Dear Dene and Andrew,

First of all, don't cringe from my use of comic sans. Its the only font on here that looks hand written. Anyway, today's session was interesting but at the same time a little confusing since it took me a little time to fully understand certain concepts. It was also a little terrifying - the idea of my job being taken over by a software (more on that later).

To sum it up briefly, we discussed about generative systems and processes in the creative industry. The main concept was using a set of given instructions to generate a number of outcomes and the application of this in the graphic design industry. 

Generate, algorithms, process, instruction, automation, template are a few keywords used during the session. 

- We started the discussion by referencing Karl Gerstner's ‘Design Programmes’.

“To describe a problem is part of a solution. This implies: not to make creative decisions as prompted by feeling but by intellectual criteria. The more exact and complete these criteria are, the more creative the work becomes. The creative process is to be reduced to an act of selection. Designing means: to pick out determining elements and combine them. “ [Gerstner (2007, p. 12)]

This picture by Gerstner, ‘Carro 64’ is a set of 64 aluminium cubes that have been arranged and can be rearranged in a number of ways to generate new outcomes. 

- Pendulum music: it is a set of instructions given to produce a piece of music. However, the surroundings (eg. echo in the room) can impact the outcome. Since it’s based on a set of instructions and each time it is performed, it could be slightly different from the other, it can’t really have a musical score. 

We discussed the following in groups:

>Who is the creative author of the music?

In our group, we had a split decision between physics and people. While the music can’t really be played without physics, I feel the people act as catalysts and also play an important role in the outcome of the music. Depending on the setting they choose to set-up, the music changes.

>Is the piece ‘impersonal’?

While some people said that since its like a “code” and a given instruction and that anything can affect the final piece, its not really personal, some had used the example of Beethoven’s music to show that it could be personal. They said if someone plays Beethoven’s piece of music, would it be any less personal for them? Using the same idea, if someone plays pendulum music, it should be personal for them as well.

- Ada Lovelace’s work was also referenced and we spoke about the topic of automation of labour. we also looked at the website MarkMaker to generate a logo and edit according to our preferences. I found the idea of machines designing using only a number of given data terrifying. Although the website isn’t sophisticated enough yet, it won’t take much time and could become sophisticated and could potentially lead to a decrease in employment.                                            

“Design will be the task of creating templates and processes rather than bespoke pieces of communication”

This image shows the different covers of eye magazine of the SAME issue. These are made using typography and a generative process to create different outcomes. About 8000 copies were printed, and no cover was the same. 

-While the idea of machines taking over terrified me, Nela brought up that this was a fear that people had 2 centuries ago as well - that machines would completely take over. What could happen in the next 2 centuries? And how we as graphic designers impact that? But I feel, haven’t machines already taken over our world (almost)? We are surrounded by technology all the time and is something we can’t do without. During the industrial revolution, Indian handicraft and handloom industry saw a great decline since they had to compete with low-cost, machine-produced goods almost to the point that the craft simply doesn't exist anymore. 

New websites like mark maker, six and square space are perhaps the beginning of a similar “revolution” in the graphic design industry. 

We tried out the mark maker website to try and make our own logos. The above are two logos that were randomly generated for my Instagram page (shameless self-promo - go follow me!) While they don't relate to the page at all, and definitely not my aesthetic or how I would choose to design my logo, it still made thousands of logos that could easily be edited and downloaded for FREE! Automation of skilled labour would also lead to the problem of removing artists from the creative process since machines can’t replace the feelings/thoughts/emotions that go behind coming up with a design. Some people will argue that machines and software don't have the feelings, emotions and experience that we designers have and that inform our personal designs but couldn't that change?

There's a film called "Robot" where the scientist creates a robot that looks exactly like a man and also has the ability to "feel" which takes an evil turn (I do recommend watching it since it was a hit in India). What if this was really developed in the future? It could potentially take over EVERYONE's job. While that would be an easy life to live - just eat and sleep while the robots do the work, will it be a life worth living? with no purpose?

Another thing that someone mentioned during this discussion was that as new media comes about, the meaning of other media changes. Like earlier paintings were made to capture a scene, but after photography, painting became a way of expression. 

That's all for now. Do let me know what you think about this. 

Yours truly,

Muskaan