Tag: berner-justin

Justin Berner

FIERCE/DYNAMIC
Contrast of Space: 50-60% White Space
Shape of Forms: Rectangles
Orientation of Forms: 45 degrees
Size of Forms: 1×5″-1×8″, varies according to diagonal placement
Placement of Forms: Protruding from sides, stopping before center of composition
Space between Forms: .5″ or 1″
Other: Distance from corners measured in 1/2″s
Objective Rule 1: Forms must be perpendicular/parallel to one another
Objective Rule 2: Every form must protrude from sides
Objective Rule 3: Exact center of composition should be white
Interpretation of Visual Language: Dynamic angles
Explain: Fierce and Dynamic interpreted as the crossing lines of highways. I gave each form a sense of motion by having it enter from one of the sides. to increase tension, none of the forms cross, but often appear as though they would run into one another. finally, the center (roughly a 1″-radius white space) was left completely blank to help achieve balance/increase this tension.

WHIMSICAL/DELICATE
Contrast of Space: 60-80% White Space
Shape of Forms: Rectangles, squares, “boomerang”/triangle shape
Orientation of Forms: No strict angle, but must be slightly off of 0, 45, and 90 degrees
Size of Forms: 1x2x1″ triangles, 1×1″ squares. 1×2″ rectangles
Placement of Forms: In top half of composition, covering both sides
Space between Forms: Varies
Objective Rule 1: None of the forms should be perpendicular or parallel to one another/the borders of the composition
Objective Rule 2: Each composition must contain the 1x2x1″ boomerang/traingle shape
Objective Rule 3: None of the forms should extend past the top half of the composition
Interpretation of Visual Language: Tossed confetti
Explain: Whimsical and Delicate as pieces of tissue paper, cut into confetti, and tossed on the floor. Thus, the compositions are always quite busy and the forms look as though they were place in a happenstance manner on the composition (hence the slightly offset angles and varying distance between forms). None of the compositions should have forms in the bottom half to give the sense of falling and weightlessness.

SAFE/EFFICIENT
Contrast of Space: 60-80% White Space
Shape of Forms: Rectangle
Orientation of Forms: 90, 180 degrees
Size of Forms: 1×1″, 1×2″, 1×3″
Placement of Forms: Center, Middle
Space between Forms: .5″
Objective Rule 1: Forms must be parallel/perpendicular to one another and the borders of the composition
Objective Rule 2: Forms must be in the center column/middle third of the space
Objective Rule 3: Forms cannot be large than 1×3″, and should rarely surpass 1×2”
Interpretation of Visual Language: Sign Iconography/Marine Flags
Explain: Focusing on the center of the space, I attempted to create very simple compositions using small forms that would resemble sign iconography. shapes are similar, spaces are very similar, and the forms rarely deviate in terms of size (these deviations are used sparingly to provide hierarchy or emphasis). Most are symmetrical, though three achieve balance or create emphasis by deviating from the symmetrical form.

Data Visualization Workshop: Are LA Police Stops Effective?

TEAM #2 City/Mayor

CONTEXT: This is an internal, actionable report on the effectiveness of police stops for the Los Angeles Mayor. Our analysis looks at the police stop accuracy rate, i.e., the percentage of stops that are immediately followed with post-stop activity (as opposed to unnecessary stops which do not justify further activity). We showcase the 5 most effective and 5 least effective neighborhoods, and then further breakdown the police stop effectiveness by race for each neighborhood.

ACTIONABILITY: This data could be used to identify the top performing police precincts, reward their success, and analyze what specifically is superior in their policies and practices. Ultimately, the goal would be to transfer those policies, practices and perhaps even personnel to the lowest performing precincts.

What is your story?

Working in the mayor’s office, we have decided to create an internal, actionable report for the Mayor that cuts to the essentials of what can be quickly acted upon due to the Mayor’s limited time. We focus on the ratio of “Stops with Post-Stop Activity” / “Total Frisk Stops” in ten different neighborhoods across the city to convey the efficacy of Stop-and-Frisk legislation. We focus on the top five and bottom five precincts in order to best understand which practices lead to their success or failure. Additionally, we break down the police stop efficacy by race for each neighborhood to explore the possibilities of racial discrimination in the law’s application.

How does the selected data support your story?

The data allows us to ask, “Do some people get stopped and frisked for no reason?” The answer is yes, the residents of North Hollywood, West Valley, West LA, Devonshire and Pacific are over twice as likely to be stopped for no reason as the more effective neighborhoods like Foothill, Seventy-Seven, Central Bureau, Mission and Newton.

The data allows us to ask further, “Is there racial bias in who is stopped for no reason?” Given the national statistics in white versus black treatment by the police, one might assume that blacks are more likely to be stopped for no reason, but surprisingly, this “police stop efficacy” measurement is roughly equivalent between whites and blacks in all the neighborhoods. In other words, when blacks and whites get stopped and frisked in Los Angeles, they have a similar likelihood of experiencing further police activity, which suggests that blacks are not suffering discrimination. One surprising statistic is that Asians are the most likely to be stopped and frisked for no reason; in every single neighborhood, the “police stop effectiveness” is the lowest for Asians than for any other race.

Despite these interesting trends, our data is missing several key metrics: are more blacks getting stopped overall? We do not look at absolute numbers. Are fewer Asians stopped on average? We do not take into account the population balance of the different races in each neighborhood. It is possible that blacks underrepresented in the overall population but overrepresented in the percentage of stop-and-frisk incidents. Also, if blacks have an equal or even slightly higher percentage of post stop activity, is that really because police “accuracy” is higher, or could it be because whites get let off the hook slightly more often? Our chosen metric of “stop accuracy” uncovers surprising insights, but begs further investigation.

What data did you omit and why?

The most significant omission was the data (race and ID number) about the particular officers that were carrying out this law. Though these could be important for discovering the “accuracy” (in terms of the aforementioned ratio) of various officers as well as their personal, racial biases, its is both out of the scope of our report and outside the purview of the mayor to scrutinize individual officers in a city whose police force numbers over 10,000. Following the same logic of including only the information that could be absorbed in a limited window of time, other variables such as time of day, date of stop, and stop type (vehicle or pedestrian) were omitted.

How does the representation support your story?

The representation supports our story because bar graphs are simple to interpret, and keeping the y-axis the same for all graphs makes it easy to make comparisons between different towns and different races. For example, bar graphs made it easy to see that blacks and whites have about the same “stop accuracy” with it being slightly higher for blacks. Simplifying the color of the background and bar graphs makes it instantly recognizable which towns have more effective police stop policies (blue) versus those that do not (orange).

What visual metaphor(s) did you use and why?

The bar graph was chosen because it was the most immediately comprehensible. Though we considered using a map with pie charts and various layers with more sophisticated graphics, owing to the limited amount of time provided by our scenario of meeting with the mayor, we agreed that bar graphs would be the most efficient means of communicating the necessary information. The more effective neighborhoods are coded blue to signify well-being and stability, whereas the least effective neighborhoods are coded orange to signify danger and instability.

Justin Berner

a: Fierce and Dynamic
Angry
Strong
Red
Powerful
Beast
Agile
Independent
Direct
Ovechkin
Rabid

b: Whimsical and Delicate
Fanciful
Dancing
Fun
Young
Innocent
Pastel
Disney
Motion
Soft
Falling

c: Safe and Efficient
Economics
Conservative
Calendar
Trust
Blanket
Train
Bank
Money
Blue
Consistency

Justin Berner

As a literature student who studies electronic literature, I constantly have to think in a very formalist manner about the media with which we experience literary works and how the literary content and the medium in which it is produced can both communicate crucial aspects related to the text. Thus, for my unexpected object, I decided to cut a hole in a codex book in which I could put my iPad touch; one of the principal uses for this object would be to read literary works on the iPad. Thus, I chose a book that was both large enough to hold my iPad and that I would not miss too much if I were to alter it in this way. After measuring the dimensions required, I took an x-acto knife and cut out an adequately sized rectangle. This process was rather arduous, as the pages are a lot thicker and resistant to cutting than one would expect. Once all the pages were cut out, I cleaned the empty space a little, glued some pages that had fallen out of the binding, and then it was ready.

Prior to the exercise, books would evoke feelings of boredom and anxiety; I do not customarily read many books for pure pleasure these days, as almost all of the books I read are for school, and thus they represent both an obligation and an impediment to some other activity I may prefer doing. Additionally, I also consider the book a slightly antiquated, although still very ubiquitous, medium; one that provokes contradictory feelings of nostalgia and contempt. Upon altering the object, the principal characteristic with which I would imbue it would be irony. I understand that this was, essentially the goal of the activity, but by converting one object into a container for an object with which it is, in many ways, in competition, there is definitely a playful, provocative element that it exudes in its transformed state. The most intriguing commentary from the class was related to the origins of the book, which did highlight an important point: the book was mostly chosen because I did not care to read it, but it would definitely heighten the effect of the object if it were a book that I really did cherish, as it would represent my almost complete rejection of the codex book as a literary medium.

Sadly, in my attempts to elicit reactions from the public (at cafés, in libraries, etc.), no one seemed to notice or care. It does fit in enough, which is to say it resembles a book to the sufficient degree, so that it does not spur much discussion – which is, in its own way, one of the most significant aspects of the object: common reactions to literature on a medium such as a tablet or to “electronic literature” are often negative. Especially from the codex Luddites that are ubiquitous in today’s society, the thought of a literary work being experienced on (not even to mention being specifically created for) a digital medium is heresy. Thus, by repurposing a traditional, codex book and making it into a holding device for reading texts on a tablet, I have wholly transformed the book into what it is and always has been: a container. Whereas it customarily contains a literary work, this altered object contains a different, more recent in terms of technological advancement, container for literary works. Thus, in terms of provoking critique on the various media with which we consume literature, I would say that, at least for myself, I have accomplished my goal (I will continue taking it to cafés to hopefully provoke that same thought in others).

Roommate Searching Tool for Craigslist

Roommate Searching Tool for Craigslist
Group: Siqi Wang, Justin Berner, Elena Duran L. Meghana Battini
Text by Justin Berner

The product is for students who is new to the area does not have a place to live, but are looking to live with new flatmates/roommates. Currently, roommate-hunting websites primarily present a lot of information about the personality of the roommate and the specifics of the apartment, but they provide little information about the dynamics of the neighborhoods in the area. Our user can thus first discover the neighborhoods in which they would feel most content (i.e. a neighborhood with nightlife, restaurants, parks, etc.) before diving into the personalities of possible roommates.

Design Flow:
After deciding whether they are offering or seeking a roommate, the user puts in a range of prices and possible roommates. Then, they go to a map that has circles overlaid it to represent both number of matches (size of circle) and the most salient feature of that neighborhood (color of circle). The user can be taken to a screen where they can choose from a predetermined set of tags to help refine roommates. Once they have a sufficient number of tags, they can go to a new page with a group of circles with photos of prospective roommates. They can then click on the roommate to see a list of social media characteristics (top songs, top photos, mutual friends, etc.) and then from there they can click a button to contact this person.

The desired feeling that the product should evoke would be someone between the classic feeling of craigslist/newspaper browsing for roommates and the more immersive, navigational feel of applications or social media. It should try to take some of the uncertainty out of this process since it is geared towards those who have little-to-no knowledge of the area.

Justin Berner

Overall, the experience left me just a little disillusioned because, besides a few certain foods, I really didn’t taste the drastic alterations in taste perception that I have read about prior to doing this: for instance, I could still not easily palate the vinegar and it did not taste nearly as sweet as those testimonies led me to believe it would. However, this could have very well also been a symptom of expectations and a self-fulfilling prophecy of denial: I honestly did not believe there would be such drastic changes, so perhaps my perceptions followed my expectations. Which is not to say I did not taste any changes. In fact, I was delighted by the taste of all of the citrus, which tasted much sweeter (almost like candy), especially the customarily bitter ones such as grapefruit. I normally associate grapefruit with an undesirable, bitter taste (I have to remind myself of this when I buy one every year or so thinking it might not be as bitter as I remembered), but, with the berries, that association was drastically altered, with the post-berry grapefruit now tasting as sweet as other citrus.

With this in mind, I would quite enjoy having one day once in a blue moon during which lemons and limes tasted like lemonade and limeade, respectively, and grapefruits did not have their bitter aftertaste. Regardless, it would obviously become commonplace when repeated multiple times and one could expect the entire novelty to die down after too much repetition. In fact, one could imagine this sweeter register of the palate becoming one’s default taste if done too often; this, of course, may not be a problem, but it would then it may very well lead to the pining for those other taste sensations, such as the taste of a bitter grapefruit, that would thus become much more exotic. Feelings such as “surprise” almost by definition must resist becoming commonplace, or they have lost a necessary component of their essence. It was a pleasant surprise to bite into a slice of lemon and have it taste as sweet as a gulp of lemonade (with none of the added sugar!), but when that taste is repeated it becomes rather mundane. In any case, these feelings are so enjoyable and human nature is so taken by them, that it seems only natural for them to become commonplace due to overexposure.

Justin Berner

This object is probably one of my favorite articles of clothing and, perhaps, also one of my favorite possessions in general. The first reason for this is rather simple: I really appreciate the aesthetic of the watch and I feel like it is one of the few objects that I have that best expresses my own idea of what constitutes my personal aesthetic. Additionally, since this was one of my first big purchases upon getting settled in Berkeley last year, it also holds a strong sentimental significance. I do not often buy watches, so it is much easier to remember the affective, oft-nostalgic connections I feel for the few that I do have.

Though we would all likely be much more enlightened if we looked at all objects this way, we also would not be capable at getting very much done. This sort of analysis would be extremely useful when working with such an object (i.e. if I were designing or constructing a watch) or if we were investigating the object for some specific purpose (i.e. if I wanted to understand the difference between watch designs in the early 20th and the early 21st Centuries); however, such an analysis is not required and can become an impediment for most people in most occasions. An everyday watch consumer does not need to understand the history of time keeping or the quartz time-keeping mechanism to enjoy the object ticking on their wrist: for that reason, a basic, almost heuristic (i.e.: “I know a quartz watch ticks and needs batteries”), knowledge is sufficient for most people.

By going through this process of in-depth analysis, my original associations have remained intact and I would say that I have added an additional association of wonder towards the object. In fact, my prior associations feel strengthened through a more thorough comprehension of what a watch measures and how this measurement has changed over the course of multiple centuries. Second, by better comprehending the science and by looking with more detail at the interpretation (the design), I do feel much more wonder when looking down at this everyday object.