Personal Culture Iceberg

Class project for Design Culture and Context - personal culture storyboards

Personal Culture Brain-Storming

What rituals, ceremonies, places, and memories create your personal culture?

Rituals: Nightly dinners with family (often as late as 9 p.m. when my dad got home from work); driving north in a full car to visit family over the summer and for holidays (a 12-14 hour ride); watching cartoons together with my younger brother and sister, and then quoting our favorite lines for weeks afterwards; taking care of our dog (including taking him on walks with my siblings).
Ceremonies: Birthdays (nice dinner at a restaurant of the birthday person’s choice, cake/ice cream, presents from the family); graduations (from middle school to high school, and high school to college; had a big family party for my high school graduation in which we invited our large extended family down to North Carolina to celebrate with BBQ and beer).
Places: Desk at studio (problem solving / work area, surrounded by creative minds, helpful people, and their assistance and influence; both work and social time); my room at home (shared a room with my sister and my dog; lots of pictures and movie/band posters on the walls); brick wall outside my house (a quiet place to sit and think/sketch/be alone).
Memories: various rock concerts with family and friends (Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Panic at the Disco, A Day to Remember, Rise Against); school band trips (VA, GA, TN, NC); fantasy / art conventions (Atlanta, Pittsburgh); family trips (amusement parks, beaches, visiting extended family in CT and RI).


How does the design element, COLOR, play a role in your family and your culture?

My Family’s Color Palette:
House – beige, green, brown (natural colors)
Dog – yellow/tan, green or brown collar (He unintentionally matches our house’s interior.)
High School – dark blue

My Personal Color Palette:
Room – blue/teal (calming)
Clothes – neutral / earth tones (green, brown, orange); plaid
School – red/black/white
Language – very ‘vibrant’ and expressive

All of me and my family’s colors are very natural and create a calming home environment.


(IN AWARENESS)
High Culture:
-Fine Arts (illustration, sketches, anthropomorphism)
-Literature (fantasy, historical fiction)
-Drama (literature/stories, movies, animated TV shows, plays and musicals)

Folk Culture:
-Music (rock, punk, alternative, dubstep)
-Mythology (interest in Native American stories; importance of story-telling)
-Dress (casual: jeans, t-shirts, plaid, sneakers)
-Games (imagination, pretend)
-Cooking / Diet (Mom keeps my family happily well-fed with any type of food (mostly pasta and chicken dishes); she used to read cookbooks for fun.)
-Courtship Practices (admire from afar; subtle compliments; expressing genuine interest and concern)
-Humor (corny puns, alliteration, rhymes, “anti-jokes”)
-Etiquette (polite but casual)

(OUT OF AWARENESS)
Deep Culture:
-Morals and Ideals (equality, tolerance, humility, loyalty, acceptance)
-Family Relationships (close, friendly, trusting)
-Nonverbal Communication (body language (fidgeting if uncomfortable, physical contact if at ease); actions speak louder than words)
-Cosmology (Aries: headstrong, impulsive)
-Sex Roles (personal dislike for traditional gender stereotypes)
-Arrangement of Physical Space (comfortably messy, but not disorganized)
-Conceptions of Self (ongoing process of self-understanding; coyote spirit animal connection)
Cooperation Vs. Competition (not a competitive bone in my body; very chill and willing to cooperate; no desire to ‘compete’ or ‘win’)
-Behavior in Public Places (reserved unless very comfortable, which is not very often due to social anxiety)
-Tempo of Work (quick)
-Decision-Making Practices (impulsive, often settles on first idea or choice quickly)
-Eye Behavior (hesitant to make eye contact due to social anxiety; if made, it is quick and inconsistent)
-Methods of Problem-Solving (visual thinking; metaphorical thinking)
-Nature of Friendship (few strong friendships; dedicated, loyal, trusting, and personal)
-Conversational Patterns (initially quiet, more talkative and funny as I warm up to people; speaks less in general, content to listen)


What is your conception of beauty?

Beauty is perceived differently by each person, and sometimes not perceived at all. I believe that there is at least some small amount of beauty in everything and everyone, but the viewer must have a considerably open mind at times in order to see it. The amount of visual beauty an object has may vary by personal preference, but people should be appraised based on their values and qualities as a person rather than their physical appearance. A truly beautiful person is one who cares more about others than themselves.

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