Category:Canadian

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    03.01.13
1
Quick Bio: Dwayne Ali
Featuring: dwayne

A few things about Dwayne:

Education

  • M.A. – McMaster University – Communication & New Media
  • His M.A. thesis, “Designing the Urban Interface”, a look at the convergence of virtual and real-world user-interface design practices, will be presented at Congress 2013 for the Canadian Communication Association 2013 conference.
  • B. A. (Combined Honours) – McMaster University – History & Multimedia (summa cum laude)

Work

  • He currently runs a small web/marketing/consulting/design business, Interestica.
  • As an instructor with the Princeton Review in Seoul, South Korea, he taught various subjects to various age groups and levels (English, SSAT, SAT, TOEFL). He also developed multimedia presentations for broadcast on the national on-demand service, MegaTV.
  • A lead media developer and consultant for educational projects such as the McMaster Centre for Scholarship in the Public Interest, the Anti-Colonial Project, SEED (Students for Education, Empowerment and Development).
  • Lead organizer of events such as the MMusic charity event in Hamilton, and the Student Voices conference at McMaster University.

Fun Things

  • Find his random music creations on SoundCloud
  • Read his moments of randomness and occasional clarity on Twitter

Philosophy

  • He hates lawns. They are evil.
  • He thinks that future generations will abhor the fact that we use potable water to dispose of human waste.
  • He thinks it’s silly that baseball teams shake hands with themselves at the completion of a game.

Things of Interest (interestica)

  • Wayfinding
  • Public Information Systems/
  • Science/Technology
  • Science FIction (Hard)
  • Travel
  • Education
  • Cooking/Food/Veg
  • News/Journalism
  • History
  • Communications/Media
  • Randomness
  • Wandering







    11.30.12 tagged , , , , , ,
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Rogers Centre – Jays vs. Grey Cup layout
Featuring: dwayne

Paul Beeston spoke to the media the other day. He was asked about the possibility of switching to an all-dirt infield at Roger’s Centre. The topic has come up more often as of late with the addition of Jose Reyes and concerns that the use of the current AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D (or any artificial turf) can make players more prone to injury.

Can you do an all-dirt infield?

“It’s not going to happen for the next five years, four years, or until we deal with the Argos situation. Because of the way the stands move, because of the fact it’s multi-purpose, that’s not going to happen. The way we’d like to see it is an all-grass field, we would put it in on March 1st and leave it there until the end of the baseball season. It can be done.”

So, I wanted to get a better idea of how the field changes for the different configurations. I made a graphic comparing the two field setups. I opted to compare the Grey Cup layout as it makes use of more of the stadium. (Essentially the same…but with more seating in the upper levels)

Images sourced from Rogers Centre website where they also feature the seating configurations for several other events.








    11.27.12 tagged , , , , ,
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Twitter data to improve transit networks?
Featuring: dwayne

The interest here came out of a conversation on the weekend regarding the value of app check-in or geolocation data for transit planning. Could such data from an app like Eventity.ca be used to influence (or even direct) transit planning in a city like Hamilton?

An article on the Guardian showed up via Reddit: Could Twitter help urban planners improve transport networks?

Transit often suffers from an odd chicken-and-egg problem. To increase usage, you need to increase access – but often, increased access comes only after an increase in demand. What other sources of information might drive (or help predict) an increase in potential demand? Current practices can rely on predictions based on similar area-population combinations and even telephone interviews.

This twitter research is definitely still at an early stage….but it can direct further research.

Let’s assume that the data reveals information solely about destinations and time…is that of value?

It’s possible that this data can reveal emergent nodes, and really just necessitate modification of existing routes to serve those nodes. (ie, the revelation that theres a 30% increase in check-ins on [insert street here] after 7pm). What information exists right now for transit access increase?

Some of this is similar to crowdsourced data tracking that’s already going on with Google Maps and its live traffic info. I’m willing to bet that transit use could be inferred just by the routes that the data takes (ie, if traffic data is revealed along transit routes. At the minimum, it would at least provide data/numbers on people that *could* be using transit.)








    11.26.12
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Nelu Wolfensohn – How to Make a Poster Without Getting Tired (Lecture – Nov 22nd)
Featuring: dwayne

“Nelu Wolfensohn is a professor with the École de design (School of Design) de l’Université du Québec Montréal (UQAM) and the director of CRIN, the Centre de recherches des images numériques, UQAM (Digital Images Research Centre). A poster artist of international reputation, his work in this field is well known and received more than 150 awards in Montreal, New York, L.A., Mexico City, Paris, Jerusalem, Seoul, Toyama, Toronto, Warsaw and Zurich and is part of various museums, libraries and private collections.”

  • Takes a tongue-in-cheek look at “How to make a poster without getting tired.”
  • A good rundown of some of his work is available here.
  • He notes that the posters’ audience isn’t aware of the exploratory approach and work that goes into any poster’s design.
  • He goes through his posters as case studies and explores their process. Great info for emerging and active graphic artists and designers.
  • He addressed the “complexity of the creative process.”
  • Some great examples of the use of negative space to create form.
  • “Unfettered design space; a space for creativity.”
  • “Lateral thinking beyond the boundary of possibilities”
  • //re: the use of extremely small text blocks that become design elements themselves: I assume they aren’t ever meant to be read…. but does that change as the poster placement changes? for example, if it’s displayed in a really large format or on a large screen. Or even in a situation where a user is able to zoom in. What may have served primarily as “form” in a situation where the user could not discern the actual text can become “content” in a different presentation format.
  • Not afraid to experiment.
  • He’s really interested and fascinated by the designs coming out of China… He sees a definite increase in the works coming out of there.
  • Technology and access to technology has removed barriers and softened the edges of fields that had previously been rigid. Someone with no formal musical training can now utilize technology to become a creator of great work. Similarly, visual artists are able to utilize technologies to create new works and expand their abilities.









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