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.