Beatrix's Brief

Identity Chess is a chess set that focuses on how one’s identity is formed and evolves based on their past experiences. It is composed of 32 resin cubes, with 16 containing “warm” drops of color on one side of the chess board and 16 containing “cool” drops of color on the other side. 

Each piece resembles a traditional chess set one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns per side. It is also played with traditional rules, except for one added mechanic: whenever you attack an opposing piece, they have to give you some or all of their color. This explores concepts of identity and how people are changed by their lived experiences--if a player knocks out a blue piece, the piece will become bluer, and vice versa. A piece cannot revert back to its original color just like how an individual can not take back an experience. One can only continue to grow and change, and this reflects on real life.

At the end of a chess match, a player will be able to see the ways their pieces have grown and changed throughout the game. This represents a timeline of memories, and although the players won’t be able to know exactly what happened in the match, they can try to figure it out. This will make a player think about how their interactions have changed them, and when/where they might have happened.

Zach's Brief

People grow, change and evolve every day. What if there was a chess game that reflects how people develop and transform their lives from their experiences? Every person you meet, the challenges you face can change your perspective.

"Identity Chess" follows most of the same rules as traditional chess except, all of the chess pieces are brown with a transparent container inside of it. The container is filled with a small amount of a colored liquid.  Each chess piece is has a designated colored liquid. When you defeat the other player, the loser has to pour their colored liquid into the winner's container. The victorious pawn's liquid transforms into a new color. Every time the pawn defeats another pawn, it changes color again and again. The evolution of color symbolizes experience and triumph.  

 To win the game pawns have to have gathered all the colored liquid from the opposing side, the side with the most water wins.  

 The game and changing of colors highlight the changes people go through overtime to get to where they are today. 

Lucy Brief:  Social Chess is a game that uses patterns that highlights different types of privilege in the real world to help show the flaws in our society. Each piece is made out of concrete to have a simplistic look. This game uses pawns with different abilities to show how being born in a certain social class may affect how you move up in life.

Society has created a system where people with more privilege tend to move up while people with less tend to stay the same or fall behind. This game is made to show the different advantages and disadvantages that people face depending on their social status. The game uses 15 pawns and one king on each side of the board. The goal is to get the pawns to the other side also representing the idea of the "American dream".  Even though they are all pawns, some pieces have advantages that help them get to the other side faster. Once a pawn gets to the other side they can turn into any piece they want except for a pawn with an advantage. They turn into their advantage. For example, the rook pawn will then unlock all the powers a rook has but it can't change into anything else. This is to show that some advantages don't actually help in the end.

Sina Brief: 

A version of chess that represents the flaws of the modern "American Dream" through the journey of a pawn to the other side of the board. It portrays the different experiences of those in different social classes with pawns who are given different abilities and moves than others. 

The “American Dream” is the idea that everybody can achieve their dreams of success as long as they work hard. Social Chess makes the player question whether the “American Dream” is the same today. In chess, bringing your pawn to the other side of the board allows it to transform into a better piece. Social Chess takes that move and uses it to represent the modern American life: every piece except for the king is a pawn who wants to achieve their dreams by getting to the other side, but some pieces start with the enhanced physical traits and movement abilities of other pieces which gives them with a major advantage. The pawns are made of the same concrete mold to show the original intention of equality and uniformity, but certain pieces have obvious differences from that blueprint -- they have physical traits of better pieces. Despite their intention of uniformity, there is a big contrast between the advantaged and disadvantaged pieces. This demonstrates to the player the impact social class has on the ability to find success and achieve the American Dream. 

Design is everywhere. We observe and encounter design during every moment of our daily lives: the objects we interact with, the spaces where we live, work, and play, the landscapes that surround us, the transportation systems that help us move, the communication systems we use, the streets and cities we navigate... Each human-made artifact tells a unique story of why and how it was created. Design is deeply woven into the history of humankind.

The act of designing physical objects and structures to solve specific challenges and as an expression of culture has existed throughout human history. Early humans carved stone tools for hunting and eating, the Mayan civilization wove thatch roofs to protect from rain, the Romans constructed aqueducts to transport water across cities, the Shang dynasty’s cast ritual bronzes for making tools, the Gandhara’s carved the Bamiyan Buddhas as an expression of spirituality, the Anastasi carving a city beneath a cliff to protect from sun. No matter when something was designed, what was made, or who made it, each was created for a specific purpose.

Design is....?

In this studio, we will explore methods and techniques for designing, design analysis, and design theory. Throughout the studio, we will address three key questions through a series of exercises, presentations, readings, and discussions:

• What is design?
• How do we design?
• Who is design for?
• How does design shape our world?

https://theconstructor.org/building/properties-of-building-materials-construction/14891/

https://www.srmbsteel.com/content/5-essential-building-materials

Brief

The objective of the project is to convey the ranging strengths of raw building materials in form of chess pieces (higher status pieces will tend to be stronger. The physical project is a set of six chess pieces, each with a different material. All materials are made out of themselves, or emulated through other materials. Each different material stands on its own pedestal. The pieces are made out of the material they are to represent the unspoken hierarchy of building materials on a hardness scale. One idea was to unify the look of the set was to make all the materials look natural and unaltered while asymmetrical. Another idea was to use a shared focal point, and put a concrete foundation under each on of them. The relationship between pieces is shown through this as well as an untouched feeling. There are no question that the pieces are simple and convey the message of different material strengths, but one might ask why the king is made of glass: it's because the piece is unique and fragile compared to its others, alike glass to the other materials. To make the pieces, various methods of casting were used, as well as clay work and carving. The player should experience a unique game of chess because of the unorthodox pieces; the touch of each piece, the temperature, even sounds. 

I wanted hierarchy to play a big part and be physical, as well as the identities of the pieces. I used the practice drawings (emotion) to assign the shapes to each piece, based on how it made me feel and its own personality. This projects will probably influence my future projects because now I have a feeling that I can recognize/create an aesthetic identity.

 Siena Brief:

Marine Ecosystem is a chess set that shows the intelligence of marine life animals, and portrays them in the ocean. The project is intended to educate people about intelligent marine life. In this, every piece is a different marine animal (ranked 1 to 6) from most intelligent animals, like a dolphin being king, to the pawn being a clownfish. 

This chess set is created with blue liquid mixed with resin to make each piece appear as if it's in the ocean. The ranking system symbolizes how each animal connects with a intelligent trait, for example the sea lion piece shows it balancing a ball on its nose, highlighting its' ability to learn. The set exists to allow a simple chess game to teach people about marine life. This project is created for people who are interested in learning more about marine life. We chose a dolphin to be the king, a octopus to be the queen, a killer whale to be the bishop, a sea lion to be the knight a great white shark to be the rook and a clownfish is a pawn.

Kevin's Brief:

This chess set, A Hierarchy of Intelligent marine animals, represents the different chess pieces based on their level of intelligence. The pieces are made of clay and posed to show one quality that they show through their poses.

The Marine Intelligence chess set has a hierarchy like any other chess set: the pieces are defined by the intelligence each marine animal. Each animal is made of clay and encased in blue resin. The resin looks like water surrounding the animals and gives off floating in the ocean effect. There are six different pieces in the chess set. The king is represented by the smartest marine animal, the dolphin. The queen is an octopus, the bishop is a killer whale, the knights are sea lions, and the rooks are great white sharks. The pawns are just an assortment of colorful fish, crabs, and seahorses.

This game of chess represents gentrification with the chess pieces symbolizing the difference between the local restaurants and the chain restaurants.

The chain-restaurant pieces are more rigid and plain whereas the local restaurant pieces are more diverse and unique. The project exists for players to better understand the problems with chain businesses coming in and driving local businesses out. The project teaches chess players the impact of gentrification with the two sides playing against each other. The rules would be the same as in traditional chess, however, the pieces look different. We used wood and cement to create the chess pieces, 

Janice:

Why don't cashiers have a chair? We read reviews of previous Walmart employees on their experience in different job positions, and discovered that there is usually a large imbalance between the staff and management. Those in hourly-paid jobs reported less opportunity for pay, benefits, advancement in the company, and overall respect. Employees with a salary acknowledged existing negligence, although they lacked discernible remorse or empathy.

We attempt to portray this inequality with a chess set that represents Walmart's hierarchy. Pawns have little resemblance to the Walmart logo, yet as pieces increase in importance (like the queen and king), they grow closer in resemblance to the Walmart logo. This represents the divide between corporate Walmart employees and hourly workers.  This is an observation that Walmart adopts those in corporate positions, and distances themselves from employees on the lower rungs of the task force, even when subsidiaries may stay with the company for longer. We also accentuated the stark disparity further with a jump in the geometry of the head of the pieces when the management jobs are introduced as the kings and queens. The mechanics of chess help to drive our point further by giving the lower-ranking pieces a shorter range of movement, comparable to the absence of options for advancement in an worker's career at Walmart. Overall, this chess set aims to call out Walmart on the similarities in their employee dynamics to the piece mechanics of chess, a game modeled after a tyrannical monarchy.

Uliana:

This chess game, "Pros: Paycheck Cons: Everything" uses chess pieces to mimic the hierarchy of Walmart and other retail jobs.  We wanted to show that employees lower in the corporate hierarchy are controlled by management and executives who only care about money.  Our six pieces represent maintenance workers (pawn), cashiers (rook), stockers (knight), sales associates (bishop), department managers (queen), and store managers (king). 

We chose to represent the progression of power and lack of empathy in each of these roles by making the pieces look progressively more like a Walmart symbol until the king is explicitly the Walmart symbol. This exemplifies how employees that are higher up in the Walmart hierarchy care more about the benefits and money that Walmart gives them rather than the employees below them.

Portfolio Day

After the Final Presentation, you have the opportunity to consider your presentation in light of final feedback and discussion. You will spend additional time reviewing you presentations, refining you portfolio, and polishing you work before it is made public on the internet.

The Self Evaluation is an opportunity for you to reflect on your work during the Studio. Students and Coaches receive the same prompts and categories, and the students will evaluate their own progress and skill levels in Design Skills and Subject Skills applicable to the studio both numerically and textually. Through a narrative, you will also reflect on the quality and rigor of your work, give feedback on the studio, and have the opportunity to receive similar feedback directly from the coach.

• Portfolio & Assessment
• Self Assessment
• Final Brief
• Portfolio Checklist
• Portfolio Boards

The Brief Part 2 - Full Brief v2

This is Due Tuesday morning

Remember, all documents related to the brief are found HERE. These include a note from the writing coach and the Composition Reminder Sheet.

Create 1 post titled “The Brief v2” in the Writing tab.  The text should include the items below and should take into consideration the edits given to you on your draft v1 from the writing coaches.

1. A 1-2 sentence project description for your transcript. This will serve as the basis of the Project Description that appears in your transcript. This description should not include the name of the project and should be written in the third person. This was Question 1 in your Outline.
   examples:
   Night Light Blankie: A child's sensory blanket that provides comfort and privacy in the high stress environment of the hospital using weight, textures, and light. The blanket transforms into a mini light up fort over a child’s head.
   Cocoon: a shroud that explores human spirituality and the concept of life after death through the use of repetitive religious iconography. Composed of over 300 pieces of laser cut balsa wood lined with space tape, the icons are arranged using a mathematical strange attractor.

2. A 1-2 paragraph brief for your project based on the description below. This will be based off the information you put together in your Outline and should focus on style. The NuVu writing coach will give you feedback and you will have the opportunity to revise this text before the final presentation. The primary purpose of The Brief is to explain, entice, and convince the reader that your project is amazing and important. Imagine your project on display in the Museum of Modern Art. The Brief is hanging on the wall next to your work. In 1-2 paragraphs, a viewer should understand what your project is, why it exists, and how you made it, and who it is for. More importantly, the viewer should be interested and care. You will draw them into your project through a compelling narrative.
   
   Things to think about:
   • Use the information in your Outline. Do not simply put all of the answers together -- you must weave it together into a clear story.
   • The what is a clear statement of the thesis or problem+solution. Your project description for your transcript (#1 above) can be adapted for this purpose.
   • The why explains how your project changes the world. It is the reason your project exists – what social issue is it engaging, who is your project helping, how does the project change the world, and what important social, intellectual, or technical questions does it raise? The scope of the why can vary widely.
   • The how briefly explains what technical prowess, innovative methods, or cool materials you used in your solution.
   • The who explains who will use your design, why they will use it, and in what context.
   • Think of the reader - it is good to imagine that a college admissions officer AND a potential employer in the field of your design should both be able to understand and be excited by the project based on your writing.

Write in the Third person in an explanatory fashion. Resist using I, WE, OUR, or YOU and focus on describing the work.

Here is an example from Penelope the Pain-O-Monster:

Pediatricians and other doctors find it challenging to collect accurate self reported information from children about their level of pain due to lack of communication skills, fear, anxiety, and discomfort. Traditional 1-10 pain scales do not fully address these issues, often leading to uncomfortable children and inaccurate symptom information. Penelope the Pain-O-Monster is a cute plush toy that uses integrated pressure sensors to allow children to express their source and level of pain through play.

A previous project, The EmoOwl, helped children with autism to express themselves by translating motion into color. Penelope the Pain-O-Monster grew out of the desire to expand children’s health menagerie with a different stuffed animal, one that makes the pain charts patients use to express their pain more interactive and easier for a child to use. Because research has shown that playing with stuffed animals can take children’s mind off pain, an additional “Fun” mode was added to distract from pain and anxiety. The handcrafted stuffed animal uses force sensors in different body parts that light up from blue to red depending on how hard they are pushed to show the child’s pain level. The hope is that, as one of many future healthcare friends, Penelope can help sick children feel safer while providing more useful information to care providers.