Review Jona Andersen

Jona Anderson studied political science and history at the University of Amsterdam. He’s a developer at startup Nouncy, and is founding his own project: Mesoica.

He joined the Hackers & Designers summer academy because he is interested in the field of digital art, and design thinking. He wanted to develop a better understanding of the economical, cultural and social implications that working as a software developer can have.

After the Hackers & Designers summer school we asked him about his impressions.

Workshops

The 8 day summer school was very learnfull and interesting but at the same time very demanding and intense. Next time I'd prefer less workshops and more days to work on idea’s, collaboration and do extensive feedback/discussions session with all participants about it. It would also be good to insert a break of a day during the summer school so the participants can relax and maybe do another non Hackers & Designers related activity togheter. On the other hand the strict and fast deadlines made sure the different working groups 'made' something. The groups had to come up with a solution or idea as quick as possible. I really liked the workshop of Daniël van de Velde (Error Messages) because it had a theoretic and analytic approach of design and coding. The coding level of some workshops was quite easy for the hackers but James always took it further and did more then what was expected. He took the given code as a starting point and implemented new ideas. This motivated me to do the same.

Participants

The intention of Hackers & Designers to arrange a meeting between different disciplines really worked. Maybe it would be good to arrange the working groups a bit more so that the different disciplines can really work with each other. Next time it would be good to invite more hackers.

By speaking to other participants I learned a lot about how research for digital media works, and how designers think about coding. Their approach to a given problem is different then a hackers' approach. Hackers tend to find the fastest solution, designers try to look at all the options and concepts that surround the given problem.

I enjoyed that Anja, Selby and James (organisers) also participated with the workshop this evoked a friendly and informal atmosphere.

Excursions

We did an excursion to Waag and Lava Lab. I already been there but I think the other participants were really able to enjoy the trip. After the guided to I would've like to do something with the available material at Waag.

Impact

The hackers & designers summer academy helped to change my attitude towards my work. I'm inspired to 'play' more with technology and implement this in my creative processes.

Suggestions for next year

relation print and web. Theoretic approach of Hackers and Designers. Invite Rune Madsen: Printing code: intersection graphic design and code. Generative form.