stephanie, you're right, that sounds really interesting. However, the $60 is a bit of a deterrent. I wish they had an introductory class for about half that, I would definitely try it and then if I liked it, keep doing it.

And I agree that I would like ways to keep my mind going as it doesn't get much exercise at the office :o( As a result, I am currently entertaining some Project Runway-type activities on my sewing machine. Good times!

yeah, i've been reading up a storm lately! and buying books like the digital age is going to take over and books are about to go the way of the dodo. i feel like i need some way to materialize all of it though.

...so i registered.

hopefully nobody posts here and says "that designboom aerobics shit was the worst sixty dollars i ever spent."

i'll report back on my experiences.

Thanks for posting about this. It looks like a great idea, and I'm seriously thinking about registering.

Depending on the actual level of feedback that the instructors provide to students, $60 could be a good value. Unless the "instructors" are actually like the "live help" which is actually a "help bot" on some websites like IKEA's.

Hey Stephanie,
like you I've had similar thoughts. My problem is that I find most of the courses a little too on the graphic and arty side. Whislt I'm just looking for something to get my archi-noodle around. I keep logging in however hoping to find something up my alley.

Hoping to hear more about your experiences.

yeah this looks very interesting, whats the difference between the "big" and "little" themes? let us know what the material consists of when you sign up pleeeez, i'm thinking about the flatwear design.

ARCHINECT DESIGN COURSE
Hey what do you guys think about an archinect design course? Put together by the members? Maybe some archinect "experts" would like to do a lesson each. then we have a thread to share how our designs are developing and get feedback etc. I think that would be a huge hit, any suggestions on topics?

mrfletchersevil, I had a similar idea for an Archinect interactive design forum. I'm big into generative architecture and have wondered what it would be like to trade images, re-design the image, and re-post it.

Something of this magnitude would take a lot of coordination and effort, however it appears that the CD Swap is successful.

i'd like to do something with you peep's.

I signed up for a designboom course, and I gave up after maybe two weeks. It was ridiculous. The first and last straw was their explanation of why they don't use capital letters. They use very small font sizes and frankly, I had a hard time reading it because everything was in miniscule letters (small letters, as opposed to having the beginning of sentences start with an actual capital letter.)

Great. Give up readability just so you don't have to reach all the way down to the shift key. Riiiiiight.

DCA, Betadinesutures, I think something like that could work really well as long as we don't make the projects too complex/time-consuming. Like say keep them as some kind of product design or simple architecture (bus stop, phone booth, personal reading booth, etc). The important thing would be to make them quick exercises in design but still challenging in a way to force the designer to be really creative (like say...design a silverware set but then assign some arbitrary rule like oh i dont know, their design must embody the first law of thermodynamics, or something else random like that) But i also really like your idea of generative re-designs, we need to get some more people here brainstorming.

Soooo...I think it is really awesome that you all are interested in an archinect aerobics! I don't have time to participate/take on setting it up right now. Though I would be happy to share how the designboom one is structured.
You pay. You get access to this passord protected part of the site (both of which I think are things that archinect could possibly do away with) and you click on readings, which do not look very long or hard to read. and you get an assignment, with a deadline (the first of mine being to find funny or bad/inefficent examples of packaging.) you turn in your homework via e-mail. there is this messageboard aspect of it too, and a place for participants to introduce themselves, but nobody (myself included) seems to have jumped into that yet.
That's all I got so far, I'm hoping this weekend to have more time to really get into it.

steph, how did this work out?

i was lazy and didn't do 1/2 of the (two) assignments. the reading was okay. i guess i just didn't really end up being that into it. but looking at everyone else's work was interesting.
i feel sort of ashamed now...

Hi everybody, I'm responsible for managing designboom's "design-aerobics" courses.

The discussion above is over five years old, and several of the aspects people have mentioned are largely irrelevant now but I'd still like to offer anybody interested in the courses a quick overview:

We believe our courses to be great value for money at $69 USD each. Each course is made up of 30 lessons and numerous exercises, which allow anybody (regardless of their academic background) an opportunity to learn more about the design-themes and develop their portfolio. You can find extensive info on the current courses here.

The vast majority of our participants have given us enthusiastic, positive reviews and we are always trying to improve the quality of the lessons and interaction between participants, through the course platform and other social media outlets.

If you can't find something you want to know about design-aerobics on this page, please mail me andy[at]designboom[dot]com and I'll happily answer any questions you might have.

Hi everybody, I'm responsible for managing designboom's "design-aerobics" courses.

The discussion above is over five years old, and several of the aspects people have mentioned are largely irrelevant now but I'd still like to offer anybody interested in the courses a quick overview:

We believe our courses to be great value for money at $69 USD each. Each course is made up of 30 lessons and numerous exercises, which allow anybody (regardless of their academic background) an opportunity to learn more about the design-themes and develop their portfolio. You can find extensive info on the current courses here.

The vast majority of our participants have given us enthusiastic, positive reviews and we are always trying to improve the quality of the lessons and interaction between participants, through the course platform and other social media outlets.

If you can't find something you want to know about design-aerobics on this page, please mail me andy[at]designboom[dot]com and I'll happily answer any questions you might have.