Research Techniques

1. Prolonged observation revealed to me many details not-obviously present in a piece of work, as in the Deconstructing the Design Process assignment where I stared at a jacket for over 30 minutes.
2. Questioning helped me discover unknown facts about the timeline of the safari jacket from the Deconstructing the Design Process assignment.
3. Visual analysis aids in viewing and describing work from an objective standpoint, as we have done through our multiple museum visits, such as in the Jacqueline de Ribes: The Art of Style exhibition at the Met.
4. Critical reading helps us understand overarching themes in texts and uncover interesting details, as we have done in all of our Research Table Reading Responses.
5. Interviews and surveys help gauge the opinions of others, as well as finding inspiration in the lives of others to write or create about, as we have done at least two times in week two and week six of the Photo Blog.
6. The many museums we visited offer a wide array of knowledge that instigates me to think deeper about my work; the Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial: Beauty especially had me thinking about the balance between form, function, and visuals.
7. Group discussion is immensely helpful for throwing ideas around, like how we discussed sustainability issues in class before beginning the Design and Sustainability project.
8. I did fabric research by visiting fabric stores and asking for samples before starting to design my illustration for the Ethnic Garment project.
9. I made mood boards to assist in cementing the visual idea of my location in the Design and Sustainability project.
10. Watching films and documentaries imparts a wealth of knowledge and encourages me to look deeper into issues, such as the exploitation of workers from watching Last Train Home and The True Cost.
11. I researched information to support my argument in books and articles from the New School’s library for my final paper.
12. Collecting objects or “artifacts” from a location lead to inspiration regarding form, color, and texture for the Design and Sustainability project.
13. For my final paper, experimenting with organization by sorting objects and ideas in different ways and outlining was incredibly helpful and ended in making a cohesive paper without abrupt changes in subject matter.
14. I made a rapid prototype for the Design and Sustainability project, which gives a general idea of how an object will look in the future, like a rough first draft.
15. I made a few mind maps that helped me think of more ideas to include in my final paper.