Reading - 6

Shamanism

Although in recent history, Westerners have called the practice of shamanism a work of Satan and barbaric, human's have been recored as going into trances since the beginning of humanity.

Altered States of Consciousness

"Contrary to what is commonly thought, we have better access to the religious experiences of Upper Paleolithic people than to many other aspects of their lives."

Altered states of consciousness reside on a continuum. One side is considered alert consciousness and the other is a deep trance. We go into alert consciousness during daily life through daydreaming and focusing deeply on a project. Deep trances are an essential part of shamanism where people can hallucinate. Hallucinations can be achieved through natural occurrences such as epilepsy, migraines, and schizophrenia. It can also be achieved through psychotropic drugs.

Stages of Trance

Stage 1 - Seeing geometric shapes.
Stage 2 - Trying to make sense of the shapes with emotional and spiritual connections.
Transition - Seeing a vortex or tunnel which the subjects feel drawn to.
Stage 3 - Seeing projected images. "Pictures painted before your imagination." A common theme throughout history is of people feeling like they transform into animals.

Caves

While we could never know exactly why ancient people painted the walls of caves, a theory could be that it was used for religious purposes. Shamans could have worked in these haves and had their visions painted on the walls. 

Reading - 5

Mapping/Modeling

Hugh Dubberly has a design firm called Dubberly Design Offce. 

Concept maps explore big ideas, present research and stand alone, often as posters.

Working models show user goals and tasks, technology systems and business processes, and reflect what we learn about a project's contest.

Task-flow maps document existing software, processes, and services, or illustrate proposals for new ones.

The posters's goal is to put all the key ideas in one place to make a reference tool. 

"Graphic designers often focus on identity; interface designers tend to focus on interaction; yet these areas overlap quite a lot." 

For Dubberly, concept mapping is an essential tool for defining and detailing the objectives of a project and also for forming a strong partnership with a client. 

Client: Java "Rather than imposing an architecture on the site design, the map informed the site more organically."

Collage

Nancy Skolos and Thomas Wedell use collage as a starting point. 

Collages can help spark symbolic associations.
The team created 3D shapes to mimic African masks. They then photographed those 3D objects and superimposed the text needed for the poster.