ch 4 reading response

I am drawn to Artful Design’s Principle 4.5: Design things with a computer that would not be possible without! This design concept is one that I always try to employ when thinking about technology. Taking the example of the widespread switch into video conferencing, I’ve thought a lot about what integral elements of human communication are impossible to emulate over Zoom. While Zoom does have its limitations, I realized that it’s a lot more exciting to think about what Zoom communication can enable that we ordinarily would not be able to do in person. Tools like breakout rooms, screen sharing, screen overtaking, and even the ease of games exist, and it’s so important to realize that! I think one aspect that makes certain technologies better than others is that they realize that computers cannot necessarily be a perfect replacement for every human process, but they have their own unique utilities that can lead to some wonderful things when leveraged effectively. With this in mind, I buy that this core technological concept exists in other forms of design as well, and I love the idea of “designing to the medium.” Why play to something’s weaknesses when you can capitalize on its strengths and make something new and incredible? I’ve thought about designing to the medium quite a bit when making my own music. I really enjoy playing around with samples and beats in Garageband, and I have quickly realized that computers can really transform the way I think about music and rhythm. To see the visual overlap of musical elements on a screen is to feel their interactions more viscerally, since it is so explicitly deconstructed. This helps bring clarity in what elements weigh other elements down, what elevates certain dimensions to a sound, and what change over time can look like visually. For these reasons, I completely agree that the framework of thinking about what technology can uniquely do instead of what its artistic limitations are is a super useful lens to freely create and make something new.