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"When it was his turn, Kim took a deep breath, stood next to the large computer monitor he’d hauled into class, and started his presentation. It didn’t include

"When it was his turn, Kim took a deep breath, stood next to the large computer monitor he’d hauled into class, and started his presentation. It didn’t include a single Popsicle." The article goes on about how this was a "thinking outside of the box" move and how it illustrates Kim's brilliance. I don't know Kim's work. I'm going to assume that he's a talented guy, and perhaps the criticism that follows is better suited for the author, who chose to include it in the article. But this particular anecdote screams "fail!" to me, for one single reason: he was tasked with coming up a popsicle redesign. That was his deliverable, and his instructor was his client. If I ask a designer to come up with a new design for the rainboots I'll be manufacturing, I don't want them to tell me how I can manufacture umbrellas or inform my customers about the weather so they don't need rainboots -- unless I've included that possibility in the scope of my request.

nether 13y ago
Do you think instead of coming up with a new XBox logo or whatever he's tasked with at Microsoft, he's going to show them a popsicle? Or a new kind of bookshelf? I think now that he's being paid to do what he wants, he won't find much reason to deviate from what's asked of him.
- DanBC 13y ago
  Here's a link that was posted upthread. http://www.minimallyminimal.com/2010/3/15/ecocoke.html http://www.minimallyminimal.com/2010/3/15/ecocoke.html All the text is in jpegs. There are many reasons why that's stupid, but "hey, ima designer so fuck you."
  - sliverstorm 13y ago
    He's not a web designer. Why do you give a crap how he renders his concept page? That's like razzing on people for using LaTeX vs. PPT for a presentation.
bcbrown 13y ago
And his client was impressed. Unless you've taken a class from that instructor, I think you're lacking the context necessary to call his project a failure. What if the professor started every lecture by saying "I expect you to break the rules"?
- joesb 13y ago
  Because his client in this case doesn't really have money at stakes. Also "I expect you to break the rule" is a saying that cannot be taken without any scope, it still doesn't mean punching the professor until he give you A is okay.
sliverstorm 13y ago
Clearly the context of the popsicle assignment was not, "I need a better popsicle". It was, "show me what you can do." He certainly grasped the difference.
- joesb 13y ago
  Right, when the professor choose popsicle assignment, he clearly want everyone to "grasped the difference" and do nothing about popsicle at all. May be everyone of his assignment is always this meta zen like assignment. Kim would have gotten even higher score had he grasped the truth about "what he can do" and just go doing something else instead of wasting time doing presentation, that's really "what he can do".
- MrZongle2 13y ago
  Then if the goal was "show me what you can do", why were students confined within the context of designing a new popsicle? If a student presented their new idea for an ice cream cone via interpretive dance while wearing a Barney costume, would that also fall under "show me what you can do?"
hippee-lee 13y ago
Technically, isn't the professor the one being paid by him?
- MrZongle2 13y ago
  Probably. You could also argue that if a government (state, local or federal) organization came to him and asked for a design, they're being "paid by him" since they're operating off of tax dollars. That wasn't my point. The point is that in the real world, every designer (and developer) has a client, regardless of whether they're a freelancer, employee of a commercial company, or even a government employee. Who pays whom is unimportant in this context; what is important is that an agreement has taken place: the designer is to create something at the specific request of a consumer. The clients have a need, and the designer's job is to meet that need. In the anecdote from the article, the professor is the client, and that client said "redesign a popsicle". My point is that Kim, as talented as he may be, did not address his client's need in this case.

nether 13y ago

Do you think instead of coming up with a new XBox logo or whatever he's tasked with at Microsoft, he's going to show them a popsicle? Or a new kind of bookshelf? I think now that he's being paid to do what he wants, he won't find much reason to deviate from what's asked of him.

DanBC 13y ago
Here's a link that was posted upthread. http://www.minimallyminimal.com/2010/3/15/ecocoke.html http://www.minimallyminimal.com/2010/3/15/ecocoke.html All the text is in jpegs. There are many reasons why that's stupid, but "hey, ima designer so fuck you."
- sliverstorm 13y ago
  He's not a web designer. Why do you give a crap how he renders his concept page? That's like razzing on people for using LaTeX vs. PPT for a presentation.

bcbrown 13y ago

And his client was impressed. Unless you've taken a class from that instructor, I think you're lacking the context necessary to call his project a failure. What if the professor started every lecture by saying "I expect you to break the rules"?

joesb 13y ago
Because his client in this case doesn't really have money at stakes. Also "I expect you to break the rule" is a saying that cannot be taken without any scope, it still doesn't mean punching the professor until he give you A is okay.

sliverstorm 13y ago

Clearly the context of the popsicle assignment was not, "I need a better popsicle". It was, "show me what you can do." He certainly grasped the difference.

joesb 13y ago
Right, when the professor choose popsicle assignment, he clearly want everyone to "grasped the difference" and do nothing about popsicle at all. May be everyone of his assignment is always this meta zen like assignment. Kim would have gotten even higher score had he grasped the truth about "what he can do" and just go doing something else instead of wasting time doing presentation, that's really "what he can do".
MrZongle2 13y ago
Then if the goal was "show me what you can do", why were students confined within the context of designing a new popsicle? If a student presented their new idea for an ice cream cone via interpretive dance while wearing a Barney costume, would that also fall under "show me what you can do?"

hippee-lee 13y ago

Technically, isn't the professor the one being paid by him?

MrZongle2 13y ago
Probably. You could also argue that if a government (state, local or federal) organization came to him and asked for a design, they're being "paid by him" since they're operating off of tax dollars. That wasn't my point. The point is that in the real world, every designer (and developer) has a client, regardless of whether they're a freelancer, employee of a commercial company, or even a government employee. Who pays whom is unimportant in this context; what is important is that an agreement has taken place: the designer is to create something at the specific request of a consumer. The clients have a need, and the designer's job is to meet that need. In the anecdote from the article, the professor is the client, and that client said "redesign a popsicle". My point is that Kim, as talented as he may be, did not address his client's need in this case.