Courses/Hybrid publishing/feedback

Professional Develoment Workshop: Hybrid Publishing

Date: March 8 (Tuesday ) - 13.30 to 16.30
Wiki page: http://publicationstation.wdka.hro.nl/wiki/index.php/Courses/Hybrid_publishing

Feedback on workshop:

Were there questions left unanswered?

- no
- no

Were there topics you'd have like to see covered and weren't?

- i would have liked to do some more hands-on experimentation, using and experiencing the hybrid publishing workflow more directly. 
- I would have enjoyed having a go at trying something out ourselves following a simple step by step, just to get a feeling of how things work. 
- Some parts were vague because of the limited time, we did not get to the core of the information
- It would be nice to talk sometime about the more abstract consequences Hybrid Publishing might have. Does this way of working, change something in the role of a designer, or the way we look at design as a phenomena? Or is this maybe nothing really more than a technical procedure that helps to make certain steps within the design-process a little easer? For now the latter seems the case and in this light you can very well compare it with the invention(s) of (or within) the different Printmaking techniques that came along trough history. The big difference is here that some of those inventions seem to have had a lot more consequences, and the similarities here seem to exist in fact that the technical limitations will determine the visual outcome.

What you see as the biggest challenges in our hybrid publishing proposal?

- establishing a "mutual" understanding and culture in which technical challenges are embraced
- presenting the possibilties of hybrid publishing workflows to other practices (other than editorial design and developers practices)
- getting faster to the point where design questions can be considered and exercised
- the technical aspect. 
- Getting it more „user-friendly” and find a way to lower the limitations (or show how the limitations may become an extra interesting part of the process, which probably is easer and makes more sense) 
 

How did you experience the (technical) level of the workshop? Was it too easy/difficult and why?

- I would have liked to experienced more technical exercises and more demonstrations on how the workflow previously played out (looking into source files, getting a feeling on who did what and how time-intensive specific design decisions were.)
- I sensed it would have been too difficult for me to follow what you had in mind, but I think if we had had more time I could have managed with a bit of help. 
- Talking about it was quite easy to follow and the basic steps too. But to make the next step and use this in my daily practice is still a big leap too soon. For that I would need a more technical follow up workshop
- Even though I don’t have a design-background it was completely clear.

How did you experience the working method of the workshop? Do you propose other forms/methods?

- I think it was to ambitious time-wise. I felt participants were introduced to the topic differently. Some were new to the idea some have had previous experience. Maybe there is a way to have introduction workshops (inclusive short introduction into the terminal) and more advanced workshops that could maybe be a bit longer.
- There simply wasn't enough time to do everything you had in mind. We could have a part 2 where we get straight to the hands on part of the workshop. 
- I think everyone had a different view on hybrid publishing and what the workshop would be. Then there wasnt enough time to go into detail enough to clear all the confusion, so it ended up in confusing information.
- It was a shame we didn’t have that much time for the hands-on part. 

Would you like to attend a follow up on this workshop and what would you like to learn?

- Yes, certainly. See before mention comments. Furthermore I would like to also discuss how this investigation into hybrid publishing could be embedded more naturally into the general curriculum.
- Yes! I would like to learn how to implement it into my own practice of illustration and graphic design. 
- yes because it is a very interesting topic. The only thing came across is that it seems more of a part in the webdesign and coding domain than of use in the graphic design / illustration practices so I would love to learn how we get 'more design' involved in hybrid publishing
- Maybe

Feedback on publishing practice at WdKA:

What role do you see publishing playing in an art school?
- A potentially important role, and for sure something that WdKA distinguishes from other academies. More and more art academies are planning to establish somewhat of a publishing practice within the academy. WdKA has already investigated in this and the question now would be rather content-related. How can one within art education develop content that is publishable?
- I see publishing, both digital and on paper, as an important tool to share knowledge and also a way of self expression. 
- A major role, not only in different media but publishing is at the core of every art school disipline 
- That of course depends on how you interpret the term publishing. In either way I think it is a very important aspect of design in special, or in general even all disciplines within art education. Looking at the role art education can have as a ‚pioneer’ the academy would do well using more experimental ways of publishing for their own publications.

Do you have ideas of ongoing or future projects where publishing could play a role?

- Investigation in live- and cross-media publishing, in which encouters become leading force for the content production. Think of symposias, events, performances in and outside of the academy. 
- I think it could be really interesting to fit it into the illustration curricula. 
- It would be interesting to see how online and offline publishing go hand in hand

Can publishing be a research tool? And a teaching tool that can facilitate the students learning process?

- The exposure aspect of publishing could help to establish an urgency for projects. Sometimes create this urgency by inviting "real" clients. This "reality" aspect is often very fruitful but I think the urgency should not be introduced as exclusive for commercial projects. Students have to understand that all projects they do are potentially publishable and need sincere consideration and a responsible attitude. Especially for more theoretical classes a parallel publishing activity could help students to take a position, contextualize theory and engage in disucssion.
- Publishing can definitely be a research tool and of course a great archival system. Digital publishing makes it very accesible for students and teachers to communicate amongs each other. 
- It can help distributing information of research happening now, and provide for a tool to gather new information
- I guess so, although the more interactive forms of publishing seem to be more useful as a tool. In a way there are many possible ways to gather information through publishing or maybe it is (depending on what you consider „publishing”) very difficult to do research without. For now I think it is at least an extremely good example to show students that they are not necessarily bound to a fixed technical procedure (for instance the usage of Indesign) but there are actual possibilities to invent a different process.

What creative uses and re-uses can be imagined for hybrid publishing in your curriculum?

- Publishing practice, including content production, distribution and finding financial models, needs design-consideration. I believe the more experimental the approach to researching the question of "How to distribute information", the better. I imagine cross-department collaboration, could enrich the discussion. 
- The same way the students get briefed to design a book telling a story, they could be briefed to do that on a digital platform. The limitations are very different to paper and I think this aspect isn't really taken into account in their curricula. 
- It can show the changable nature of disciplines, stimulating collaborations 
- Don’t know yet

Feedback on device lab:

- Looks great. I hope it will be used a lot, that students and staff will be able to find it. That it becomes an ‚ordinary’/natural thing quickly.