Whitney Ransom

According to John Uibel, Associate Director of Media Production at the Center for Instructional Design, design is communication. It is a set of tools that would facilitate the understanding of a concept or to promote a feeling about a topic or an item.

John typically does graphic, set, or venue design and has had a variety of experience working as a storyboard artist, art director, scenic artist, set designer, special effects artist, and a production designer for feature films, Imax movies, commercials and several LDS Church movies, such as, The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd, and the Lamb of God.

While I was talking with John, he told me about several projects that have been occupying his time over the past few weeks. The first project is for a film called The American Pastime. He said that from a practical standpoint, the director of this film was more concerned with the dialogue, rather than the visual elements. John drew all of the sketches as a communication device, informing all of the members of the crew about the overall look and feel of the set, as well as how the camera angles should appear. After he discussed this project, he said, “It is not designing in terms of hanging this on anyone’s wall, but it a communication device to facilitate the understanding of an effect.”

This past week, John designed a theme park that will be located in Ankara, Turkey. He said that when he was asked to work on the project, many of the stakeholders only understood it in terms of budgets and contracts. John designed the park based on the topography of the land, and the floor plan that had been developed by engineers and master planners. He said that the look and feel, the degree of fun, and the ambience of the place was his own invention.

As a designer, John enjoys that he is usually the person to create the first drawing and inform the course of the direction of a project. He is not necessarily interested in working everything out to the smallest detail. His art as a design is entirely communicative. He gets the ideas in his head, and then has the ability to extract them on paper. For example, I currently working on a project with John called Real Families, Real Answers, an 18-part television series designed to strengthen individuals and families. John designed the logo for the project. He said the window is a metaphor to “a window into a better world for families”, as well as concrete solutions to families. Once the stakeholders had agreed on the design of the logo, John was able to work with several musicians in composing music that fit the dynamics of the show.

I asked John how he became a great designer, and he said that paying attention to a variety of things and not taking anything for granted has helped him to become successful in the industry. He said that when he goes into a Chinese restaurant, he looks at the architecture of the room and says, “What is it about this restaurant that the designers have layered it with that makes it look Chinese, as apposed to Japanese?” John pays specific attention to curves on the wall, color variations, and textures. In essence, he pays close attention to details. Being curious about history, anthropology, art, color theory, familiar with the work of other designers, and being able to take a variety of elements and creatively bring them together in ways that are unique and unexpected have helped him to succeed as a designer.

Our first class with Dr. Andy Gibbons was really interesting and enlightening. I was definitely happy to be there and to be in such a wonderful learning environment. I enjoyed how we started off the discussion with an important question: What rationale can you give for formal instructional design? The answer: Efficiency. Yes, as instructional designers, we design to make things cheaper, better, and faster.

Cheaper – Most organizations do some sort of training. They have to let their employees off work, and hire professionals to train them. It’s a huge expense. In 1980, AT&T training was 8 billion dollars.

Better – Military made tank simulators for Operation Desert Storm. They had rehearsed so much that no one was hurt in the procedure. In fact, it was even considered to be a little “boring”. Dr. Gibbons also talked about training people better through the use of simulations. For example, a pilot can practice certain procedures over and over again to make sure he or she gets it right when using a simulator.

Faster – Dr. Gibbons gave the example of an individual playing basketball. He or she has to run to catch the ball after every shot. He compared that to having a coach there to hand the individual the next ball. Concentrated practice with feedback is definitely an enormous lever! Dr. Gibbons commented that feedback has been one of the most important lessons he has learned.

I liked that question about the rationale for instructional design, as well as the answer. When I heard this question, it reminded me of a book I am reading right now by Russ Osguthorpe called, The Education of the Heart. Dr. Osguthorpe discusses questions of the heart. He said, “Questions of the heart grow deeper and stronger as we respond to them because the closer we come to truth, the more we are drawn into a search that takes hold of us and never lets go.” I have questions of the heart which pertain to instructional design, and I know that I will find answers in this class.

Dr. Gibbons also talked about the nature of this field and how it developed. He said that the field of instructional design grew in haste and out of necessity. The field is very process centered. I remember learning about this history when I took the foundations course last year from Dr. Charles Graham. Indeed our field is in the process of rediscovering its roots. I’m looking forward to learning old processes as well as new.

During class, Dr. Gibbons also mentioned that we are going to focus on design, instead of instructional development. We are all instructional designers and I am certain that this class will make me more aware, self directed, and will also help me to better understand why I do the things that I do. Brigham Young University is an instructionally designed artifact, and I love being a part of it.