I thought this was a good link that gives an in depth idea about writing a design brief, we should use this as a guideline to address certain points in our finalized problem statement.

http://www.dantaylor.com/pages/brief.html

Eco Friendly Fashion links

http://www.ecofashionworld.com/
http://www.hm.com/us/investorrelations/pressreleases/__prfashion.nhtml?pressreleaseid=1184
http://www.hm.com/us/press/pressreleases/__prfashion.nhtml?pressreleaseid=546
http://www.hmconsciouscollection.com/press-pictures/

Interesting blog on ethical and eco-friendly fashion

http://ecofriendlyfashion.blogspot.com/2009/10/eco-fashion-how-high-is-price.html

Links to eco fashion

http://www.fitnyc.edu/7885.asp ( look under growth and manufacture of fibers section)

http://www.bettercotton.org/index/140/better_cotton_system.html ( ways to make better cotton)

http://www.emagazine.com/archive/5105 ( fur free)

http://www.emagazine.com/archive/4420

After brainstorming a common issue between the three words each of us had chosen which were DESIRE - STANDARD - ATTAINABLE we came up with an issue that addresses and corresponds to all 3 of those words. This issue is...

Mind Map

This mind map that I did is about how our aesthetic standard get shaped over time. Mass Media has the most influence in terms of the huge amount of messages that sent through our mind, but what we do not realized is that we often ignore those complex messages and in the end we get influenced and twisted in a way that the Media wanted us to be. This map shows the issue and concern that we are facing right now.

Response to The Journal of Design strategies

I like how the author reflects the design gap through his own experience. Moreover, the author mapped out the problem and the cause of the problem, which he mentioned the newly designed products do not meet the needs of the client and do not able to serve as functional products. Miscommunication is one example the author mentioned in the article. As a consumer, I do find communication is a big part when I'm purchase something. When I do not express myself clearly in the process of purchasing certain items, the end product I'll get is somehow different than what I really need, therefore, I do feel that communication is a major part of the design process.

Assignment 2: Mind Mapping

I mapped my emotions during the terrorist attacks in mumbai on november 26th 2008 and how I felt during the those days and the way the media portrayed it in my mind map. I chose this event as it really changed my opinion of the media.

Assignment : Mapping the food infrastructure of new york

I mapped my experiences at five different cafes in New York around my house where they serve bagels. I mapped out my experience and the other customers experience at the different cafes and deli's and took out the average marks of the marks given daily to each deli or cafe and mapped the customer experience out of ten.

Response to "The Journal of Design Stratergies"

Elliot Felix explores the flaws in the  design process which need to be thought about by designers in order to bridge the gap between the various tasks in the entire process. he emphasizes the importance of communication between all members of a design team and the fact that those issues or sub-tasks need to work in harmony to achieve the design process easily and quickly. It was interesting to read about his take on the design process along with examples which made the reading easy to relate to. Another interesting thing about the piece was the importance given to each member of the design team to achieve the final goal and find solutions to the diverse design problems. I also admire how he treats each task of the design process as a living person with emotions which i believe makes tackling design problems easier.

Response to "The Journal of Design Strategies"

The reading assigned for this week written by Elliot Felix explores the flaws in the process of design. I find it quite interesting in how he fragments this process. In the initial focus of the problem a "design gap" arises which essentially is a result of the lack of communication between the client and designers. Felix has generalized this process yet at the same time uses simple examples based on architecture, technology etc. that further explain his point to the reader. He goes on further to state that a design strategy may be implemented to "close the gap". I find it interesting in how he identifies each stakeholder involved in this process and explains their personalities in order to come to a solution. Such as - he states that the design strategist is "empathic, self-aware, curious, inquisitive with a high tolerance for ambiguity". By identifying the traits of this person, he makes it easy to understand how to work with each person and bridge the gap. He further goes on to provide a potential solution to the whole issue by stating that the whole design process needs to involve defining problems as opposed to solely being a mechanism to solve problems. I think Felix gives us a great insight to all these loopholes in the system that us as designers need to be aware of in order to avoid these same mistakes in our future design methods.

"Site" for hidden potential

The three words chosen from each of our maps that may be a site for design intervention are:

Urvika - Hope; Desire; Peace
Anderson - Message; Media; Standard
Sumaiyah - Simplification; Attainable; User-friendly

Assignment 2: Mind Map

The following map was inspired by finding an issue that was risen in the map of assignment #1. I realized that there was an issue in subway traffic on the weekends. I brainstormed a bunch of words that relate to rectifying this issue.

Assignment 1: Subway Interactions Map

The following map represents 5 separate interactions within the NYC subway infrastructure that I have experienced whilst using the infrastructure. Each of the colored boxes represents each of the 5 interactions based on the time each interaction took. This experience was documented over a period of 7 days (from Thursday to Wednesday). Each inch of the perimeter of the box represents a time period of 5 mins. The key along the bottom left corner indicates which color represents which interaction. For each day the colored boxes are placed on top in a time dependent manner.