DESIGNcanCHANGEtheWORLD

El profesor Frank Reimer nos ha enviado una fotografía del equipo a su cargo.

The professor Frank Reimer has sent us a picture of his team.

Rachel Gropper
The concept of my postcards is based on the culture of D.I.Y. Learning to sew is not for your grandmother anymore. Many younger people are starting to make their own things. Besides just sewing, people make their own art and even cut their own hair. The obvious factor of saving money goes with D.I.Y. but, there is also the idea of authorship over your belongings, instead of buying something from a big box store, where the question of who actually made it remains. Many Americans now go to these stores and buy what is made for them, instead of D.I.Y. where there is an opportunity to create something that represents them.

Caitlin Martin
My concept is to create postcards based off of coloring books.  To create these images I  have gone back and looked at books and magazines that have influenced my life.  I have left the coloring  
postcards not colored in, because I want the viewer to revert back to their childhood and imagine the colors themselves.

(l.c. note: all of us — visual artists, designers — who chose a career in the visual arts absorb and maintain a hidden library of images. From the time we start to see and develop visual literacy we are exposed to media (advertising is so prominent in the U.S.) including magazines, newpapers, internet, videos, as well play and educational materials: books and toys. I am interested in how this student has pulled just a few of these images from her own “image memory bank” to share with us.

Grant Shuler
 As a graffiti enthusiast, I aim to take my research and knowledge of the subject to portray graffiti in the light that true graffiti artists wish it to be seen.  Basically all of the skill and time put into creating ‘good’ graffiti is undermined by the senseless scribbles of young teens, gangs and other individuals who do not respect graffiti as an art form and rather treat it as means for destruction or to create territorial boundaries.  There are a select few artists who create good graffiti.  These individuals have focused their time, money, and more importantly and good portion of their lives into making their graffiti truly remarkable.  It is my intention to voice the opinion that not all graffiti is created with ill intent.  Graffiti is a beautiful art form that uniquely meshes image and text.  I feel that it is long past time to see the brighter side of what graffiti has to offer.

William Lewis
These cards represent the role of the Orisha (deities of the Yoruba culture), in today’s modern society. I notice that many people in this world cannot or will not attempt to see past what is in front of their two eyes.  Learning about how different cultures relate to GOD has allowed me to see the divinity in myself and my everyday life. To be able to see the evidence of forces beyond ourselves playing an active role in our lives, in my opinion makes our lives richer. What would happen if we saw the divine in ourself? What would happen if we saw the divine in each other? What would happen if we saw the divine in our very breath? I believe that when we make the effort to see beyond what our eyes physically display,  and can acknowledge our relationship to each other, and the very world we live in, then the HUMAN race together can bring a utopia to the world, and literally bring heaven to Earth.

Jeff Lane
I’ll study different logo types and imagery types within different sub-genres of metal (music). The logo are often very expressive of the feel and sound of the band. So I’m really looking at designing logos that encompass the feel and sound of that sub-genre of metal. Given the various types of sounds and moods found in the different sub-genres. You see more psychedelic 60’s type writing with the Doom metal bands. Very clearly written and bold face logos found in Heavy Metal. With the Death Metal bands you see very sharp logos looking like some device covered in remains from a horror film. Given this, a lot of people in the metal culture often look at the logo to get an idea of what to expect of a band they have never heard before.  

Nathan Bentley
It is undeniable that violence permeates our cultures. Does the violence emerge from our nature, rooted in millions of years of evolution? Or is it a more recent phenomena? Furthermore how have our perceptions of violence changed over time? I’ve grown up with violence, as, undoubtedly millions of other youths across the world have. I have been fortunate enough that the violence I grew up with was only in the entertainment I was exposed to, from Contra, to GI Joes, to NERF weapons. I will explore how this nigh-constant exposure has effected me, and how it has changed in the decades I have been alive.

Sarah Knowlton
My culture is filled with a struggle between what I want to be about and what the culture and the people around me tell me I want.  But not in that cliche peer-pressure-getting-me-to-do-bad-things kind of way.  Its much less obvious, and much more well-meaning.  I don’t want the “American dream” that my mother wants for me.  I want a lot more..and a lot less. These post cards depict the idea that in order to force me into a “cookie cutter” cubicle work place with health insurance and fashionable clothes and a nice car, some part of me also gets forced out.  

Jennifer Valenzuela

The piercing community is a community I can identify myself with. I work for River City Tattoo in the Regency Mall location. I am not a piercer but I sell body jewelry for various piercings and I am a Henna artist. My job requires me to know about many different piercings. At the shop I see a lot of different kinds of piercings and all different types of people. Its a wonderful job that let me display my piercings. I take piercing seriously and consider it a part of me and my identify.
This is an exploration of this aspect of my identity. I considered who was getting pierced. What areas people are getting pierced. When during the week is it most popular for getting pierced and why? 

Eric Gilkey
For this project I am interested in expressing a part of myself that is influential to who I am. I have always been very interested in music, from playing percussion in the school band to being open and listening to many types of music. I feel as though it is an essential part of life and a special aspect that seems to tap into something higher. I love to play the drums, piano, and recently very interested in sequencing and experimental electronic music. What interests me is the dynamics in what sound can produce. From the very detailed clicks and flutters of noises to the more melodic, organic tones can provide a multitude of soundscapes, taking one through a sonic fantasy. I would like to take these qualities of sound and music (rhythm, pattern, sequence) and visually represent them.  There is something that is very therapeutic in music; that it has the ability to make you feel different and move you.

A continuación se presenta la descripción de los temas por parte del equipo de Red River College, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
a cargo del profesor Frank Reimer

Viva La Differencia : Design Team
 
Red River College, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
 
Instructor: Frank Reimer
 
Students:
 
Jessica Tait
I will be comparing Canada’s culture as a Hockey worshiping country to the idol worshiping traditions of other cultures. My focus will be on the goalie mask, and will be relating it to the masks of other cultures, for example the honorable tradition of tribal African masks used in ceremony and worship in the African culture.
 
Melanie Leclair
My Viva La Differencia project is a colourful abstract  weathervane of a canoe that represents the famous French Fable Legends of the Flying Canoe.
 
Tom Boresky
The “cultural object” I chose is an old-fashioned wooden grain elevator (which is archaic, but they are still very much a part of the prairie landscape). The title of the piece (which may also appear in the artwork itself) is a pearl of wisdom my family has thrown at me for as long as I can remember. I think it about sums up popular culture as it exists today. The grain elevator is from another age, when a small time country farmer was still a viable career option. The media for this piece will most likely be pencil crayon/Photoshop.
 
Trista Lachuta
Title: Culture nourishment, an open can. My concept was to explain Canada as many cultures. I thought this could be easily understood by our imported foods and a common kitchen tool that is used in all cultures.
 
Ann Christiani
Long John’s: (Full body undergarment used to keep warm during the winter months.)
 
Andrew Bart
According to folklore, Sasquatch is a mysterious ape-like creature that inhabits the remote forests and mountains of Canada . Its existence has never been scientifically proven yet hundreds of eyewitness accounts say otherwise.
Tip: While camping in the Canadian wild, be sure to properly secure all your booze
and hotdog buns, so as not to attract the company of a rummaging sasquatch.
 
Jessica Phillips
I have designed a coat of arms to represent Canada . Our existing one represents the diverse background and history of our country; the one I have created focuses on the unique aspects of Canada , primarily it’s landscape, wildlife and national symbols.
 
Jared Frey
A piece commenting on the growing problems with the pollution of water sources in
and around Canada & North America. Canada has more water through lakes, streams
and oceans than anywhere else in the world. This will not stop until some major
changes are made.
 
Scott Fraser
Originated in Canada , dating back to as far as 1391, Totem poles are monumental sculptures carved from great trees by ancient Indian tribes. The meanings of the designs on totem poles celebrate cultural beliefs, legends, or are simply artistic presentations. This totem pole is carved representing some common Canadian identifiers.
 
Amber Green
The Headdress – For me the Native American Headdress is a very unique representation of my culture. It captures the artistic, spiritual, and musical qualities. I thought a brightly colored headdress, made up of ink, paint, and photography would encapsulate the very essence of what defines the culture identity that makes me unique.
 
Priscilla Castro
Photographs – Coming to Canada, depicting life in the Philippines, dreams of coming to Canada , and the experience in a new land and culture.

DISEÑO Y CULTURA

Un especial saludo desde Bogotá, capital de Colombia a los estudiantes y profesores de la Escuela Superior de Diseño de la Habana , Cuba.

Los saludamos desde esta fría mañana nublada, de 8° de temperatura. Nuestra vista hoy, a espalda de los cerros, la Sabana de Bogotá, una gran extensión de tierra ubicada sobre una antigua y ya seca laguna gigantesca a 2600 metros de altura sobre el mar.

Más de la mitad de nosotros en nuestra ciudad, jamás ha visto el mar, el cual nos queda a más de un día de fatigoso camino por las montañas de los Andes, ya sea por el Pacífico o por el Atlántico, por lo tanto nos lo imaginamos y suponemos su grandeza e inmensidad. Paradójicamente estando tan arriba en la montaña, solo vemos al oriente más montañas, Monserrate y Guadalupe nuestros cerros tutelares.

La sede de la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana queda en el preciso borde entre la sabana y la montaña, hacia el centro de la inmensa ciudad de más de siete millones de habitantes.

14 estudiantes y 8 profesores, hemos venido trabajando con ustedes y para ustedes. Contarle a otros nuestra vida urbana, agitada y atropellada ha sido el ejercicio de volvernos extranjeros en nuestra propia casa para poder por fin verla en su sentido simbólico y cultural.

La primera parte son 14 formas de habitar la casa en Bogotá. Cada estudiante pensó en una forma de habitarla, desde el frío, desde el ser inmigrante, desde el olvido, la ausencia, el estar en riesgo, entre otros. Es la casa planteada como un concepto, inserta en una realidad Latino-americana.

Del ejercicio actual

Tenemos hoy cinco grupos de estudiantes distribuidos en igual número de temas. Hemos tratado de evitar el trabajo de catálogo turístico, que mostraría una ciudad prejuiciada y maquillada. Mostrar una ciudad más cotidiana, más real en su cultura y formas de permanecer, recorrer o habitar, buscamos mostrar el clima, la gente, los oficios de la calle, el movimiento y la velocidad de esta urbe.