What is a Design Practice? - Accept and Proceed, Hours of Light

An interesting poster at first glance but it isnt only the asthetics that makes this, the concept is brilliant, the artwork depicts the hours of light and dark in the uk in 2010 they also depict the astronomical Twilight, so the fade that you see is the rate at which the earth lightens up through the sunrise/set, The base is printed photographically to achieve the smoothest gradient possible, onto a very high-gloss metallic Fuji-flex stock, this is then screenprinted with a matte frosted ink followed by a retroreflective ‘road-sign-ink’.

What is a Design Practice? - Sawdust, MVSICA

Another amazing interactive piece of design i found by Sawdust found on September Industry Sawdust allows the audience to scratch away certain parts of design to uncover what is underneath it was the first of a series of limited edition compilation CD's that would be released under the title MVSICA as to be more exclusive.

What is a Design Practice? - First things First

Another even more intriguing piece of interactive design by Andy Mangold..A poster created in response to “First Things First” a designer’s manifesto for 2000. The 18×24 poster is perforated into 56 individual wallet sized cards that each have the entirety of the manifesto printed on them. The viewer is encouraged to rip one off, read it, re-read it, and discuss it with their peers.

What is a Design Practice? - Clarendon Type Specimin Books.

Andy Mangold - Clarendon Type Specimin Books.

An Interesting book produced by Andy Mangold exploring a different approach to media and format using some really nice colours and layouts.

What is a Design Practice?

Austin City Homes is the dream-project of local Austin builder Dan Fawcett. a really nicely designed booklet of all the companies work, a nice different layout and format.  the decoder ring

Communication is a virus: Tips for Bluffing

Tips for Bluffing..

Bluffing is the art of making other players believe you have a better hand than you really have. If used correctly bluffing can help you enhance your profits from poker and win big. Here are ten tips to help you bluff successfully.

Tip 1: Bluff when "someone" might have made a good hand. An example is when the third of a suit hits the board. "Someone" might have a flush. If you bet as if you have the flush, the other players may believe you.

Tip 2: Bluff if you are in a pot with a player that is looking for a reason to fold. By betting, big and making them think you have something they can't match; you can remove them from the game.

Tip 3: Pay attention to other players - the more you know about your opponent's habits the better. If a player is a novice, they may bluff too frequently making them easy prey. However, it's the more experienced players you need to watch.

Tip 4: If players have seen you bluffing recently, they will register it. If you try to bluff again too soon then someone is likely to call you. Of course, this can be used to your advantage. If you find yourself with a good hand after being caught bluffing, odds are players will call your bets.

Tip 5: Bluff tight tables only. As a rule, bluffs have a better chance of working at tight tables rather than loose tables, unless all the "loose players" have already folded.

Tip 6: Bluff high limit tables only. In low limit games, there's really no advantage in bluffing. When betting only small amounts, you can bet that the majority of the time someone will call your bluff. High limits, and especially no limit games, are ideal for successful bluffing.

Tip 7: Bluff from late position only. If everyone is checking, calling, or folding in front of you, it's a good time to try to get the pot. It's not a good idea to bluff from early position, because you have no idea of other player's hands.

Tip 8: Don't bluff too often, and try to adopt a pattern other players will find difficult to spot. If you bet with a pattern, they're sure to spot it. A good bluffing strategy will keep them guessing.

Tip 9: Be careful when bluffing bad players, as they may not know when they are beaten! Even though you may present yourself as having a stronger hand, they simply may not care or not even notice, as they have not perfected a strategy of their own.

Communication is a virus: Types of bluffing

Different Types of Bluffing in Poker:

• A pure bluff, or stone-cold bluff, is a bet or raise with an inferior hand that has little or no chance of improving. A player making a pure bluff believes he can win the pot only if all opponents fold. The pot odds for a bluff are the ratio of the size of the bluff to the pot. A pure bluff has a positive expectation (will be profitable in the long run) when the probability of being called by an opponent is lower than the pot odds for the bluff.
• A Semi-bluff - In games with multiple betting rounds, to bluff on one round with an inferior or drawing hand that might improve in a later round is called a semi-bluff. A player making a semi-bluff can win the pot two different ways: by all opponents folding immediately or by catching a card to improve the player's hand. In some cases a player may be on a draw but with odds strong enough that he is favored to win the hand. In this case his bet is not classified as a semi-bluff even though his bet may force opponents to fold hands with better current strength. For example, a player in a stud poker game with four spade-suited cards showing (but none among their downcards) on the penultimate round might raise, hoping that his opponents believe he already has a flush. If his bluff fails and he is called, he still might be dealt a spade on the final card and win the showdown (or he might be dealt another non-spade and try his bluff again, in which case it is a pure bluff on the final round rather than a semi-bluff).

• Bluffing may be more effective in some circumstances than others. Bluffs have a higher expectation when the probability of being called decreases. Several game circumstances may decrease the probability of being called (and increase the profitability of the bluff):

• Fewer opponents who must fold to the bluff.
• The bluff provides less favorable pot odds to opponents for a call.
• A scare card comes that increases the number of superior hands that the player may be perceived to have.
• The player's betting pattern in the hand has been consistent with the superior hand they are representing with the bluff.
• The opponent's betting pattern suggests the opponent may have a marginal hand that is vulnerable to a greater number of potential superior hands.
• The opponent's betting pattern suggests the opponent may have a drawing hand and the bluff provides unfavorable pot odds to the opponent for chasing the draw.
• Opponents are not irrationally committed to the pot (see sunk cost fallacy).
• Opponents are sufficiently skilled and paying sufficient attention.

The opponent's current state of mind should be taken into consideration when bluffing. Under certain circumstances external pressures or events can significantly impact an opponent's decision making skills.

Communication is a virus: Questionnaire

Having being a lad i have played poker with friends quite a bit, not so much nowadays though, we never really used to bluff but i know if i played now i would, i put together a quick questionnaire for people i know play poker from manchester, just to get an idea of how they saw bluffing.

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Communication is a virus: Seven common signs of lying.

Having deciding not to use the Free Bus as our chosen topic any more, we looked into telling a lie convincingly, and from there i began to research into typical signs of lying.

Seven Common Signs of Lying

1. No eye contact. Generally, if someone is lying they will not look you in the eye, at least during a certain part of the conversation. Normally, people make eye contact for at least half of a conversation, so anything less than this could be suspicious. One caveat: there are some people who will take great pains to make eye contact with you even if they're lying, simply to make you think they're not.
2.  Change in voice. A change in the pitch of a person's tone, or a lot of stammering (umm, ah), or throat clearing could indicate a lie.
3. Unusual body language. If a person taps their foot a lot, fidgets with their hands, raises their shoulders, turns away from you or brings their hand to their face (to touch their chin or nose, etc.) -- in other words, if they act nervous or uncomfortable -- it could mean they're telling a lie. Also watch out for blushing (or becoming pale) and increased blinking.
4. Something sounds fishy. Making statements that contradict each other, are inconsistent or don't sound quite right are usually part of a lie. 
5. Overly defensive. Sometimes when a person is lying they will become extremely defensive, refusing to answer any questions and even accusing you of lying. This may mean they have something to hide. 
6. Changes subject easily. If someone is lying and you change the subject, chances are high that they'll go right along with it. A person telling the truth, however, will likely ask why you changed the subject and want to go back to it. 
7. Humor or sarcasm. A guilty person will often try to change the subject using humor or sarcasm.

After finding this simple bit of information it lead me to think about how i could use these in design.

Our group came to the conclusion the best way we could use this type of information is within a game of poker, the game of poker is all about being able to read your opponent by their reactions and gestures,  so i think this would be perfect.

Communication is a virus: Free Bus

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After sitting and plotting the bus route on google maps i was annoyed to find i had not looked properly as i found a bus route already on google maps.

Communication is a virus: Free Bus

Having found the bus route online i decided to use google map for some secondary research to map out the actual geographical route of the bus.

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Unfortunately i only just realised i could add extra destinations, this would have helped my journey a lot more, also i had to change the map view to 'walking' rather than 'driving' due to the fact it doesn't recognise bus lanes.

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A Rough route of the leeds Free city bus i put together myself on google maps.