#new art program? [draws martin] [draws martin] [draws martin] [draws martin] [draws martin] [draws martin] [draws martin] [dra

[mtaartsdesign]

In honor of National Bird Day, we’ve added a new exhibition to our guide on the Bloomberg Connects app! “Exploring the Birds in New York’s Underground Art Museum” highlights selections from our permanent and temporary art programs that draw visual inspiration from birds.

1: Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz, “A Gathering” (2001), Canal St (A,C,E) station 📸: MTA A&D/Rob Wilson

2: Carson Fox, “Blue Sky Pursuit” (2009), LIRR Seaford station 📸: MTA A&D/Rob Wilson

3: Josée Bisaillon, “NYC View” (2022)

4: Elizabeth Grajales, “When the Animals Speak” (1998), 34 St-Penn Station (1,2,3) 📸: MTA A&D/Rob Wilson

[supersonicart]

Martine Johanna's "How to Eliminate Stress and Anxiety through Good Housekeeping."

Currently on view at MasseyKlein Gallery in New York City is artist Martine Johanna's must see solo exhibition, "How to Eliminate Stress and Anxiety through Good Housekeeping."

This fascinating exhibition from Johanna delves into the relationship between public perception and private self-image, incorporating irony and light humor. Central to Johanna's work is the multifaceted role of women in Western society, with a focus on the female figure. Her semi-autobiographical paintings, straddling surrealist abstraction and intricate narratives, examine perceptions of gender, competition, beauty, personality, and attraction in both personal and art historical contexts. The vivid scenes highlight the stark contrast between reality and dreamlike escapism, prompting discussions about identity crises stemming from societal expectations and social media pressures.

Johanna's inspiration originates from her childhood, where she experienced a strict upbringing within traditional gender divides. Escapism was found in dime novels, TV programs, and fashion magazines, much like today's screens and social media channels. Her female protagonists playfully depict the struggle between youthful naivety and adulthood while trying to establish their identities. The artist draws inspiration from Titian's Venus with a Mirror, using modern and prismatic techniques to create visually stimulating compositions that leave the viewer to ponder and interpret the scenes. Adopting 1970s color schemes, technicolor television, and Fauvism, Johanna first paints a dark ground on linen or panel and layers the narrative with rich colors, brighter hues, and neon, resulting in elaborate, detailed, suggestive, and mesmerizing paintings.

THE SUPERSONIC ART SHOP | FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM

[samwise1548]

I usually use Clip Studio Paints default crayon brush for everything in my art, but these recent drawings were an experiment to try something new. I hope this is helpful!

[ID: A screenshot of a comment from @therainbowtea that reads "I have to know what program and brushes these are!!!" Below it is a guide to brushes used by the artist in two separate drawings, divided by a line.

LEFT SIDE: The word "line" is underlined. Under it is written "default pencil" and a guide to the settings of this brush. Brush size is 1.5, opacity is 90, two-texture density is at 15, and stabilization is at 3 of 5. Below that is the word "color" with a pink streak behind it. Next to these settings is an illustration of Jonathan Sims from the Magnus Archives using these settings. Under it is written "default mechanical pencil" and the settings for this brush. Brush size is at 10, brush density is at 95, texture density is at 35, and stabilization is at 3 of 5. Next to this is a parenthesized note saying "same for background", and a doodle of an orange cat using these two brushes.

RIGHT SIDE: Under the underlined word "line" is a screenshot of two brushes with similar names that the artist cannot translate. An arrow points to it and says "link in comments". Under this is a doodle of a pink bunny using these settings. And next to it is a drawing of Martin Blackwood from the Magnus Archives also using these settings. At the bottom is the word "color" with "default crayon" and in parentheses "in pastel" written underneath. Below that is written in parentheses "same for background." Next to this is the settings for this brush. Brush size is 1.2, brush density is 85, and texture density is 100.

/End ID]

[adarkrainbow]

Lost media quest: H&G Epic Tales (part 3)

Last time I ended my post while exploring the defunct epictales.com website. There was one page of this website (preserved in the Wayback Machine) that I did not add in this post: the About page.

The About page not only describes the Epic Tales line, but also lists the full staff that worked on this project. Here is what the website contains:

EPIC TALES™ is a developer and publisher of interactive storybooks for the iOS platform. EPIC TALES presents its own unique interactive adaptation of the imaginative and magical stories found in fairytales, folklore and world mythology.

All of our tales are narrated by our central storyteller, a most likeable dwarf named Silvertongue who used his magic to let our books and stories come to life. Each storybook offers stunning hand-drawn animations, a revamped storyline, original music scores, and spellbinding interactive environments that are sure to draw readers deep into the story.

EPIC TALES allows you to not only enjoy magical worlds and enchanting tales, but to experience them more closely than ever before.

We, the people at EPIC TALES, are always inspired by stories that fuel our ideas and imagination. We are storytellers, animators, and composers that gladly indulge ourselves in folklore, mythology, and the many tales and stories that have captured our imagination for generations. The result is a talented team of people driven to create original storybooks that are filled with whimsical characters, spellbinding environments, and interactive surprises. By combining creativity with technology, and talent with expertise, we hope to constantly produce exciting tales that bring every page to life. EPIC TALES is a joint venture between Cloud Castle Interactive and Anikey studios.

EPIC TALES Paul Hanraets, Founder of EPIC TALES and producer

Albert ‘t Hooft, Partner and creative director

Paco Vink, Partner and lead artist, animator

TEAM MEMBERS Lou Attia, Narrator and voice actor

Martin van Spanje, Software engineer

Joost van den Broek, Music composer

Arjen Schut, Sound designer

Sjan Weijers, Background clean-up artist

David Muchtar, Animator

Jelle Brunt, Animator

Ruben Zaalberg, Animator

The website also briefly offers descriptions/curriculum of the staff members:

Paul Hanraets Paul Hanraets has been a creative entrepreneur since 2002 when he co-founded Red Road Media, a media agency specialized in video games. Successful projects undertaken by Red Road include: Benelux largest annual game event Gamexpo, the tv show GAME FACTS broadcasted by TMF/MTV and the freely distributed game magazine Games Guide. In 2008 Paul founded Cloud Castle Interactive and was involved in the development of smaller game projects which further awakened his passion for the creative industry. As an immediate result Paul founded EPIC TALES, a developer of interactive storybooks for IOS and GAMBITIOUS an equity based crowdfunding platform dedicated to the games industry.

Albert ‘t Hooft & Paco Vink Albert 't Hooft and Paco Vink both studied traditional animation at the Willem de Kooning Art Academy in Rotterdam before they founded Anikey Studios in 2007. Anikey is an award winning animation studio which specialises in hand drawn 2D digital animation. Anikey creates independent and commissioned animations for television, films and games which have an emphasis on story, characters and fun. Anikey's first two independent films 'Paul & the Dragon' and 'Little Quentin' won several awards at international film festivals. In addition on working on the new EPIC TALES titles, Anikey is developing the first hand drawn animated feature film in the Netherlands since 30 years.

Lou Attia Working with the likes of Disney and Sesame Street, Lou Attia has been a professional voice-over artist for over 15 years. After studying professional vocals in London, England, Lou landed a radio host position at 104.2 Nile FM in Cairo, Egypt where he became Creative Director and then Program Director of the station. Throughout his seven years on the air, during which his morning show went on to be the No.1 listened to radio show in a city of 16 million, Lou continued to do voice-overs for numerous commercials, shows and features. In 2010 Lou moved to Toronto, Canada where he is currently a full time voice-over artist, writer and TV show host.

Martin van Spanje Currently co-owner of LayerGloss Digital Publishing, Martin used to program and design on 8-bit Sinclair machines in the eighties. Then came Macs, digital audio, ten years of IT-projects and finally, iOS. Nowadays he lives his life surrounded by Objective-C code, and he sometimes thinks cornflakes look a bit like people. Oh, and he doesn't do Twitter.

Joost van den Broek Joost van den Broek is a producer, composer, arranger and keyboardplayer based in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Starting out as a keyboardplayer for several metalbands like After Forever touring all over the world, he finished his conservatory with honour in musicproduction, keyboards and classical arrangement. Since then he been working as a freelancer in his own studio on several productions, compositions and arrangements, for acts/events like: Ellen ten Damme, Symphonica in Rosso, Wende Snijders, Games in Concert, Ben Saunders, Qlimax. Epic moviescores and/or/in combination with (pop/alternative)rock is what defines his style the most.

Arjen Schut Arjen Schut is a sound designer based in Hilversum, The Netherlands. As a freelancer Arjen has worked on numerous projects, both on location and in his own studio. Arjen is involved in sound effect creation for all sorts of media, but has a strong focus on interactive and animation projects. International blockbuster Killzone 3 being one of the larger projects.

I have taken upon myself to contact some of these artists, just in case they were open about talking or sharing information about the animation they worked onto. Is it a bad idea, or a good one? I don't know but that's the most straightforward direction one can take. I will warn you if I ever receive any response, positive or negative.

I forgot to link before the official page, on the Anikey Animation website, for their work on Hansel and Gretel - Epic Tales. Not only does it contain large, high-quality screenshots of the artwork, but their "Production" page also has one concept art for the storybook. They also list the credits of the app as such:

Title: Epic Tales - Hansel & Gretel

Release: 2012

Directed by: Albert 't Hooft & Paco Vink

Animation by: Jelle Brunt, David Muchtar & Ruben Zaalberg

Backgrounds by: Paco Vink & Sjan Weijers

Music by: Joost van den Broek

Sounddesign by: Arjen van der Schut

Producer(s): Paul Hanraets for Cloud Castle Interactive

AppAdvice still has a page dedicated to the application. There is also a review by the MacTrast website that is quite interesting because, while today the pictures contained within it are "dead files", in the Wayback Machine you can fetch them back, and they are pretty rare screenshots of the game! Here's an additional Dutch article I forgot to add earlier. Again, not much to add since they all basically just announce the game's release and rephrase the storybook's commercial description.

I also don't think I have added this to my previous posts, but Cartoon Brew also had a page for the app's launching, which contained this text:

The Hague, the Netherlands — April 24, 2012 — Hansel and Gretel – Epic Tales animated storybook is the first in a series of tales as told by Silvertongue, the likeable dwarf and storyteller, and is now available on the Appstore for IPad and IPhone.

Hansel and Gretel – Epic Tales animated storybook offers a world filled with whimsical characters ranging from pesky gnomes to witty dwarfs; from brave children to wicked stepmothers and cunning witches.

“But we are not just another fairytale App,” says Paul Hanraets, founder and producer. “What sets Epic Tales apart from other storybooks are the incredible production values. Each of Epic Tales storybooks are digitally hand-drawn by our award winning animators, and offer stunning 2d animations, professional voice acting, original music scores and ambient sounds by game industry veterans. These elements combined offer spellbinding interactive environments that are sure to draw readers even deeper into the story.”

“Of course, our alternating witty and wacky humour and the high quality of our animations are amongst the things that separates Hansel and Gretel from other storybooks,” says creative director Albert ‘t Hooft.”However, what ultimately distinguishes Epic Tales is the implementation of our central storyteller, Silvertongue the dwarf.” Using the magic of pesky gnomes, Silvertongue brings the stories to life and narrates them.”Silvertongue used to be quite the adventurer, travelling the world in search of the most intriguing tales and stories, and now looks after your storybook collection in his humble bookstore. He is a truly gifted storyteller who can take an audience from a gasp of fright to a roar of laughter in just the twist of a phrase.”

Epic Tales is a series of high quality, interactive fairytales that allows you to not only enjoy enchanting tales, but to experience their magical worlds more closely than ever before. Children will love the sense of wonder and discovery,while adults will certainly appreciate the clever and wacky humor.

A final piece to add to the dossier so far is Muchtar Productions' page for Hansel and Gretel - Epic Tales. Muchtar Production is the WordPress website of David Muchtar, a 2D animator and illustrator who worked on the Epic Tales animation as a (I quote) "Rough and Clean-up animator". He notably put within his portfolio an important number of concept art for the game's character designs. But, as with last time, I will keep it for the NEXT post!

Or... an almost final piece. I wanted to keep this for a much later post, but I ultimately decided to share it here. I vaguely described before one unofficial source for content about "Hansel and Gretel - Epic Tales". And that is an online review, a Youtube video, by a Youtuber named "Crazy Mike" specializing in app reviews. Here is the video, and the reason why this video is important (beyond it being the last remaining video review - unless I manage to get back the one from the defunct website) is because so far it is the only visual recording we have of the app outside of the trailers. Not only that, but at one point Crazy Mike opens the list of chapters within the app - which gives us a full glimpse of the story's main episodes, with thumbnails of each "tableau". Mind you, it is tiny details at the bottom of the screen so we can't get much of it... But with all the additional material I gathered, it will be a key element in my reconstruction of what the storybook looked like and was about.

[usafphantom2]

NGAD engines heat up, and remembering the Mercury 7

A new phase of testing for the NGAD engine and remembering the pioneering journey of the Mercury 7 astronauts.

PILOTPHOTOG

FEB 20, 2024

“Changes in military systems come about only through the pressure of public opinion or disaster in war.”

-Billy Mitchell

Mission Briefing

In a monumental stride towards redefining air combat, Pratt & Whitney, a name synonymous with aeronautical innovation, recently announced the completion of the US Air Force’s (USAF) critical design review for their engine, a cornerstone of the ambitious Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. This program isn't just about building another fighter jet; it's about crafting a sixth-generation aircraft, a marvel of modern engineering set to dominate the skies.

NGAD: The Future of Air Warfare

The NGAD program is not just an upgrade; it's a complete overhaul of aerial combat philosophy. Envision a fighter jet not just superior in speed and firepower but equipped with state-of-the-art technology, ready to outmaneuver any threat. The heart of this revolutionary machine? Advanced engines developed through the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) program, promising unprecedented performance and efficiency.

Collaborative Excellence: The NGAP Program

Back in August 2022, the NGAP program marked a significant milestone. Five aerospace giants - Boeing, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Pratt & Whitney - were each awarded a staggering ten-year, $975 million contract. Their mission? To bring their respective NGAP designs from the drawing board to reality. These contracts are not just about designing engines; they encompass a comprehensive journey of technological maturation and risk reduction. This journey includes rigorous phases of design, analysis, testing of prototype engines, rig testing, and the meticulous integration of these engines into advanced weapon systems.

Pratt & Whitney’s XA103: A Glimpse into the Future

Pratt & Whitney, a company with a rich legacy in aviation, is now focused on ground testing its prototype engine, dubbed the XA103. This isn't just any engine; it's a beacon of innovation, symbolizing a giant leap in propulsion technology. The XA103's testing, anticipated to occur in the late 2020s, is not just a routine procedure. It represents a critical phase in bringing the NGAD vision to life, a step closer to an era where air superiority is redefined.

The Road Ahead

As we look towards the future, the NGAD program, spearheaded by initiatives like Pratt & Whitney's XA103, stands as a testament to human ingenuity and the relentless pursuit of technological advancement. This isn't just about building the next generation of fighter jets; it's about shaping the future of air combat, ensuring that the skies remain a domain of unmatched innovation and superiority. Keep in mind that General Electric is working on their own advanced engine in competition with Pratt & Whitney to see who will power the NGAD, as more details come in, I will update you here and on the YouTube channel.

@Hangarflyingwithtog via X

[anacostiadigest]

Project Create - Anacostia, South East, Washington DC

As Historic Anacostia downtown main street business community, and the surrounding residential neighborhood experience growth and changes, the lives of young children and youth are impacted by the work of the Project Create, which has its roots in the early 1990s to provide a safe haven and after school creative art programs for children in the community.

Project Create, now in 2024, has its permanent place to call home in downtown Anacostia, where it provides free art and digital media classes to at-risk children and youth living in the Anacostia neighborhood and beyond. Project Create studio classes offers children and youth a gateway to engage in studio classes in learning to experiment in art expression of mixed-media collage, jewelry making, graphic design, dance, theater improv, and drawing & painting year round.

Back in the 1990’s, living in Anacostia was an extremely challenging time. Neighborhood children and youth needing a safe haven and after school programs to go to, but had no where to go. Filling that void of no place to go, is where Rev. John W. Wimberly, active in the community, and pastoring the Western Presbyterian Church in Washington DC, stepped in. Rev. Wimberly launched his after school program, which evolved into Project Create decade later.

Gaging the creative needs of Anacostia at risk children and youth, many with no outlet for after school programming, he started an after school program to meet the community needs. With a small beginning, that planted the seed of the creation of Project Create as a neighborhood after school program with a focus on the arts and culture in Anacostia, and connecting it to the museum resources in the city. That includes the Smithsonian, plus more.

In 2002, Project Create expanded to serve more children and youth in their after school program with collaborative efforts with So Others Might Eat (SOME), which is a non-profit focused on touching and transforming the lives of children and families who are underserved or homeless. With time, Project Create expanded collaborative efforts with Community of Hope, connecting children, youth, and their families to the city health care services.

By 2003, Project Create officially became a non-profit, and achieved a milestone to buy a building on the main street business corridor 208 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE. That is a monumental achievement given its humble beginnings back in the 1990s.

Today, Project Create is a art and cultural pillar in Anacostia downtown main street revitalization, with a focus on engaging children, youth, and their families to participate in the arts and emerging cultural community in Anacostia, and the opportunities within the city and beyond as participants of the program head for colleges and universities throughout the country. All classes are free, and it is open to children and youth of all ages.

Project Create has also expanded its program to offer digital media classes. It has a studio that is fully equipped with sound and recording equipment, DJ and podcast equipment, video and photo technology, new computers with graphic design capabilities, and 3-D printers. That gives way to so much creative space for underserved and homeless children, youth and their families to find creative spaces to thrive in the Washington DC area.

[zroem]

Hi, love your VR art! I've been experimenting with similar programs, but they always turn out odd and distorted. How are your large forms, like your figures and objects, so clean? Are there any tutorials you'd recommend?

Thanks! Honestly, as with all forms of art, it' all about practice, time, getting used to the tool ect. However, I do have links to some hopefully helpful tutorials/streams for Quill, the tool I work with.

If you're interested in drawing people/faces, the approach I'm using is largely inspired by Daniel Martin Peixe's great stream Creating Faces in Quill.

If you're more interested in drawing landscapes, Mike Khoury's stream on Creating a 3D Scene in Quill is really neat.

If you're new to quill and looking to get a grasp of the basics and all the important tools by doing a little exercise, I actually have a recording of a 20 min quill intro I do every year for a course I'm teaching, but you must promise not to judge it too harshly – it's usually accompanied by an additional in-person introduction.

Also, if I have one piece of advice about VR drawing, it's "come to terms with the fact that your brush strokes are never going to be as steady or precise as you want them to be, and if your program has a tool that lets you bend/adjust strokes, use the hell out of it to compensate for that."

[indianabeach]

Justin Brown

Indianapolis, IN

Intelligence Countered : Andy Warhol Table mixed media collage on card table, 33.5 x 33.5 x 28 in $2500 Andy Warhol’s FBI file with Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Margia Kramer highlighted. 

Intelligence Countered : Open Source Intelligence Audio cassette case and audio cassettes, 3.5 x 4.5 x 12.25 in NFS

Malcolm X -  “The Black Man’s History” Kwame Nantambo - ASCAC Conference 3/13/93 “New World Order : Afrocentric Perspective” Dr. Amos Wilson - “Africans and the New World Order” Dr John Henrik Clarke + Dr. Ivan Van Sertima - “The Black Family” Dr. Jewel Pookrum - “New Dimension in Healing” Dr. James Turner - 10/14/89 “African Consciousness and White Supremacy Domination” Dr. Edwin Nichols - “The Decline of African Opportunity in the Industrial Society” Dr. Yusef Ben Jochannan - “ The Philosophical Foundation of Pre-Dynastic Egypt” Steve Cokely - “Biological Warfare” Dr. Ivan Van Sertima : 1987 “Before Congress: The Columbus Myth" Dr. Martin Bernal, Dr Mary Lefkowitz, Dr. Guy MacLean Rogers, Dr. John Hendrik Clarke, Utrice Leid -“A Debate on the Source of Western Civilization and the Debt it Owes to Africa” Dr. Ann Brown - “The Vital Foundation of African Health” Brother Ra - “As a Christian Do You Have the Truth” Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah - “The Dan Broadcast to the Nation of Ghana” Dr. John H. Clarke - “Myths About African Civilization”

Justin Brown (b. 1988) is a multidisciplinary artist and curator from Indianapolis, IN. He is the founder and director of Hoy Polloy art gallery located at 3125 e. 10th street, Indianapolis, IN. Justin’s work is research based; ranging from public- private experiments, to government and corporate surveillance programs to archival photographs. Justin paints with data and paper. His series “Intelligence Countered” highlights FBI surveillance files of persons of interest from the Rabble Rouser Index, Cointelpro, and modern intelligence operations. He collages casework and redacts the papers further with abstract painting techniques to draw the viewer's eye to the text. Justin’s “Cubist Maps” series is centered around the historic development of neighborhoods, cities, and interstate infrastructures. He collages archive images of landmarks and residents in geometric “maps” to honor a region's history. Justin has installed permanent murals in Milktooth, Rabble Coffee, Beholder, and the MLK Multi-service Center in Indianapolis. His work has been exhibited at Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, Big Car’s Listen Hear, and Hoy Polloy. My art is research based documentary collage. I research land development history, governmental investigatory paperwork, and private intelligence surveillance companies. Iconography and text are the basis of my practice.

artsy.net/partner/hoy-polloy-art-gallery @blacklipbasquiatbillhicks

[fedor-bortnik-fmp]

Forefront. Part 9. Adjustable Mannequin 1.2

While browsing the Lvl80 blog, I found some cool plugins for the Blender.

I decided to relax a bit and look for interesting stuff on 80lvl webpage. I stumbled upon a very cool plugin, created by Vertex Arcade (2024).

I have been looking for a familiar plugin like that for a while in order to build my own character references by using inspired content.

I am not good at drawing, so In order to draw some humanoids or other living entities, I usually drew them on a flat, front perspective - or by tracing the overall shape and drawing whatever I needed on top of that.

I was getting annoyed in using random sketches from the internet as a traceable material, so eventually I began looking for a professional drawing software, which would have combined the 2D and 3D workflows together - or at least make it easier to draw and sketch with the ideas.

For that - my eyes got stopped on MangaKa as a convenient software, since it pretty much had many features that I wanted from a 2D/3D drawing software - You could adjust the shapes of the characters for a better tracing, bring various meshes into the world and even generate lines in order to properly do perspective.

Upon trying it though, the software had its problems - Many features were locked behind a nasty paywall, the controls were not intuitive and overall software was a bit laggy and limited, so after some time I simply gave up with the software, and was even considering to use Blender instead of MangaKa.

With this new plugin however, I solved one of the biggest issues that I had, as it allows me to do familiar features that MangaKa had, but better due to nicer controls and more features. I will be considering shifting away from MangaKa and just using Blender with a prepared library of assets and plugins, since I can achieve familiar results while using Blender. It is especially nice that a person with a rich concept art background designed the plugin, as it becomes evident that the plugin has a direct purpose since the developer knows exactly what he needs from the plugin.

I tried the plugin a little and it is really good! You can change various body settings of a rig, and even us IK rig system in order to quickly move to various poses. Its nice!

I like the possibility of just building the necessary shape from a 2D reference, in order to then quickly draw a different shape from the model for the sketches. Lastly - it's really nice you can do various rig customisations by adding or removing extra limbs or heads.

When I will be shifting towards other programs like Maya, I still want to continue using Blender, since I really enjoy using it due to the intuitive controls and nice tools menu - perhaps I will be using Blender for light projects or concept designs in a year or two?

References:

Rutherford, A. (2024). Create Any Character In Blender With This Rigged 3D Mannequin. [online] 80.lv. Available at: https://80.lv/articles/create-any-character-in-blender-with-this-rigged-3d-mannequin/ [Accessed 29 Jul. 2024].

Pinterest. (2024). Justin R. Martin (@posereference) • Instagram photos and videos | Drawing reference poses, Drawing poses, Drawing poses male. [online] Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/770326711250554006/ [Accessed 29 Jul. 2024].

MangaKa 漫画家 (2023). MangaKa Pre Launch Trailer. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FUoF1MlaUE [Accessed 29 Jul. 2024].

Vertex Arcade (2024). Adjustable Mannequin v1.2 Walkthrough (Blender 4.0+). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2xJCZHdae4 [Accessed 29 Jul. 2024].

[jcmarchi]

Summer 2024 recommended reading from MIT

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/summer-2024-recommended-reading-from-mit/

Summer 2024 recommended reading from MIT

MIT faculty and staff authors have published a plethora of books, chapters, and other literary contributions in the past year. The following titles represent some of their works published in the past 12 months. 

Looking for more literary works from the MIT community? Enjoy our book lists from 2023, 2022, and 2021.

Happy reading!

Novel, memoir, and poetry

“Seizing Control: Managing Epilepsy and Others’ Reactions to It — A Memoir” (Haley’s, 2023) By Laura Beretsky, grant writer in the MIT Introduction to Technology, Engineering, and Science (MITES) program

Beretsky’s memoir, “Seizing Control,” details her journey with epilepsy, discrimination, and a major surgical procedure to reduce her seizures. After two surgical interventions, she has been seizure-free for eight years, though she notes she will always live with epilepsy.

“Sky. Pond. Mouth.” (Yas Press, 2024) By Kevin McLellan, staff member in MIT’s Program in Art, Culture, and Technology

In this book of poetry, physical and emotional qualities free-range between the animate and inanimate as though the world is written with dotted lines. With chiseled line breaks, intriguing meta-poetic levels, and punctuation like seed pods, McLellan’s poems, if we look twice, might flourish outside the book’s margin, past the grow light of the screen, even (especially) other borderlines we haven’t begun to imagine.

Science and engineering

“The Visual Elements: Handbooks for Communicating Science and Engineering” (University of Chicago Press, 2023 and 2024) By Felice Frankel, research scientist in chemical engineering

Each of the two books in the “Visual Elements” series focuses on a different aspect of scientific visual communication: photography on one hand and design on the other. Their unifying goal is to provide guidance for scientists and engineers who must communicate their work with the public, for grant applications, journal submissions, conference or poster presentations, and funding agencies. The books show researchers the importance of presenting their work in clear, concise, and appealing ways that also maintain scientific integrity.

“A Book of Waves” (Duke University Press, 2023) By Stefan Helmreich, professor of anthropology

In this book, Helmreich examines ocean waves as forms of media that carry ecological, geopolitical, and climatological news about our planet. Drawing on ethnographic work with oceanographers and coastal engineers in the Netherlands, the United States, Australia, Japan, and Bangladesh, he details how scientists at sea and in the lab apprehend waves’ materiality through abstractions, seeking to capture in technical language these avatars of nature at once periodic and irreversible, wild and pacific, ephemeral and eternal.

“An Introduction to System Safety Engineering” (MIT Press, 2023) By Nancy G. Leveson, professor of aeronautics and astronautics

Preventing accidents and losses in complex systems requires a holistic perspective that can accommodate unprecedented types of technology and design. Leveson’s book covers the history of safety engineering; explores risk, ethics, legal frameworks, and policy implications; and explains why accidents happen and how to mitigate risks in modern, software-intensive systems. It includes accounts of well-known accidents like the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear accidents, examining their causes and how to prevent similar incidents in the future.

“Solvable: How We Healed the Earth, and How We Can Do It Again” (University of Chicago Press, 2024) By Susan Solomon, the Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies and Chemistry

We solved planet-threatening problems before, Solomon argues, and we can do it again. She knows firsthand what those solutions entail, as she gained international fame as the leader of a 1986 expedition to Antarctica, making discoveries that were key to healing the damaged ozone layer. She saw a path from scientific and public awareness to political engagement, international agreement, industry involvement, and effective action. Solomon connects this triumph to the stories of other past environmental victories — against ozone depletion, smog, pesticides, and lead — to extract the essential elements of what makes change possible.

Culture, humanities, and social sciences

“Political Rumors: Why We Accept Misinformation and How to Fight It” (Princeton University Press, 2023) By Adam Berinsky, professor of political science

Political rumors pollute the political landscape. But if misinformation crowds out the truth, how can democracy survive? Berinsky examines why political rumors exist and persist despite their unsubstantiated and refuted claims, who is most likely to believe them, and how to combat them. He shows that a tendency toward conspiratorial thinking and vehement partisan attachment fuel belief in rumors. Moreover, in fighting misinformation, it is as important to target the undecided and the uncertain as it is the true believers.

“Laws of the Land: Fengshui and the State in Qing Dynasty China,” (Princeton University Press, 2023) By Tristan Brown, assistant professor of history

In “Laws of the Land,” Brown tells the story of the important roles — especially legal ones — played by fengshui in Chinese society during China’s last imperial dynasty, the Manchu Qing (1644–1912). Employing archives from Mainland China and Taiwan that have only recently become available, this is the first book to document fengshui’s invocations in Chinese law during the Qing dynasty.

“Trouble with Gender: Sex Facts, Gender Fictions” (Polity, 2024) By Alex Byrne, professor of philosophy

MIT philosopher Alex Byrne knows that within his field, he’s very much in the minority when it comes to his views on sex and gender. In “Trouble with Gender,” Byrne suggests that some ideas regarding sex and gender have not been properly examined by philosophers, and he argues for a reasoned and civil conversation on the topic.

“Life at the Center: Haitians and Corporate Catholicism in Boston” (University of California Press, 2024) By Erica Caple James, professor of medical anthropology and urban studies

In “Life at the Center,” James traces how faith-based and secular institutions in Boston have helped Haitian refugees and immigrants attain economic independence, health, security, and citizenship in the United States. The culmination of more than a decade of advocacy and research on behalf of the Haitians in Boston, this groundbreaking work exposes how Catholic corporations have strengthened — but also eroded — Haitians’ civic power.

“Portable Postsocialisms: New Cuban Mediascapes after the End of History” (University of Texas Press, 2024) By Paloma Duong, associate professor of media studies/writing

Why does Cuban socialism endure as an object of international political desire, while images of capitalist markets consume Cuba’s national imagination? “Portable Postsocialisms” calls on a vast multimedia archive to offer a groundbreaking cultural interpretation of Cuban postsocialism. Duong examines songs, artworks, advertisements, memes, literature, jokes, and networks that refuse exceptionalist and exoticizing visions of Cuba.

“They All Made Peace — What Is Peace?” (University of Chicago Press, 2023) Chapter by Lerna Ekmekcioglu, professor of history and director of the Program in Women’s and Gender Studies

In her chapter, Ekmekcioglu contends that the Treaty of Lausanne, which followed the first world war, is an often-overlooked event of great historical significance for Armenians. The treaty became the “birth certificate” of modern Turkey, but there was no redress for Armenians. The chapter uses new research to reconstruct the dynamics of the treaty negotiations, illuminating both Armenians’ struggles as well as the international community’s struggles to deliver consistent support for multiethnic, multireligious states.

“We’ve Got You Covered: Rebooting American Health Care” (Portfolio, 2023) By Amy Finkelstein, professor of economics, and Liran Einav

Few of us need convincing that the American health insurance system needs reform. But many existing proposals miss the point, focusing on expanding one relatively successful piece of the system or building in piecemeal additions. As Finkelstein and Einav point out, our health care system was never deliberately designed, but rather pieced together to deal with issues as they became politically relevant. The result is a sprawling, arbitrary, and inadequate mess that has left 30 million Americans without formal insurance. It’s time, the authors argue, to tear it all down and rebuild, sensibly and deliberately.

“At the Pivot of East and West: Ethnographic, Literary and Filmic Arts” (Duke University Press, 2023) By Michael M.J. Fischer, professor of anthropology and of science and technology studies

In his latest book, Fischer examines documentary filmmaking and literature from Southeast Asia and Singapore for their para-ethnographic insights into politics, culture, and aesthetics. Continuing his project of applying anthropological thinking to the creative arts, Fischer exemplifies how art and fiction trace the ways in which taken-for-granted common sense changes over time speak to the transnational present and track signals of the future before they surface in public awareness.

“Lines Drawn across the Globe” (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2023) By Mary Fuller, professor of literature and chair of the faculty

Around 1600, English geographer and cleric Richard Hakluyt published a 2,000-page collection of travel narratives, royal letters, ships’ logs, maps, and more from over 200 voyages. In “Lines Drawn across the Globe,” Fuller traces the history of the book’s compilation and gives order and meaning to its diverse contents. From Sierra Leone to Iceland, from Spanish narratives of New Mexico to French accounts of the Saint Lawrence and Portuguese accounts of China, Hakluyt’s shaping of the book provides a conceptual map of the world’s regions and of England’s real and imagined relations to them.

“The Rise and Fall of the EAST: How Exams, Autocracy, Stability, and Technology Brought China Success, and Why They Might Lead to Its Decline” (Yale University Press, 2023) By Yasheng Huang, the Epoch Foundation Professor of International Management and professor of global economics and management

According to Huang, the world is seeing a repeat of Chinese history during which restrictions on economic and political freedom created economic stagnation. The bottom line: “Without academic collaboration, without business collaboration, without technological collaborations, the pace of Chinese technological progress is going to slow down dramatically.”

“The Long First Millennium: Affluence, Architecture, and Its Dark Matter Economy” (Routledge, 2023) By Mark Jarzombek, professor of the history and theory of architecture

Jarzombek’s book argues that long-distance trade in luxury items — such as diamonds, gold, cinnamon, scented woods, ivory, and pearls, all of which require little overhead in their acquisition and were relatively easy to transport — played a foundational role in the creation of what we would call “global trade” in the first millennium CE. The book coins the term “dark matter economy” to better describe this complex — though mostly invisible — relationship to normative realities. “The Long Millennium” will appeal to students, scholars, and anyone interested in the effect of trade on medieval society.

“World Literature in the Soviet Union” (Academic Studies Press, 2023) Chapter by Maria Khotimsky, senior lecturer in Russian

Khotimsky’s chapter, “The Treasure Trove of World Literature: Shaping the Concept of World Literature in Post-Revolutionary Russia,” examines Vsemirnaia Literatura (World Literature), an early Soviet publishing house founded in 1919 in Petersburg that advanced an innovative canon of world literature beyond the European tradition. It analyzes the publishing house’s views on translation, focusing on book prefaces that reveal a search for a new evaluative system, adaptation to changing socio-cultural norms and reassessing the roles of readers, critics, and the very endeavor of translation.

“Dare to Invent the Future: Knowledge in the Service of and Through Problem-Solving” (MIT Press, 2023) By Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga, professor of science, technology, and society

In this provocative book — the first in a trilogy — Chakanetsa Mavhunga argues that our critical thinkers must become actual thinker-doers. Taking its title from one of Thomas Sankara’s most inspirational speeches, “Dare to Invent the Future” looks for moments in Africa’s story where precedents of critical thought and knowledge in service of problem-solving are evident to inspire readers to dare to invent such a knowledge system.

“Death, Dominance, and State-Building: The US in Iraq and the Future of American Military Intervention” (Oxford University Press, 2024) By Roger Petersen, the Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science

“Death, Dominance, and State-Building” provides the first comprehensive analytic history of post-invasion Iraq. Although the war is almost universally derided as one of the biggest foreign policy blunders of the post-Cold War era, Petersen argues that the course and conduct of the conflict is poorly understood. The book applies an accessible framework to a variety of case studies across time and region. It concludes by drawing lessons relevant to future American military interventions.

Technology, systems, and society

“Code Work: Hacking Across the U.S./México Techno-Borderlands” (Princeton University Press, 2023) By Héctor Beltrán, assistant professor of anthropology

In this book, Beltrán examines Mexican and Latinx coders’ personal strategies of self-making as they navigate a transnational economy of tech work. Beltrán shows how these hackers apply concepts from the coding world to their lived experiences, deploying batches, loose coupling, iterative processing (looping), hacking, prototyping, and full-stack development in their daily social interactions — at home, in the workplace, on the dating scene, and in their understanding of the economy, culture, and geopolitics.

“Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What is Human in a World of Machines” (Penguin Random House, 2023) By Joy Buolamwini SM ’17, PhD ’22, member of the Media Lab Director’s Circle

To many it may seem like recent developments in artificial intelligence emerged out of nowhere to pose unprecedented threats to humankind. But to Buolamwini, this moment has been a long time in the making. “Unmasking AI” is the remarkable story of how Buolamwini uncovered what she calls “the coded gaze” — evidence of encoded discrimination and exclusion in tech products. She shows how racism, sexism, colorism, and ableism can overlap and render broad swaths of humanity “excoded” and therefore vulnerable in a world rapidly adopting AI tools.

“Counting Feminicide: Data Feminism in Action” (MIT Press, 2024) By Catherine D’Ignazio, associate professor of urban science and planning

“Counting Feminicide” brings to the fore the work of data activists across the Americas who are documenting feminicide, and challenging the reigning logic of data science by centering care, memory, and justice in their work. D’Ignazio describes the creative, intellectual, and emotional labor of feminicide data activists who are at the forefront of a data ethics that rigorously and consistently takes power and people into account.

“Rethinking Cyber Warfare: The International Relations of Digital Disruption” (Oxford University Press, 2024) By R. David Edelman, research fellow at the MIT Center for International Studies

Fifteen years into the era of “cyber warfare,” are we any closer to understanding the role a major cyberattack would play in international relations — or to preventing one? Uniquely spanning disciplines and enriched by the insights of a leading practitioner, Edelman provides a fresh understanding of the role that digital disruption plays in contemporary international security.

“Model Thinking for Everyday Life: How to Make Smarter Decisions” (INFORMS, 2023) By Richard Larson, professor post-tenure in the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society

Decisions are a part of everyday life, whether simple or complex. It’s all too easy to jump to Google for the answers, but where does that take us? We’re losing the ability to think critically and decide for ourselves. In this book, Larson asks readers to undertake a major mind shift in our everyday thought processes. Model thinking develops our critical thinking skills, using a framework of conceptual and mathematical tools to help guide us to full comprehension, and better decisions.

“Future[tectonics]: Exploring the intersection between technology, architecture and urbanism” (Parametric Architecture, 2024) Chapter by Jacob Lehrer, project coordinator in the Department of Mathematics

In his chapter, “Garbage In, Garbage Out: How Language Models Can Reinforce Biases,” Lehrer discusses how inherent bias is baked into large data sets, like those used to train massive AI algorithms, and how society will need to reconcile with the inherent biases built into systems of power. He also attempts to reconcile with it himself, delving into the mathematics behind these systems.

“Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness” (Penguin Random House, 2024) Chapter by Tod Machover, the Muriel R. Cooper Professor of Music and Media; Rébecca Kleinberger SM ’14, PhD ’20; and Alexandra Rieger SM ’18, doctoral candidate in media arts and sciences

In their chapter, “Composing the Future of Health,” the co-authors discuss their approach to combining scientific research, technology innovation, and new composing strategies to create evidence-based, emotionally potent music that can delight and heal.

“The Heart and the Chip: Our Bright Future with Robots” (W. W. Norton and Company, 2024) By Daniela Rus, the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory; and Gregory Mone

In “The Heart and the Chip,” Rus and Mone provide an overview of the interconnected fields of robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, and reframe the way we think about intelligent machines while weighing the moral and ethical consequences of their role in society. Robots aren’t going to steal our jobs, they argue; they’re going to make us more capable, productive, and precise.

Education, business, finance, and social impact

“Disciplined Entrepreneurship Startup Tactics: 15 Tactics to Turn Your Business Plan Into a Business” (Wiley, 2024) By Paul Cheek, executive director and entrepreneur in residence at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and senior lecturer in the MIT Sloan School of Management, with foreword by Bill Aulet, professor of the practice of entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan and managing director of the Martin Trust Center

Cheek provides a hands-on, practical roadmap to get from great idea to successful company with his actionable field guide to transforming your one great idea into a functional, funded, and staffed startup. Readers will find ground-level, down-and-dirty entrepreneurial tactics — like how to conduct advanced primary market research, market and sell to your first customers, and take a scrappy approach to building your first products — that keep young firms growing. These tactics maximize impact with limited resources.

“From Intention to Impact: A Practical Guide to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (MIT Press, 2024) By Malia Lazu, lecturer in the MIT Sloan School of Management

In her new book, Lazu draws on her background as a community organizer, her corporate career as a bank president, and now her experience as a leading consultant to explain what has been holding organizations back and what they can do to become more inclusive and equitable. “From Intention to Impact” goes beyond “feel good” PR-centric actions to showcase the real work that must be done to create true and lasting change.

“The AFIRE Guide to U.S. Real Estate Investing” (Afire and McGraw Hill, 2024) Chapter by Jacques Gordon, lecturer in the MIT Center for Real Estate

In his chapter, “The Broker and the Investment Advisor: A wide range of options,” Gordon discusses important financial topics including information for lenders and borrowers, joint ventures, loans and debt, comingled funds, bankruptcy, and Islamic finance.

“The Geek Way: The Radical Mindset That Drives Extraordinary Results” (Hachette Book Group, 2023) By Andrew McAfee, principal research scientist and co-director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy

The geek way of management delivers excellent performance while offering employees a work environment that features high levels of autonomy and empowerment. In what Eric Schmidt calls a “handbook for disruptors,” “The Geek Way” reveals a new way to get big things done. It will change the way readers think about work, teams, projects, and culture, and give them the insight and tools to harness our human superpowers of learning and cooperation.

“Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools” (Teaching Systems Lab, 2023) By Justin Reich, associate professor in comparative media studies/writing

In “Iterate,” Reich delivers an insightful bridge between contemporary educational research and classroom teaching, showing readers how to leverage the cycle of experiment and experience to create a compelling and engaging learning environment. Readers learn how to employ a process of continuous improvement and tinkering to develop exciting new programs, activities, processes, and designs.

“red helicopter — a parable for our times: lead change with kindness (plus a little math)” (HarperCollins, 2024) By James Rhee, senior lecturer in the MIT Sloan School of Management

Is it possible to be successful and kind? To lead a company or organization with precision and compassion? To honor who we are in all areas of our lives? While eloquently sharing a story of personal and professional success, Rhee presents a comforting yet bold solution to the dissatisfaction and worry we all feel in a chaotic and sometimes terrifying world.

“Routes to Reform: Education Politics in Latin America” (Oxford University Press, 2024) By Ben Ross Schneider, the Ford International Professor of Political Science and faculty director of the MIT-Chile Program and MISTI Chile

In “Routes to Reform,” Ben Ross Schneider examines education policy throughout Latin America to show that reforms to improve learning — especially making teacher careers more meritocratic and less political — are possible. He demonstrates that contrary to much established theory, reform outcomes in Latin America depended less on institutions and broad coalitions, and more on micro-level factors like civil society organizations, teacher unions, policy networks, and technocrats.

“Wiring the Winning Organization: Liberating Our Collective Greatness through Slowification, Simplification, and Amplification” (IT Revolution, 2023) By Steven J. Spear, senior lecturer in system dynamics at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and Gene Kim

Organizations succeed when they design their processes, routines, and procedures to encourage employees to problem-solve and contribute to a common purpose. DevOps, Lean, and Agile got us part of the way. Now with “Wiring the Winning Organization,” Spear and Kim introduce a new theory of organizational management: Organizations win by using three mechanisms to slowify, simplify, and amplify, which systematically moves problem-solving from high-risk danger zones to low-risk winning zones.

“Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance” (Oxford University Press, 2024) Chapter by Annie Thompson, lecturer in the MIT Center for Real Estate; Walter Torous, senior lecturer at the MIT Center for Real Estate; and William Torous

In their chapter, “What Causes Residential Mortgage Defaults?” the authors assess the voluminous research investigating why households default on their residential mortgages. A particular focus is oriented towards critically evaluating the recent application of causal statistical inference to residential defaults on mortgages.

“Data Is Everybody’s Business: The Fundamentals of Data Monetization” (MIT Press, 2023) By Barbara H. Wixom, principal research scientist at the MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research (MIT CISR); Leslie Owens, senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and former executive director of MIT CISR; and Cynthia M. Beath

In “Data Is Everybody’s Business,” the authors offer a clear and engaging way for people across the entire organization to understand data monetization and make it happen. The authors identify three viable ways to convert data into money — improving work with data, wrapping products with data, and selling information offerings — and explain when to pursue each and how to succeed.

Arts, architecture, planning, and design

“The Routledge Handbook of Museums, Heritage, and Death” (Routledge, 2023) Chapter by Laura Anderson Barbata, lecturer in MIT’s Program in Art, Culture, and Technology

This book provides an examination of death, dying, and human remains in museums and heritage sites around the world. In her chapter, “Julia Pastrana’s Long Journey Home,” Barbata describes the case of Julia Pastrana (1834-1860), an indigenous Mexican opera singer who suffered from hypertrichosis terminalis and hyperplasia gingival. Due to her appearance, Pastrana was exploited and exhibited for over 150 years, during her lifetime and after her early death in an embalmed state. Barbata sheds light on the ways in which the systems that justified Pastrana’s exploitation continue to operate today.

“Emergency INDEX: An Annual Document of Performance Practice, vol. 10” (Ugly Duckling Press, 2023) Chapter by Gearoid Dolan, staff member in MIT’s Program in Art, Culture, and Technology

This “bible of performance art activity” documents performance projects from around the world. Dolan’s chapter describes “Protest ReEmbodied,” a performance that took place online during Covid-19 lockdown. The performance was a live version of the ongoing “Protest ReEmbodied” project, an app that individuals can download and run on their computer to be able to perform on camera, inserted into protest footage.

“Land Air Sea: Architecture and Environment in the Early Modern Era” (Brill, 2023) Chapter by Caroline Murphy, the Clarence H. Blackall Career Development Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture

“Land Air Sea” positions the long Renaissance and 18th century as being vital for understanding how many of the concerns present in contemporary debates on climate change and sustainability originated in earlier centuries. Murphy’s chapter examines how Girolamo di Pace da Prato, a state engineer in the Duchy of Florence, understood and sought to mitigate the problems of alluvial flooding in the mid-sixteenth century, an era of exceptional aquatic and environmental volatility.

Miscellaneous

“Made Here: Recipes and Reflections From NYC’s Asian Communities” (Send Chinatown Love, 2023) Chapter by Robin Zhang, postdoc in mathematics, and Diana Le

In their chapter, “Flushing: The Melting Pot’s Melting Pot,” the authors explore how Flushing, New York — whose Chinatown is the largest and fastest growing in the world — earned the title of the “melting pot’s melting pot” through its cultural history. Readers will walk down its streets past its snack stalls, fabric stores, language schools, hair salons, churches, and shrines, and you will hear English interspersed with Korean, several dialects of Chinese, Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, and hundreds of other fibers that make up Flushing’s complex ethnolinguistic fabric.

[insdpcmc-24]

Exploring Advanced Design Education: Jewellery Design Diploma, MDes in Interior Design, and MSc in Graphic Design

Pursuing a career in design offers a unique blend of creativity and professional growth. Whether you're drawn to the art of jewellery making, the transformation of interior spaces, or the dynamic world of graphic design, advanced education in these fields provides specialized knowledge and skills. Here’s a concise look at a jewellery design diploma, an MDes in interior design, and an MSc in graphic design.

Jewellery Design Diploma Course

A jewellery design diploma course offers focused training on creating unique and intricate jewellery pieces. The curriculum combines creative design with technical craftsmanship, covering essential skills like sketching, CAD modeling, and stone setting.

Key Components:

Creative Design: Learn to conceptualize and draw jewellery designs.

Technical Skills: Acquire hands-on experience with metalworking, engraving, and gemstone setting.

Material Knowledge: Understand different materials like metals and gemstones and their applications in jewellery making.

Career Opportunities: Graduates can become jewellery designers, bench jewellers, or work in production and retail. Top institutions include the Gemological Institute of America and Central Saint Martins.

MDes in Interior Design

A Master of Design (MDes) in interior design delves into the advanced aspects of creating functional and aesthetically pleasing interior environments. The program emphasizes design innovation, sustainability, and project management.

Key Components:

Advanced Design: Study complex spatial planning and sustainable design practices.

Technical Proficiency: Learn advanced CAD software for 3D modeling and visualization.

Project Management: Gain skills in managing large-scale design projects from concept to execution.

Career Opportunities: Graduates can work as senior interior designers, consultants, or project managers. Notable schools include the Royal College of Art and Savannah College of Art and Design.

MSc in Graphic Design

An MSc in graphic design integrates creative skills with technological and theoretical knowledge. The program focuses on visual communication, advanced design software, and research methodologies.

Key Components:

Design Theory: Explore visual communication theories and design history.

Technical Skills: Master advanced design software and digital tools.

Research and Innovation: Engage in research to explore new trends and innovative solutions in graphic design.

Career Opportunities: Graduates can become senior graphic designers, art directors, or design researchers. Leading institutions include the University of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Art.

Conclusion

Opting for a jewellery design diploma, an MDes in interior design, or an MSc in graphic design equips you with specialized skills and opens diverse career paths. Each educational route provides the expertise needed to excel in the creative industry, setting the foundation for a successful and fulfilling career.

[dankusner]

Renovations begin on South Dallas’ historic Forest Theater

After sitting vacant for 15 years, Dallas’ historic Forest Theater is undergoing a major renovation.

The venue that once featured notable acts like Tina Turner, B.B. King and Dallas’ own Erykah Badu will be transformed into a community and education hub, complete with mixed-income housing nearby.

“The Forest Theater once served as a cultural landmark for our entire city,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said at the ceremony. “And this renovation is going to usher in a new era for this theater and for this community.”

This is the first time in its history the theater, which opened in 1949 and for years served an exclusively white audience, is owned by a Black-led organization.

“South Dallas is in a transition of change,” Forest Forward president Elizabeth Wattley said. “The MLK Boulevard is changing.”

She said the rehabilitation and expansion of the theater will “certainly draw additional business and development to the neighborhood.”

As part of the theater’s partnership with Dallas ISD, students of MLK Arts Academy will have access to the 13,000-square-foot arts education hub that will be in front of the theater, where retail spaces were formerly located.

“We really want to bring those technologies to our students’ hands,” Wattley said, “to share their talents in a number of varieties of ways.”

The expansion involved several zoning requirements.

The highway the theater sits on will be transformed into a boulevard with traffic lights and a 35-mph speed limit to increase walkability.

“Our students who would walk to school would have to go all the way up here and then cross over on the boulevard,” Wattley said. “Now they’ll just be up across the street.”

The housing portion is centered around community development, said Forest Forward board member Matthew Ruffner.

The mixed-income housing will help densify the neighborhood, so it increases school and community event attendance without pushing out longtime residents, he said.

Wattley says the theater’s expansion will preserve the character and history of the South Dallas community, whose input on the project was taken into consideration.

The theater is not a new concept: Spaces like the South Dallas Cultural Center offer free access to a wide variety of visual and performing arts programming.

Forest Forward made a commitment to provide complementary access that is not competitive.

“It indicates and implies that there’s an oversaturation of arts in south Dallas, and there’s really no such thing as that,” Wattley said.

Speaking at Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett  said she’s happy to see someone still committed to the city of Dallas, specifically South Dallas.

“A lot of people for a long time have given up on South Dallas,” she said. “But let me tell you, Elizabeth would not accept no from anybody.”

The renovation is expected to take about 18 months, with the theater set to reopen December 2025.

"Will this time be different for South Dallas and the Forest Theater?"

Those words, printed in large type above the fold of the Dallas Morning News on November 10, 2021, “haunted” Elizabeth Wattley for “a long time.”

Wattley is the president of Forest Forward, the nonprofit tasked with bringing the Forest Theater back to life.

Which, in a way, means it is also tasked with the future of South Dallas.

Considering the scope and ambition of that statement, you can understand why those words haunted Wattley.

The 75-year-old theater, adorned with a green tower that once glowed like a beacon on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., has for the last 15 years sat empty among a derelict block of liquor stores and shuttered shops.

On Thursday afternoon, hundreds of people sat in a parking lot behind the building under a clear sky, the nickname Sunny South Dallas becoming a little too literal.

Southern Dallas’ elected leadership celebrated Forest Forward’s milestone of fundraising, bringing in $75.215 million—branded for the ZIP code in which it sits—and the beginning of renovations here.

“Along this stretch of MLK, it used to be dormant,” said state Sen. Royce West. “Everything was closed.”

The evidence is in the photo above these words.

What’s different this time around is Wattley’s strategy.

Forest Forward started buying land around the venue.

It has plans to turn some of it into mixed-income housing. It has partnered with Dallas ISD to transform the Martin Luther King Jr. Learning Center to the MLK Arts Academy, which will graduate its first 8th grade class next month.

Four students from that class were accepted into Booker T. High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and another was on the waitlist.

That’s a big deal. Booker T. presently has 1,100 students across its four grades, and only 10 live in 75215.

Local heavyweight architecture firm HKS is designing the overhaul, which will include a 1,000-seat concert hall and a 200-seat theater.

There will be a rooftop patio, a café, and a coffee shop that won’t be a certain national chain.

All of this is happening in tandem with the removal of U.S. 175, the highway that, like so many other urban freeways, created a gash through South Dallas that has taken decades to overcome.

The land where that road was will soon be a boulevard, connecting the theater with the rest of the community.

The story of South Dallas extends from the Forest north to Fair Park.

The theater is trying to meet the needs of all the people who live in the blocks between them, focusing on access to education, arts, economic development, and housing.

[wikiuntamed]

On this day in Wikipedia: Wednesday, 20th March

Welcome, 환영 (hwanyeong), ongi etorri, ласкаво просимо (laskavo prosymo) 🤗 What does @Wikipedia say about 20th March through the years 🏛️📜🗓️?

20th March 2023 🗓️ : Death - John Sattler John Sattler, Australian rugby league player (b. 1942) "John William Sattler (28 July 1942 – 20 March 2023) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer played as a prop in the 1960s and 1970s. He captained South Sydney to four premiership victories from 1967 to 1971 and who played four Tests for Australia – three as national captain. Known as..."

20th March 2019 🗓️ : Event - Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is sworn in as acting president of Kazakhstan, following the resignation of long-time president Nursultan Nazarbayev. "Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev (Kazakh: Қасым-Жомарт Кемелұлы Тоқаев; Qasym-Jomart Kemelūly Toqaev [qɑˈsəm ʑoˈmɑrt kʲeˌmʲelo̙ɫɯ toˈqɑjef]; born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakh politician and diplomat who has served as the President of Kazakhstan since 2019. Between 20 March and 12 June 2019, he served as..."

Image licensed under CC BY 4.0? by

The Presidential Press and Information Office's of Azerbaijan

20th March 2014 🗓️ : Event - Taliban Taliban militants killed nine civilians in a mass shooting at the Kabul Serena Hotel in Afghanistan. "The Taliban (; Pashto: طَالِبَانْ, romanized: ṭālibān, lit. 'students'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a militant organization in Afghanistan with an ideology comprising elements of Pashtun nationalism and the Deobandi current of Islamic..."

Image by

Original:

Taliban

 

Vector:

Lexicon

20th March 1974 🗓️ : Death - Chet Huntley Chet Huntley, American journalist (b. 1911) "Chester Robert "Chet" Huntley (December 10, 1911 – March 20, 1974) was an American television newscaster, best known for co-anchoring NBC's evening news program, The Huntley–Brinkley Report, for 14 years beginning in 1956...."

Image by NBC Television

20th March 1923 🗓️ : Event - Arts Club of Chicago The Arts Club of Chicago hosted the opening of Pablo Picasso's first solo United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso. "Arts Club of Chicago is a private club and public exhibition space located in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, a block east of the Magnificent Mile, that exhibits international contemporary art. It was founded in 1916, inspired by the success of the Art Institute of Chicago's handling..."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0? by User:TonyTheTiger

20th March 1824 🗓️ : Birth - Theodor von Heuglin Theodor von Heuglin, German explorer and ornithologist (d. 1876) "Martin Theodor von Heuglin (20 March 1824, Hirschlanden, Württemberg – 5 November 1876), was a German explorer and ornithologist...."

Image

20th March 🗓️ : Holiday - Christian feast day: Alexandra "Alexandra of Rome (Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρα) was a reputed Christian martyr and saint, known from Martyrdom of Saint George as either Emperor Diocletian's wife or the wife of Dacian, a Roman Prefect. She is also sometimes mistaken with Priscilla or Prisca. ..."

Image by Nikolai Kornilievich Bodarevsky

[fuzzyperfectionengineer]

Uncover Your Actual limit: High Paid Branch-off 2.0 Platinum - Your Outing to Win!

Uncover Your Actual limit: High Paid Branch-off 2.0 Platinum - Your Outing to Win!

Set out on an earth shattering journey with High Paid Part 2.0 Platinum - a reassuring sign for confident branch-offs and arranged finance managers the equivalent. This program is more than just a class; It's a doorway into a life where dreams are understood and success is guaranteed.

Join Now

Experience Achievement Through High Paid Partner 2.0 Platinum:

Comments from Successful People:

Petra S., Hamburg:

"High Paid Accomplice 2.0 Platinum outperformed my generally incredible dreams! The video course gave me the information and certainty I wanted as a fledgling. The Driving force gatherings consistently? Pure gold! Interacting with individual partners and acquiring from the experts is an inestimable experience. This program is currently my clear-cut advantage for progress, and I've previously secured notable commissions."

Andreas M., Frankfurt:

"I'm stunned! My expectations were wrong about High Paid Partner 2.0 Platinum's performance. The a large number of weeks Main impetus gatherings are exceptionally illuminating, and induction to first rate publicizing resources has raised my accomplice exhibiting tries to a more elevated level. The €500 commission per bargain is the great to beat all!"

Munich: W. Sabine

"High Paid Auxiliary 2.0 Platinum is a particular benefit for anyone truly centered around branch-off advancing. The Setter-Closer standard is magnificent, and the assistance from the master outreach bunch is unrivaled. I've seen a gigantic extension in my benefit, and the Assistant District makes it fantastically easy to send off your auxiliary cycle. Unequivocally proposed!"

Martin B., Berlin:

"As a carefully prepared business visionary, I was looking for novel systems to create top-notch leads for my item. High Paid Partner 2.0 Platinum has exhibited to be the best game plan. Altered help, step-by-step Cerebrums gatherings, and advantageous commissions have on a very basic level upheld my pay. An irrefutable need for every business visionary!"

Why put resources into High Paid Subsidiary 2.0 Platinum?

This program isn't just about securing commissions; All of it boils down to maximizing your potential. A comprehensive excursion refuels your drive for advancement with fundamental security, the companionship of individual partners, and unparalleled preparation.

Join Now

The Heart of a Paid Affiliate 2.0 Platinum:

Enthusiastic Social class: Join a powerful neighborhood instances of beating misfortune are lauded, and challenges are vanquished together. Feel the beat of an association that sorts out your trip and lifts you continually.

Drawing in Readiness: The expansive video course isn't just a movement of representations; It gives a way to progress. From the basics for beginners to state-of-the-art methods for arranged sponsors, every module is made with care and authority.

Many weeks Virtuoso Gatherings: Through our Zoom Brains meetings, associate with genuine individuals beyond the screen. Meet new people, learn new things, and build connections that go beyond the computerized domain.

Clutch Your Future with High Paid Partner 2.0 Platinum:

Do whatever it takes not to miss your chance to join neighborhood dreams are sought after, yet got. High Paid Branch-off 2.0 Platinum isn't just a program; It is your pass to progress and flourish from now on. Light your energy, embrace the trip, and permit achievement to be your story. Join now, and we ought to make a legacy together.

Find a presence where accomplishment isn't just a goal; it's the journey you were expected to live.

Join Now

[ejbarnes]

TOMORROW -- Friday, 12 January -- is the first day of Arisia 2024,  which runs through Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend -- and I'll be  there the whole weekend! The four-day science-fiction and fantasy  convention is Friday through Monday, 12--15 January at the Westin Boston Seaport District Hotel, 425 Summer Street, Boston, MA.

As usual, I'm on the program -- including a workshop on drawing Fold-Ins such as those created by the late, legendary MAD Magazine artist Al Jaffee! (Space is limited for that one!) My schedule can be seen here. I also have art in the Arisia Art Show,  with new original art, and more prints than ever before. Arisia's Art Show is in Harbor Ballrooms II/III on the third floor of the east wing  of the hotel. Art can be viewed Friday 6--9 PM, Saturday 10 AM--6 PM and  8--10 PM (with 7--8 PM reserved for mobility aid users and their  companions), and Sunday 10 AM--6 PM. All art for sale is priced as  marked; there is no auction. Art purchased may be picked up Sunday 5--8 PM or Monday 10 AM--1 PM.

[thxnews]

ZIFF Film Festival: Celebrating African Cinema

  A Cinematic Celebration Across Tanzania

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania. An exciting cultural collaboration will kick off on November 3, 2023, as the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) extends its reach to mainland Tanzania. This expansion, aptly named "ZIFF Goes Mainland 2023," is a joint effort by the Delegation of the European Union to Tanzania and the Embassies of Spain, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, France, Poland, Finland, Italy, and Sweden, to bring award-winning films from ZIFF and select European movies to audiences in Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo, and Morogoro.   Connecting Students to the World of Cinema Across various universities, students will have the unique opportunity to engage with the world of cinema. Award-winning films from ZIFF, along with select European movies, will grace the screens, offering students a glimpse into the rich tapestry of filmmaking techniques. Post-screening discussions will provide a platform for students to dissect and explore the art of filmmaking.  

A Showcase of Cultural Diversity

The festival's inaugural night will feature the Tanzanian film "EONII," directed by a local talent. The event is set to be a celebration of homegrown creativity and storytelling. In addition to highlighting Tanzania's cinematic prowess, the festival will feature a selection of European films, emphasizing the rich cultural diversity of the participating countries. Notably, this year's lineup also demonstrates a gesture of solidarity, with Ukrainian films being added to the program amid the ongoing conflict with Russia.   Celebrating Excellence The 26th ZIFF edition showcased outstanding talent in filmmaking. Winning entries from South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, and Tanzania will be on display during the festival, celebrating excellence from across the African continent. The festival will draw to a close on November 23rd with a special evening dedicated to Ukrainian cinema, reaffirming the power of film in fostering understanding and unity in challenging times.  

Strengthening Cultural Ties

Martin Mhando, the outgoing CEO of ZIFF, emphasized the crucial role played by "#TeamEurope" in enhancing the festival's offerings. Their collaboration extends beyond this initiative, with past engagements encompassing support for training workshops, sponsorship of ZIFF programs, and the presentation of co-production opportunities.   Fostering Growth and Inspiration Christine Grau, the EU Head of Delegation to Tanzania, highlighted Europe's significant contribution to ZIFF's growth and impact. The European Union's commitment goes beyond showcasing films; it includes supporting cultural stakeholders and establishing the infrastructure necessary for artists to thrive and inspire their communities. This approach reflects the European Union's dedication to nurturing the cultural arts in Tanzania. The grand unveiling of the ZIFF program took place on October 26th at the Alliance Française in Dar es Salaam. Representatives from the nine embassies attended, underlining their role in making this cultural convergence possible, highlighting the spirit of #TeamEurope, and promoting peace and understanding between Europe and Africa through cultural diplomacy.   Sources: THX News & Delegation of the European Union. Read the full article