Fantasmagorical Machines

Yesterday I drove all the way to Oxford for the first Lola day school.  I managed to see a little more of Oxford than I was expecting but the day went really well.  Just a shame that there were only 2 people from my tutor group in attendance – 3 tutors and their groups made up the session so we had the chance to work on three very different sides of design – photography, problem solving and my favourite; the making of Fantasmagorical Machines.

We were given a choice of machine to make, things like a machine to make a mountain out of a mole hill, or a machine for weighing up your options or, in my groups case, a machine to help you find cloud cuckoo land.  Of course with only an hour to work on it no one was expecting a fully working machine, but I was impressed with all the prototypes that were produced.

We ended up creating a compass which would take your thumb print and then calibrate to find your very own version of cloud cuckoo land.  We added a light to help with navigation and a button on the lid which would fold everything away when we were finished with it so it would travel in a pocket or bag.  If I’d been working on my own it probably would have been a little more minimalist, but these are all part of the challenges of design.

I can’t wait to see what they get us doing at the next day school.

Play Dough

This weekend after a month of Lola I've got my first Day School.  I'm pretty excited; the list of things to bring didn't include one book, unless you count a sketch pad!  One of the suggested things to bring was some play dough, and as I'm always up for learning new things, I had a go at making my own.  There are loads of recipes on the web but I liked this one best as you don't have to cook the dough.  It was mega easy to make and maybe next time I'll add some glitter.

Writing inspiration

The writers group meeting last week was really good - we had quite a few turn up so lots to listen to.

The homework I set was: What are you fascinated by?  Maybe you don’t even like it, maybe it grosses you out, maybe you adore it….. Write about it as a short story or poem. (borrowed from the one minute writer)

However I've found something else far more inspiring.  'im outdoors' truck has been messed about with again, this time they took half a tank of fuel, about £50 worth, along with his filler cap.  This is the 4th incident this year.  It makes me so angry, which isn't great but I'm enjoying writing about what I would like to do to them if I ever caught them.

Person shape

Finally AA312 Total War and Social Change is finish with the exam last week.  Result should come out just before Christmas.  
So now I need to catch up with Lola - I'm about a week behind.  And what fun I've had so far.  Normally an exercise in an OU module consists of answering a question about whatever you have been reading about, so maybe something to do with Hitler or Stalin or Mussolini then with AA312; I've never been asked to draw round someone with masking tape before. Brilliant.
Of course now we have the problem of not wanting to pull him up.  We shouldn't have named him.

Already feeling left behind

Lola doesn’t start until tomorrow and yet the forum is already filled with people doing things and posting photos and learning how to use the special software, while I’m stuck revising welfare policies across Europe in 1912.

The exam is next Thursday and I’m starting to feel left behind on Lola already, even thought it hasn’t started yet!  Why does everyone have to be so enthusiastic?

However someone put up a link to this video - 'the greatest creative professional design advice I have ever received' and I can’t help but think I’ll be in good hands here.  I know exactly what he means, and I am hoping that Design Thinking will help me to move forward.

No way of stopping now...

Today we met for the Lunchtime Creative Writers Group.  The university is still closed for the summer, although the freshers will be starting next week so it was only a small group who met.  As there weren’t many things to share, although what was read out was really good, we had time to do a quick 10 minute exercise.

We all started with the line - His heart pounded as the car hurtled towards the cliff edge.  There was no way of stopping it now…  and it was amazing what different ideas everyone had.

This is how mine turned out.

His heart pounded as the car hurtled towards the cliff edge.  There was no way of stopping it now…

But he had to time it just right, too early and he wouldn’t get the lift needed and too late and he’d be in the sea.

His hand hovered over the button mounted in the middle of the dash, the temptation to hit it now very strong but he waited, counting under his breath.

Finally he came to the place, that if his caculations were corrected was the perfect place, and he hit the red button with the palm of his hand.

There was a bang but he’d been expecting that, and in the rear view mirror he saw smoke but that was also to be expected.

Had it worked?

He couldn’t see from the windows but in his door mirrors he could see the wings as they unfolded in a chitty chitty bang bang style, although blue to match the car.

The material rippled in the wind but seemed to hold and he suddenly realised he was no longer on the cliff but meters above the sea with seagulls giving him very strange looks.

Moving the steering wheel seemed to work the rudder and he turned in a deep cuerve till he ran in line with the cliffs.  He didn’t seem to be loosing height at all.

I then set a homework for the group (borrowed from Mslexia), it made me think of the the hush puppy shoes my friend had that I coveted and the horrible coat I had, the only good thing about it was the huge pockets it had.

Think of an item of clothing you loved or hated; an ugly winter coat, ballet shows, a naught push up bra.  Imagine a scene where you are wearing the item.  How did you acquire it?  Did you lose it, damage it?  Try to recall an obstacle or scene of conflict involving it, turn it into a short story or poem.

Finally something to write about

For the last month I’ve been lost in an essay regarding who started the Cold War, with a little bit of pro cycling (watching not taking part) thrown in to keep me sane.  But the essay is submitted and the end is in sight, even if it does involve an exam and lots of revision.
Anyway this morning something really exciting happened.  The welcome pack for my next module arrived.  The next module is U101 Design Thinking: Creativity for the 21st Century and with luck will be my last.  But what was so exciting I hear you ask, only the fact that rather than a big heavy box filled with text books, this box only had one book in it and that book only had 22 pages.  The rest of the box was filled with exciting design stuff including a pencil, baby steel rule, postcards, sticky notes and masking tape!  Much as I want to start playing now I’ve put it all back for the moment, but I’m really really looking forward to getting started.

Of course ‘im outside saw the box upside down and is now insisting on calling the course Lola, so if I start talking about Lola you’ll know what I’m talking about.

An ecological business card

Life has been a little crazy these past few weeks, what with a restructure at work, the last double length TMA to write and a car crash which wrote my car off and left me with stitches to the back of my head.

That last one really does put your life into perspective and remind you of the good things in your life right now.  But it has also made it hard to get going with the essay when you can’t help but think how little importance it has compared other things.

Now I’m recovering from the shock and things are getting back to normal I wanted to share this amazing idea for an ecological business card.  It’s basically a stamp which you can use on any found material so maybe a napkin from that business lunch, or my favourite an empty envelope.  I love that this makes me think.  Why does a business card have to be a rectangle of card?