Kick-off & alumni panel; classroom introductions; 256 Project.

We do not meet in the classroom this week. Instead, use the session for a self-directed site visit to gather material and context for your 256 Project — a museum, gallery, archive, library, store, performance, neighborhood, or whatever site makes sense for what you are chasing. Photograph, collect, and take notes while you are there, and bring what you find back into your 256 collection and Living Archive.

This week you have been assigned to one of three groups that we will use for the rest of the semester, and we will meet as three separate groups to review your work.

Groups
- Group 1: Fari Adepetu, Haz Alanzi, Alinah Danish, Tony Han, Lucas Hsu, Yaning Hu
- Group 2: Serena Huang, Isabella Hutabarat, Ellina Jung, Christina Koo, Jeremiah Ladao, Ella Lee
- Group 3: Charis Pao, Somin Park, Tarini Singhania, Yuyao Wang, Aiya Zhumagaliyeva

Group meeting times
- Group 1: 9:00 – 10:30
- Group 2: 10:45 – 12:15
- Lunch: 12:15 – 1:00
- Group 3: 1:00 – 2:30

Come prepared with your 256 images organized as a grid and printed as 11 × 17-inch contact sheets, with a caption accompanying each image. Bring both a black-and-white version and a color version of your collection.

You should also come prepared with a printed prototype of your book. This does not need to be polished or final. Use the prototype to test how your collection might translate into a physical form: scale, sequence, pacing, typography, image treatment, binding, and other decisions about how someone will encounter the material. We will review these prototypes together within your group so you can make revisions before the final book is due the following week.

You will also give a short presentation introducing your project to your group. Give us some context for what you have been collecting: what you are interested in, what you researched, where you went, what you found, and how the material relates to your chosen category.

Final presentations of the 256 Project. Class begins at 10:00 this week.

Each of you has 5 minutes to present and 5 minutes for questions and discussion. Five minutes is roughly 8–12 images with commentary, so plan what you show rather than scrolling through everything — we will keep to time.

Bring your finished book along with your final contact sheets. Have your presentation loaded and ready before your group starts so we do not lose time to setup.

Run of show
Each slot is 12 minutes: 5 to present, 5 for discussion, 2 to change over.

- 10:00 – 10:10: Introduction and setup

Group 3
- 10:10 – 10:22: Charis Pao
- 10:22 – 10:34: Tarini Singhania
- 10:34 – 10:46: Yuyao Wang
- 10:46 – 10:58: Aiya Zhumagaliyeva

10:58 – 11:18 — BREAK

Group 2
- 11:18 – 11:30: Serena Huang
- 11:30 – 11:42: Isabella Hutabarat
- 11:42 – 11:54: Ellina Jung
- 11:54 – 12:06: Christina Koo
- 12:06 – 12:18: Jeremiah Ladao
- 12:18 – 12:30: Ella Lee

12:30 – 1:15 — LUNCH

Group 1
- 1:15 – 1:27: Haz Alanzi
- 1:27 – 1:39: Alinah Danish
- 1:39 – 1:51: Tony Han
- 1:51 – 2:03: Lucas Hsu
- 2:03 – 2:15: Yaning Hu
- 2:15 – 2:27: Somin Park
- 2:27 – 2:39: Fari Adepetu

2:39 – 2:50 — WRAP-UP

Bring two proposals for your Prototype I project. These are not sketches or slides describing what you might make. Each proposal is a polished, working prototype that we can look at, hold, read, click through, or watch in class.

Each proposal must respond to a question that came out of your 256 Project — something you found yourself asking while collecting, sequencing, or presenting the work. The two proposals can respond to the same question or to two different ones, but each must be in a different medium. A book and a website. A performance and a poster series. A typeface and a film. The point is to test how a question changes when it moves through a different form, so the mediums should not be minor variations of each other.

Polished and working means:
- It is finished enough to be experienced without you explaining what is missing
- If it is printed, it is printed and trimmed. If it is on screen, it runs. If it is time-based, it plays.
- It does not need to be large. A small thing done completely is better than a big thing done halfway.

For each prototype, come prepared to share:
- The question it responds to, in one or two sentences
- The medium, and why that medium suits the question
- Which 256 images or material it grows out of
- Two or three references or precedents, from inside or outside design

We will review both prototypes in class and choose one direction to develop into Prototype I.

Document both prototypes, including process and iterations, in your Living Archive.

Individual meetings
We will meet one-on-one this week rather than as groups. Each meeting is 15 minutes, so have both prototypes set up and ready to go before your slot. The order is randomized. Come early if you would like to sit in on other meetings.

- 9:00 – 9:15: Haz Alanzi
- 9:15 – 9:30: Jeremiah Ladao
- 9:30 – 9:45: Ellina Jung
- 9:45 – 10:00: Serena Huang
- 10:00 – 10:15: Ella Lee
- 10:15 – 10:30: Lucas Hsu
- 10:30 – 10:45: Alinah Danish
- 10:45 – 11:00: Tony Han
- 11:00 – 11:15: Yaning Hu
- 11:15 – 11:30: Aiya Zhumagaliyeva
- 11:30 – 11:45: Christina Koo
- 11:45 – 12:00: Fari Adepetu

12:00 – 12:45 — LUNCH

- 12:45 – 1:00: Yuyao Wang
- 1:00 – 1:15: Somin Park
- 1:15 – 1:30: Charis Pao
- 1:30 – 1:45: Isabella Hutabarat
- 1:45 – 2:00: Tarini Singhania

2:00 – 2:40 — Open time for anyone who needs a second look

We are back to meeting in groups this week. Bring the first prototype of your Prototype I project — the direction we chose together in your individual meeting last week — showing the updates and revisions that came out of that conversation. We will review the prototypes together within your group so you can keep iterating before Thesis Exchange 1 the following week.

Group meeting times
- Group 3: 9:00 – 10:30
- Group 1: 10:45 – 12:15
- Lunch: 12:15 – 1:00
- Group 2: 1:00 – 2:30

Groups
- Group 3: Charis Pao, Somin Park, Tarini Singhania, Yuyao Wang, Aiya Zhumagaliyeva
- Group 1: Fari Adepetu, Haz Alanzi, Alinah Danish, Tony Han, Lucas Hsu, Yaning Hu
- Group 2: Serena Huang, Isabella Hutabarat, Ellina Jung, Christina Koo, Jeremiah Ladao, Ella Lee

Document this iteration, including process and revisions, in your Living Archive.

This morning is the first Thesis Exchange, an informal session where you meet one-on-one with four students from other Thesis 1 sections in 30-minute rounds, each of you taking 15 minutes to share your current ideas and questions along with your Prototype I in progress, your 256 book, and your Living Archive. The focus is support rather than critique: a chance to offer each other constructive feedback and see the range of work happening across the program.

Read the Thesis Exchange overview for more details, and check the Thesis Exchange groups to find your room. You will not be in our usual classroom this morning.

Prototype I is due next class, Fri, Oct 16. Bring your work in progress to the exchange in the morning and to your group in the afternoon.

Morning: Thesis Exchange
- 9:00 – 9:30: Introductions
- 9:30 – 11:30: Four one-on-one rounds, 30 minutes each
- 11:30 – 11:45: Closing remarks

11:45 – 1:15 — LUNCH

Afternoon: Back in our classroom
We meet back in our classroom at 1:15 as a class, then break into your groups to talk through your projects so far.

Individual meetings
While you meet in your groups, I will hold optional 10-minute individual meetings from 1:15 to 2:35. If you would like one, sign up for a slot.

Final presentations of Prototype I, as well as a discussion of how your Living Archive is progressing.

If your prototype is something physical, bring it in. Upload your presentation to its thread in the Slack channel.

- 9:00 – 9:15: Introduction and setup

Group 2
- 9:15 – 9:27: Serena Huang
- 9:27 – 9:39: Isabella Hutabarat
- 9:39 – 9:51: Ellina Jung
- 9:51 – 10:03: Christina Koo
- 10:03 – 10:15: Jeremiah Ladao
- 10:15 – 10:27: Ella Lee

10:27 – 10:37 — BREAK

Group 3
- 10:37 – 10:49: Charis Pao
- 10:49 – 11:01: Somin Park
- 11:01 – 11:13: Tarini Singhania
- 11:13 – 11:25: Yuyao Wang
- 11:25 – 11:37: Aiya Zhumagaliyeva

11:37 – 12:33 — LUNCH

Group 1
- 12:33 – 12:45: Fari Adepetu
- 12:45 – 12:57: Haz Alanzi
- 12:57 – 1:09: Alinah Danish
- 1:09 – 1:21: Tony Han
- 1:21 – 1:33: Lucas Hsu
- 1:33 – 1:45: Yaning Hu

1:45 – 1:55 — BREAK

1:55 – 2:40 — DEBRIEF
We close as a full class to look back across all of the prototypes: what we saw, what connections ran between projects, and what each of you is taking forward. We will end by introducing Prototype II.

Bring two proposals for your Prototype II project. Each proposal is a working prototype that we can look at, hold, read, click through, or watch in class.

Your proposals can build on Prototype I or take a different direction. The two must be in different mediums.

For each prototype, bring two or three references or precedents, from inside or outside design.

We will also talk about how your Living Archive is progressing, so have it open and ready to show.

We will review both prototypes in class and choose one direction to develop into Prototype II.

Individual meetings
We will meet one-on-one this week. Each meeting is 15 minutes, so have both prototypes and your Living Archive set up and ready to go before your slot. The order is randomized. Come early if you would like to sit in on other meetings.

- 9:00 – 9:15: Christina Koo
- 9:15 – 9:30: Fari Adepetu
- 9:30 – 9:45: Somin Park
- 9:45 – 10:00: Tarini Singhania
- 10:00 – 10:15: Yaning Hu
- 10:15 – 10:30: Ella Lee

10:30 – 10:40 — BREAK

- 10:40 – 10:55: Haz Alanzi
- 10:55 – 11:10: Yuyao Wang
- 11:10 – 11:25: Lucas Hsu
- 11:25 – 11:40: Serena Huang
- 11:40 – 11:55: Isabella Hutabarat
- 11:55 – 12:10: Alinah Danish

12:10 – 12:55 — LUNCH

- 12:55 – 1:10: Jeremiah Ladao
- 1:10 – 1:25: Ellina Jung
- 1:25 – 1:40: Tony Han
- 1:40 – 1:55: Charis Pao
- 1:55 – 2:10: Aiya Zhumagaliyeva

2:10 – 2:40 — Open time for anyone who needs a second look
Open time is 7-minute slots, and you must sign up for a slot by Wednesday, Oct 21.

Peer-to-peer presentations (cross-section); Prototype II & Living Archive.

Final critiques; formal presentation — thesis statement, Prototype I & II, Living Archive, workplan.