When my academic advisor suggested I take Seeing Sideways, my first question was “What the heck is Seeing Sideways??” Although my advisor wasn’t sure how to describe the class, I knew I would learn a lot from another class with Beth Lykins.
Now that I’ve completed the course, I can tell you the class is for anyone that is interested in learning how to (or remembering how to) think outside the box. While the concept may seem slight, that is not at all how I would describe what I’ve gained from the class.
From grade school through college, we are told exactly what the guidelines are for our assignments and exactly how to complete them. Over the years it is easy to forget how to be creative or think outside the box. Seeing Sideways is a great way to, once again, find the creativity within you.
My one piece of advice I have for prospective students is do not take this class because you believe it is a blow off class, you will learn so much more if you take each assignment seriously and strive to become a better. I wish I understood this better at the beginning of the semester because I feel like I did not step outside of the box enough to grow as a designer. I remember one assignment where everyone in the class described an object they saw at the School of Informatics building. Then, each student was to pick one of the other student’s descriptions and bring it to life using our imagination. I struggled with this assignment because I had a difficult time creating something interesting from an ordinary description.
If you are one of the students planning on enrolling in Seeing Sideways, I would really recommend using every assignment as an opportunity to strive to become a better Designer/Artist/New Media Student.
Seeing Sideways gave me such an incredible opportunity to relearn how to think outside of the box and to become more aware of my design process.
