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.

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.

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.

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!