Kadet Reading #1

Graphic Design Thinking: Beyond Brainstorming seems like an interesting book so far. It was definitely not what I expected. I thought I was going to be reading another standard book about the basic concepts of design, but I was wrong. The first part about 3149 and the homeless shelter came out of left field for me, but provided an appropriate example to set the context. It’s funny that there is only one paragraph before talking about homeless shelters. For this reason, I stayed engaged for the rest of the reading. It turned out to not be as heavy of a read as I thought. It also didn’t lose my interest as much either. The author, Ellen Lupton, provided various examples of brainstorming techniques. I found all of them pretty interesting, especially the visuals and quotes that accompanied. Once I was finished reading, I noticed the word bubbles on the cover and its backside. I think the concrete examples and visuals are what set this book apart from other design books.

Randomly in my class before this one, something prompted me to think of some of these concepts. I took out my last piece of gum in a sample pack of Orbit and it said “a good clean feeling” which was their slogan. This made me think of the focus groups brainstorming technique that Ellen Lupton mentioned. I’ve been in a few focus groups before, and it made me think about why people conducted those. For all I know, someone could have asked “What do you think of Orbit? How does it make you feel?” The interviewee could have said “when I chew Orbit, I get a good clean feeling.” I’ve been in a few focus groups, one actually about gum, and I probably said something along those lines. Now I know why focus groups can be a good way to brainstorm because it gathers inspiration from people who are actually experiencing the product firsthand.



I found this image noteworthy because instead of thinking of products simply as products, you can also consider the brainstorming and research that went into creating the product, designing the product, and advertising the product. Who knows? Maybe some slogans came right out of someone's mouth that was a part of a focus group. You can also observe the designs, colors, typefaces, and how the words and pictures come together.