Alex Braidwood's ongoing research into the relationship between people and the noise in populated environments.
Contact BIO/CV Statement Bedlam (blog)
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Alex Braidwood +1 313 595 3155 |
www.formalplay.com & www.listeninginstruments.com a -- { at } -- listeninginstruments -- {d0t}-- com |
Alex Braidwood is a designer, media artist and design educator who maintains a practice centered around a process of play, experimentation and research through making. Alex's current work explores methods for transforming the relationship between people and the noise in their environment. His 7 years as a design educator involved developing and teaching interaction and motion design courses to undergraduate graphic design students. He has also created a variety of award winning projects for digital agencies and studios, including Formalplay LLC, a consultancy that he formed and operated successfully in the Detroit area prior to pursuing an MFA in Media Design. Alex has presented papers on design education, led workshops on creative uses of technology for designers, lectured on his research and processes, exhibited motion and interactive work throughout the US and in Europe, and given live audio performances at a variety of events and venues. He earned his BFA in Graphic Design from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI and his MFA in Media Design from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA.
2011 MFA in Media Design from the Graduate Media Design Program
Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
Awarded 2 major merit-based MFA Scholarships by the department faculty.
2001 BFA in Graphic Design with an Emphasis on Interaction and Motion Design, with Honors
College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI
Selected as the top graduate from the Graphic Design department by the department faculty.
2012 OTIS College of Art and Design Adjunct Faculty, Communication Design
2008-2009 College for Creative Studies Assistant Professor of Graphic Design. One year full time appointment.
2002-2008 College for Creative Studies Adjunct Faculty, Graphic Design Department. 1-3 classes each semester.
2007-2009 Graphic Design Department Advisory Board Member.
2005-2009 Graphic Design Department Interactive & Motion Advisory Board Member.
Courses Taught and Developed at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI
Time Based Media 1 - Freshman, Required
Introduction to Web Design - Sophomore, Required
Introduction to Interactive Media - Sophomore, Required [Developed course curriculum]
Interactive Media 1 - Junior, Required [Developed course curriculum]
Interactive Media 2 - Junior / Senior, Elective [Developed course curriculum]
Interactive Sound - Junior / Senior Elective [Developed course curriculum]
Graphic Design Practicum - Junior / Senior, Elective
Graphic Design Independent Study - Junior / Senior, Elective
Experience Design - Junior / Senior, Elective [Developed course curriculum]
2011 Center for Cultural Innovation Investing in Artists Grant for Artistic Innovation
Recipient of a Round VIII Investing in Artists Grant in order to continue work on the Listening Instruments project.
2010 Art Center College of Design Graduate Media Design Program Thesis Scholarship
Recipient of a generous departmental scholarship, awarded by the department faculty in recognition of work completed during the first year of study.
2012 Graduate Media Design Colloquium at Art Center College of Design - Pasadena, CA
Invited to present Listening Instruments research, process & projects to media design graduate students.
2011 Critical Information: Mapping The Intersection of Art & Technology at SVA - New York, NY
Presented Listening Instruments on the panel Visualizing the Invisible: The Art of Sound.
2011 Institute for Media Literacy Digital Studies Symposium at USC - Los Angeles, CA
Invited to present Listening Instruments research, process & projects to research students from various majors.
2011 World Listening Day at Machine Project - Los Angeles, CA
Presented Noisolation Headphones as part of the World Listening Day events at the gallery.
2011 Design Strategic Projects Studio at Nokia Design - Los Angeles, CA
Invited to present Listening Instruments & spend the afternoon in conversation with researchers from the studio.
2011 Dorkbot SoCal 44 - Los Angeles, CA
Invited to present and demonstrate Noisolation Headphones at the June 2011 Dorkbot meeting.
2011 Media in Transition 7 - MIT, Cambridge, MA
Presented Listening Instruments as a method for Negotiating Noise as a Condition of Urbanization on a panel titled Urban Media.
2009 Interfaces '09 Conference - Royal Oak, MI
Co-presented the importance of design research to a student's process using examples from our own classes with CCS teaching colleague, Meredith Morrison.
2007 Schools of Thoughts 3 - AIGA Design Educators Conference - Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
Co-presented the College for Creative Studies Graphic Design department's collaborative teaching model at the AIGA Schools of Thoughts 3 conference with Doug Kisor, CCS Chair of Graphic Design.
2012 KTLA Los Angeles - Evening Television News Technology Segment Link
Interviewed using the Noisolation Headphones in Downtown LA for a news story about Listening Instruments.
The story aired on February 29th
2012 KPCC 89.3 - Southern California NPR Station Link
Mae Ryan of KPCC created "Sonic City," a radio & video documentary of the Noisolation Headphones.
The story aired during "Morning Edition" on February 7th, 2012.
2012 Boing Boing : "Tuning in to ambient urban sound: Alex Braidwood's Listening Instruments" Link
A piece about the Listening Instruments project and the Noisolation Headphones documentary made by KPCC
2012 LAist : "Meet the Man Who is Listening to Los Angeles" Link
A piece about my work with noise around the city from this popular site all about Los Angeles.
2011 Boing Boing, October 07
Noisolation Headphones posted on this influential tech blog via we-make-money-not-art.com interview
2011 We Make Money Not Art, October 06 Link
Interviewed about Noisolation Headphones project & process for the popular art blog we-make-money-not-art.com
2011 Rafu Shimpo LA Daily Japanese News, Saturday July 16
Noisolation Headphones featured in a story about Little Tokyo Design Week
2011 Brand X Magazine, Week of 6/22/2011 Vol 3, No. 10.
Featured on the cover and in the cover story "Digital artists add whimsy to mobile gaming."
2011 Los Angeles Times, Sunday June 05 Print Edition. New Media section, D10.
Featured in the story "Apps Evolution: A new wave of digital artists is adding whimsy to mobile gaming."
2011 The Orange Dot, Art Center College of Design's online publication
Synesthetic Din featured in a piece about helping to define the future of mobile devices.
2011 ArtBots One of eight artists invited to Ghent to present Noisolation Headphones. Ghent, Belgium.
2011 SoundWalk Noisolation Headphones demonstrations, Synesthetic Din installation plus a live performance with painter Meredith Lynn Morrison. Long Beach, CA
2011 You First @ Orange County Center for Contemporary Art Noisolation Headphones + Synesthetic Din. Santa Ana, CA
2011-2012 Noises in the Void Noisolation Headphones & See Also Noise featured in this online curatorial experiment by Pedro Torres
2011 Little Tokyo Design Week Noisolation Headphones display and demonstrations. Los Angeles, CA
2011 4 Hours Solid Interactive Sound Installation: Listening Instruments. ACCD Wind Tunnel Gallery. Pasadena, CA
2010 The :) :) :| :) Quartet Experimental noise orchestra. ACCD Wind Tunnel Gallery. Pasadena, CA
In collaboration with Haejin Lee.
2010 Beat No. 2; Send Networked participatory noise performance. ACCD South Campus Rooftop. Pasadena, CA
In collaboration with Haejin Lee, Jiha Hwang and Mikey "Mikey T" Tnasuttimonkol.
2005 Noise: Seen and Unseen Sound Art Festival Richard Foreman's Ontological-Hysteric Theater. New York, NY
2005 College for Creative Studies Faculty Exhibition CCS Center Galleries. Detroit, MI
2004 RE/VIEW: A New Media Art Exhibition RX Gallery. San Francisco, CA
2003 VERT @ ©POP & 2003 Underground People Movers @ DAM Reactive video performance. Detroit, MI
2002 - 2003 Element Art Salon Game Boy music performances. Motor Lounge. Detroit, MI
2001 Action Basic Game Boy music performance. Detroit Contemporary, Detroit, MI
In collaboration with Justin VanSlembrouck.
2001 Selections III Physical Interaction Installation. CCS Center Galleries. Detroit, MI
2001 Exhibit A: Evidence of Pleasure International Juried Design Exhibition. CCS Center Galleries. Detroit, MI
2001 14 Pieces : An Exhibition of Leftover Material, Design Methods, & Process
Tangible interface installation. Opening night live audio performance. CCS Center Galleries. Detroit, MI
2011 Listening Instruments Workshop for World Listening Day at Machine Project - Los Angeles, CA
Co-organizer with David Eng of Machine Project. Aligned with World Listening Day 2011, this workshop provided participants an opportunity to create their own listening instruments using common objects and materials in order to inspire an active listening experience.
2009 Web Basics for Art & Design Instructors - Faculty Workshop - College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI
Sponsored by the Graphic Design department and the Continuing Education program, this workshop introduced faculty to the basic concepts of HTML and CSS in order to help them when preparing resources for the classroom.
2008 Code for Designers - Student Workshop - Detroit, MI
Sponsored by the Detroit Student AIGA chapter, this day-long workshop offered design students a hands-on way to look at writing code as a creative act in an attempt to demystify some of the initial barriers to programming.
2002-2008 Various in-class & ad hock hardware & software demos for design students - College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI
As an instructor, demonstrations of a variety of hardware and software tools is a key aspect to my approach to the classroom. Prototyping and thinking through making are a valuable part of the projects that I create and assign. I was also regularly invited in to other instructor's classrooms to give these types of demonstrations when relevant to their courses.
2010 Friends of Friends of Friends - Design Research Intern : Pasadena, CA
A design research project by Media Design Program artists in residence Ben Hooker and Shona Kitchen with support from the Intel People and Practices Research Group and the Graduate Media Design Program at Art Center College of Design.
2007 College for Creative Studies Interactive media consultant - Graphic Design Practicum course.
2006 - Present Formalplay LLC : Ferndale, MI / Los Angeles, CA
Principle and Founder
Partial Client List:
College for Creative Studies, Art Center College of Design - Graduate Broadcast Cinema Department, Elevator Access, Defrost Design, Fuse Communications (Audi), Campbell-Ewald (Chevy, XM Radio, Alltel, USPS), Organic, Inc (Jeep, Chrysler), Y&R Brands (Mercury)
Studio Highlights
2007 Elevator and Formalplay receive Best in Show - Interactive at the 2007 Detroit AIGA Design RE:View for the design and development of Mottoform.com. Designed by Elevator and Developed by Formalplay.
2007 Formalplay and Fuse Communications receive honorable mention for the design and development of Audi USA's North American International Auto Show interactive tour at the 2007 Detroit AIGA Design RE:View. Interface Design, Motion Design and Development by Formalplay.
2007 Organic, Inc and Formalplay awarded the Adobe Site of the Day for the Chrysler "Another Day" website.
2006 Campbell-Ewald and Formalplay created the online experience for the Chevy Tahoe / The Apprentice online promotion. As a result of the user experience provided by this website, it was featured in the New York Times, discussed on NPR's All Things Considered, and featured as part of the cover story of Wired Magazine, Dec 2006.
2004 - 2006 Organic, Inc : Bloomfield Hills, MI
Senior Experience Architect
Responsible for motion design and development of online experiences created for the main brand websites of Chrysler; Chrysler, Jeep & Dodge.
Highlights during the position
Received many local, national and international awards including multiple Caddies, 7 Webby Awards, 6 Web Marketing Association (WMA) Awards, 4 Adobe Site of the Day Awards, 2 Favorite Website Awards and 2 GLIMA Awards
2001 - 2004 Freelance and Contract Design
Partial Client List
Defrost Design - Royal Oak, MI - Interactive Design and Development
Elevator - Windsor, ON - Graphic / Interactive Design and Development
AIGA Detroit Chapter - Detroit, MI - Interactive Design and Development
Pluto Post - Birmingham, MI - Interactive Design and Development
Organic, Inc - Bloomfield Hills, MI - Interactive / Motion Design & Development
VectorForm - Detroit, MI - Interactive Design and Development
WDIV Channel 4 - Detroit, MI - Collaborative Typeface Creation with James Houff
CLEAR Magazine - Royal Oak, MI - Interactive Design and Development