Steve Jobs offered a new lifestyle. He gave us gifts that will change our lives. His products are beautifully designed, shiny and elegant, unique and powerful, pleasant to touch and pleasant to the eye. Each of his imaginative products become an adventurous journey through its unique features, offering us to employ unlimited creativity that he so artfully stimulates within us. When asked if he ever conducts a market research, he replies: “No, because customers don’t know what they want until you show them. Alexander Bell did not ask people if they want telephone, did he?”
We want our students to be a part of our revolutionary times! It was decided by our intuitive graphic design team it is time for Platt graphic design students to design for print AND for the interactive environment. Our students are excited! Everyone wants to take THAT class. And with excellent and funny teachers as is Terry Warner (the main drafter of the new features in the class), and Ed Boretz – it became nothing but rewarding joyous road.
Just imagine the excitement to be able to design a cookbook or a guide through our solar system in InDesign for print publication and then take the same content and design it for an interactive device as an application! And the students surpassed our expectation.
The students present to the class a print version of their cook book or Balboa Park guide. Then a handsome ipad is hooked to the overhead and students show their creativity how to make a solar system guide or a map of Mission Trails customer friendly as an app you carry in your packet on any tablet of your choice. The leap of imagination of our students has no limit. You touch the screen on many places and pictures appear and disappear, text scrolls up and down, shiny buttons entice you to touch them to find out more about a Museum of Man or a hike to Cowles Mountain. You all know how apps work, so perhaps I go to too many details…but my point is – our students can build such apps in their Digital Publishing class, a class that strides right next to our ever evolving technology.
I have been pleasantly surprised how much creativity and unique ideas our students can show. And the environment in the classroom was charged with so much joy and energy! Well, to create something anew, to stand on the edge of technology and to have limitless creativity ahead of you is empowering. I am glad we can offer such opportunity to our capable students.
P.S. Yes, I know, I am biased when it comes to Apple products! I love them!
