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GOAL:

Open your eyes! Notice design (and lack of design) in your world.

BACKGROUND:

"Cool hunting" is a term used to describe the activities of marketing people working in the fashion industry who study street fashion with the objective of identifying trends that can lead to manufactured fashion. Cool hunting is growing beyond the narrow borders of fashion into other fields like product design, automotive design, and (gasp) web design.

In our class, Cool Hunting will refer to the practice of noticing well-designed products in the world around you. It's about keeping your eyes open, paying attention to the messages designers are communicating, and bringing your experiences back to the classroom.

REFERENCES:

• Nice article, The Coolhunt, originally appeared in The New Yorker.
• Wow -- watch the Frontline video for free.
• Cool Hunting website -- "Finding things in the intersection of design, culture and technology that excite the imagination and inspire creativity."

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Once a week (on days chosen by your instructor) you must bring in a "cool" item. The item should be intentionally designed by a person (no trees or sunsets) to be visually stimulating. The item should be small and light enough to hang on a wall using foam tape. If the item isn't small enough a photo can be submitted.
2. The class will be broken into groups of three. Each group member will explain why their item is cool. Group members will decide which of the three items is coolest. The best item will be mounted on the "cool wall" and (time permitting) explain their decision to the class.

GRADING

This is a multi-week activity. It will count as one exercise grade, which will be issued at the end of the semester.

1. Every item brought to class is worth
   • 5 points in a sixteen-week semester
   • 7 points in a ten-week semester
2. Every item that makes it to the Cool Wall is worth an additional
   • 2 points in a sixteen-week semester
   • 3 points in a ten-week semester
3. You must be present in class to earn points. No make-up sessions, no best friend bringing your stuff to class, nada.
4. Yes, it will be very difficult to achieve a perfect score on this assignment.