Monday, November 29, 2010

Utopian Designs

Utopian designs are defined to be designs that are created to help improve society. There is one design that I would like to talk about as a whole, then maybe break it down into more specific areas. THE GRID. This was one of the best concepts to ever sprout out of someone's head. This style of design has offered many improvements and very few setbacks. The only set back I can think of, is that it offers very little creativity. You either follow it or you don't; it's that simple. But if you follow it, you achieve so many great things. One of the biggest things that helped advance society is that of organization.

We see grids all the time: power grids, gas lines (which are also set up in grid formation), and roads. Now roads have been around for a really long time, but there was little to no form to them. But now as we look at metropolitan areas like Sacramento and San Fransisco, we see more and more that the streets and cross-streets were made in a grid pattern; these designs are easy to read, memorize and give directions.  But we don't even need to travel that far to look at these grids in use: take a look at downtown Davis. We also employ a grid design to our streets and it seems to be an excellent design, especially for freshman. And to add to the simplicity of the design, the roads are conveniently named 'A, B, C' and '1, 2, 3'. It's these simple designs that contribute to a Utopian designs. Now that we don't need to think and use 1-minute recall for street names, we can focus on bigger designs!

Word Count: 285

Color Transforms

What does color add to an overall design? A black and white design functions just as well as a colored design, so the only possible reason for colors are aesthetics. Colors often offer ourselves a form of self-expression, when even in the most basic of colors. For example, dell.com offers a wide array of laptops; of which, the most popular is the 'inspiron' series. Their commercials are also mighty creative with the idea of 'dipping' laptops into color vats to color them. Even those these are the basic colors, with the given option of flat or gloss, these combination are often enough to show some type of individualism.

Even though we have discussed why colors are a tricking things to define, there are some general guidelines as to how colors give off different meanings. For instance, colors that are derived from red, yellow, and orange areas of the color wheel are often welcoming and warm; whereas the cool colors are from the violet, blue, and blue-green areas of the wheel. This is how the majority of society feels toward these colors, but these are not the only meanings to colors.

Black on laptops often offer a safe color to choose; no one is going to criticize or judge you for using it. Red and yellow laptops often catch the eye and are what I feel a bold statement about who you are: unafraid of self-expression. Colors often fall within our own made-up categories, just like how Albers says that colors are illusive and fleeting in meanings. But colors always add a dash of something extra in design.

Word Count: 267

Dangerous Designs

I'm sure many people who design these things are  great designers; they are the people who were at the turning point of industrialization. Well, maybe not THE most important people, but still pretty important. The design I would like to touch upon is that of motor sports, particularly super sport motorcycles. Even though the fault may have been behind the engineers in making a monster of a machine, it was the designs who made these beasts beautiful.

Now there are some obviously dangerous looking bikes, like the one on the left. But some are not really that bad looking. The one on the right is a standard Buell bike. This one looks less aggressive, but the design is still dangerous. These designs were not made to intentionally be dangerous, but once you start adding on sleek fairings, carbon fiber exhausts, lowered handlebars, and the works, you are effectively turning a commuter into a ticking clock. However, the designers have made their jobs very clear: they want to sell. They want to make a product that is sleek and nice looking so they can sell more and more products. But the idea of using a 600cc engine on a frame that usually weights around 300lbs is a dangerous design. There was no room for the safety features of a car like airbags or even a full frame that could support a roll cage.

But it's simply something about the sleek and graceful appearance of a bike that makes teens yearn for this bad-ass approval.

Word Count: 253

Monday, November 15, 2010

Ying Yang Sofa, Meet Ying Yang Counter

I blogged earlier about a 'ying yang' sofa that was designed to save space and was able to be moved around to fit whatever environment the consumer was in. Now I found a design applied to the counters in a kitchen. This gives a completely new definition to entertainment cooking.

Looking up kitchen designs are rather interesting to me. I stumbled onto this site called 'The Design Blog' and it was interesting to see how this was indeed a ghost of a previous post. The way this was built was very thoughtful: the sink was stand-alone and did not need any plumbing on the bottom. This means it can be easily moved form inside the kitchen to a larger dinning area to be turned into a bar, much like this one in the example.

The curves lends this design to feel sleek and modern, with a stainless steel top that gives it a reflective surface. The curves also allow for smooth 'corners' and attachments. Most often when people are presented with edges, they try to match them up; this limits the creativity of the consumer. There is also something else that comes standard with this ying yang counter: under-glow. This is often overlooked but it really makes the counter stand out and seem to add to its overall height.

If I'm entertaining in my home, I would definitely get this design for my makeshift bar.

Word Count: 236

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Design's Copyright

It's interesting how much we've counted on ergonomic designs and the crazy amounts of money that we pour into things that we find useful. There are many things that we see that we think we need to spend a lot of money on, when in reality we're just lazy. Why should one design cost hundreds of dollars more just because everyone is lazy?

I recently became interested in DSLR photography and videography. Now doing video is something that needs a lot of stabilization so I did some research on what I might need. The first, and only a few brands make decent ones, brand that popped up was the RedRockMicro Series. These rigs cost at least three to four hundred dollars. So why not take something from the first day of class and apply it here: Zeitgeist. This terms applies to what I have done here; I have taken something of the 'past' and made a copy of it. In a sense, it's the ghost of design.

To the left is what the professional option is. Nice black with blue accents and rubber grip. To the left is what I made: copper and aluminum held together by welding and bolts. Now let's look at my design and how this fits the designer's needs.

 So ergonomics and designer's needs are roughly broken into five points from the most basic needs to the optional perks: safety, comfort, ease of use, performance, and aesthetics. So let's take a look at how well my design holds up against these five points.

Before I start tearing apart my own mock-up I need to be clear that I will critique this design as it is: an unfinished product. So, part one: safety. This design isn't the safest of designs by a long shot. Sharp edges from the 1/4 inch aluminum and mending braces offer many chances for scratches and the copper tubing can easily puncture the unsafe. The finished design (as planned) however will accommodate this with rubber stoppers/caps for tubing and corner pads for the edges.

Next up: comfort. I designed this in mind with the idea that I would be using this for extended periods of time. The original design with straight 90 degree angles were not the most comfortable. I used a 45 degree elbow for a relaxed and natural grip. And that lends into the ease of use. The natural angles help me hold the rig comfortably and the way it was designed was to be taken apart quickly and easily to be packed away.

Performance is a hard standard to measure. It is, more or less, only a measurement of how much better is it compared to what you are upgrading from. A shoulder mount upgrade from hand-held shooting is a whole new level of performance. And as for aesthetics, some flat black paint on the assembly and shiny new counterweights will make this into 'show room' condition.

I can sit here all day and point out many flaws in this design. But the main thing I wanted to point out was simple: a $300+ assembly versus one that I made for about $70. There is little to no difference in concept and performance so I feel that this is design in it's best. Consumer made, consumer used.

Word Count: 547

Monday, November 8, 2010

Word and Image: Or is it?

Word in Image. This concept and skill seems to be OH SO IMPORTANT to deserve two consecutive posts about the same topic. So since the previous post is about taking it apart and then combining the two into one design, now I'm going to observe using each other in the design. Now, this image may blow your minds!

Prepare:

Now this picture was found while browsing online for words and design. Then I thought about what about design of words? We've studied a bit on typography and how it influences design (much like the wall in the CBS lunchroom). But these words have a meaning to them, that of course relates to where it is positioned. If you look closely, all these words are placed correctly in the anatomy of the body, which lends an even more obvious yet some deeper meaning.

This is how words CAN BE images. That's just crazy. There is a way this is designed that you know that you're looking at a hand or arm. That's of course what first hits you. But as we look closely we see the background color bleeding through, so that can't be a solid hand. Then we realize that the words are telling us what is there. And that's just the end of it. Design to, in all sorts of ways, show and tell. That just makes me feel like I'm in grade school again: show and tell; but then again, isn't design all about play and having fun with what we're doing?

Now this only makes me wonder: is this made in Gestalt fashion? Is the rest of the word man's body listed by their parts? Design keeps me thinking, and of course, imagining.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Word and Image: Delicious or Touching?

Word and image often are needed to better represent the thoughts of the designer or artist. Many times, both the image and words may be able to stand alone, but TOGETHER, they become even more meaningful and powerful. I'm going to take apart the words and motion images in a short film. This film was created in a film festival in February 2006 with the topic of "Food, Taste, and Hunger" and shortly thereafter moved people and opened eyes. This piece is called "Chicken a la Carte" and words and images here give this piece an even deeper meaning.

If a viewer were to look at the two independently, he may think that it's just a piece about world hunger or about a generous man. But have them both together gives a deeper meaning then this. Is this about a generous man? In some ways. Is this about world hunger? In some ways. Then what is it about?

There IS a deeper meaning when you watch how everything was designed together. There is a bigger image to just world hungry: it's a very specific area of world hunger. In a place that isn't miles and miles away from a metropolitan area, there is hunger there. But it's not a crazed hunger that takes over people. The people are still completely compassionate about each other. In such a desperate state, this man is still able to share what meager resources he was able to muster up with his community.

This piece of word and image is able to move a greater audience. Not because it was unique; no, this topic is covered in a variety of ways. But because of the design of the piece adds to a deeper meaning. Now here's a thought, word isn't limited to just written word. But the music lyrics (although written) add just as much as spoken word and the meaning behind is it limitless.

Spirit Running

Space. That's a interesting word. How does space relate to design? There has been all types of 'space' used by design, and art design is no exception. There should be no limitations to art and design, but many designers are faced with the 'forth wall' of design. This barrier that things have to appear whole and complete. Well, there is one piece of art I found that uses a concept we have learned well in class: Gestalt. Just like in McCloud's book, we assume that there are parts there that should be there, like his legs.

Let's take a loot at this piece of art design. We know that this is a pair of horses. One white and one black. For whatever reason the artist choose to make these horses polar opposites in terms of color, we ca only speculate. However, we can take what we see understand it's design.

There are parts of the horse missing, but we know that these horses are running 'through' the wall and that these parts sure will come in later. Also, looking at the craft of this piece, we see that the horse could have been cast in a full body, but what we see are strands of metal that make up the shape of a horse. This makes it feel as if this is the spirit of the horse, running through the gallery. There really is no need to show the whole piece to get a good feeling of what the artist and designer was thinking when they made this piece. Parts often speak just as loudly to us than the whole picture.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Everyday Design

Everyday design. This is an interesting concept to design. The way I think of it, everyday items are deigned much differently than other objects. Taking something from the film 'Objectified', many objects being made now have less and less correlation between the shape and physical body of the object with what the object is intended to do. So many stores have started to mass produced 'designed' objects and jacking up the prices.

What is this? This is a teapot. There was nothing wrong with the traditional teapot at all. It worked fine and there was no need to design a more efficient teapot. However, people wanted something more aesthetic, and that's what design has become. We have ASKED design to be more creative and more aesthetic. We ASKED design to be more appealing to the eye as it decorates our house. We may never actually use an object for anything but just to look good.

So now lets break down this teapot into a design. There are many elements that are included in this design, however simple it may seem. There is use of texture, material, and shape to create such a design. First off, the thing that catches my eye is where the water is set to boil. In a glass container located in the middle seems very clean and nice. We also see where our water levels are and when it boils too. Straight lines from this part of this design lends us the illusion of something sleek and smooth. However, all straight edges often makes us imagine harsh borders. To even this out, a stainless steel handle and body is added. The shiny metal adds to the smooth looking design and the curves brushes away any thoughts of harsh edges.

Simple and elegant. This design is something that I would leave in my house. Just to look at...never to use.

Interaction of Content and Form in 'Objectified'

It is rather hard to grasp the all the interaction of content and form in 'Objectified' and analyze it so critically. So let's break it down and look at certain aspects of the film itself to take apart. Let's look at the section about peelers and how people with arthritis have a hard time gripping them. The designs first talk about a common misconception of design. Many people think that 'design should be made for the average person' but design should actually be made for the extremes and the average people 'just fall into place in the design'. Then then back to the peeler: maybe it was designed for the average people in mind, but that's what makes it a weak design. So then the question is: how to make a peeler that can handle the extremes?

Designs get together and brainstorm ways to shape the handle to fit different extremes. This section of the film is what is being broken down in terms of content and form. Now, we have the very general documentary type footage where a person or group of people are interviewed on this project. This is the content of the sections. People are giving out information about the topic and are analyzing it. However, the form in which it is presented greatly helps our understanding on the subject. They are showing us the different models for handles and the design process that goes into making a prototype.

By combining the content into a form in which it is easy for us to visualize the process, we are able to understand it better. From the initial problem, through the design process, and then finally the finished product, it is all clearly illustrated in the way this movie was produced.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Crazy Sofas, Let's Play

There are many things that design has wormed its way into. Once design starts, there is no stopping the innovation and craziness that stems from our brains. Some people take design to a whole new level to create funky looking sofas that do much more than just provide a place for us to sit. There was a site that popped up in google when I searched for interesting designs labeled "35 of the Most Unique and Creative Sofa Designs". Immediately I clicked upon it after thinking about all the designs that I have seen.

This sofa is titled the "Yang Sofa" and  can be used to create many different couches. The couch was designed by Francois Bauchet in four pieces that can be moved around to create different shapes to fit different styles. This speaks out to me because there are so many elements that goes beyond this design then 'just a sofa'. Also, it ties into an important aspect that we have been so very fond of in class. As Housefield borrowed from another lecturer, designers' greatest designs often comes out during play. What more can we ask this sofa to do than to ask us to play with it and design these four pieces into something that will fit our needs? Nothing. When we take apart Bauchet's sofa and put it back together into another shape to form a sectional, single seat, or other variations, we can only be doing one thing: playing with design.

Now here is another interesting design to tie back to class. Remember that one day when we were asked to sketch legos in class? Well, it has come back to haunt us. Building blocks, the essentials to any creation are taken quite literally as Thierry Nahon and Philippe Landecker created this reconstructable couch dubbed 'LunaBlocks'. We are yet again asked by another designer to play with what we buy to create a couch that can be completely modified to fit our surroundings. Design that asks us to play is a good design by me. We should just drop everything we're doing now and get out and play; after all, our best designs should come during play.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Design as Conversation


We talked about design as a conversation the very first day of class. Design in itself is a language and is used to express many different things. The main point is that the design is something that can be used! I'd like to make a formal declaration: I LOVE POST-ITs. They are one of the best things ever made up.


Design is often something that carries a message when it is seen (for me at least): why didn't I think of that? The person who thought up of making tiny pieces of paper sticky was a genius. Post-Its allow us to express ourselves through the design of this piece of paper. However, it just doesn't stop there. This innovation of a sticky pad only lead to more and more designs. Each design was more unique than the one before it, but it all had one thing in common: they used the simple piece of paper as a creative tool.



A new type of design and art was born from this other simple design: post-it art! This is mostly just images recreated with post-it notes instead of pencil or paint. But this adds an interesting thing back to design itself. Many people have recreated classic game characters with post-its. Since post-its are square in nature, it creates a pixel effect that really adds to the overall design itself.





It's pretty interesting to see how a simple design evolved into an ever evolving design of more and more complex art pieces. This is design as an expression and expression is language.

The two pictures on the left may be more complicated as the gaming language of nerds and the top is the written English language on post-it notes. But they both express a feeling or idea that creates a better design.

Design adds onto other designs. And those add on to more and more designs. That's why design is a never ending process.



Comparison and Contrast

iPhone! The rage and hype about Apple's line of phones with it's extensive application store is rocking many worlds. But I feel that their unique design has been lacking by a lot. Their first three generations (2G, 3G, and 3Gs) were pretty good in keeping up with Apple's unique style. The slender depth of the phone, shiny edge, and wide screen is what makes an iPhone and iPhone. What's the difference you might ask; it's the shape.

The 2G, 3G, and 3Gs were all rounded and a little wider than the newer 4G, but that's what made it unique. Just like we discussed in class about Gap changing it's logo and then everyone not liking it, I feel the same about the new iPhone. Why change something that has been the same for a long time? Sure, the 'home' button and speaker still look the same. This new design may have fixed a lot of 'complaints' from users. The new one's pro list: it's a little less wide, making it fit easier into your pocket. A new camera is fitted to the front of the screen to enable video chatting. However, one con I feel sets it as a degrade than an upgrade: it looks like a generic phone!

The general shape has it starting to look like all the other phones out there. The LG phones look something similar, even the Song Ericsson phones are almost exactly the same. How can this design take a step back and move Apple into the background and not make it unique? Overall, I think Apple should keep it's unique design and, like Gap, change back to what it was.

Fruits of Labor

Design can be ephemeral. Just like we have seen in Andy Goldsworthy's pieces. Here, the centerpiece is not fallen leaves but a whole watermelon carved to represent something else. It's amazing the amount of skill and time it takes to carve one of these. There is many different things to take into account before Frank Scravaglieri starts to carve the fruit.

The first step is to have an image ready in his head. Not just an image, but a complex and detailed image that he can follow from the start until the end. This is something that is very important: consistency. With a medium like a watermelon, there are some very important rules and limits that you must be able to follow. First off, time is very important; these pieces often need to be started and finished within one or two hours because the fruit will start to go bad if it is left out too long. But even working at a fast pace, a more important limitation is that you cannot make mistakes. There is no undo or painting over something you messed up on. This is a one-time deal: you either get it or start all over.

This is what makes this design so much more difficult. Also, your color pallet is limited to what the fruit or vegetable has to offer. This particular medium, watermelon, offers the colors red, white, and green. Frank takes these colors and carves out a design of roses. Taking one object and then shaping and transforming it to represent another. Design is meant to make us look at something and look I did.

This is not a bunch of roses. This is not a watermelon. This is design!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Purpose or Accident?


Taken with iPhone

It’s interesting this idea or definition of design. Is it still a design if we see it one way but the artist/designer meant for it to be seen another? Is it still design if it is no longer meant to function/appear in the same way? I think it’s all possible. I was walking away from office hours at the Art Building here on the UC Davis campus and saw this picture. I took it in as exactly how it was, whether it was meant to be displayed that way or not. Since this is only a two dimensional picture, it doesn’t give much form unless I describe it (it was paper on wall, so it was borderline 3D). 



Even though I love the idea of simplicity as a perfect art, it doesn’t mean that the idea behind a piece can’t be complex. So this is, as simple as it is, two paper cut outs glued onto the wall of the stairwell in the Art Building. The art piece is of two soldiers in combat, something we hear about on the news quiet often. If this was a high quality image, you would be able to zoom in and see that this solid image (that is clearly two soldiers) is actually somewhat abstract up close. For example, the face of the one standing up is merely a few splotches of gray. 

Now here comes the part about the two questions I posted above. I ran my hand across this wall and it seems like where the picture turns into wall, the paper was torn; as if it was a whole piece of paper as a art piece then someone tore it down (obviously not neatly and didn't finish the job). But I felt that this is another form of design, this tearing of the paper only made what soldiers do best: camouflage. This undoubtedly made the picture more complex; it lends a new depth to the design of this piece. Was it an accident or was it done as part of the installation?

Who knows? Who cares?? It looks good, it fits well, it is simple and complex. IT is DESIGN.

Creativity from Without


Pencil Art -Freakin' Crazy!

Creativity from without. What does this mean? I feel that creativity from without is to look at something solid/real for inspiration; none of the abstract painting from Pollock can fall into this category. So while looking across some flicker photos, I came across an artist called Dalton Getty.


Dalton Getty uses something different as art and a medium upon which to present it. He takes something old fashioned and something often overlooked and turns it into art: number two pencils. This is definitely a completely different medium to use than the originals like paper, canvas, or wall. Much like how Andy Goldsworthy uses physical objects for art; so in a way, Dalton’s art is a sculpture. And the picture I chose to represent his artwork is a set of twenty-six pencils; each one individually crafted to form the letters of our alphabet. 

This craft of his takes time and dedication. He sits there with a scalpel and slowly carves out each detail. His design is incredible if you think about his limitations. Relating this back to our ‘stone soup’ project, we were completely limited to the materials that we had at our disposable. Dalton only used a number two pencil and nothing else. He realistically was able to only take two main components, the graphite and wood, and creates something detailed and intricate.

Much like this design of a saw, he uses the wood to carve out the handle and the graphite to carve out the blade; this gives the design and art more life as the two have different light highlights and thus making it look as if it really was a miniature saw. One extra detail also really contributes to how genius Dalton really is: shape. The normal number two pencils are perfect for circular objects like a saw or chair; but Dalton picks out a flat pencil for the saw, giving even more thought than first meets the eye.   

Design through a pencil…GRAND! 

Stone Soup


Stone Soup. The idea where something great/awesome/spectacular/wonderful was created by the collaboration of many people. First off, our group did a splendid job on making a intriguing piece. It was interesting to say the least on the subject of the piece. Our ideas did not come easy: we all contributed a little in order to create this piece. 

Our assignment: to each bring a few art supplies to donate to a bigger project. Nothing was planned ahead, no one knew who was going to bring what so it really was a 'think-on-your-toes' project. The project ha to be 3-Dimensional and be just more then decorative trash. We started with only a simple idea: a color spiral. From there, we all made anything that could be contributed to this idea. And we just taped it to anything that was upright. It was an on-the-go project while we worked as an assembly line: a few of us made the decorations and a few of us hung them up. 
Photos by Sarah Smith

Even with such a fast-paced group, we felt unfinished in the end. I think there is always that feeling of being unfinished when you work with art: it can always be improved. But for an hour's worth of time, I think it turned out great.

Working with others really makes you open up and throw out your ideas. One important message our mentor Derek said: 'For every idea, there are at least 5 other critics.' A very good thing to keep in mind, as other want to help you to improve, not to shoot you down. Stone Soup was successful this year and hopefully it would be around as long as DES 001 is around. 

Monday, October 4, 2010

Nature on Paper

By Alexandria Liu

   Flowers, something as old as time, is something that I still find soothing and calming; simple and pleasant to look at, yet complex to capture and draw. How can something be simple and complex at the same time? I'll get to that later. First, let me give credit to who it belongs, I did not make this sketch. Alexandria Liu made it upon my request for something calming to hang on my wall. Her talent will far exceed what I can place on paper but hopefully my photography will spread this art further than the physical piece can.


   Drawing has never been my strong side (it's rather weaker then my weakest side) but that doesn't exclude me from having some around. The design on a medium, be it canvas, film, or in this case, plain white paper, is what should stand out. There should, first and foremost, be no critique as to what was used in the creation of art because only the art itself should stand out. And that's how I critique this design.


    It's rather interesting choice of a piece of nature to capture. There are many details that go into the creation of design. Let's start with one of the easiest detail: color. Do I want to be experimental in my art and design or do I want to stick with realism? Having made a choice, we either copy what nature has provided (soft greens, vibrant purples, and gray shadows) or we experiment (neon greens, rainbow leaves, and so on). Now that we have two details down (natural colors and the subject of a flower), we move to the next step. What to include besides the flower? A flower by itself may become too focused and get too boring, but too many flowers and stems will clutter the design with unnecessary junk. So, the artist picked a good balance between full open flowers and flowers that are still budding and the in between.
 
    Some people see this and think "WTF... why would you include buds when they're so ugly?" Well, it's because there rarely are any flowers in nature that will have all of it's flowers in full bloom and no buds; but also because it gives a complexity to the design. Flowers in full bloom at nice to look at; but things in nature also die as we see withering flowers near the bottom and the buds give you something to look forward to. It gives the design a a sense of time: the present, past, and future. But besides all this, it gives something that all still artwork and design should have: LIFE.

Design is complicated. This piece of art is both simple and complex (making it complicated). This is design.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Less is More

Let Loose
 
     Less is more. Why does this phrase confuse a lot of people? We are often confronted with visuals that invade our mind with too many pictures, colors, and symbols trying to get us to notice their brand. Well, simplicity is often the best design to make things stands out, at least to me. Often very vibrant items are made because they need to advertise themselves; the simple designs need no advertising at all. Labels are what we remember, so why make something too visually complicated? 
 
 
   
 
     Look at the label on this vodka bottle. There are very few elements to consider.  The blue background lets us distinguish this from its White Label brother. The silver lotus flower makes the drinker feel like they are drinking something elegant and gourmet. And in the end, for everyone who didn't know what they were drinking, the logo and company name is printed on the label. This label is simple and not to cluttered, the simplicity makes the bottle seem sleek and smooth. For some reason, the most simple designs often makes me feel as if whatever I look at is clean and precise. Such a simple logo is able to convey so many things and makes this such a piece of art.
     
 
        In the end, all labels want is for you to remember what they are selling. Being more than a couple shots in and on the verge of passing out I want to remember 'this Lotus is some really good vodka' ... followed by a sudden shut down of my body as the alcohol takes control. But at least I'll know what to buy next time.

     Design well made? I think so.

My First Encounter with Design..

It's hard to define my first encounter with design since design is all around us. A better way to answer this question is to describe my first realization that design is in my life. Food has always been an interesting area to me. There are constantly all these new dishes and flavors but how can this relate to design? Design may be the plates they are on or the restaurant that you are eating with. Does design always have to be something that we can use? NO! My first impression of design was the plating of the food on which the plate is the cook's canvas.


Simplicity is always the biggest deal with me. The most simple and plain designs often come from the best places because it is never cluttered with unnecessary images. Such a simple dessert is placed to capture the eye and evoke a sense of want; we WANT that dessert to be sitting in front of us on that table. This plating (and design) has served its purpose by making us want it; simple desserts just being placed with a purpose greatly enhances anything that can be made at home.


Did I want a dessert like this? HECK YES. Did I get this dessert like this when I saw it? HECK NO. A chocolate cake 2 inches across with some edible decoration is not worth the $22 price tag that came with it. But the design (that remember, came from a chef and most likely NOT a designer) was able to sell itself. In the end, a design must be to the point and be sold; this plating did just the trick. The same dessert in a plastic box is not nearly as appealing as this.


Design has appeal. Design has taste. Design has passion.

Being passionate about what you see is the easiest way to open your mind to the world of design and what it means to you.