Recap: Lab 1 — Workflows, Generative Design and Links of the Week.
We are sehen und ernten, a Berlin-based office for design students. Our goal is it to extend the mostly theoretical design education of Berlin’s University for Applied Science to real jobs. We also provide workshops, talks and events that are more creative and progressive than what you can find at the university. As we reached our fourth year, we decided to stage a free design conference called /suelabweeks. Over a period of six weeks, we are trying out new formats. Each week, we have a different lab and I am going to write a small recap about what we discovered. So let’s jump right into Lab 1.
Lab 1 — The perfect workflow — generative design and showcasing
As the crowd gathered around our table (once a door to a historic Schöneweide barn), Felix flexed his fingers and started talking about his perfect workflow.
For his university projects, Felix loves to use Google Apps along with Trello for the conceptional parts since there is no easier way to collaborate with fellow students, teachers or co-workers than sharing and commenting directly online. Slack and InVision are great for connecting the concept and design elements efficiently. “InVision is the designer’s GitHub,” Felix announced. The design part starts with sketch and ends in prototyping and/or mockup tools like Framer and Scenery.
Generative Design Introduction
After Felix, it was time for Kay to take over and share a little presentation he held at Torben, Lucie und die Gelbe Gefahr (TLGG) about generative design. He told us what generative design is and how it works. He also shared a fun little website which scans your face and generates an interactive picture out of it.
If you would like to learn more about generative design check out these websites:
Generative Gestaltung
Wikipedia
Fastcodesign
Showtime!
The final part of our first lab was a general showcasing by everyone of their design-relevant finds of the week. The following things were shown (in no specific order):
The Dribbblisation of Design
Medium post about how Dribbble “shots” are not user-centred design, but eye-candy gone wild.
Lingo App
A new app by the guys from nounproject.com. Lingo is especially great because it shortens the time you need for asset management tremendously. 💗 We also love the onboarding process. 💗
Le voyage d’une migrante syrienne à travers son fil WhatsApp
Lemonde published an interactive Whatsap journey of a refugee. It’s worth a look even if you don´t speak French.
Ko Hyojoo on Instagram
We also examined the amazing longboarding skills of Hyo Joo, a UI designer for Line, one of the biggest messengers in Asia right now.
Broken windows theory
We then talked about the “broken windows” theory and how it could affect design. In short, if you ignore seemingly minimal problems at the beginning of a design job, this might add up to a generally negative feeling towards the project. So if you get stuck on a project, try to go back and fix all the small bugs first. You can read more about the broken windows theory here and Tobias van Schneider wrote about its effects on design in his recent newsletter.
WIR SIND EIN VOLK — Kreative gegen Rechts
A website for creatives against racism — check out the posters. The type they used was created by Selma, an ex-HTW student.
Sip - Color Picker
A fancy Color Picker that works across all programs.
GT Eesty Typeface
A really well done single-purpose website from Grilli Type for their new font, Eesti.
the iA Dictionary
The agency, Information Architects, started a dictionary of their internal slang.
Experience the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing
Experience the first moon landing with this well done story-telling site.
FontShop Free Fonts
Everyone’s favorite font shop now offers some great free fonts.
Beyondtellerrand Conference
Some of us (Maximilian Bornmann, Felix and myself alexander venus) are going to the next Beyondtellerrand in Berlin. With speakers like Mike Monteiro and Erika Hall they have a lot to offer!
Magic Leap has created its own HoloLens
And last but not least we took a look at the future 🚀
