Aykys Salchak
A graphic designer with 4+ years of experience working as a creative, guided by market trends and design expertise. Currently designing at Whalar and pursuing an IDM, M.S. degree at NYU Tandon.
A graphic designer with 4+ years of experience working as a creative, guided by market trends and design expertise. Currently designing at Whalar and pursuing an IDM, M.S. degree at NYU Tandon.
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Week 1 Readings Notes
September 18, 2026
Love Your Trash
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practice of collecting your recycled materials
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instead or recyling, collecting your materials for re-use and prototyping
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separate into larger to smaller materials, and then into a miscellaneous bin for more interesting pieces
- example materials: cardboard, plastic containers, mechanisms from broken toys or packaging, natural materials from the outside, foam for carving, shapes that help you turn things into a mold, fruit containers
Lecture 01: The Artificial
- theories in creative practice and technology
- the way things are in the world, are heavily conditioned by technology and we live in a world that has increasingly become more artificial
- artificial has become the medium and condition of the human existence, not nature as has it used to be
- humans and technology co-developing
- for example: we have vehicles that transport us, technology for information distribution, modes of communication
- after WWII, the sepraration of the natural worlds have increasingly become subject to the encroachment of technology
- most of the world we live in, has become more artifical
- for example: even the natual envieoments, national parks or reserves, that we deem untouched, they are seen as an advantage for tourist attractions or they are meticulously cultivated for human use
- artificiality- the horizon we see and know, in the sense that we can no longer be in the world or relate ourselves in the world without thinking about technological innovation
- if we want to keep exisiting on the planet, we need to put deeper thought and deliberation into the things we create
- these are the things that will determine how the artificial will live with us
- thoughtful and critical design and technology practice
- not to create blindly but deeply study and reflect, how we create changes us and the world
- in the artifcial, there are only possibilities, they are only there for propositions
- humans no longer subject to constraints, we have achieved mastery over nature
- we can fabricate worlds for ourselves that are not constrained over physical natural world, even cultural and social institutions do not have that strong sway
- range of possibilities has expanded and we can recreate our worlds and ourselves in any number of possible ways
- all design artifacts are propositions or should’s
- chair designed for how people “should sit”
- media is also always combarding our lives
- either passively or fully participating in media
- it becomes important to critically think how we are creating our existence in the world
- orders of design
1. communication with symbols and images
2. design of artifacts as in engineering, architecture, and mass production
3. we work progressively more with these activities and services, used to be human computer interaction, but now we work with any kind of interaction
4. design of environments and systems within which all the other orders of design exist
- ontology- what something is
- ontological designing- a way of characterizing the relation between humans and lifeworlds
- our world manifests in the world we create
- anything we put out into the world, will change their lives, make them think differently, or to frame their perception
- whatever you design, will design people
- invention of clocks- humans started to structure their everyday existence around 24 hours in a day
- then time started to be looked at through calendars, people started looking at time linearly
- what we make, remakes us!
- that is why we need to think deeply on what we create and out out into the world
- everything we touch, and everything that touches us, changes us
- artificial things condition us as much as natural things do
- sustainability- many are thinking about how to design the world to be more sustainable, how can designers support communities and also change them to live a more sustainable life
- transition design- design has a key role in helping the world become more sustainable, more of an understanding of social, economic, and political factors
- design justice- creating design that centers marginalized people, designing processes and uses collaborative and creative practices
- depatriarchtise design- female design efforts have been downplayed, think of design in centering women and their creative practices
- decolonising design- non-western way of thinking and highlighting practices and issues are people of color
- technology is never neutral, always carry biases and have deeply oppressed people
The Creative Process by James Baldwin
- all men must avoid the state of being alone
- we must not lose sight that we are making the world a more human dwelling place
- all societies battle with...the artist
- the purpose of a society is to quell inner and outer chaos, to make human life bearable and alive
- the artist is different from politicians, educators, scientists
- the artist is meant to find all that is concerning the mystery of the human being
- society must accept that things are real...but there are also much deeper things that we cannot see and that are achievements rest on that unseen reality
- despite on how it wants to be perceived, society is not stable and the world is always changing and we must be ready to meet these changes for our long term health
- artists can be like a lover, true love means showing you the uncomfortable truths
I Walk Into A White Room
- Some writers create routines for themselves. They wake up early and start to write early. They do this everyday, and in turn daily routines turn into second nature and discipline morphs into habits
- routine is a big part of the creative process
- creativity is augmented by routines and habits
- we can look at mozart and think of his as a genius who’s forhead was kissed by god and he was chosen to be a composer with no routine and habits
- however his father was a famed musician who taught him everything he knew
- Mozart’s fingers were deformed by the age of 28 because of all the hours he spent practicing
- yes he may have had natual talent, but he put in soooo much time and effort to make himself great
- In order to be creative you have to know how to prepare to be creative.
- paradox- creativity is supposed to be FUN and EXCITING while habit implies REPETITION and ROUTINE
- both creativity and skill are supposed to rub up against each other
- without proper preparation we cannot use the outside world as something retanable and usable