seats to get a clear view. Below his is what looks like a low budget art students game show gone mad. A giant canvas hangs from the ceiling of the auditorium, and there are three contestants standing behind podium on either side. There are also two people directly in front of the canvas standing behind what appears to be water guns on poles. Intrigued, he decides to make his way down to the main floor to get closer to the action.
As he walks out of the staircase and makes his way closer to the front of the auditorium, he notices he is now walking on a giant plastic sheet. Drawing from past experiences, he knows that plastic coverings are an indication of a huge mess soon to come. The noise of it beneath his feet alone gets him even more excited. He looks up form the plastic just in time to see what appears to be the game show 'host' handing two pieces of paper to the gunmen. The host gives the word and the two gunmen begin frantically unravelling their pieces of paper and quickly begin shooting the canvas. Only, to Michael's surprise, steady streams of colored paint shoot out onto the canvas. The gunmen began making strange unrecognisable patterns. After a few moments the crowd begins shouting again, screaming out random objects and animals. Michael assumes they are guessing what the gunmen are drawing. The contestants listen to the crowd in silence, until one of the girls on the left hand team rings the bell on top of her podium. Everyone stops shouting and turns their attention to her. She makes her guess, and the host deems it correct. Their team jumps and shouts in glorious victory. The team to the right stepped down from the podium and began walking to join the crowd, which now michael realizes is a line. Michael quickly rushes into line ahead of the losing team, and counts out his position. He will be in the next round. Overwhelming excitement coarses through him, while he join the crowd in calling out guesses of what objects could be hidden within the hideous linework the gunmen are making. A bell rings out, and everyone goes silent. The girl on the left-hand team calls out her guess, and is deemed victorious again by the judge.
The losers stepped down and michael quickly took a place behind the podium, along with the two people ahead of him. The host walks over to the two new gunmen and hands them their papers. On the given signal, they frantically open their papers and hasitly begin shooting. Michael looks from the screaming audience, to the canvas, and back to the audience. He hears the word 'bird' shouted from somewhere within the audience, and a jolt of nervous excitement springs his hand forward towards his bell. However, just as he was about to reach it, the ring of another bell was heard from the other team. The girl quickly calls out her guess, and is deemed correct by the host. Michael laughs in anger, steps down from the podium, and makes his way to the auditorium door. As he is walking to his next class, which he is now late for, he hopes the game will still be there upon his return. Still out of breath from excitement, he wants nothing more than to show that girl who's who.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Oliver Swainson: Save the world...maybe.
Jeremy Hewson, a 16 year old male, was visiting Toronto with his family. Still in high school, he was visiting Toronto to see his older brother and get a taste of college life. He loved action and adventure movies, especially spy films. James Bond, Jason Bourne, and Solid Snake were his heroes and he followed their fictional adventures with relish. He frequently fantasized about being a lone agent or spy and sneaking into enemy headquarters to capture vital information or save the world from evil.
During his visit to Toronto his parents took him to OCAD to see his older brother, George. When he walked into the building he could hear a loud klaxon periodically going off in the main hall, intrigued, he asked his parents if he could go take a look while they went off to find George. He followed the sound of the alarms and saw an OCAD student walking out of the auditorium door looking quite proud of some accomplishment. He opened the door the student exited to take a closer look. Inside, he found that the auditorium was dark with only a single spotlight providing illumination. It was shining down on a short, black, rectangular, pedestal in the center of the floor that had a large LCD screen with a timer on it and a big red button. A couple feet in from the door there was a large yellow and black striped line on the floor separating the section of floor where he was standing at the entrance and the rest of the room including the pedestal.
Curious to get a closer look at the pedestal, Jeremy stepped forward and crossed the yellow and black caution line. Immediately a hidden speaker goes "bwoeep! bwoeep!" and the whole room is doused in red light. Another light flicks on and the whole floor appears to be gridded off into 4 by 4 foot square tiles by lines of light. The LCD screen shows 5:00:00 and starts counting down five minutes. A small red LCD on the pedestal starts steadily flashing. Jeremy immediately regrets his decision to walk forward but before getting upset a feeling of excitement comes over him. "The pedestal seems dangerous but I think that button has something to do with stopping it!" he thinks to himself. He steps forward into the next square and the counter continues to count down, and then the next one. When his foot passes into this one however, warning lights start flashing and the speaker starts going "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEE~" the alarm stops as soon as Jeremy retracts his foot. He tries going to the square to his left. This time the alarm doesn't go off.
Square by square, Jeremy gradually makes his way around the alarm rigged invisible maze, slowly working his way closer to the pedestal. He can see his time is running out and the alarms that go off when he hits a bad square are starting to sound more frantic. With only seconds to spare on the LCD screen, Jeremy finally reaches the center square containing the pedestal and hits the big red button. The counter immediately stops, a celebration jingle plays, and the lights revert to normal. As Jeremy walks out of the room he feels a profound sense of accomplishment and relief. He may never know if the pedestal was actually dangerous or not but he still felt like he saved the world that day. What he didn't see was the trap resetting as he walked out the door of the room, waiting for it's next "agent"...
During his visit to Toronto his parents took him to OCAD to see his older brother, George. When he walked into the building he could hear a loud klaxon periodically going off in the main hall, intrigued, he asked his parents if he could go take a look while they went off to find George. He followed the sound of the alarms and saw an OCAD student walking out of the auditorium door looking quite proud of some accomplishment. He opened the door the student exited to take a closer look. Inside, he found that the auditorium was dark with only a single spotlight providing illumination. It was shining down on a short, black, rectangular, pedestal in the center of the floor that had a large LCD screen with a timer on it and a big red button. A couple feet in from the door there was a large yellow and black striped line on the floor separating the section of floor where he was standing at the entrance and the rest of the room including the pedestal.
Curious to get a closer look at the pedestal, Jeremy stepped forward and crossed the yellow and black caution line. Immediately a hidden speaker goes "bwoeep! bwoeep!" and the whole room is doused in red light. Another light flicks on and the whole floor appears to be gridded off into 4 by 4 foot square tiles by lines of light. The LCD screen shows 5:00:00 and starts counting down five minutes. A small red LCD on the pedestal starts steadily flashing. Jeremy immediately regrets his decision to walk forward but before getting upset a feeling of excitement comes over him. "The pedestal seems dangerous but I think that button has something to do with stopping it!" he thinks to himself. He steps forward into the next square and the counter continues to count down, and then the next one. When his foot passes into this one however, warning lights start flashing and the speaker starts going "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEE~" the alarm stops as soon as Jeremy retracts his foot. He tries going to the square to his left. This time the alarm doesn't go off.
Square by square, Jeremy gradually makes his way around the alarm rigged invisible maze, slowly working his way closer to the pedestal. He can see his time is running out and the alarms that go off when he hits a bad square are starting to sound more frantic. With only seconds to spare on the LCD screen, Jeremy finally reaches the center square containing the pedestal and hits the big red button. The counter immediately stops, a celebration jingle plays, and the lights revert to normal. As Jeremy walks out of the room he feels a profound sense of accomplishment and relief. He may never know if the pedestal was actually dangerous or not but he still felt like he saved the world that day. What he didn't see was the trap resetting as he walked out the door of the room, waiting for it's next "agent"...
Lucy
Greta Thomas, a 28-year old single mother, works in one of the top advertising firms in Toronto called IMAGeNATIONs. She has a 6-year old daughter, Lucy who has a great deal of imagination & creativity. She’s growing up quite fast and Greta wants to make memories with her little girl while she is still young. Problem is that Greta is always working and as much as she tries to spend more time with Lucy, work keeps getting in the way, the job pays well and provides her daughter with the life that two parents would instead of one after Greta earned a great position at the firm. Upset, tired and working late on advertisement ideas for the new Shampoo line XtraCare by L’Oreal, Greta decided to take her mind of work and clear her head for a bit, so she swerves around in her chair towards her laptop, on the opposite table to her studio table. The screen turns on and her mail box is flashing with a new message, she double clicks on the blinking icon that reads “1 unread message”. It opens up and it’s from the university she had attended and had received her education in Advertising, stating that there is an event happening on March 26, 2008, 5 years of successful interactive presentations that encourage family and friends to join the OCAD community in the demonstration of the installations from the First-year students that attended OCAD, Greta’s first thought is that this is perfect for her and Lucy to enjoy together.
As soon as they walked through the orange doors Lucy charged towards, a huge circle that resembled a hamster wheel and stared up at it. The wheel had handle bars sticking out on one side to help spin and stood on a stand that was shaped like the letter “U”, it was held in place by a pole that allows you to manoeuvre the wheel in various directions you wish for it to face. The left part of the stand acts as a guard to the wheel and the right has five flat panels sticking out slightly touching the wheel. The wheel itself is covered in squares that push in and out; they are sorted into sections of rows and columns. Greta kneeled down near Lucy, Lucy points up to the contraption, “That one!”. They come up and Lucy immediately started pushing the squares out and the wheel turns a little and that’s when a couple of squares hit the panels, out came a noise. Greta takes Lucy’s hand to step back a little and tells her that their going to pull down on one of the handle bars for the wheel to spin. As soon as they do, music started playing from the device; the squares sticking out are hitting one of the five panels creating sound. They stopped the wheel and pushed and pulled in and out some squares, creating a new set of arranged pattern. Again they step back and spun the wheel together and a new melody starts to play. They laugh together and move one to enjoy the rest of the installations and finish of the day off with with a couple of brownies.
As soon as they walked through the orange doors Lucy charged towards, a huge circle that resembled a hamster wheel and stared up at it. The wheel had handle bars sticking out on one side to help spin and stood on a stand that was shaped like the letter “U”, it was held in place by a pole that allows you to manoeuvre the wheel in various directions you wish for it to face. The left part of the stand acts as a guard to the wheel and the right has five flat panels sticking out slightly touching the wheel. The wheel itself is covered in squares that push in and out; they are sorted into sections of rows and columns. Greta kneeled down near Lucy, Lucy points up to the contraption, “That one!”. They come up and Lucy immediately started pushing the squares out and the wheel turns a little and that’s when a couple of squares hit the panels, out came a noise. Greta takes Lucy’s hand to step back a little and tells her that their going to pull down on one of the handle bars for the wheel to spin. As soon as they do, music started playing from the device; the squares sticking out are hitting one of the five panels creating sound. They stopped the wheel and pushed and pulled in and out some squares, creating a new set of arranged pattern. Again they step back and spun the wheel together and a new melody starts to play. They laugh together and move one to enjoy the rest of the installations and finish of the day off with with a couple of brownies.
Beach Day
Beach day
By Alexandra Barbu
Sam is a 20 year old student at OCAD and is fed up with the snow. For a long time he has been thinking of taking a trip to Mexico or Cuba. It didn’t matter where, as long as it’s hot. He longs for the sun and hot sand in between his toes. Like usual, Sam takes the streetcar to school. After getting off, he walks through the slush and salt to arrive at the main doors. While the cold water seeps through his boots he thinks about how much money he has left to leave this bitter city. The wind blows and Sam feels a cold shiver down his spine. Finally he enters OCAD, and feels a rush of warm air.
Sam hears this Hawaiian like music, and wonders if he is dreaming. He is unsure if it is possible to hallucinate from the cold. He takes the stairs to the auditorium and sees some sand on the floor. He finally gets to the auditorium and to his amazement there is a beach laid out in front of him. The room is filled with sand. On the left side there is a stand with a large picture of a lemon on the top. A girl with a turquoise bathing suit is standing behind it. She is smiling and pouring some juice in a glass to a man in his red swim trunks. Sam guesses that they sell lemonade at the stand.
The heat seemed unbearable. Sam decides to take his coat and hat off, and still feels too hot. He looks around and sees more people with their swimsuits on. They all look like they are having fun. There are people resting on their towels as if they are tanning. Others are building sand castles and playing games. At this point Sam doesn’t care anymore and takes his clothes off, all the way down to his boxers, and decides to join the rest. Sam no longer thinks he needs to go to the beach, when the beach can come to him.
By Alexandra Barbu
Sam is a 20 year old student at OCAD and is fed up with the snow. For a long time he has been thinking of taking a trip to Mexico or Cuba. It didn’t matter where, as long as it’s hot. He longs for the sun and hot sand in between his toes. Like usual, Sam takes the streetcar to school. After getting off, he walks through the slush and salt to arrive at the main doors. While the cold water seeps through his boots he thinks about how much money he has left to leave this bitter city. The wind blows and Sam feels a cold shiver down his spine. Finally he enters OCAD, and feels a rush of warm air.
Sam hears this Hawaiian like music, and wonders if he is dreaming. He is unsure if it is possible to hallucinate from the cold. He takes the stairs to the auditorium and sees some sand on the floor. He finally gets to the auditorium and to his amazement there is a beach laid out in front of him. The room is filled with sand. On the left side there is a stand with a large picture of a lemon on the top. A girl with a turquoise bathing suit is standing behind it. She is smiling and pouring some juice in a glass to a man in his red swim trunks. Sam guesses that they sell lemonade at the stand.
The heat seemed unbearable. Sam decides to take his coat and hat off, and still feels too hot. He looks around and sees more people with their swimsuits on. They all look like they are having fun. There are people resting on their towels as if they are tanning. Others are building sand castles and playing games. At this point Sam doesn’t care anymore and takes his clothes off, all the way down to his boxers, and decides to join the rest. Sam no longer thinks he needs to go to the beach, when the beach can come to him.
Sasha's User Scenerio: real life "guess who?"
Taya, a second year OCAD student gets onto the GO train at 1:13pm in Whitby. She listens to her ipod and rests her eyes for her 45 minute commute into Toronto. She gets off the GO train and rushes to the subway. She drops her token into the machine and hurries down the escalator to catch the subway. She hops onto the subway and leans against the metal poll, waiting to arrive at her stop. The trains pulls into St. Patrick and Taya runs up the stairs and comes out onto University street. She turns onto Dundas and continues to walk in the direction of the grange. She cuts through the grange and crosses the street to head into OCAD. By this point the desperatly needs a coffee so she hurrys up the stairs to the second level where the little coffee shop is.
When she reaches the second level, she is surprised to see some kind of an event going on. The large group of people and exciting sounds spark Taya's curiousity. She can't resist and wonders over to the group to see what all the excitement is about. One of the teachers who are monitoring the event explains to Taya that it is the final project for the first year students experience design class. Sean who is one of the students who are running the event, attempts to get the crowds attention. Sean emplains they are re-starting the actitivity and he needs about 20 volunteers. Hands fly up into the air , and after alittle hestitation Taya decides to volunteer also. Once Sean gets 20 volunteers, he divides them into 2 teams of 10 and asks both of the teams to pick a captain. Once the captan has been choosen then Sean begins to explain the game and the rules. He starts by saying that she game they will be playing is based off of the board game guess who. Sean explains that each team picks someone who will be the person who the other team needs to guess. The teams choice is written on a piece of paper by the captain and given to the event organizers. Now each team takes turns, just as you do in guess who, to ask questions about the secret person. The teams would ask questions like "does your person have red hair?" or "does your person wear glasses?". The captain then responds by saying yes or no and thee the rest of the team members either sit of stay standing depending on how the answer relates to them. An example is, the captain from one team asks "does your person have blonde hair"? The captain of the other team responds by saying no, so therefore everyone on that team who has blonde hair must sit down and therefore are canceled out. The teams who discovers the other teams secret person first is the winner and and new game begins again.
Taya actually is given the role as team captain and helps her team pick a sercet person. Once their person is picked the game begins. Taya is the first to ask the question. She asks "does your person have black hair", and the other captain informs her that they dont, so all those with black hair sit down. The game continues on and there are only a few people left who could be each teams secret person. Taya decides she going to take a risk and she guesses who the sercret person is. Her guess is bang on and therefore her team wins amd a new team is chosen. Taya leaves the activity area and races down the second level stairs to rush to class. As she runs to class she realises how much she enjoyed the real life guess who game and how happy she was that she made time for the game.
When she reaches the second level, she is surprised to see some kind of an event going on. The large group of people and exciting sounds spark Taya's curiousity. She can't resist and wonders over to the group to see what all the excitement is about. One of the teachers who are monitoring the event explains to Taya that it is the final project for the first year students experience design class. Sean who is one of the students who are running the event, attempts to get the crowds attention. Sean emplains they are re-starting the actitivity and he needs about 20 volunteers. Hands fly up into the air , and after alittle hestitation Taya decides to volunteer also. Once Sean gets 20 volunteers, he divides them into 2 teams of 10 and asks both of the teams to pick a captain. Once the captan has been choosen then Sean begins to explain the game and the rules. He starts by saying that she game they will be playing is based off of the board game guess who. Sean explains that each team picks someone who will be the person who the other team needs to guess. The teams choice is written on a piece of paper by the captain and given to the event organizers. Now each team takes turns, just as you do in guess who, to ask questions about the secret person. The teams would ask questions like "does your person have red hair?" or "does your person wear glasses?". The captain then responds by saying yes or no and thee the rest of the team members either sit of stay standing depending on how the answer relates to them. An example is, the captain from one team asks "does your person have blonde hair"? The captain of the other team responds by saying no, so therefore everyone on that team who has blonde hair must sit down and therefore are canceled out. The teams who discovers the other teams secret person first is the winner and and new game begins again.
Taya actually is given the role as team captain and helps her team pick a sercet person. Once their person is picked the game begins. Taya is the first to ask the question. She asks "does your person have black hair", and the other captain informs her that they dont, so all those with black hair sit down. The game continues on and there are only a few people left who could be each teams secret person. Taya decides she going to take a risk and she guesses who the sercret person is. Her guess is bang on and therefore her team wins amd a new team is chosen. Taya leaves the activity area and races down the second level stairs to rush to class. As she runs to class she realises how much she enjoyed the real life guess who game and how happy she was that she made time for the game.
PUBLIC INTERACTIVE FABRIC INSTALLATION BY LEWIS MIRRETT
Chloe, a first year design student at OCAD, gets onto the subway at York Mills station at 7:45am on Wednesday, March 26th and manages to get a seat on the overcrowded subway car. She is very cramped and hardly able to move her arms, but she’s happy that she doesn’t have to stand for the 30 minute trip down to OCAD.
In a much less crowded subway car, Chloe arrives at St. Patrick station. Stepping off the subway car she glances at the time on the platform, 8:20am. She isn’t worried about being late because she loves making an entrance into an already full classroom.
As she enters the main building and heads for the stairs (she’s deathly afraid of elevators), a large banner with big bold black letters catches her eye: PUBLIC INTERACTIVE FABRIC INSTALLATION BY LEWIS MIRRETT ON DISPLAY IN THE MAIN AUDITORIUM. “Lewis Mirrett?” She thinks, “Isn’t he a contributing fashion photographer for Vogue?”
Intrigued, she heads for the auditorium dismissing the idea of even going to class all together. When she opens the doors to the auditorium, she feels a slight draft in the air, and a light breeze passes by her as she walks further inside. There is nothing else in the auditorium except for large swaths of white fabric suspended from the ceiling and three industrial-sized fans surrounding the grand display. Chloe stands there for about 2 minutes, fixated, watching the fabrics intertwining around themselves. Realizing she’s the only one in the auditorium, she begins wondering what she’s supposed to do with the giant dancing white sheets. That’s when she notices writing on the floor, as big and bold as the writing on the banner. She also notices about a dozen pairs of scissors arranged in a row. Further intrigued, Chloe begins to read the text:
PUBLIC INTERACTIVE FABRIC INSTALLATION BY LEWIS MIRRETT
TAKE A PAIR OF SCISSORS AND CUT/RIP/TEAR/TIE/KNOT THE FABRIC AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT HOWEVER YOU WANT. THE ONLY RULE IS IF YOU CUT AWAY A PIECE COMPLETELY, YOU HAVE TO TIE IT BACK TO THE FABRIC IN SOME WAY. ONCE YOU ARE DONE, YOU CAN STEP BACK FROM THE FABRIC AND SEE HOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE CHANGES THE WAY THE FABRIC FLOWS AND MOVES IN THE CONTAINED SPACE.
YOU ARE INTERACTING WITH THIS ON TWO LEVELS
1) YOU ARE IMMERSED IN THE FABRIC AS YOU ARE ALTERING IT
2) YOU THEN GET TO OBSERVE HOW YOU HAVE CHANGED THE WAY IT MOVES THROUGH SPACE
Chloe decides to go right into it. She picks up a pair of scissors and runs into the display. As she runs through, swaths of white fabric sway and move around her, as she fully immerses herself in the fabric display. She begins cutting randomly and then tearing and ripping violently. She randomly knots together the strips she has cut. She gathers and folds one corner of one of the sheets and ties it to another corner of another sheet. She completely shreds one side of another sheet and ties each piece together. When she feels satisfied with what she has done, Chloe makes her way out of the display to look at her alterations. She stares at her new creation for about 5 minutes, watching the fabric twist and turn, and the new cuts and folds flap and take on different shapes as the wind whips around them. It’s at this point when she feels a tap at her shoulder, “excuse me, are you done? We’d like to have a turn now.” She turns around to see a long line up of students wanting to take part in the interactive display. She didn’t realize that she had been in there ripping, tearing, cutting, folding, and dancing for over an hour. “It’s all yours” she says as she heads for the doors leading out of the auditorium.
In a much less crowded subway car, Chloe arrives at St. Patrick station. Stepping off the subway car she glances at the time on the platform, 8:20am. She isn’t worried about being late because she loves making an entrance into an already full classroom.
As she enters the main building and heads for the stairs (she’s deathly afraid of elevators), a large banner with big bold black letters catches her eye: PUBLIC INTERACTIVE FABRIC INSTALLATION BY LEWIS MIRRETT ON DISPLAY IN THE MAIN AUDITORIUM. “Lewis Mirrett?” She thinks, “Isn’t he a contributing fashion photographer for Vogue?”
Intrigued, she heads for the auditorium dismissing the idea of even going to class all together. When she opens the doors to the auditorium, she feels a slight draft in the air, and a light breeze passes by her as she walks further inside. There is nothing else in the auditorium except for large swaths of white fabric suspended from the ceiling and three industrial-sized fans surrounding the grand display. Chloe stands there for about 2 minutes, fixated, watching the fabrics intertwining around themselves. Realizing she’s the only one in the auditorium, she begins wondering what she’s supposed to do with the giant dancing white sheets. That’s when she notices writing on the floor, as big and bold as the writing on the banner. She also notices about a dozen pairs of scissors arranged in a row. Further intrigued, Chloe begins to read the text:
PUBLIC INTERACTIVE FABRIC INSTALLATION BY LEWIS MIRRETT
TAKE A PAIR OF SCISSORS AND CUT/RIP/TEAR/TIE/KNOT THE FABRIC AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT HOWEVER YOU WANT. THE ONLY RULE IS IF YOU CUT AWAY A PIECE COMPLETELY, YOU HAVE TO TIE IT BACK TO THE FABRIC IN SOME WAY. ONCE YOU ARE DONE, YOU CAN STEP BACK FROM THE FABRIC AND SEE HOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE CHANGES THE WAY THE FABRIC FLOWS AND MOVES IN THE CONTAINED SPACE.
YOU ARE INTERACTING WITH THIS ON TWO LEVELS
1) YOU ARE IMMERSED IN THE FABRIC AS YOU ARE ALTERING IT
2) YOU THEN GET TO OBSERVE HOW YOU HAVE CHANGED THE WAY IT MOVES THROUGH SPACE
Chloe decides to go right into it. She picks up a pair of scissors and runs into the display. As she runs through, swaths of white fabric sway and move around her, as she fully immerses herself in the fabric display. She begins cutting randomly and then tearing and ripping violently. She randomly knots together the strips she has cut. She gathers and folds one corner of one of the sheets and ties it to another corner of another sheet. She completely shreds one side of another sheet and ties each piece together. When she feels satisfied with what she has done, Chloe makes her way out of the display to look at her alterations. She stares at her new creation for about 5 minutes, watching the fabric twist and turn, and the new cuts and folds flap and take on different shapes as the wind whips around them. It’s at this point when she feels a tap at her shoulder, “excuse me, are you done? We’d like to have a turn now.” She turns around to see a long line up of students wanting to take part in the interactive display. She didn’t realize that she had been in there ripping, tearing, cutting, folding, and dancing for over an hour. “It’s all yours” she says as she heads for the doors leading out of the auditorium.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
"Some people say art is for change" by Pearce, not Lewis.
Naomi is a 21-year old third year student majoring in illustration at the Ontario College of Art & Design. On March 26th, she wakes up at 6:45 AM, leaves her house at 7:00 AM and makes it to the Erindale GO Station in Mississauga by 7:15 AM. As she waits in line to purchase a two-way ticket to Toronto Union Station that costs $10.20, she watches the stacks of the free Metro Toronto Newspaper get smaller and smaller. Every 7 out of 10 people who enter the ticket purchase & waiting area pick up this newspaper. She says to herself, “Hm, these people must really care about what’s going on in our city. It’s either that or they want to fit in and look cool – by looking interesting or by looking like the celebs in the fashion section.” She then decides to purchase a croissant since she had no time to eat a proper breakfast. The train comes at 7:30 and she makes her way down town.
She arrives at Union Station by 8:00 and transfers onto the TTC Subway, the University line, $2.75. She arrives at St. Patrick Station. Before heading outside, she coughs up a few dollars for The Toronto Star and Globe & Mail newspapers; and since it’s free, she decides to pick up the Metro, too. She goes out and heads west along Dundas. On her left she sees her friend Timmy. Unhesitatingly, she steps inside and grabs a medium triple-double, $1.24.
8:15, too early to replace her prized, now dried-out Sharpie, approximately $2.00.
She finally hits McCaul St., realizes she has a few minutes to enjoy her food, and makes her way to the second floor cafe of the main building. The moment she gets through the main doors she sees a sign that says: ART FOR A CHANGE. SOME CHANGE FOR ART. The subheading says: We all need to sacrifice something up for our love of art. She gives in; she can eat as she checks this thing out in the Great Hall. She enters the room and immediately sees two large canvasses, one with thumbnail-quality portraits aligned in a grid and the other with coins glued on to it. She gets closer, seems interested, and follows suit to participate: from the all that change accumulated from those routine purchases in the morning she pulls out a nickel, glues it to the canvas accordingly. Afterwards, she is asked to draw a self-portrait in one minute then pin it to the respective canvas. Done. She goes to class.
By personal reflection (or reading a small hand out or a large poster beside the display) she comes to realize: We all give up change for commute, supplies, newspapers (because we care about the world), and coffee. As art students, we spend all that to make our way and survive at art school to merely learn about art. Instead, we can directly use that change to make art. Coin on canvas. Collectively. And as for that self-portrait? Ask yourself, How long does money define you as an individual?
Again, this is Pearce using Lewis' account.
She arrives at Union Station by 8:00 and transfers onto the TTC Subway, the University line, $2.75. She arrives at St. Patrick Station. Before heading outside, she coughs up a few dollars for The Toronto Star and Globe & Mail newspapers; and since it’s free, she decides to pick up the Metro, too. She goes out and heads west along Dundas. On her left she sees her friend Timmy. Unhesitatingly, she steps inside and grabs a medium triple-double, $1.24.
8:15, too early to replace her prized, now dried-out Sharpie, approximately $2.00.
She finally hits McCaul St., realizes she has a few minutes to enjoy her food, and makes her way to the second floor cafe of the main building. The moment she gets through the main doors she sees a sign that says: ART FOR A CHANGE. SOME CHANGE FOR ART. The subheading says: We all need to sacrifice something up for our love of art. She gives in; she can eat as she checks this thing out in the Great Hall. She enters the room and immediately sees two large canvasses, one with thumbnail-quality portraits aligned in a grid and the other with coins glued on to it. She gets closer, seems interested, and follows suit to participate: from the all that change accumulated from those routine purchases in the morning she pulls out a nickel, glues it to the canvas accordingly. Afterwards, she is asked to draw a self-portrait in one minute then pin it to the respective canvas. Done. She goes to class.
By personal reflection (or reading a small hand out or a large poster beside the display) she comes to realize: We all give up change for commute, supplies, newspapers (because we care about the world), and coffee. As art students, we spend all that to make our way and survive at art school to merely learn about art. Instead, we can directly use that change to make art. Coin on canvas. Collectively. And as for that self-portrait? Ask yourself, How long does money define you as an individual?
Again, this is Pearce using Lewis' account.
The Secret Box- User Scenerio
In the shuffle of the morning traffic 19 year old Kali LeOene finally makes if off the train and in to the main part of Union, follows the crowd. Finially makes it to the Subway, she pushes her token in and gets on. After 3 stops she finnally gets off at St. Patrick and goes up to the busy morning street. Around the corner and to the grange she walks qucikly, because she doesnt want to be late. She qucikly grabs a tea and power walks across the street to the main building of OCAD. Pushing the orange doors and up the spiral stairs, she goes to class, stressed and feeling rushed. Like many of the students at OCAD, Kali loves doodling and writing all over her note books. 3 hours and 100 doodles later, Kali packs her bag and head down the hall and towards the spirally stairs. Once down the stairs she bumps into her friend Lua Jo and they both see many people down by the auditorium. Interested they heads over. They read the sign "First Year, Introduction to Experience Design." Interested, they enter the room to see a line up of people outside of a big while box, big enough for about 20 people to go inside. They decide to get in line so they can go in the box. While waiting in line they read the sign above the box "The Secrets Box" and wonder what it means.
Finally 4 people and Kali are next in line and they all get handed a Sharpie, and are told that they have to go into the box and write an anonymous secret that they have always had. Leaving Lua in line, she goes inside and it is a big white room of canvus, she finds an empty spot away from everyone else and starts writing. The groups 1 minute is up and they all leave smiling and feeling satisfied. She then waits for her friend. Lua comes out and looks extremely amazed by what she has just seen. Kali asks why she is so happy and she starts talking about how there was a black light and white writing all over the walls. Confused by what happened they started other people what they saw. Then then realized that every other group saw something different. The first group goes in with Black sharpies and White walls and write their secrets, just like Kali did. Then the Second group goes in and the lights are off, except for a black light, and write with invisible markers. So they can only see the writing of the invisible markers, where as Kalis group could only see the black writing. They finally realize that it really was more then just writing a secret, it was them not seeing 1/2 the secrets other people had written and creating a new peice of art work.
Finally 4 people and Kali are next in line and they all get handed a Sharpie, and are told that they have to go into the box and write an anonymous secret that they have always had. Leaving Lua in line, she goes inside and it is a big white room of canvus, she finds an empty spot away from everyone else and starts writing. The groups 1 minute is up and they all leave smiling and feeling satisfied. She then waits for her friend. Lua comes out and looks extremely amazed by what she has just seen. Kali asks why she is so happy and she starts talking about how there was a black light and white writing all over the walls. Confused by what happened they started other people what they saw. Then then realized that every other group saw something different. The first group goes in with Black sharpies and White walls and write their secrets, just like Kali did. Then the Second group goes in and the lights are off, except for a black light, and write with invisible markers. So they can only see the writing of the invisible markers, where as Kalis group could only see the black writing. They finally realize that it really was more then just writing a secret, it was them not seeing 1/2 the secrets other people had written and creating a new peice of art work.
user scenario
Sara is a 19 year old, second year student at the Ontario College of Art and Design. She has been keeping up with her studies all year round, and hasn’t had that much time to go out. Because of this reason, she has been looking for something fun and exciting to do, that would be conveniently close to her school.
During her high school years, Sara was very much involved in drama and musical theatre and enjoyed dressing up and acting as if she was somebody else. Since school has been keeping her very busy, she wants to find something that relates to this interest, since it’s pleasurable, but not stressful.
Through a teacher who got to learn about Sara’s passion for theatrical arts, she hears that the first year students at OCAD are holding an event that might be of interest to her. The day of the event, Sara shows up just to see what all the hype is about. First thing she notices is the music coming from one side of the room. To her surprise, she sees three full racks of costumes and a miniature runway stretched across the floor. Sara could not believe the scene in front of her, right inside the OCAD auditorium. This is just what she needed.
User Senario!!!!
Karlee is a 19 year old first year design student at the Ontario College of Art and Design. She wakes up from her usual 3 hours of sleep at 6:00 am on March 26th with a groan. She has stayed up late again to finish another project for her class at 8:00am. She decides like everyday that she needs another 5 minutes of sleep and closes her eyes only to wake up 20 minutes later and realize she is going to be late. She changes quickly, grabs her project and sprints out the door to the Go Station down the street. She manages to just make the train but does not manage to get a seat on the crowded train. She is jostled about as the train jerks around on its way to Union station. She manages to fall asleep standing up and at the next station the train jerks violently to a stop and she topples over and lands on her project, crumpling it. She curses and stands up, angry that her project is ruined. She spends the rest of her trip to school fuming and being in a generally bad mood.
She trudges towards the main school building dragging along her ruined project and a Tim Horton’s Hot Chocolate. As she enters the main entrance she hears loud laughter from several people and a dull thudding noise. Curious and with no desire to go to class with her ruined project she decides to go check out what the fuss is about. Students seem to be crowding to get into the auditorium so she follows the crowd and pushes her way through. As she enters the auditorium she sees the most ridiculous game of catch she has ever seen and it makes her crack a smile. On one end of the room there is what appears to be a long tube with an opening on the end pointing to the other side of the room. The tube has a string attached at the other end. As she studies the contraption a student at the tube yanks on the string. A ball with something in it is launched out of the tube and is sent hurdling through the air and to the other side of the room. On the other side of the room another student is wearing a helmet with a basket stuck on top of it. The student with the basket helmet scrambles and laughs as they try to catch the flying ball in the basket. The crowd cheers as the student with the helmet manages to catch the ball in the helmet. The student removes the helmet and excitedly reaches for the ball and opens it to find a prize inside it.
Karlee, wanting something to cheer her up and get her mind off of projects and class for awhile runs into line with several other students to play the game. She laughs and has a good time playing the game. She leaves 20 minutes later with a set of pencil crayons as a prize for catching the ball. She feels refreshed and realizes she has a bit of time still before her class. She rushes to Aboveground Art Store, buys some paper and dashes to the library to use her new pencil crayons to redo her project. She manages to finish her project and goes to class in high spirits.
She trudges towards the main school building dragging along her ruined project and a Tim Horton’s Hot Chocolate. As she enters the main entrance she hears loud laughter from several people and a dull thudding noise. Curious and with no desire to go to class with her ruined project she decides to go check out what the fuss is about. Students seem to be crowding to get into the auditorium so she follows the crowd and pushes her way through. As she enters the auditorium she sees the most ridiculous game of catch she has ever seen and it makes her crack a smile. On one end of the room there is what appears to be a long tube with an opening on the end pointing to the other side of the room. The tube has a string attached at the other end. As she studies the contraption a student at the tube yanks on the string. A ball with something in it is launched out of the tube and is sent hurdling through the air and to the other side of the room. On the other side of the room another student is wearing a helmet with a basket stuck on top of it. The student with the basket helmet scrambles and laughs as they try to catch the flying ball in the basket. The crowd cheers as the student with the helmet manages to catch the ball in the helmet. The student removes the helmet and excitedly reaches for the ball and opens it to find a prize inside it.
Karlee, wanting something to cheer her up and get her mind off of projects and class for awhile runs into line with several other students to play the game. She laughs and has a good time playing the game. She leaves 20 minutes later with a set of pencil crayons as a prize for catching the ball. She feels refreshed and realizes she has a bit of time still before her class. She rushes to Aboveground Art Store, buys some paper and dashes to the library to use her new pencil crayons to redo her project. She manages to finish her project and goes to class in high spirits.
Name Game
Sasha, a first year OCAD student who should have graduated as of last semester, works as a furniture repair man. He enjoys where he works, regardless of the fact that he was given a jumpsuit two sizes too large with a stitched name tag that reads a masculine name, "Bruce".
While embracing this alter ego, Sasha avoids the reality that New York waits for no one especially those lacking a degree. Feeling the build up of pressure one snowy day, he trudges toward OCAD with a wounded soldier stance.
When he entered the main building, a young woman (whom, in his opinion, looked like her name should be "Ethel") waved her abnormally bony fingers as she dramatically explained he should join in the activity taking place. That was when Sasha noticed the crowd.
"Just fill out your name, put it in the box. You will pull out another name randomly and try and find the person here that would "match" the name. You're allowed to ask questions in regards to their personality. We'll then see how important names are in relation to ones character! It will be oodles and toodles of fun fun fun! Also help yourself to any snacks!" Ethel heaved out in one breath.
Sasha silently complied. He scrawled his name quickly on the scrap paper and shoved it through the small slot. A group of students waited diligently in the other room as Ethel walked around and handed each person a name. Sasha soon lost interest as the room began to buzz with chatter. He sat by himself near the refreshment table and nibbled on what turned out to be stale cookies. He lost interest in the game and left his paper that read "Anne" on the table.
He felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned around, he was met with the appearance of an average looking young woman. She smiled at him.
"Hi, I think I have your name," she said. She reached into her pocket and handed him the slip of paper. Sasha held it loosely in his hand as she began to walk away.
The paper read Craig. Sasha smiled to himself, he looked forward to work today so he could slip into his uniform and become "Bruce".
While embracing this alter ego, Sasha avoids the reality that New York waits for no one especially those lacking a degree. Feeling the build up of pressure one snowy day, he trudges toward OCAD with a wounded soldier stance.
When he entered the main building, a young woman (whom, in his opinion, looked like her name should be "Ethel") waved her abnormally bony fingers as she dramatically explained he should join in the activity taking place. That was when Sasha noticed the crowd.
"Just fill out your name, put it in the box. You will pull out another name randomly and try and find the person here that would "match" the name. You're allowed to ask questions in regards to their personality. We'll then see how important names are in relation to ones character! It will be oodles and toodles of fun fun fun! Also help yourself to any snacks!" Ethel heaved out in one breath.
Sasha silently complied. He scrawled his name quickly on the scrap paper and shoved it through the small slot. A group of students waited diligently in the other room as Ethel walked around and handed each person a name. Sasha soon lost interest as the room began to buzz with chatter. He sat by himself near the refreshment table and nibbled on what turned out to be stale cookies. He lost interest in the game and left his paper that read "Anne" on the table.
He felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned around, he was met with the appearance of an average looking young woman. She smiled at him.
"Hi, I think I have your name," she said. She reached into her pocket and handed him the slip of paper. Sasha held it loosely in his hand as she began to walk away.
The paper read Craig. Sasha smiled to himself, he looked forward to work today so he could slip into his uniform and become "Bruce".
User Senario for Class Project
Jared Russell, a 19 year old, first year graphics student at OCAD, awoke from his sleep just as the 86 slid to a halt at Kennedy station. He spent the majority of the previous night awake working on his project. All he wanted to do was get to school but amidst the crowd he was finding it hard to do so as he was being pushed back and forth. Not only was he now tired but annoyed that his hard work was being destroyed. Only to make matters worse the mass of people waiting for the train was increasing every second the train was late. Jared sighed. He knew these days all too well. Ever since he had begun at OCAD his friends had started calling him ‘Zombie’. His lack of sleep was driving him crazy along with the projects that were shot at him day after day. Fortunately, today he had acquired a seat on the train which made the ride to school slightly more enjoyable.
He arrived at school with about 15 minutes to spare before class to fix up any broken bits in his project. As soon as the professor stepped in they began critiques. Jared was the type of person who was never confident with what he had but always did well. When his turn came around all of his work and lack of sleep had paid off, he got great comments throughout and was able to explain his reasoning behind everything quite well. Things began to look up.
The professor gave a quick lecture and announced great news “The new project is not for next week. Just have 10 roughs for a one to one discussion.”
Jared gathered up his project and was delighted to be able to go home and get some much needed sleep. On his way out he noticed a sign on the door advertising first year Experience Design class competition. Once he saw the words competition he couldn’t resist turning around and going back to the Great Hall to check it out. Once he got there the crowd was huge. He felt a tap on his shoulder; it was his friends Jason and Michelle.
Michelle asked “Hey! I know you’re probably tired, but do you want to join me and Jason in a group to try and win this thing?”
“Sure what do we have to do exactly?”
“Ok well we are allowed to work in a maximum of three people per group. We have to line up each piece so that the ball goes into the target hole. The first piece is a box with a hammer looking object that moves when the button is pressed to release it. It hits the next piece that looks like a see-saw, which pushes up the next see-saw, which hits the ball up and out of the cup towards the hole in the target. If we can get it done before the other team we get the prize inside.”
They tried a couple times and were finally able to get it in just before the other team did. They were rewarded the prize by the supervisor; they each received a Tim Horton’s card worth 10 dollars. Jared went home enjoying his large English Toffee.
Samantha
He arrived at school with about 15 minutes to spare before class to fix up any broken bits in his project. As soon as the professor stepped in they began critiques. Jared was the type of person who was never confident with what he had but always did well. When his turn came around all of his work and lack of sleep had paid off, he got great comments throughout and was able to explain his reasoning behind everything quite well. Things began to look up.
The professor gave a quick lecture and announced great news “The new project is not for next week. Just have 10 roughs for a one to one discussion.”
Jared gathered up his project and was delighted to be able to go home and get some much needed sleep. On his way out he noticed a sign on the door advertising first year Experience Design class competition. Once he saw the words competition he couldn’t resist turning around and going back to the Great Hall to check it out. Once he got there the crowd was huge. He felt a tap on his shoulder; it was his friends Jason and Michelle.
Michelle asked “Hey! I know you’re probably tired, but do you want to join me and Jason in a group to try and win this thing?”
“Sure what do we have to do exactly?”
“Ok well we are allowed to work in a maximum of three people per group. We have to line up each piece so that the ball goes into the target hole. The first piece is a box with a hammer looking object that moves when the button is pressed to release it. It hits the next piece that looks like a see-saw, which pushes up the next see-saw, which hits the ball up and out of the cup towards the hole in the target. If we can get it done before the other team we get the prize inside.”
They tried a couple times and were finally able to get it in just before the other team did. They were rewarded the prize by the supervisor; they each received a Tim Horton’s card worth 10 dollars. Jared went home enjoying his large English Toffee.
Samantha
user scenario
Anna is a first year design student who has been looking for an excuse to take a break from all the projects she has to be doing in the next couple of weeks. She meets up with her friend Matt also a first year student who is in the same situation and walk together towards the main building to get some coffee. As they come into the building Anna notices the unusual activity and movement of people around that area. There are more students than usual and they all seem to be engaged in different activities and having fun. With curiosity Anna reads an ad on the wall that leads her to the auditorium, she takes Matt with her. As they enter the auditorium she hears some people mumbling but all the lights are turned off and it’s pitch black. Barely able to see anything she walks in holding on to Matt for support and is guided by small lights showing the path on the floor, she follows them. Filled with curiosity she gets to the end of the path where there is a door, and she can hear loud bangs and people screaming and laughing. When she walks in, there are large walls around her in a weird pattern that almost looks like a maze, but it’s hard to see since there are not many lights on. She walks through the only path there is to follow and feels how the texture of the floor changes. And there are what looks like large buttons on the floor outlined with light and a foot pattern on them. Anna decides to step on the first one and a set of very loud bangs (like balloons popping) take her by surprise and give her the biggest scare of her life, she screams as hard as she can, while Matt laughs at her (even though he got scared too). She keeps walking through the path and sees a similar button on one of the walls with a hand print on it and even though she’s still getting over the shock of what happened before she is now curious to see what happens if she presses that button. When she does water I sprinkled on her, and also takes her by surprise, she is now laughing it off with Matt and keeps walking to see what else could happen as she walks through the path. The next button makes the floor where she’s standing shake, and the one after blows a small squirt of air through her face and a smell is released. As she’s getting closer to the exit there is a last button smaller than the others she’s been pressing. And this time Matt decides to press it first. When he does he is shocked with a very small amount of electricity that makes him jump, this time Anna is the one laughing at Matt. Both satisfied with what they have experienced walk out the room laughing and talking about their experience making people around the curious of what happens in there. Anna has found what she needed to take her mind off all the work she has to do for school and has left school in a better mood.
User Scenario - Earthquake Puzzle
User Scenario
Marsha, a 21 year old OCAD student, never gets much sleep. She slowly drags herself to school on March 26th and sits through her first class trying not to doze off. Her head is cloudy and she really wants to go home. She just wishes something could jolt her into waking up. Her friend runs up to her all flushed and exclaims 'That was so much fun!'. Marsha inquires as to what and her friend responds that she should go to the main building and look at some of the new student projects. She decides it might be worth it to check out.
As she passes through the main building she comes across the Experience design projects on display. She sees an open sided room, much like those earthquake simulation rooms. It is slightly elevated with two people flanking it. Marsha approaches and notices there are a series of random shelves on the wall, each shelf containing a rather large 1’x1’ thick, Styrofoam puzzle piece. On the wall is a large 5’x5’ frame that looks like it should hold the puzzle pieces to form a picture.
Marsha decides ‘Why not, looks easy enough’. She goes up the platform and stands in the room. Just as she reaches for the first puzzle piece the simulated room beings to shake and rock. The puzzle pieces tumble off the shelves and she scrambles to grab at them and maintain her balance. She starts to think it’s pretty fun as she tries to fit the pieces into the frame, her adrenaline pumping. Marsha rocks back and forth and shakes but she is successful in finishing the puzzle on the wall. As soon as she finishes the shaking stops and the picture that the pieces form makes her laugh.
She feels much more awake now and goes to her next class.
Emma is a nineteen year old OCAD student, although she is a student at an art school she is very serious and determined about all of her work, no matter how off the wall it may be. She is always on time for class, is always paying attention, and most importantly is always on top of her assignments. For Emma's entire life her school related work ethic has remained the same. Although she has fond childhood memories of fun games of hopscotch and skipping at recess she can still recall being the only stressed and high strung seven year old on her street. Although she always loves to have fun, when she has the time normally Emma is incredibly focused on the current task at hand and how it will help to propel her to her definition of success.
However, on an afternoon in late march Emma has actually found herself ahead of schedule, she has arrived at school with a considerable amount of free time before her approaching class. She enters the school, latte in hand prepared to go to the computer lab and get ahead on a liberal studies essay when she notices a large group of students which appear to have conglomerated around two of their peers who seem to be bouncing up and down unnaturally high. As an inquisitive person Emma is immediately drawn into this activity and must see what is so important. As she approaches the audience cheers for one student and two more seem to begin the activity, upon closer inspection Emma realizes that the two students are actually playing a giant game of hopscotch on massive spring loaded wooden planks. The hopscotch board peices are assembled almost like a puzzle (in individual pieces) and are about four inches off the ground on large springs. As a student jumps from square to square they are propelled higher and faster into the air and onto the next square adding a fun and interesting element to the almost universally understood game. Emma watches two rounds of students play before approching the board herself with her own challenger. Emma plays a fun and bouncy game of hopscotch without even realizing, she is late for her class.
However, on an afternoon in late march Emma has actually found herself ahead of schedule, she has arrived at school with a considerable amount of free time before her approaching class. She enters the school, latte in hand prepared to go to the computer lab and get ahead on a liberal studies essay when she notices a large group of students which appear to have conglomerated around two of their peers who seem to be bouncing up and down unnaturally high. As an inquisitive person Emma is immediately drawn into this activity and must see what is so important. As she approaches the audience cheers for one student and two more seem to begin the activity, upon closer inspection Emma realizes that the two students are actually playing a giant game of hopscotch on massive spring loaded wooden planks. The hopscotch board peices are assembled almost like a puzzle (in individual pieces) and are about four inches off the ground on large springs. As a student jumps from square to square they are propelled higher and faster into the air and onto the next square adding a fun and interesting element to the almost universally understood game. Emma watches two rounds of students play before approching the board herself with her own challenger. Emma plays a fun and bouncy game of hopscotch without even realizing, she is late for her class.
Interactive Aquatic Experience- User Scenario
Synopsis: A large class of design students are to create a group interaction which involves each student to be involved. The aquatic interaction is a human sized underwater game stimulated by each pupil. There will be three live fish managed by three people and one minnow managed by one person. The fish will have their own interactions with a collapsible mouth, moving fins and eyes. Through the help of the other students the fish will be able to move underwater chasing the minnow until defeat. This will take place while the other students stimulate live moving corral and waves.
Joe was awoken as his eyes peeled open to the screeching of the subway car coming to a halt. The twenty-two year old arises from his seat as St. Patrick station was his stop. “Urgh!” he utters to himself, “this is too early for me.” It was a dull morning of March 26th. Joe was his way to the Ontario College of Art and Design to visit his long time friend Jen who was a student there.
Upon arriving at OCAD Joe receives a text from Jen telling him to meet her in the Auditorium. With his Starbucks in hand Joe travels to meet her. He was surprised to find that Jen along with other students were taking charge of producing a group interactive project. As he stands off to the side he can see a number of students participating in this unusual event. While scanning the crowed he notes specific students waving a blanket on either end of streamers that took on the characteristics of water. Beneath the sea of streamers there where small clusters of other students, they were holding what seemed to be bright green underwater plants. They moved the plants as if they where dancing on the sea floor. At this moment Joe understood, this was a model of an underwater experience. No sooner had he understood the concept, he saw an individual wearing a cardboard minnow around their waist. Following the minnow there where a number of other fish, each fish was brilliantly decorated and painted. They were fundamentally manipulated by three people, one person was operating the mouth and eyes while the person behind them was the fins and the end person was manipulating the tail. Right then they all began erratically swimming around. Joe did not understand
Jen finally made an appearance. She asked Joe if he would like to be a part of the interaction. She continued to explain what was happening. “You see, it’s a game where the minnow has to swim around from plant to plant while the other fish collectively try to catch it. Each plant offers 5 seconds of refuge before the other fish can penetrate the boundaries around the plant. The game ends when the minnow is touched by the one of the four fish and in essence, dies. The game restarts when another person enters the tank to become the minnow.” Joe loved the idea of the game and lined up to be the next minnow in the interactive game.
Joe was awoken as his eyes peeled open to the screeching of the subway car coming to a halt. The twenty-two year old arises from his seat as St. Patrick station was his stop. “Urgh!” he utters to himself, “this is too early for me.” It was a dull morning of March 26th. Joe was his way to the Ontario College of Art and Design to visit his long time friend Jen who was a student there.
Upon arriving at OCAD Joe receives a text from Jen telling him to meet her in the Auditorium. With his Starbucks in hand Joe travels to meet her. He was surprised to find that Jen along with other students were taking charge of producing a group interactive project. As he stands off to the side he can see a number of students participating in this unusual event. While scanning the crowed he notes specific students waving a blanket on either end of streamers that took on the characteristics of water. Beneath the sea of streamers there where small clusters of other students, they were holding what seemed to be bright green underwater plants. They moved the plants as if they where dancing on the sea floor. At this moment Joe understood, this was a model of an underwater experience. No sooner had he understood the concept, he saw an individual wearing a cardboard minnow around their waist. Following the minnow there where a number of other fish, each fish was brilliantly decorated and painted. They were fundamentally manipulated by three people, one person was operating the mouth and eyes while the person behind them was the fins and the end person was manipulating the tail. Right then they all began erratically swimming around. Joe did not understand
Jen finally made an appearance. She asked Joe if he would like to be a part of the interaction. She continued to explain what was happening. “You see, it’s a game where the minnow has to swim around from plant to plant while the other fish collectively try to catch it. Each plant offers 5 seconds of refuge before the other fish can penetrate the boundaries around the plant. The game ends when the minnow is touched by the one of the four fish and in essence, dies. The game restarts when another person enters the tank to become the minnow.” Joe loved the idea of the game and lined up to be the next minnow in the interactive game.
User Scenario- Land Mines
Laina is a first year OCAD design student; she had stayed up all night struggling to finish her project for her class the next day. Noticing that she had slept in, her mom enters her bedroom to find Laina resting on her project with her desk lamp turned on. Oh Laina, her mom thought, always working so hard. She nudged her awake and hurried her to get dressed. After Laina had thrown on some clothes, she raced downstairs and had what was left of breakfast; she grabbed her materials and shoved them in her school bag. As Laina slammed the door behind her she walked at a heavy pace towards the bus stop, that was conveniently only two blocks away. As she made a mental list of all the things she needed for today, she realized she forgot the project she stayed up all night to finish. Half way to the bus stop, she had to race back to her house. With her already heavy school bag hitting her with every lunge, she noticed the bus pass her by. “SHIT!” she yelled out loud with all her anger and frustration. As she got her project and left her house once again, she walked rapidly toward the subway station. Upon already being late for class, Laina had been so stressed out and frustrated with everything. She never has time to relax, have fun or hang out with her friends. She has been working so hard on project after project nonstop, since she became an OCAD student. All of her other friends at school don’t seem to be struggling as much as she is, but one thing Laina is particularly bad at is managing her time.
As she got on the heavily packed train she rested her big project on the floor, took out a pen that was crammed in her backpack and started to write on her hand, the projects she already knew she had to do. With every train stop the crowd kept getting bigger and Laina and her project were getting more squashed. She was getting even angrier, almost about to explode like a boiling tea kettle. Thankfully her stop had arrived, “EXCUSE ME!” she yelled as the people moved away to let her off. Coming up to street level, heavy snow had just begun to fall and Laina was carefully yet speedily jogging to her school, making sure her project wasn’t getting too wet. She was almost there when a huge gust of wind took her project and sent it tumbling toward the wet dirty slush. “NOOOO!” she screamed. All her time spent and hard work ruined, Laina didn’t care about anything at this point, this day couldn’t get any worse and she was on the verge of tears. All she wanted to do now was relax and do something fun that would take her mind off of her bad day.
Opening the door to the main building she slowly walked up the spiral staircase to the floor of her class, with the biggest frown on her face. She immediately noticed a crowd of people in the Great Hall, with shouting and laughter coming from the mob. Curious, she made her way over and saw her friends Hortense and Galahad enjoying themselves, in what looked to be a fun activity. There were objects scattered on the ground covering a large area, each object had bells on them. There was a start line and a finish line and Hortense was blindfolded as Galahad was shouting directions at him; guiding Hortense from the start to the finish, while trying to avoid the objects on the floor as well as competing with the other partners. Challenging as this was Hortense, also had to hear Galahads instructions above everyone else’s. Laina noticed that if the blind folded person hit an object on the floor, the bells sound and they have to start all over again. She loved competitions and this looked like fun so she threw all of her things to the ground, not caring about her project that was due anymore. She grabbed a random person, whom she introduced herself to and joined the fun.
user scenario
Juanita is a nineteen year old first year OCAD student. She feels as if she gave up a lot to attend the university, hoping it would be just the thing she needed to push her into the world of design. Lately, though, she has been finding many of her classes unsatisfying and irrelevent, and is desperate to express her creative urges in a situation where she will not be graded or critically analyzed. She knows nearly nobody in Toronto, or Canada, at that, and aside from the class system is also supremely disappointed with the social aspects of the school. Canadians, she finds, are so quiet and reserved that it is impossible to get them to let down their guard-- she always feels as if she is talking to only one side of them, and it is not the artist side. The only person she has made a real friendship with is Ling Ling, who admitted to her past indiscretions, and opening up from her usual meek persona.
Disenchanted in the middle of the afternoon, March 26th, after yet another intro-level class, she hangs her head low and begins her walk home to her Queen West loft, intending on curling into her boyfriends arms and once again discuss her disappointment and frustration with the teaching methods of the university. She puts on her coat and scarf, sighs, and thinks about how her hometown probably doesn't have 40cm of snow currently falling in the middle of the spring. As she leaves OCAD, she hears a noise she is not used to hearing so close to school: laughter. She looks around for the source and finds herself walking into Butterfield Park, where her peers seem to be having a terribly good time. Upon further inspection, it seems that the ground and benches of the park have been painted with chalkboard paint, and her classmates are crawling around, making their own temporary mark on the space. The meshing of tastes, artistic talents, and personalities in an active way is what she has been waiting for. Instead of going home to mope, Juanita calls her boyfriend and her best friend, Ling Ling, and urges them to meet her for an afternoon of lighthearted nostalgia, as she picks up a green piece of chalk and begins drawing a hopscotch court.
Disenchanted in the middle of the afternoon, March 26th, after yet another intro-level class, she hangs her head low and begins her walk home to her Queen West loft, intending on curling into her boyfriends arms and once again discuss her disappointment and frustration with the teaching methods of the university. She puts on her coat and scarf, sighs, and thinks about how her hometown probably doesn't have 40cm of snow currently falling in the middle of the spring. As she leaves OCAD, she hears a noise she is not used to hearing so close to school: laughter. She looks around for the source and finds herself walking into Butterfield Park, where her peers seem to be having a terribly good time. Upon further inspection, it seems that the ground and benches of the park have been painted with chalkboard paint, and her classmates are crawling around, making their own temporary mark on the space. The meshing of tastes, artistic talents, and personalities in an active way is what she has been waiting for. Instead of going home to mope, Juanita calls her boyfriend and her best friend, Ling Ling, and urges them to meet her for an afternoon of lighthearted nostalgia, as she picks up a green piece of chalk and begins drawing a hopscotch court.
Friday, March 7, 2008
User Scenario
Cindy, a second-year design student at OCAD, walks into the Auditorium on March 26, at 4pm. A first-year friend had mentioned to Cindy that her Introduction to Experience Design class was working on a project which would be on display that day and Cindy, having been in the class last year, is curious about what this year's students have come up with. Her friend had hinted at what her class might be doing, but she hadn't been particularly specific- "To keep the suspense up, and make sure you come see for yourself," she'd told Cindy.
Cindy hasn't had the best day, so her mood isn't really that great as she heads to the auditorium. She commutes from Hamilton to school every day, and today, because she had an oversized project due in one of her classes, she drove instead of taking the GO. As she walks through the entrance hall to the Auditorium she mutters to herself, "This batch of Experience-Designers better be geniuses to make up for the extra three bucks I'm spending on parking."
When she first walks into the auditorium, Cindy is a bit overwhelmed by the number of students and the amount of action in the room. Granted, for the most part people are just standing around mingling, though here and there a few people seem to be engaged in some of the activities the Experience Design students have come up with. She's a bit disappointed, as everything seems pretty disorganized, mixed up, and in some cases, by this point in the day, broken. To the students' credit, she observes, there are a lot more people here than last year- evidently the groups responsible for advertising the event did all of their homework. One project in particular draws her attention- an enormous black box, a miniature room within the room she's in, really, has been constructed at the far end of the auditorium. She's intrigued mainly because, unlike the other projects, she can't tell what's going on just by looking at it from where she stands. Cindy heads over to have a look.
As she approaches, Cindy is bombarded by her friend's shouts of, "Yay! you came! go inside and check it out."
Her friend all but drags her toward the entrance, a curtain on the far side of the box. Cindy's friend does her best Vana White as she presents the curtained doorway.
On her way through the curtain, Cindy nearly bumps into a group of three girls who are giggling as they exit. Cindy raises her eyebrows and wonders what's quite so funny, but realizes quickly when she steps into the surprisingly dark box and sees a pair of guys who are disco-dancing. And no wonder- strobe lights are flashing overhead! The dancing is pretty funny, but so far this reminds Cindy more of an elementary school haunted house than an Experience Design project.
The guys head out momentarily. Without them to entertain her, Cindy takes a step forward to see if this project has anything else to offer. Suddenly the strobe lights cease and she feels wind blowing on her. It's still pretty dim inside, but without the blinding strobe lights she takes in her surroundings and notices that she's standing on a slightly raised platform. The floor is comprised of four giant squares: the one she'd just stepped off of was white, while those across from her were red and black. Cindy just so happens to be standing on a blue one at the moment, but one long stride takes her to the black. The wind is no longer blowing, nor have the strobe lights resumed. This time, it's almost completely dark, and loud music is blaring at her. Surprised by the noise, Cindy quickly jumps to the final square. This one is red, and though she doesn't notice anything at first, the box quickly begins to heat up. "Woah, it's hot in here," comments a newcomer. As this person steps inside onto the first square, the strobe lights start up again.
Having had her fun testing out all the squares, and not being particularly interested in sharing the small space with the four people who had just entered, Cindy leaves and reunites with her friend.
"That was awesome! How does it work, anyway?" Cindy asks her friend, who simply smiles slyly and shrugs. "Well, it looks like a pretty complicated set-up, but it's so worth it," Cindy gushes. Her friend smiles appreciatively and says, "Yeah, it was a bit of work, but you'd be surprised what our class is capable of.
Cindy's expectations hadn't been that high going in- she'd figured the projects would be cool, of course, but her main reason for being here today was to support her friend. After seeing this she decided to take a look at some of the other Experience Design projects. What the hell, she figured- she might as well waste some time now before heading into the rush-hour traffic that awaited her on the QEW. "I'm not gonna lie, I'd seriously underestimated you guys- that was so cool," she told her friend as she waved goodbye and headed for another class' project.
Cindy hasn't had the best day, so her mood isn't really that great as she heads to the auditorium. She commutes from Hamilton to school every day, and today, because she had an oversized project due in one of her classes, she drove instead of taking the GO. As she walks through the entrance hall to the Auditorium she mutters to herself, "This batch of Experience-Designers better be geniuses to make up for the extra three bucks I'm spending on parking."
When she first walks into the auditorium, Cindy is a bit overwhelmed by the number of students and the amount of action in the room. Granted, for the most part people are just standing around mingling, though here and there a few people seem to be engaged in some of the activities the Experience Design students have come up with. She's a bit disappointed, as everything seems pretty disorganized, mixed up, and in some cases, by this point in the day, broken. To the students' credit, she observes, there are a lot more people here than last year- evidently the groups responsible for advertising the event did all of their homework. One project in particular draws her attention- an enormous black box, a miniature room within the room she's in, really, has been constructed at the far end of the auditorium. She's intrigued mainly because, unlike the other projects, she can't tell what's going on just by looking at it from where she stands. Cindy heads over to have a look.
As she approaches, Cindy is bombarded by her friend's shouts of, "Yay! you came! go inside and check it out."
Her friend all but drags her toward the entrance, a curtain on the far side of the box. Cindy's friend does her best Vana White as she presents the curtained doorway.
On her way through the curtain, Cindy nearly bumps into a group of three girls who are giggling as they exit. Cindy raises her eyebrows and wonders what's quite so funny, but realizes quickly when she steps into the surprisingly dark box and sees a pair of guys who are disco-dancing. And no wonder- strobe lights are flashing overhead! The dancing is pretty funny, but so far this reminds Cindy more of an elementary school haunted house than an Experience Design project.
The guys head out momentarily. Without them to entertain her, Cindy takes a step forward to see if this project has anything else to offer. Suddenly the strobe lights cease and she feels wind blowing on her. It's still pretty dim inside, but without the blinding strobe lights she takes in her surroundings and notices that she's standing on a slightly raised platform. The floor is comprised of four giant squares: the one she'd just stepped off of was white, while those across from her were red and black. Cindy just so happens to be standing on a blue one at the moment, but one long stride takes her to the black. The wind is no longer blowing, nor have the strobe lights resumed. This time, it's almost completely dark, and loud music is blaring at her. Surprised by the noise, Cindy quickly jumps to the final square. This one is red, and though she doesn't notice anything at first, the box quickly begins to heat up. "Woah, it's hot in here," comments a newcomer. As this person steps inside onto the first square, the strobe lights start up again.
Having had her fun testing out all the squares, and not being particularly interested in sharing the small space with the four people who had just entered, Cindy leaves and reunites with her friend.
"That was awesome! How does it work, anyway?" Cindy asks her friend, who simply smiles slyly and shrugs. "Well, it looks like a pretty complicated set-up, but it's so worth it," Cindy gushes. Her friend smiles appreciatively and says, "Yeah, it was a bit of work, but you'd be surprised what our class is capable of.
Cindy's expectations hadn't been that high going in- she'd figured the projects would be cool, of course, but her main reason for being here today was to support her friend. After seeing this she decided to take a look at some of the other Experience Design projects. What the hell, she figured- she might as well waste some time now before heading into the rush-hour traffic that awaited her on the QEW. "I'm not gonna lie, I'd seriously underestimated you guys- that was so cool," she told her friend as she waved goodbye and headed for another class' project.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Mar 5 update on Activate!!XX
Hi all Intro to Experience Design (session 7) bloggers -
First, thanks to Barbara for setting the blog up.
Second, animalchef - please change your name so its easy to know who you are, and please everyone, select a name that enables all to know who you are.
Third and this is IMPORTANT, last night there was an IED faculty meeting and some important decisions/suggestions related to the final project were made.
1) We will be changing the name to ACTIVATE!!! XX: Experiments in Experience Design
2) changing the actual time for the event is time - 2:30- 4:30 Mar 26 (this works well with Lib Studies courses and allows students to stagger their participation to accommodate being in a class).
3) The project will be taking place in the following locations now, instead of solely in the Park:·
-> The Great Hall (5-7 projects)
-> The Auditorium (5-7 projects·
-> Lambert Lounge (rm 187), adjoining the Park (2-4 projects)·
-> The Mader/Caldwell Passageway (2-3 projects)·
-> The Main Lobby (passing through, not building anything)(1 project – not physical)
-> Butterfield Park (if groups really want to use it, they are welcome to do so, but it will not be a centralized, high-energy site this year).
Let me know if you have any questions, and don't forget that your User Scenarios for Assignment #4 are due on this blog by end of day, March 8.
- Blair
First, thanks to Barbara for setting the blog up.
Second, animalchef - please change your name so its easy to know who you are, and please everyone, select a name that enables all to know who you are.
Third and this is IMPORTANT, last night there was an IED faculty meeting and some important decisions/suggestions related to the final project were made.
1) We will be changing the name to ACTIVATE!!! XX: Experiments in Experience Design
2) changing the actual time for the event is time - 2:30- 4:30 Mar 26 (this works well with Lib Studies courses and allows students to stagger their participation to accommodate being in a class).
3) The project will be taking place in the following locations now, instead of solely in the Park:·
-> The Great Hall (5-7 projects)
-> The Auditorium (5-7 projects·
-> Lambert Lounge (rm 187), adjoining the Park (2-4 projects)·
-> The Mader/Caldwell Passageway (2-3 projects)·
-> The Main Lobby (passing through, not building anything)(1 project – not physical)
-> Butterfield Park (if groups really want to use it, they are welcome to do so, but it will not be a centralized, high-energy site this year).
Let me know if you have any questions, and don't forget that your User Scenarios for Assignment #4 are due on this blog by end of day, March 8.
- Blair
Monday, March 3, 2008
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