MFA in Interaction Design: Home

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  1. Introducing Typekit

    Something exciting comes this way. After much discussion on fonts, css, and the future of web design as we know it, comes Typekit. Jeffrey Veen’s Small Batch Inc. works with faculty member Jason Santa Maria to introduce a novel concept for online font distribution that is long due.


    An early mockup of the Typekit home page, designed by Jason Santa Maria, from Flickr.

    “We’ve been working with foundries to develop a consistent web-only font linking license. We’ve built a technology platform that lets us to host both free and commercial fonts in a way that is incredibly fast, smoothes out differences in how browsers handle type, and offers the level of protection that type designers need without resorting to annoying and ineffective DRM.”

  2. The Creative Act of Coding: A Conversation with Ian Curry

    SVA: You’re teaching a course called “Practical Programming for Designers” this summer at the School of Visual Arts as part of the Summer Intensive. It’s a four-week course in the evenings. How are you teaching programming without just describing the languages and what they’re used for?

    Ian Curry: The first thing I always need to do in these classes is convince students that coding is a creative act, and that their artist brains are perfect for programming. Designers actually have a lot of advantages in learning coding because they are likely to be better at visualization and organizing complex systems in their heads. One of the things I really stress is that computer languages are human languages. All of these languages were made up by humans, and they’re meant to be comprehensible to both computers and other humans. If you’ve ever learned a foreign language with all its quirks and irregularities, you will be relieved to discover how refreshingly regular and predictable most programming languages are.

    I come from a literature background, so I can definitely empathize with how strange programming can seem at first. That said, a hugely important part of beginning to learn programming is just getting over the initial fear and beginning to see how beautiful and elegant these languages are. It may be trite to say that code is like poetry but it’s true in some important ways. I’m hoping to teach students to not write bad, confessional, teenage code, but elegant, economical code — like Kay Ryan would write if she programmed. Along with learning the mechanics of programming, I’m going to try to convince people in the class to fall in love with how beautiful these languages can be.

    I’m also going to try to help students learn how to see patterns in how code works so they can learn programming independently. Much like any other language, programming languages have something like a vocabulary of functions. Just like you don’t need to memorize an entire Spanish dictionary to start up a simple conversation, a little knowledge will get you pretty far in a lot of programming languages. What’s helpful to know though is that there are common, core functions that exist across languages. For example, almost every language has a way of searching within a text string. I know the specific vocabulary to do that in several languages, but when I need to do that in a language I haven’t used much, I know that this probably exists and I can look it up. We’re going to learn ActionScript in the class, but I’m going to use that to show some of these core functions. After this class, you should be able to jump semi-confidently into any other language and make some headway by looking for these functions. It’s okay to Google how to do something but you have to know what you’re looking for. Four weeks is not a lot of time and that makes it especially important to have some tools to go out and learn more.

    Most of all, I want to get students excited about what they can do with code. We’re increasingly people who spend a lot of our lives staring into the world of a computer desktop. Being able to code gives you the ability to change that world and to create new things within it. That’s a pretty big opportunity.

    SVA: How important is it for graduate students of interaction design to understand basic programming ideas common to all languages?

    Ian Curry: There are certainly interaction designers who don’t know a lot about programming. I can say that if your work is pushing the boundaries, technology-wise, it becomes pretty important. At Local Projects, we often have to do a fair amount of R&D to figure out whether something we’ve schemed up would be possible. Thinking up those possibilities in the first place is often something that comes through an awareness of what different frameworks and languages are capable of. I’m often in a position where I need to determine whether something is technically feasible enough that we could responsibly commit to doing it. In that case, I have to have a confident sense of how the software could be made, and how long it might take. It would be very hard to do that without knowing something about programming.

    On a more fundamental level, knowing how to work with, rather than against the technology you’re using is a big part of the basic programming literacy that interaction designers need to have. The classic example is print designers moving over to the web. Early on, they’ll tend to design things that may be beautiful, but not easy to cut up into a lightweight webpage. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the underlying technology is key to designing appropriately for the medium.

    SVA: You’re a senior interaction designer at Local Projects in New York City, recently adding the The Official NYC Information Center to your list of accomplishments. How did an understanding of programming help you in the design process for that project in particular?


    Jake Barton and Ian Curry at NYC Information Center, design by Local Projects, WXY Architecture and Urban Design

    Ian Curry: Part of the concept for that project was that it was a bit like an iPhone; it has a pretty minimal physical structure, and a lot of the functionality is in the software. Over time, this framework allows the Information Center to change the space considerably by just changing the software. That also meant there was a lot of emphasis on having software interesting enough to carry the space. I was responsible for turning all our ideas into working software that could last in a long-term installation.

    The core functionality is three touchscreen interactive map tables that recognize objects like the Microsoft Surface tables; an FAQ interactive in 10 languages; the ability to make guidebooks dynamically and print, email, or SMS them; and a 16” video wall with a Google Earth flythrough of all the places you want to visit. All the interactives needed to be able to speak to one another, and the whole thing had to update overnight with content from a content management system. That was a challenging juggling routine, but the fact that we got it all done on time is good example of what I was mentioning earlier about knowing what’s possible or sane in terms of programming. We had a relatively short timeframe to make it all run. Some of it was drawing lines on where I thought we could get the most benefit for the amount of programming work we’d have to do, and cutting things that were possibly interesting but might be too risky.


    One of three touchscreen interactive map tables in the NYC Information Center

    From a technical standpoint, the project ended up being something like 15 or 20 separate little pieces of software, ranging from Processing applets, to Flash movies, to computer vision tracking in C, some browser-based JavaScript stuff, and a lot of PHP on the backend. I worked with some really talented programmers and I also had a hands-on role with a lot of it.

    Having a sense of what was possible and being comfortable with a lot of different programming requirements allowed us to do something a little further out there.

    RELATED

    • Local Projects can also be found at their professional site.
    • “Practical Programming for Designers” is one of three courses offered this summer. Details on Summer Intensive in Interaction Design can be found here.
    • Register for Elements of Communication Design, with Nicholas Felton here.
    • Register for Practice of Interaction Design, with Carla Diana here.
    • Register for Practical Programming for Designers here.

  3. Jennifer Bove on How to Design Enjoyment

    Faculty member Jennifer Bove blogs on behalf of the MFA in Interaction Design program for Creativity Magazine. For her first post on “how to design enjoyment,” she explores the features and decisions that make technology feel more human. From Dopplr, IPhone’s application icons, to her own work at Kicker Studio, interaction design of products and services is defined, at the essence: “more about the humans who use them and less about the technology that enables them.”

    Read Jennifer Bove’s post at Creativity Magazine

  4. Rachel Abrams on 5 Ways to Redesign a City

    Rachel Abrams, faculty member for Strategies in Design Practice this fall, writes about five ways to redesign a city for Issue 6 of the Design Council Magazine. “Half the world’s population now lives in cities. So the task of redesigning urban life to ensure it works for everyone is more pressing than ever,” says Rachel. From visual information, social interaction, way-finding, mass transit, and going green, the areas worth exploration in our chaotic urban landscapes underscore what good design is capable of: make everyday living easier, smarter, and feel good.

    Read the complete article at the Design Council Magazine

  5. Khoi VInh on Creative Hiring at Coroflot’s Confab

    Khoi Vinh will be speaking at tomorrow’s Creative Confab event (taking the place of Liz Danzico while she attends SVA’s Commencement Ceremony). [Khoi has] done a lot of hiring over the years, including the majority of the current 12-person design department he currently runs at the Times, and has some very clear ideas about what constitutes a good hire, and how to find them.

    Vinh, along with three other top-of-their-field designers and recruiters, will be delving into the tricks and trials of creative hiring from both the job-seeker’s and talent-seeker’s perspective during the Confab event. It also offers the chance to meet and trade notes with some of the best design firms and creative professionals in the Tri-State area. See the Confab page over on Coroflot for more details, and registration information.

    Coroflot’s Creative Employment Confab
    May 15th, 2-5PM
    Art Directors Club
    106 W 29th St. @ 6th Avenue, New York City

    Register for the event

  6. Phi-Hong D. Ha: Launching Ted Open Translation Project

    After the redesign of TED.com in 2006, faculty member Phi-Hong D. Ha helps launch the TED Open Translation Project, bringing TEDTalks beyond the English-speaking world by offering subtitles, interactive transcripts, and the ability for any talk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. At launch, the Open Translation Project include 300 translations in 40 languages, with transcripts that are fully indexable by search engines.

    About TED:
    TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an annual conference that defines its mission as “ideas worth spreading.” The lectures, also called TED Talks, cover a broad set of topics including science, arts and design, politics, education, culture, business, global issues, technology and development, and entertainment. Speakers have included such people as former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Nobel laureates James D. Watson, Murray Gell-Mann, and Al Gore, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and Billy Graham.

  7. Robert Fabricant: Designing for Impact

    Robert Fabricant is no stranger to designing for impact. Recently stirring up the design community with a theory that designers are now in the “behavior business,” he’s been practicing what he’s been preaching. Among other roles, he leads the healthcare expert group, a cross-disciplinary global team at frog design that builds capabilities in that area, recently led Project M, and is generous with his time through teaching at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellowship Program, and most recently in the MFA Interaction Design program.

    Recently, Robert has been guest-blogging at Fast Company where he’s been sharing more of his thoughts on behavior and design.

    Recent Articles

  8. Re-Kindling your Brand, May 5, 2009

  9. As Consumers’ Demands Change, Designers Are All in the Behavior Business, May 6, 2009

  10. Kindle DX: Why Size Matters, May 7, 2009

     

  11. David Womack Reads for Paragraph

    Paragraph, a workspace for writers, has a monthly series at KGB that showcases their members’ work. Join them on May 29 at 7:00PM for a first-person-non-fiction-account of his time in Indonesia by faculty member, David Womack. The event is free and open to the public.

    David Womack’s articles have appeared in The Guardian, Salon.com, Metropolis, Print, and Cabinet magazine and his essays have been included in numerous collections. David is currently at work on his first book, an account of his experiences living in a small village in Indonesia. David was a Darmasiswa fellow in Indonesian literature at the Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta; he has an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Virginia.

    More about the event.

  12. Rob Faludi talks about introducing your toaster to your smoke alarm

    Rob Faludi, faculty member for Fundamentals of Physical Computing this fall (among his other posts), was recently interviewed by Computerworld, on his vision for sociable objects, bonding plants, and bringing the outside in. Faludi is a specialist in physical computing and networked objects. As a researcher in New York University’s psychology department and Center for Neural Science, he has investigated the connections between visual perception, motor action and the physical environment.

    On sociable objects
    “Sociable objects are simply devices that share information with each other and with people. The well-socialized object knows when and how to share. It doesn’t bother you with questions it could answer on its own. It’s happy to socialize with the other devices nearby, requesting information and lending a hand when it can.”

    On mesh networks
    “Broadly speaking, a mesh network is a collection of devices that are all connected to each other both directly and indirectly. Any one device can act as both a node and a router for other nodes. Together, the devices create a robust communications structure, one that adapts fluidly when a new device enters the network or another one is removed or fails.”

    On communication systems, such as Wild Light
    “The basic Wild Light setup is simply a lamp with a networked connection to an outdoor solar sensor. This allows the indoor fixture to directly reproduce real-time natural lighting, on a scale where if a cloud flits across the sun, your Wild Light lamp will momentarily dim and brighten. It’s harnessing technology to reconnect us to nature’s capriciousness. I think those exposures are good for the soul.”

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  14. Announcing: Summer Intensive and Registration Details

    We are pleased to announce a new summer program, the Summer Intensive in Interaction Design, a month-long intensive to take place as part of the Summer Continuing Education courses at SVA.

    The summer program gives 15 students an opportunity to engage in an intensive exploration of interaction design. Over the course of the month, students investigate three critical areas: communication design, the practice of interaction design, and practical programming. Bringing together renowned designers and thinkers through studio-based work and lectures, the program allows flexibility for students to focus on one track or all three by unifying the program with a single theme.

    Whether entering a graduate program or continuing as a professional, participants engaged in the program develop a deeper engagement with concepts and methods for designing interactions.

    Course Descriptions

    Elements of Communication Design
    Instructor: Nicholas Felton
    Tuesday, July 7-July 28
    6PM-9PM
    This course will introduce, over a series of weeks, some of the fundamental elements of clear communication design. It will begin with an overview of typographic standards and best practices, followed by an examination and exploration of grid systems. Week three will focus on information design and the tools for visually communicating data. Week four will integrate these fundamentals into a final class-based assignment that works with the larger theme for the program.

    Practice of Interaction Design
    Instructor: Carla Diana
    Wednesday, July 8-July 29
    6PM-9PM
    Over the course of four weeks, this course will explore the relationship among people, objects, and information through the field of interaction design. Beginning with an examination of case studies, students will gain a sense of the breadth of interaction design practice. In a series of hands-on, studio-based exercises, students will gain exposure to critical parts of the design process while learning specific methods for human-centered concept exploration and the development of product behaviors. The course will culminate in a final project that incorporates major principles of interaction design and fits within the context of a larger, track-independent theme.

    Practical Programming for Design
    Instructor: Ian Curry
    Thursday, July 9-July 30
    6PM-9PM
    This course is a primer in practical programming for people with minimal or no experience with code. Emphasizing hands-on encounters with code, the class is an intensive introduction to common programming practices in HTML/CSS and Flash. The course will also provide strategies to help students become more confident in learning these and other programming languages independently. Through a series of demos and exercises building up to a final project, this course will connect interaction design and programming, and help students unlock the creative potential of code.

    Students can register for one course or all three. The cost of one course is $1,400, or $3,600 for the full Summer Intensive. Registration opens in mid-May. Please check our news blog for registration updates. Note: Registration preference will be given to incoming MFA Interaction Design students.

    For more information on Continuing Education classes, including the registration process, financial aid help, and more, visit Continuing Education or get in touch with the department at interactiondesign at sva dot edu.

    UPDATE: You can now register at the Continuing Education site.

  15. Preview: Coroflot Creative Employment Confab

    As Coroflot readies for next week’s Creative Confab, chair Liz Danzico sits down with Core77 for a quick Q&A preview to the event. Liz will join Michael Lebowitz, CEO, Big Spaceship; Johnny Vulkan, Partner, Anomaly; and Judy Wert, Executive Recruiter, Wert & Co. in a panel discussion about the creative industry at the Confab.

    Coroflot’s Creative Employment Confab

    May 15th, 2-5 pm

    Art Directors Club

    106 W 29th St. @ 6th Avenue

    New York City

    Read the full Q&A with Liz at Core77

  16. Molly Wright Steenson on Loving and Hating Christopher Alexander

    At April’s Dot Dot Dot lecture, The Influencers, Molly Wright Steenson explores what makes Christopher Alexander difficult—interaction designers and architects have very different impressions of his work. Steenson, recently publishing an article on Alexander in Interactions Magazine, sets out to untangle his influences and interaction design and architecture’s love-hate relationship with him.

    “I’m not sure where I stand to be honest. He is difficult, but his design systems still fascinate me. And that’s why I’m delving into these systems and their connections ... to try to figure out my love-hate relationship with him, if not everyone else’s.” —Molly Wright Steenson

    Upcoming events include:

    About the Lecture Series
    The Dot Dot Dot Lecture Series is meant for broad explorations of interaction design, business, and aesthetic inspiration. Practitioners and thought leaders give short talks in an informal setting. Wisdom will be revealed and methods will be shared in a environment intended to satisfy both social and scholarly pursuits.