ECE

It has been awhile since my last post for a combination of different reasons. One because I haven't had anything that I really felt compelled to post and two, school is coming to an end so all the projects that haven't gotten as much attention as they should have recieved, now need MUCH attention. Yay procrastinating! But by the grace of God, I am managing to get things finished. Then today, as I was attempting to register for my fall classes on the new Northwestern online registering system, I am having problems registering for one of my upper-level art history classes. So I ask my advisor about it and then he gets a look on his face like, "uh-oh". Then he asks me if I have taken the prerequisite class and I said, "Yes." Then he asks me if I have taken the ECE exam. And I look at him like, "What the crap is that?!!?" So I say, "uh...no." Then he says everyone who goes to Northwestern has to take this exam to prove that they are sufficent in the engilsh language (it is a grammar test). It is also not a nationwide or even a statewide exam, it is just something Northwestern decided that they would pile on top students plates. Thanks. Plus, since I am a transfer student and already took my english classes at Crown College, they won't give me the option of not taking the test, whereas if I had gone to Northwestern my entire college career, I would have taken this blasphemous test after my english courses. On top of all that, if I don't pass this thing, I have to go through 8 WEEKS of tutoring and then take the test again. How retarded is that. So now, because of this ECE exam, I cannot register for a core class that I need and if I don't take it this fall, I am screwed. AAAHHHHHHHH!

design

So for those of you who have a facebook account, Pepsi is having a contest that they are advertisting on said facebook. Here is what it is: You design a can for Pepsi and then they pick the winner and the winner wins $10,000. Sounds great right? Well, there is a posting on the website I thought to be very interesting. It is a sort of boycott on the contest saying that designers shouldn't do it. Made me think...here is what the guy said: "Post #1
29 replies
Ricky Austin Salsberry (Kent State) wrote on Apr 4, 2007 at 6:16 PM
As a designer - I find it appauling that a company such as Pepsi will stoop to a "design competition."

It is an insult to the field of design and advertising, and is also bad for Pepsi itself. Pepsi won't have the benefit of working one-on-one with a designer to create the best design for their future marketing, and designers are forced to waste time working on a project that 99.9% won't be paid for.

What if I broke my leg - had 50 doctors take the day off - and only pay the one (less than they would normally make) whose work I liked the best? Same idea.

I ask any REAL design students here to NOT enter the contest. You are not a design whore. You are worth something. Don't donate services to Pepsi.

Pepsi will end up with a sub-par piece of work — and thousands of people will be un-paid for services rendered.

Here is a nice article written on the damage done my design contests.
http://www.no-spec.com/art
icles/design-contests/

An excerpt:
"Design contests are obviously huge gambles for the designers. They have to commit to doing a significant amount of work, and they have to do so essentially blind. Without the benefit of meeting with those putting on the contest face-to-face and gaining some in-depth insight into the project, the designers have to guess at the tastes of those in charge and just hope they do something appealing.

The thing that contest originators don’t understand, however, is that the contest model is just as much a lottery for them, too. Without meeting with the contest entrants, and seeing their past work and experiencing their personalities, the contest originators put themselves in the middle of a very risky gamble. Based simply on a submitted image, it is impossible to determine whether or not the designer has the knowledge and background to guide the project to an efficient (or even successful) conclusion.

It really isn’t all that difficult for someone with some basic creative skills to put some shapes together into a pleasing arrangement. However, making sure that those shapes have the technical foundation to meet the needs of a company is a different matter, as is having the knowledge and skill to follow up the project with changes, modifications, or even application to future projects."

Interesting...