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My Team

1.   Kim Cosier

Professor of Art Education

Director of Community Engagement

Peck School of the Arts

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Founder of Milwaukee Visionaries Project

2.   Ryan Graham

Student at St. John’s Univerity, MN

Mentor with Teens Grow Greens

3.   Tracy Apps

Associate Lecturer

Peck School of the Arts

4.   Contessa Lobley

Executive Director and Founder of TBEY Arts Center

5.   Petra Duecker

Teen Education Specialist

Milwaukee Public Library

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Chosen Name and Tagline

Break: Connecting Youth to Their Futures

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Names/Tag Lines

Named after the founders

1.    Heidi Brody

2.    Heidi Louise Brody

3.    Miss Louise

4.    H. Louise

5.    H.L.B.

6.    Louise

7.    Heidi & Louise

8.    Miss Brody

9.    Brody Connect

10.Louise Connect

11.Heidi Connect

12.Heidi’s Find & Go

13.Louise’s Find-n-Go

14.Brody’s Find & Grow

15.Brody Go

Descriptive

1.    Find & Go

2.    Connect

3.    Seek, Find & Grow

4.    Seek & Go

5.    Milwaukee Connect

6.    Connect Milwaukee

7.    Milwaukee Program Connect

8.    Programs-Teens-Connect

9.    Connecting Underserved Teens

10.Teen Bridge

11.Bridge

12.Bridge Over Troubled Water

13.Milwaukee Teen’s Bridge

14.MKE Teenz Connect & Go

15.MKE Teens Connect & Grow

16.Search & Grow

17.Milwaukee Search & Grow

18.Milwaukee Search & Go

19.Teens MKE Search & Go

20.MKE Teens Out the Door

21.Milwaukee Teens Map

22.MKE After School Map

23.After School Land MKE

Fabricated

1.    Zapd

2.    Zip Do

3.    Zip Yeah

4.    Zig

5.    Hoodlink

6.    Gotcha

7.    Catcha

8.    Badass

9.    Screwed In

10.What’s UP

Metaphor

1.    Break

2.    MKE Break

3.    Get Thurr

4.    Right Thurr

5.    MyGreat MKE

6.    Mi-great MKE

7.    Connectool  

8.    Nose 2 Ground

9.    Ear 2 Ground

10.LeatherBacks

11.Wide Pupils

12.Phat Brain

13.Key 2 Hole

14.MKE Unlocked

15.Teenz Red Carpet

16.Red Carpet MKE

17.After School Hunt

18.Future You

19.Get Out & See

20.Out & About

21.Scout

22.Your Route

23.Scout Route

24.Test Route

25.Take Off

26.Launch Yourself

27.See What’s Free

28.Meant 2B

Acronym

1.    C.U.GO

2.    G.O.

3.    HLB

4.    LB

5.    US.2.U

6.    B.R.E.A.K.

7.    CUTTAP

8.    HUTFTF

9.    CTTTF

10.BCM

Magic Spell

1.    Braek

2.    Mygreat MKE

3.    Mygreat MKE

4.    Konectool

5.    C wuts free

6.    Wassup

7.    Wazup

8.    Screwd In

9.    Detectyour Way

10.Badaz

Combinations

1.    After School Scout

2.    After School Map

3.    After School Connect

4.    School to Program Bridge

5.    Find Go Grow

6.    Set off to take off

7.    Teens Go

8.    Map Go

9.    See What’s Free MKE

10.New Route

Tag Lines

1.    Connecting teens to their futures

2.    Connecting youth to their futures.

3.    Bridging the gap between school and programs

4.    Bridging the gap between school and bedtime.

5.    Helping kids fills the gap between school and dinnertime.

6.    Showing Milwaukee’s teens what is at their fingertips.

7.    Breaking Milwaukee’s cycle of poverty through care

8.    Milwaukee’s kids deserve all hands on deck care

9.    Let’s show Milwaukee kids that we care.

10.Helping teens find who they’re meant to be.

11.Connecting teens to who they’re meant to be.

12.Showing teens that there are people who care.

13.We care about Milwaukee’s kids.

14.It takes a village, so Milwaukee, let’s be that village.

15.Let’s show Milwaukee’s children how much we care.

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Mood Board

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Week 6 Reading Response

10 Things to pay attention in evaluating user interface

This article discusses the importance of evaluating user interface. The two techniques for evaluating user interface include empirical evaluation (which is testing with users) and heuristic evaluation (based on a set of rules). This article says empirical evaluation is the most important, though heuristic evaluation is also necessary. This article lists ten key user interface heuristics. Some that hit me in particular were user control and freedom, error prevention, flexibility and efficiency of use and aesthetic and minimalist design. These heuristics help one connect with the user and provide the best possible context for the user to test out your product. The article then discusses methods of applying heuristics. It discusses the importance of consistency and rating techniques.

This article is helpful because we have just started creating our products. We will need to test our products on users in order to tweak them efficiently and make the appropriate changes. Thinking about how we test in a way that is more effective will be key in creating successful products.

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Week 5 Readings

5 Ways to Become a Better Storyteller

I love the quote that starts this article out: “Great stories tell us something about what it means to be human.” This is a lovely sentiment to keep in mind when creating. This article discusses five ways to become a more engaging storyteller. First, put your audience first. This means understanding who your audience is and putting yourself in their shoes. Procuring details about the people you are trying to reach will help you reach them more efficiently. The second point is to take people on an emotional journey. This means making sure your audience understands the stakes involved, so they become emotionally invested in your story/cause. The third point is to test out your ideas. We’ve learned this well in our design classes so far. Getting feedback and using that feedback to make improvements is very important. Fourth is to be a good editor. Our first iterations or ideas are usually not the best ones. It takes editing and improvements to make your story potent and relevant. The last point was to practice telling your story to reduce anxiety. This is key because you can’t reach people as effectively is you are too nervous to get your story across effectively.

This article was relevant to our project in that it gives great points about the creation and delivery of our pitches. A good pitch tells a good story that engages our audience. Right now, I have my idea but it needs a lot of editing. My infographic needs serious editing and my branding needs work. I think it is key that we remember to put our audience first in our creation of our infographics and logo, branding, etc. This will help our story to be more powerful, which is important for selling our idea.

Why Generating Insights is an Important Skill

This article shares the perspectives of Coe Leta Stafford and Jane Fulton about why insights matter. They discuss how insight connects the head and heart. It’s important to present your customers with both information and inspiration. I liked how the writer stated that insights move you from knowing something to wanting to do something.  The article discussed how gaining insights to share is often a collaborative process. The more people you talk to, the more insight you gain about a problem. Curiosity is key in driving research and gaining a deeper insight.

This article was inspirational and very relevant to our projects right now. We need both information and inspiration. We need to move our audiences to not only care about our topics, but invest in them. Exercising our curiosity, making use of our design team and making sure we are addressing both the head and heart will help our pitches and design work be all the stronger.

An Activity to Help You Find Inspiration Outside Your Context

This article discusses how important it is to look outside of your own context in order to gain inspiration and a fresh perspective. This article discusses steps that can help you soak up as much as possible once you are outside of your context. First, start with emotions. Thinking about which emotions play into the scenario, such as how people feel at different parts of a particular experience. Second is to identify analogous experiences. This means relating the new experience you are having with other experiences. Forming connections like this is helpful in experiencing another context. Third, reflect and connect. Taking time to think about what you experienced is important. It seems simple, but it is often overlooked. This is an exercise that IDEO employees use to gain a fresh perspective.

This article was also very helpful for our current project. I think once you are entrenched in a project, it is important to step back and experience other things. These things help bring a fresh perspective to your own project. So many experiences share qualities that when reflected upon can bring new connections and ideas.

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Week 4 Reading Response

A Designer’s Research Manual Chapter 4

This chapter provided a survey of a variety of research-driven design projects. It was fascinating to read about each project and how research was used to solve a problem. The first project we read about was Bond and Coyne’s goal to increase enrollment in their college. They did extensive research on the type of student that would be applying to their school in order to create materials that would attract and engage prospective students. This understanding of their audience lead to a whopping 30% increase in enrollments. Knowing your audience is a big deal and a key to the success of your campaign. Another project we read about was that a small town in Connecticut hired Co:Lab to help design a document for the community based on information gathered in a student survey. Co:Lab partnered with the Youth Services Bureau to create awareness. This partnership opened lots of doors for what was possible. This collaboration allowed Co: Lab to not just communicate a problem to the community, but to also interfere with the problem and make changes. Like knowing your audience, forming collaborations is another essential tool in designing for a problem. We also read about Beam home furnishings in NYC who wanted to expand their customer base. They accomplished this through qualitative and quantitative research along with competitor profiling and photo-ethnography. This triangulation allowed for a very successful campaign and re-brand that caused a massive increase in sales. We read about Hallmark’s creative team conducting research on millennial to see if their product could reach this audience. Again, we saw that in-depth research of the customer yields good results. In the same way, Hyatt conducted in-depth research on their guest’s experience in order to elevate their brand. My favorite project was the Lifewater International project. They hired Rule29 to conduct research in order to help them attract more donors. Rule29 conducted research about Lifewater International themselves, their existing donors, the countries that benefited from these donors and non-profit fundraising. This research paid off because the bike charity event was hugely successful.

Reading about these projects was very useful to my work in DVCII. It is inspiring to read about how other companies actually employ these research techniques to create very successful campaigns that raise a lot of money, awareness and power to affect change. In particular, customer research, competitor research and collaboration are the key types of research that kept coming up with all of these companies. I hope to employ many of these techniques myself as I push forward in my project.

5 Mega-Successful Entrepreneurs Who Are Introverts Article

I am certainly no introvert, but this article highlighted the techniques used by introverts and extroverts alike to create strong businesses. By tapping into the skills of people you collaborate with, you gain more than what you could accomplish on your own. This article stresses the importance of being yourself. When you are genuine, people tend to trust you and like you, even if they are different from you. I agree with this sentiment wholeheartedly and have seen this to be true in my own life. Many of my friends are very different from me, but we are who we are and we admire each other for our differences. This is helpful to tap into for our projects in DVCII! I’ve met so many wonderful, helpful people who are very different from me. But we all bring something unique to the table, which is making my idea and project stronger.

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Mood Board, Color Palette, and Image Library

https://www.pinterest.com/heidilouisebrody/mood-board-color-palette-image-library/

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Visual Audit

https://www.pinterest.com/heidilouisebrody/visual-audit/

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Reading Response Week 3

A Designer’s Research Manual Chapter 2

This chapter was super helpful; it reviewed the many traditional methods of research and their application to design. Some of these methods I’ve known of and used for years. Others were completely new to me. The chapter started by discussing the difference between quantitative and qualitative research, primary and secondary research, and formative vs. summative research.  We read about combining various methods of research to better solve a problem, which is called triangulation. This chapter illuminated quite a few terms that I had forgotten the exact meaning of, such as: literature review, communication audit, competitor profiling and ethnography. We read about the different types of ethnographic research, from macro to micro and photo ethnography to self-ethnography. We read about all the different types of interviews and observation that are available. We read about A/B testing, which I’ve done in previous jobs. I was particularly fascinated by the eye tracking technology and how that is helpful in figuring out what people actually look at first, second and third. Much of this chapter directly correlates with our projects. We read about prototyping, personas and mood boards: all work we will be conducting on our own.

For my project, I’m using both quantitative data (hard statistics and facts) along with qualitative research (subjective material consisting of words and images). I’m also using both primary and secondary research. My early research was more formative and my later research become more summative. I realized I was using triangulation without realizing it; the more types of research one does, the better. Reading about all the terms and various types of research was helpful in showing me all the various angles I can come at my topic to better understand it. For example, I had not considered the value in conducting observation where the person or group that is being studied doesn’t know they are being studied in comparison with direct interviews. Now I have more to consider about how I gather in-person data from interviews and observation. I have already used questionnaires in my research, but that yields an entirely different type of information that focus groups or one-on-one interviews. It was particularly helpful to read about the methods and value of prototyping, developing personas and mood boards. All of these things are essential to our projects now.

Human-Centered Design: How to Embrace Failing Fast Article

This article was very inspiring. It discussed the value that comes from failing, prototyping and trying again. I liked the idea of “failing smart”, or learning from your failures and using that new knowledge to build bigger and better things. I definitely suffer from the four symptoms discussed in the article: perfection, distraction, solation and caution. It was helpful to read about them and put these roadblocks at the forefront of my mind so I can guard against them during the process of this project. I also was inspired by the quote “the path of failing is a spiral, not a linear path towards a dead end.” This is so true! Remembering that failure is expected, useful and important will help remove excess caution. Failure helps us test the limits of what is possible and it is not final. These sentiments are valuable nuggets to take with me on my journey through DVCII!

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Maps from class (group work)

Empathy Map

Journey Map

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Week 2 Reading Reviews

Chapter three of A Designer’s Research Manual provides valuable information about the different ways to approach the creative process. The chapter begins by discussing the importance of iterative design, which is the cycle of prototyping, testing, analysis and refinement. The Design Council put forth an interesting info graphic describing the creative process that includes discovering, defining, developing and delivering. Thinking about problem solving in this way can help frame the problem and guide your research. This chapter also discusses “information literacy” which empowers people to know when information is needed and gives them the skills to go out into the world to get that information. We learned about the value in writing a research plan (which we already did for this class). We learned about how logic models, analysis, user experience maps and research summery reports have important roles in the research process. The chapter ended with a section on how to write the creative brief.

This chapter was very helpful for our class. Thinking about different ways of breaking down a complex research project into parts and using helpful tools, like the logic models, to see the problem from a new angle, will prove very useful. Our homework for next week is to write a creative brief. This chapter broke the process down into five sections. I feel very prepared to move forward in my research and begin to refine and narrow the scope of my research.

The article Here’s why your business should be of social enterprise this 2018discusses how many of the billion dollar problems that need to be solved today are social problems. Social entrepreneurship is the business of the future and many consumers are aware of which companies have a good impact on the world and will choose them over other companies. Even adding a social value to a business can help business.

This article was inspiring for us students as we work on our projects. Most of us are addressing some sort of social problem for our semester project. It is good to know that we are learning to build something that our world values. Hopefully we all can put these skills we are currently honing to good use upon graduation.

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Heidi’s Research on Education in Wisconin and Milwaukee Public Schools

Researchable Question:

What are the main roadblocks to student’s learning, being engaged with school, graduating and getting jobs in the Milwaukee public school system and public schools around Wisconsin?

Primary Research

Teachers:

Beth and Amanda, Madison Public School Teachers, Interviewed 9/14/18.

Students:

Ryan Graham is college student who grew up in the MPS school district but attended private schools. He has worked extensively with the program Teens Grow Green, so knows the skill levels of MPS students.

Parents:

Parents of children who are in the MPS district and work at Freodtert Hospital were given a 1uestionnaire that I wrote. They filled out the forms 9/14/18 and returned to me on 9/16/18.

Questions included:

1.    Do you send your child to the public school near your home? Why or why not?

2.    What are the biggest issues you know about in your child’s school?

3.    What do you believe are the biggest challenges to your child’s education and future?

4.    What are some things you believe your child’s school and/or teachers need?

5.    What are some things you believe your child needs in order to succeed in school?

Secondary Research

1.    esri.com – What is life like for kids in rough Milwaukee zip codes?

53206 Zip code:

-      Tapestry = “City Commons”

o  Largest and youngest segment in the United States

o  Many are single parents or live alone in large, metro cities

o  More than 1/3 have some college experience

o  1/3 have not finished high school

o  Strive for the best for ourselves and our children

-      Median Income: Zip = $21,551. County = $47,204. State = $56,369

-      Manufacturing Workforce: Zip = 11.7%, County = 14.3%, State = 17.9%

-      Graduate and Professional Degrees: Zip =1.6%, County = 10.2%, State = 9.5%

2.    Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction – MKE Public Schools Statistics

-      32.8% of MPS high school students go on to 4-year college compared to 52.5%statewide

-      MPS students rate 50% worse than students statewide in achievement testing

-      MPS students have a 53.7%truancy rate compared to students statewide at 9.9%

-       MPS students are more than twice as likely to be suspended from school as students statewide

-       MPS teacher statistics - more teachers in MPS do not have full teacher’s license than schools statewide

3.Whitworth, Shannon. “MPS needs an overhaul; Milwaukee kids deserve better.” Badger Institute,18 Feb. 2015, https://www.badgerinstitute.org/Commentary/MPS-needs-an-overhaul-Milwaukee-kids-deserve-better.htm. Accessed 15 September, 2018.

4.Heick, Terry. “What Thematic Curriculum Looks Like & Why It Is So Powerful.” teachthought, 29 July 2018, https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/a-simple-but-powerful-way-to-bond-your-common-core-units-together/. Accessed 15 September 2018.

5.Sanchez, Claudio. “Lessons on Race and Vouchers From Milwaukee.” nprEd, 16 May 2017, https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/05/16/523612949/lessons-on-race-and-vouchers-from-milwaukee. Accessed 16 September 2018.

6. Sanchez, Claudio. “Why Some Parents Are Sitting Kids Out of Tests.” nprEd, 5 March 2015, https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/03/05/390239788/why-some-parents-are-sitting-kids-out-of-tests. Accessed 16 September, 2018.

Main Problems in Milwaukee Public Schools and Wisconsin Public Schools gathered from research:

1.   Resources/funding – not enough

2.   Lack of support at home for certain students

3.   Students don’t feel like anyone cares about them – teachers, administrators, and community

4.   Curriculum needs improvement in public schools

5.   Testing not effective and prevents use of good curriculum

6.   Need more after-school and summer programs

Where to go from here:

Refined Researchable Question:

What are the characteristics of a program that successfully fosters critical thinking skills in K-12 MPS students in troubled zip codes? How can this program promote more students of color to purse a teaching degree while also show students in these rough areas that Milwaukee cares about them? Where in Milwaukee would a program like this be needed most?

Research Goals:

1.    Find all the successful non-profit programs geared toward fostering growth in K-12 students living in the MPS district. I want to understand what these programs do, how they work, and where they are lacking.

2.    I want to continue meeting with more MPS teachers and community members to get an idea of the culture, interests and needs of students living in troubled zip codes in the MPS system.

3.    I am planning to meet with some educators at the college level who train teachers to discuss elements of a successful program for students.

4.    I want to figure out what sort of program is needed in Milwaukee for K-12 students and how to make it effective while complementing existing programs.

Timeline:

1.    Complete interviews/phone conversations by Tuesday September 25th.

2.    Continue refining my researchable question during these interviews.  

3.    Have a good idea of the type of program I’d like to create by Friday September 28th.

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Education Mind Map

Way to build empathy around this topic include:

1. Interviewing parents and mentally putting myself in their shoes. Why are they frustrated with the Milwaukee public school system? How do they feel - hopeful or hopeless? Why?

2. Interview teachers and ask them what they feel are issues that need to be addressed. Again, putting myself in their shoes, trying to see the problems in schools from their perspective will help build empathy around this topic. 

3. Interviewing students who went to school in or near Milwaukee. Understanding how they felt while being a student in Milwaukee and asking them about their frustrations, hopes and dreams will be very enlightening. 

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Design Methodologies Reading Summaries

1. A Designer’s Research Manual (Chapter 1, PDF provided) by J. and K. Visocky O’Grady

This chapter discusses the value provided to companies by design. The chapter begins by explaining that research helps prove creative’s worth. It helps define the audience, support a concept, advocate for aesthetic and measure the effectiveness of a campaign. With all these tools in hand, the graphic designer should think of themselves as a strategic consultant. We learned the difference between user-centered design (understanding the target audience) and human-centered design (universal design). This chapter further explained what design is: it’s understanding the client, the user and the problem. In order to synthesize all the information gathered by research, this chapter discussed the value in thinking laterally instead of literally. Having the culture of anything goes and thinking metaphorically. The authors recommend “framing the creative process with logic and the less expected can thrive within”. The chapter finished by showing how companies who employ design on a high level get a much high return on investment than companies who do not.

This chapter was helpful to me for our current project because it reinforced the importance of the skills we are developing. This chapter also gives great tips on how to break research down; the creative needs to understand the client, the user and the problem. In my own research, that helped me know where to start and helped me frame my questions. I think the advice that the “unconventional needs to work in tandem wit the methodical” was important for me to read. I am going to try to think laterally instead of literally once I begin synthesizing my research.

2. The Strategic Designer, tools and techniques for managing the design process (Introduction and Chapter 1, PDR provided) by D. Holston

This chapter helped me to understand how the role of the graphic designer is changing today and the creative process. The chapter began by emphasizing that the designer needs to employ design thinking in order to avoid becoming a commodity and to compete in today’s market. The writer explained that technical know-how is going to become less important compared to the ability to create, analyze, transform information and interact with others. The new designer of today embraces complexity, works well collaboratively, designs in context and is accountable. This chapter explained design as “a business tool that makes a strategy visible.” It then went on to explain, like our previous article, that linear problem solving is not as successful as lateral problem solving, or in the terms of this chapter, “the spiral method”.  The spiral method involves information gathering, initial set of designs that are critiqued and then many prototypes that incrementally reach the end goal. This chapter explained three stages of design: divergence, transformation and convergence. These three stages move from complexity to certainty as kinks are worked out and prototypes are tested. The entire design process was broken into six steps: establishing client-designer relationship, project definition, design research, concept development, design development and design evaluation. All of these steps were explained in detail, which was very enlightening.

This chapter was very helpful to me. Reading about the design process in depth provides me with a great framework to begin researching and planning with. Reminding myself that it is good to begin with complexity. When I’m struggling through the complexity of my chosen problem, the six steps laid out will provide a helpful framework for me to play inside of and will help move me along toward certainty.

3. Five Global Challenges Designers and Architects Can Solve in 2017 by Heather Corcoran

This was a fascinating and alarming article about five challenges (adequate housing, trash overflow, ocean health, food shortages, and our aging population) that are soon to become big problems unless something is done. This article discussed people who are taking on these global challenges by thinking laterally, collaborating and using empathy to understand what the needs are.

This was a helpful article to me for my project in that is showed more examples of smart design. People who see a need and work toward a solution, no matter how daunting. The value of seeing what is happening around you with empathy is essential to identifying a need and then a solution.

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What can I do well that would I love to do for an extended period of time?

This is a tough question for me as I am interested in so many topics. This perhaps highlights a strength and weakness of mine as a writer and designer. One of my strengths is that I am interested in everything and love reading, researching, meeting people and finding things out. One of my weaknesses is that I tend to go in many directions at once and have trouble zeroing in on one topic. This project will force to me focus!

Though I could easily be happy researching all of the given categories (Brain Health, Community, Education, Freshwater, Food, Global Waste, Aging Population and Transportation), I am going to focus on education. I have always loved school, learning, reading and writing. My first college degree began as an education degree, but I shifted to English Linguistics in order to better understand the structure and function of the English language and language in general so that I could be a better writer and educator in my future. During college, I taught English in France for a summer. After college, I taught English in Japan for a year. When I returned to the United States, I taught Kindergarten. Then I switched gears and worked as a writer in public relations and, most recently as a copywriter in a creative department at a healthcare marketing agency. All of my writing jobs centered around communicating clearly to a variety of audiences. This is, in a sense, teaching. I’ve always planned to become a high school English teacher someday in the future. But for now, I’m focused on developing my design skills and adding those talents to my skills as a writer. My goal is to write and design for non-profits and churches in whatever community I happen to be living in. 

Given my past and my future goals, it makes sense that I focus on education in the Milwaukee area. I love learning and want others to love learning as well. There is no question on the value of education in our society. I want to learn about what is working well and what is not working in our schools here in Milwaukee. I want to understand the perspectives of parents, teachers and students from a variety of zip codes about the problems and successes in their prospective schools. 

Education is a topic that is always at the heart of my professional choices and personal choices. I chose to pursue a second college degree so I can add more skills to my tool belt in order to impact the world in a positive way. When I have free time, I choose to read/listen a book about something I don’t know anything about because I believe the more you know, the more doors will open to a more interesting future. 

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Heidi’s Bio

Heidi is a 31-year-old copywriter turned design-student who plans to apply her writing and design skills to freelance work and non-profit organizations, such as her church. Heidi’s first degree is a B.A. in English linguistics from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. As a writer, she worked in public relations and as a copyrighter in the creative department at Healthgrades in Madison, Wisconsin.  Heidi is always clearing time in her busy schedule to read, meet people, and learn about/experience other cultures. She taught English and French in a Japanese high school for a year, as well as for 6 months in France.  She stays in touch with friends around the globe, and closer to home, places high importance on her relationship with family, friends and neighbors. She recently married, and between design projects, reading, writing, gardening, cooking and exercising in the best gym ever (nature), she loves spending time with her husband and best friend of all time, Mike.  Heidi plans to pursue a lifelong career as a writer and designer, while raising a family and a large and furry dog (or two).