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TEAM JORDAN
Roster: Elizabeth Steenwyk, Maher Jemili, Guy Perez and Tuan Nguyen (CMF)
Desire for greatness and first world problems.
These were the two subjects I took home to chew on as I sat on the bus after class and after an intense decoding session as I tried to understand the Portland Transit App. The latter thought was from D’Wayne. Going over design briefs with us, he brought to our attention one major flaw in many design processes: sketching before thinking. Itching to sketch, facts are thrown to the wind only to be searched for later in order to validate an opinion. Simply because statistics can be found for anything, the creative genius soon has an unstable, but existent, reason for their new project.
The thing is, the problem that is being solved is most likely a first world problem– that is, not really a problem at all. It’s like redesigning a toothbrush and the only improvement is an ergonomic handle. Why? What is being pushed to the limits?
You know who pushed the limits? Michael Jordan. I’ve never paid attention to basketball but after being assigned to the Jordan Brand, I figured it was time to start. My bookmark is very close to the back cover of Driven From Within after starting last night and suddenly I understand the mad respect everyone has for him. He gave everything he had every time he was given a challenge. He changed everything because he didn’t settle and he didn’t let what others had done before him dictate what he was going to do. I think each of us Pensole students is looking to do a little of what MJ did in this upcoming month and I look forward to sharing my journey with you all.
Going over portfolios, D’Wayne emphasized that ease of understanding is essential to getting your portfolio looked at a second time. Simplifying is key. Team Jordan high fiving…or high footing…after an initial meeting with Tuan, our CMF team lead. I’ve been told in order to design an experience, you have to have the experience…or at least, that was my justification for taking one of the Jordans for a test spin around studio.
