Reflections for the Riverfrog Blog

The ice sculpting is what intrigues me. What ice will you use? The river ice or will you freeze your own? How will you carve it? If you do a test run with the ice, I would be interested in coming to watch. It would be a very neat event! Ice and underwear is also an ironic contract. (Maybe an ice sculpture could wear some long underwear!)

Group Project Proposal

Group Project Proposal

For our collaborative group project, we have collectively agreed upon a project that we feel can serve an important purpose for our college community while being executed with simplicity and fun.

We want to create a “To-Do List” for the whole student community, a list of things that are constantly being set aside or forgotten in our hectic school schedules. These things are simple daily chores (“wash dishes”), tasks that are generally executed on the weekend or once a week (“do laundry”, “clean apartment”), and urgent items (“pay rent/phone bill/etc.”). We also want to include relational checklist tasks, such as “call a family member” or “catch up with an old friend.” We’d even like to include simple things that we sometimes forget to do for ourselves every once in a while to keep ourselves well-balanced (“take a leisurely walk”, “turn off your cell phone and take a nap”). The point of listing items that are urgent, seemingly “more important,” such as paying rent, with items that seem more self-indulgent, like taking a day off for rest, is to emphasize the fact that everything on the list is important and productive, that even the small things we brush aside in the great storm of our weekly schedules can be enormously beneficial. This project is for the busy, the forgetful, and the dismissive in our community here at Eastern.

To execute our project, we want to design pads of paper with “The To-Do List” that we can post in high-traffic areas around campus, like the Student Center, the library, and Pray-Harrold. Passers-by can tear off a sheet with the entire checklist on it and take it with them. We figured the project would be more fun and intriguing if the checklist items weren’t printed all in columns, as we instinctively write them when making a list, but rather configured in a creative design so that those passing by would be drawn in. This would also make the list more memorable if it were to be taken and carried around…adding an element of whimsy would help alleviate the burdensome character of some of the tasks, and even the burdensome idea of a to-do list in general (does anyone have fun making a to-do list?).

In addition to the “take one” pads posted up, we would make signs that we would post around campus for each item on the list, as an additional friendly reminder to take care of business (or pleasure). We were wondering if it would be a good idea to have tabs at the bottom of every sign that could be torn off, like advertisements for an apartment or guitar lessons with contact information on them, except these tabs would be a reminder to do that one thing on the list (“REMEMBER! ___________”).

For a bit of research, we will be asking our fellow students about things that they are constantly forgetting to do, meaning to do but putting aside until “later,” or outright neglecting, so we can have a legitimate starting point from which to build.

NOTES FROM MEETING 2.0

NOTES FROM MEETING 2.0

Date: 10-9-11

Featuring the creative talents of Alessa, Scott and Amy!

1. About the Waldo project: Might be fun but there isn’t really a “cause” we are addressing. We like that it is whimsical and fun and multidimensional, but we thought it might be more about fun than anything else. Also we do not want to have copyright infringement on our hands!!

2. Moveable Signs: The point would be: Helping people identify and love EMU more. Showing their home-away-from-home spirit, if you will. Examples of what could be written on the boards:

· This is where I studied for an exam

· This is where I fell in love

· This needs renovating

· This is my favorite spot on campus

3. Walking White Board: The white board sign idea would be fun. How many would we need? Scott says we might be able to borrow one from his church. It is REALLY big he said. Scott suggested every day we could write a new question at the top of the board (or in another medium so it cannot be erased.) This way we can ask many questions. Our questions should have a theme! All open ended questions. Or even fill in the blanks. My suggestion is that we have all questions/statements having to do with positivity. Scott suggested also maybe a mad lib type deal.

a. Different locations – indoors and outdoors (pay attention to weather.)

b. Contact the building people to get the OK

c. Need multiple big boards and many colorful markers!

d. Move to a new spot every week?

4. Back to the signs – Scott said we could post bits of poetry on campus and have people fill in the blank spots where we take out the words.

5. For the checklist idea – possibly posting the SAME to-do list all over campus for people to take. Possibly a To-Do list of things we always mean to do but forget to do: (Call mom. Pay bills. Tell someone you love them. Do laundry. Clean your room. Wash your car.) Fun and serious things to remind busy students about. Encouragement to get small important things done. This ghost voice reminds them of responsibility, productivity, accountability.

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Our favorite is the Check List Idea. We could do another “research” period by asking friends and loved ones about things they forget to do and wish they did. It can be daily chores or lifelong duties. For example, keeping in contact with a friend whom they haven’t talked to in a long time. Our supplies would be big pads of paper the checklist is printed on. (Candy Chang’s bathroom guide to NY: http://candychang.com/restroom-map-notepad/). We could Tear one off to take as a reminder. Could go either way in printing it to look official or handwriting it (each one of us help!) so it is more human and personal. Depending on the “Authority” of the List, it can be flowy, all over and fun or strictly left-to-right bullet point style.

Now the medium of this is still up in the air. We have: tear sheets, freedom wall, flyers with one check or the whole list, a stencil, “a friendly reminder”, big posters, etc. So the execution of this is now the only thing we are unsure of!

Alessa is going to ask her friend if she could get a discount on a pad. You can see some prices listed below:

http://print.staples.com/note-pads.aspx?rd=2&GP=10%2f9%2f2011+5%3a49%3a11+PM&GPS=2202781771&GNF=0&GPLSID=

Can we please have your feedback for this idea?

Project Meeting #1 - Notes

DC and Jeannie met on 10-8-11, and here are the possible projects we discussed.  We would both be fine with doing any of these:

Where's Waldo.  Build a profile for EMU Waldo on Facebook, then post messages on FB and around campus (flyers, etc.) hinting to people where he's hiding.  "Waldo" would be either a sticker or stand-up prop that can be moved, or a spray-chalk/stencil/etc. on the ground somewhere around campus.  We could add other characters, too, such as the wizard, the hat, cane, key, etc., and hide those using stand-up props to represent them.  Each would be moved periodically.  Optionally, we could have a small and/or sponsored prize for the first person to find each one of them and post about it on the Facebook page.

Moveable signs.  This would be pretty much Amy's first idea, which we talked about during the joint class on the first day of collaboration.  Create stand-up signs (similar size/shape to this), each with instructions about where people should put them, and place them around campus. We could then make a Facebook fan page for the project, (with the link on the signs for people to see) and have people post pictures, etc. about where they saw the signs last, or hints to where they're putting them.Possible messages:
-"Put this in your favorite spot."
-"Put this somewhere that needs renovating."
-"You've found Waldo! Where should he hide next?"
-Real wet floor sign (DC owns one) in an absurd place, move to other absurd places
-Dry-erase sign with "What should this sign say?" -- check regularly, take pictures for blog
-Sponsored sign, that if people find it, they get a free meal/gift somewhere?

Collectible checklist?  Have fliers/banners hanging around campus composing some sort of checklist, each with one item on the list.  Make them look official, and have people try to collect them all.

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PRACTICAL NOTES:
-Look up how much spray chalk costs, find alternatives if it's expensive
-The Scrap Box in A2 has good, cheap supplies for building moveable signs, props, etc. If we choose either of the top 2 options, we can probably set a date to find what we need there and make things together.