Blog assignment 10

Considering both this week’s lecture and reading, “Pop to Postmodernism” by Jonathan Woodham, respond to the following (approximately 150-300 words, as needed):

Postmodernist and ‘remix’ techniques are a vibrant part of our design culture today. Find an example of contemporary design—2D or 3D—and post it to your blog along with a description of what techniques it utilises (i.e. historical quotation, ornamental eclecticism, wit or irony, manipulations of scale, cultural symbols etc.) and how they serve to ‘add meaning’ to the work.

Post your response in your DSDN171 blog with an image of the selected design. Be sure to specifically address the image in your response and use proper APA style citation for all references.

Designers today look at the past to try and design new things for the future. Many designers specifically look at postmodernist designers for inspiration. I think that Timothy Schreiber is one of those designers who look at that time period when designing. I believe this because of his futuristic looking chair.

The official name for this chair is Timothy Schreiber’s beautifully futuristic Morphogenesis Lounge Rocking Chair. In this chair there are very little straight lines and a lot of curves.

During the time of the postmodernist era, America landed their first man on the moon. So during this time everyone was looking into the future and how the future will look. Because space travel was such a big thing there was many designers at the time who were thinking how things would be if they were to live in space. As we still haven’t been able to live in space designers are still designing on what they think it would be like to live in the future.

Schreiber’s chair also has some unnecessary ornaments. Under the chair the supports are formed to make more curved shapes. Where they could be just plain shapes. This defies the laws that Pugin set. Defying those laws was also something that designers did during postmodernist times.

These add ‘meaning’ to the designers work by making them more aesthetically pleasing and also making them more valuable. If the supports on the chair were to be plane shapes of the main chair be  then there wouldn’t be any originality or identity to the designers work and it would be similar to many other designers pieces of work.

Schreiber T (2008),  Futuristic Morphogenesis Lounge Rocking Chair

blog assignment 9

Considering both this week’s lecture and reading,“Design and the Democratic ideal” by Jane Pavitt, respond to the following question (approximately 150 ‒ 300 words, as needed):

What kinds of political or ideological messages inform design or the branding of design today? Identify one example and describe in what ways it expresses larger cultural, political, or ideological beliefs.

I believe that in design today that identity is a large ideological message that companies are trying to get a cross to the consumer market. With so many people having items like cellphones, iPod’s and laptops which are similar to one another that giving people there own identity with there personal items.

Cellphones and iPod’s can have thousands of different covers that can be bought. Laptops can also get skins to put on the cover to make it different than other people.

An example I have is the skin, which I am getting ordered for my own Mac. Because many people, (especially in the architecture and design school) have Macs it can be easily switched with someone else’s. My design is meant to represent my identity. With HPA being my last name. Having the background black and HPA in white is to tell that I am a New Zealander. Beat That Beat is reference to music because it is something I love and it is in red, white and blue because they are the colours of England, which I was born in.

This expresses a larger ideological belief because everyone has their own identity and letting people show how they are with their stuff makes people stand out. If people weren’t able to customize their products then it would look like everyone is the same and there is no difference in personality of people.

figure 1 (personally created)

Hpa Richard (2011), designed on http://www.wrappz.co.nz/createyourown

blog assignment 8

In our reading this week,“The first machine age in Europe”byDavid Raizman, we learned that Hannes Meyer, the Swiss-born architect appointed director of the Bauhaus in 1928, argued that design is a product of “function x economy”, aligning design with a scientific model driven by new technologies and manufacturing potential. Considering this week’s lecture and readings respond to the following question (approximately 150-300 words, as needed):

Do you agree or disagree with the position that design is a result of “function x economy”? Do you think design today an ‘art’ or a ‘science’? Should it be one or the other, or can it be both?

(figure 1)

I disagree with Hannes Meyers idea that design is a product of function x economy.  I personally think that aesthetics plays a major role in design, especially in the recent years. The aesthetics of the object may not even have anything to do with the function Most of the time these days’ people buy products not just for their function but also for how they look. An example I have is a chair.

A chair was made to sit on. And that is it. But now these days’ designers have used science to make the chair more ergonomically better. Even though the main purpose of the chair hasn’t changed but it makes it more comfortable to sit on. But people don’t really buy the chair that is the best for them ergonomically but they buy the better looking chair. The image I have (figure 1) shows a chair that I think is very aesthetically pleasing. It looks comfortable and it looks like what you are meant to do with it.

I believe that design today is both and art and a science and it should stay as both. I think that if they weren’t linked together than many things we have and take for granted wouldn’t have been invented. The science of design is to make things work in a specific way or for them to make us feel a certain way when we interact with them and the art of it is the looks which can hide the science which makes a good surprise for the user.




Figure 1.  2011, Ginotti Good Looking Leisure Chair ,from the Ginotti Furniture Factory
http://ginotti.en.alibaba.com/product/470098122-212117312/2011_Ginotti_Good_Looking_Leisure_Chair.html

blog assignment 7

In this week’s lecture we discussed the concept of the “symbolic universe” as a cultural “structure of legitimation” capable of organizing the social world as comprehensible and connected. The structure of the symbolic universe then, places the individual in a known and knowable space. Such social structures are critical for societies in transition. Can you identify the creation of any “symbolic universe” today (or in recent years)? How might media and design be implicated in the construction of these social universes today?

When people talk about ‘symbolic universe’ they are talking about a utopia. A world where everything is perfect and people can live together without any conflict. In the 1939 New York World’s Fair, General Motors showed the Futurama. A diorama that showed their version of utopia. Because General Motors is a car manufacturer their version of utopia mainly showed how city’s traffic networks would be perfect and made sure there were no traffic jams so everyone could travel steadily with no  delay.

In todays society it will be really hard to actually get a Utopia. Even in years to come people will struggle to get their version of the perfect world.

But thanks to todays virtual realities people can mimic their version of the perfect world into video games.

In Games like the Sims and the tycoon series people can create their own world where they control. The player creates everything in the world from people to a landscape. Games like these can show how different people  perceive their own version of utopia. 

blog assignment 6

Modern vision

In this week’s reading Benjamin argues, “To an ever greater degree the work of art reproduced becomes the work of art designed for reproducibility. From a photographic negative, for example, one can make any number of prints; to ask for the authentic print makes no sense.” Do you agree or disagree? Do you think there is a role for the ‘authentic’ in an age of digital design and manufacture?

In the essay the Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction written by Walter Benjamin he argues, “To an ever greater degree the work of art reproduced becomes the work of art designed for reproducibility. From a photographic negative, for example, one can make any number of prints; to ask for the authentic print makes no sense.”

I disagree with his quote. Whenever a photographer takes a picture of something, that image which they got is the original image. And I believe that if that image were to be printed then that would be the original / authentic print. If someone were to ask the photographer for the authentic print, he could get the image and show the person. Any other prints of that image other than the very first print is just a copy of the original print.

I think that there is a huge role for the authentic in the age of digital design and manufacture. The authentic or the original of a photo, design or anything for that matter is one of a kind. Even though there are many copies of it, there will only be one original. If someone were to say I got the first ever of something then that makes it special. The original would be worth far more than any copy. For example, if someone had the very first coke bottle then that could sell for thousands of dollars where you can go buy a copy of that bottle for only $3.50 from the local dairy.

Blog Assignment 5

Colour—abstraction, perception and modernity

How has the experience and experimentation of artists influenced our understanding of colour and the development of a theory of ‘colour vision’?

Around the 19th century artists Goethe and JWM Turner started to experiment more with colour, light and shade in their painting. Through their experiments with colour they learnt that when some colours are placed next to each other that they look different. Michel Eugene said that the change in colour isn't because there is something wrong with the paint but it is how out eyes deceive the colour with it surroundings. This is called Simultaneous Contrast. In the book "Colours of the Mind in Colour and Culture: Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction(pp.191-212)" it says “I use the simplest colours. I don’t transform them myself, it is the relationships which take charge of them” (Gage, 1993) I believe this is a good quote to help understand 'colour vision' because i think that 'colour vision is how our eyes deceive the colours which we see. I think the quote is saying that he uses just plain colours and that the outcome of the painting depends on how you view the different colours all together.


I think that if artists like Goethe didn't experiment with colours then art in this century would be very different than they are now and that we wouldn't have gotten out 'colour vision'.

Bibliography

Gage, J. (1993). Colour and Culture: Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction. New York: Thames and Hudson.

Blog assignment 4

Ornament or Nature

Adolf Loos argued in this essay ‘Ornament and Crime’ that “The evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornament from objects of daily use.” He is stating that it is a crime to add ornament onto an object to change people perception on the object.

I agree with what Loos says in his essay. The main reason people put ornament on objects are to make increase the value of the object. Something that may be only $20 without ornaments can easily be $50 with ornaments added to it.

I agree with Loos because I think all the stuff which people use for ornaments is waste of materials that could be used more productively somewhere else.

Here is a mirror which has a lot of ornament on it which most of it is very unnecessary. The ornaments on this mirror would greatly increase the value of this mirror when all you really need is the mirror and a frame.

image from: http://mpmm-hannibal.blogspot.com/2010/06/part-ii-florence.html

Blog assignment 3

Beauty + Utility

“Construction
 should 
be 
decorated. 
Decoration 
should 
never 
be

 purposely
constructed.” Owen Jones stated this quote in his book the 
Grammar 
of 
Ornament 
(1856). It means that the design of the object should reflect its purpose and not represent anything else. This was a major aspect of design in the 19^th century when A.W.N Pugin created his principles of design.

I agree that decoration should never be purposely constructed. As designers we should be given the freedom to design what ever we want and to try to appeal to target audience in their own way.

Bellow is an example of decoration constructed. It is a USB drive which is given the form of Yoda from the star wars movies. USB drives are designed to be used for holding information. Yoda doesn’t have anything to do with the purpose of a USB drive. When the designer of this USB drive was designing this device he was thinking about his target audience and not the actual purpose of the USB drive.

I believe that this is a good example on why designers shouldn’t 100% follow Pugins principles of design and the quote said by Jones because in the design it gives the designer his own personal mark on it. If a USB drive was just to look like a USB drive it would be a small plane rectangular object which is quite boring.
Pugin designed several dinner plates which had pictures of wheat on it which shows that the plates is it be used for bread, and nothing else. This is telling the user that there is only 1 real way in which you should use this plate.

http://www.legitreviews.com/news/6784/

DSDN 171 blog assignment 2

The continuing curve

An example of the continuing curve in history is the architectural designs of the Parthenon, Athens (448-432 BC) and the Pantheon, Rome, 126 AD. They are many years apart from each other yet they both still follow similar designs.  I believe that is a result of sensuous impulse. They both have several columns in the design of the buildings and both have large triangular parts in their structure. I believe that the Pantheon was designed from the aesthetics of the Parthenon.  The Parthenon was a successfully structure not just because of what it was built with but also the way it looks. Much like the Parthenon, the Pantheon is a very beautiful piece of architecture. Between their times there were many different building designs which are very different to both of these structures. But the ‘pendulum’ of design always swings back to past designs. Looking back to the past designs of buildings and finding out what worked well in those times can help designers in the future with their designs.

Photos taken from Wikipedia

DSDN 171 blog assignment 1

An important design example

The Laptop

The first commercially available portable computer was available in 1975. Ever since then the laptop has revolutionized the way we used computers. For designers, the laptop is a great thing to use because they are compact and can be taken anywhere and they can have all the programs, which designers need to get their work to excellent standards.

Letter

Here is my final letter

I really like the idea of having my letter as a text message so that is what i decided to do for my detailed shot

Poster

I wanted to keep using unreliable as my main point for this project. And after asking a few people i came up with the conclusion that a broken down car is something which is really unreliable and i really like the idea of one cell phone towers signal blocking another so thats why i have to two towers in the background

Concept for poster

Final poster

When looking for a place to put the poster and take a picture i found a telecom shop which is closing down. So i thought that it could be a good place to take a photo of the poster.

Word

my word is unreliable. I believe that Telecom is a very unreliable company and i wanted to show that by having the word unreliable on a fence which is around a telephone tower. Similar to my concept image  underneath.

I decided that i would take my photo on a day which it is cloudy because the weather is also unreliable.

SRT, Senior Technology

Our Company SRT (Senior Technology) creates products which lets people relive past experiences through virtual reality. Our main target market is for people over the age of 60, Which places them when they were teenagers in the 1960's. We want people to experience things which they cant do now like playing football for example.

the other two people in my group are Sanna Fourt-Wells and Sebastian Petravich

Group work 2

Here is our mind maps and designs which we used to make our logo but also helped us with our video

And here is our video which we made

on I movie it was exactly 15 seconds but on you tube its 16 so there is a slight difference

enjoy

the other two people in my group are Sanna Fourt-Wells and Sebastian Petravich

Mind map for project 3, the real

Group work

This is our logo for our company Senior Technology (SRT)

our slogan for our company is 'Relive the Glory Days' which we have also added into our logo

the other two people in my group are Sanna Fourt-Wells and Sebastian Petravich

Mind Map for project 2

This is my mind map for project 2, the clip. My major is Media Design and these are several things which i link with  Media Design and i think are important to it

Story Board for project 2

This is my story Board for project 2, the clip. It slightly different than my actually clip because i had to cut out a bit to make the time restriction and i also added some extra stuff at the beginning and at the end i changed how you see my quote

Final Video

Here is my final Video for Project 2, the clip. It is different than my story board because when i was taking the photos i thought that this could have been a more interesting way to show my story than the original idea, most of the stuff is still the same though.

Enjoy 

Project 2, Clip

The quality isn't that good for this clip and it is a bit shaky but im getting a new camera soon with a better quality to use for the real one

DSDN 101 Project one, transform

Ex 1 Identity

Ex 2 Draw

Ex 3 Hatch

Ex 4 Section

Ex 5 Sketch

Ex 6 Axo

Typography

DSDN 101 drawing 1