So when we first heard that a PennDesign first-year student won some contest for his “urban shed” design, we were slightly intrigued. What is an urban shed and why have we never seen one?

After a little more investigation (and the picture shown here), we finally learned that Young-Hwan Choi’s design will keep you safe from falling objects while dining under New York City construction sites—or any other sidewalk areas for that matter.

His umbrella-like design won $10,000 as part of this year’s urbanSHED International Design Competition and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg raved about the possibility of these industrial umbrellas, saying that “reflect the face of a city that is constantly changing.”

So (construction) hats off to you, Young-Hwan. Now if only the Biology Department invested in a few.

We’ve reached the end of our visual Penn survival guide, a collaboration between UTB and David Comberg’s Information Design class (FNAR 337). With the weekend ahead of, once again the topic is beer. Click on the thumbnail to see the full image.

“How To Brew Beer,” by Anonymous.

Join us for the latest instructive installment of our visual Penn survival guide, a collaboration between UTB and David Comberg’s Information Design class (FNAR 337). Click on the thumbnail to see the full image.

“How To Find Food At Penn,” by Brynn Shepherd.

This one’s a three-parter, so be sure to check out the rest, including a wheel of intoxication and a walking tour of the food trucks, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

In this installment of our visual Penn survival guide, a collaboration between UTB and David Comberg’s Information Design class (FNAR 337), we prep you for the upcoming weekend with a handy guide for steering clear of your Pennemies. Click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and View previous images here.

“How To Avoid The Penn Crowd,” by Maria Lobikin.

Welcome to another installment of our visual Penn survival guide, a collaboration between UTB and David Comberg’s Information Design class (FNAR 337). Click on the thumbnail to see the full image. View previous images here.

“How To Win A Date With The Gutmann,” by Anonymous.

In this installment of our visual Penn survival guide, a collaboration between UTB and David Comberg’s Information Design class (FNAR 337), we sheltered liberal arts majors learn that DRL is hardly the only labyrinth on campus. Click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and view previous images here.

“How To Navigate The Engineering Quad,” by Yiyi Zhou.

Welcome to a special midnight installment of our visual Penn survival guide, a collaboration between UTB and David Comberg’s Information Design class (FNAR 337). Click on the thumbnail to see the full image. View previous images here.

“How To Pull An All-Nigher,” by Alyssa Rosenzweig.

Welcome to another installment of our visual Penn survival guide, a collaboration between UTB and David Comberg’s Information Design class (FNAR 337). Click on the thumbnail to see the full image. View previous images here.

“How To Order At Cosi,” by Lillian Chou.

Welcome to another installment of our visual Penn survival guide, a collaboration between UTB and David Comberg’s Information Design class (FNAR 337). Click on the thumbnail to see the full image. View previous images here.

“How To Nap In School,” by Christy Kwan.

Welcome to another installment of our visual Penn survival guide, a collaboration between UTB and David Comberg’s Information Design class (FNAR 337). Click on the thumbnail to see the full image. View previous images here.

“In Case Of Work,” by Ted Aronson.

This is the first installment of our visual Penn survival guide, a collaboration between UTB and David Comberg’s Information Design class (FNAR 337). Each graphic in the series depicts a different element of survival of the Penn-est. Click on the thumbnail to see the full image.

“How To Avoid Flyers On Locust Walk,” by Bianca Lauría.

This one, by Brynn Shepherd:

You’ll have a chance to see more of Brynn’s work later this week as part of our Penn survival series.

While you were holed up in Van Pelt with midterm fever, the students in David Comberg’s Information Design class (FNAR 337) have spent the past few weeks toiling away on their most recent projects.  The assignment?  Create an information graphic depicting any aspect of Penn life, from the most mundane activity to the hilarious and/or humiliating.  Starting tomorrow, UTB will be posting the final projects as part of a collaboration with FNAR 337. Throughout this week, be sure to watch out for posts accompanied by the “How To Survive At Penn” logo (below, created by class T.A. Nirav Sanghani).  We hope you’ll find the projects informative…or at the very least, pretty to look at.

Today’s 34th Street features illustrations by students taking Digital Design Foundations with David Comberg this semester. Their assignment was to represent a figure with a notorious reputation. Check out the graphics on the back page of the magazine, or by viewing the slideshow we put together:

We love happening upon your papers, your resumes, and the gmail window you forgot to log out of on public computers–we even love reading Columbia students’ junk in Bwog’s Digitalia.  We’ve learned that sometimes people can get a little proprietary about the computers they use in class, and the relative neatness or lack thereof of the desktop space can cause all sorts of little snits.  Here’s one such tiff we spied today in Addams, where most intro and intermediate level graphic design classes meet: