Quick Responce

While going back to my first initial Blog I realized I had asked myself a few questions to explore. In a quick response this is what I have gathered:

What is Design?

Design is every thing from the tooth brush we use in the morning to the computer we use to write our blogs. To be a design we must think about the consumer and their needs and connections to objects. It is our goal to create a pleasing experience with each object for the consumer, even if they are not aware of it.

How does it influence us?

Certain designs make everyday tasks possible minimizing frustration, time, and accidental hazards. Good design provides consumers with objects that are used daily creating pleasant experiences when used.

What do we mean when we say Design in Society?

In society we cherish ordinary objects but only because they have a story provided with them. Every object has a purpose and it is up to the consumer to decide if they need certain objects in their life.

Design is impossible to avoid it is every where we look, every where we go, and involved in every thing we do. To be a designer we must think about the consumer putting ourselves in their position. Our process of creating an object is as important as the product. Susan Verba explains that when designing one must “sponge, filter, and voice.” By taking in every experience and situation we are soaking up all options then must determine which ideas are most logical and finally finding ourselves with what we believe is the way of designing. Design is not only the whole design but it also the parts that how each part is put together to create a whole.

Image for my Design 1 class we had to create an image that influenced biking education.

Junk Yard Building- Dan Phillips

There can be a lot learned from Dan Phillips a man who has started his own construction business. But these are no ordinary construction sites. By utilizing materials from other locations rather than hardwood stores Phillips has been able to create a new approach to design. He finds his materials from other construction sites, junk yards and even the side of the road. Because Phillips finds certain materials using them to his advantage, the costs of his projects are much lower. Although some may think that finding martial’s in junkyards to build a home out of may seem junky and filthy Phillips creates new and interesting ways to incorporate this so called junk.

As our landfills grow larger in size each year it is becoming a bigger problem of where to put all the waste created by our society. The materials Phillips uses ranges from wine corks which are used to create floors to bones made into furniture. By using material that are no longer used for there intended purpose brings us to discover unique ways of taking certain objects and using them for a more sustainable purpose.

Along with using corks and bones Phillips creates interesting designs and patterns with the materials he finds. An example of this is in one of his houses that when we look up at the ceiling we see a zigzag pattern that has been created out of picture frame corners across the whole ceiling. Also Phillips uses mismatched bricks, tiles, license plates, glass platters, and mirrors as other materials within the houses construction. Because certain materials are hard to come by in large quantity Phillips takes advantage of representing imperfection, manufacturing it as perfection.

Although one might think that these houses are not safe or reliable they are wrong. Because people live in these houses each home must pass all building codes, meeting all the standards and requirements of suitable living. Another interesting aspect of Phillips house is that to be able to live in one of these homes you must be low income and help build and design the house. By doing this Phillip is making the consumer the designer allowing them to be part of the design process generating a better connection with the final product.

While Phillips cannot change the building industry over night he is doing his part to clean up others unneeded materials, using them to create master pieces and homes for those in need. By using out of the ordinary sort of materials we can look to Phillips for inspiration.

If you are interested in how to get started on a project such as Dan Phillips here are some way to help.

http://phoenixcommotion.blogspot.com/

Article on Dan Phillips by the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/garden/03recycle.html

Material objects

What is it that gets us so excited about material objects such as cars, furniture, and even snowboards. As consumers we look at whats new, fashionable, and trendy but we take for granted the intent of the object. For the most part its all about style and how our objects make us look and how others view us on what we own.

While waiting 10 long days it finally came, my brand new 2010 snowboard. Although this might not be as exciting and joyful to some people, to us mountain breathing, tree hugging, powder hounds its one of the best feelings ever to receive a new snow toy. However it is not that simple to just go out and buy a snowboard, there is alot of informational material and understanding of technology that goes into purchasing the perfect board.

Because brand names such as Burton, Ride, Rome, K2, and many others all offer multiple types of boards it is very difficult to know where to start looking. While riding under the chairlift looking up it is easy to get a feel for what is the most popular brand. After the brand has been chose the decision making is not over, that was only the first step. Now its is time to select what kind of riding is gonna be happening, downhill, jumps, rails, and/or powder. All of these different types of riding are taken into reason when creating each and every board.

While some people only look at the detail and artwork on the board, there is much more that must be considered such as flexibility, length, pop, and many other aspects of riding. Because every rider is different it is important to understand the technology of the design of the board, not only the art work on the surface.

High Renaissance Ideals

During the High Renaissance art leaned towards the direction of neo-Platonism. Neo-Platonists believed that philosophy and Christian belief were of the same on a higher level. Along with the up rise of Neo-Platonism, ideals of calmness, order, and rationality develop into an expression throughout the course of the High Renaissance. Such ideals are expressed in, School of Athens, by Raphael. Raphael’s knowledge of human powers appears evident in his painting.

Through Raphael’s expression of calmness his panting portrays a realistic impression. While examining the painting a sense of relaxed emotion is represented throughout the characters. Raphael’s illustration creates an organized calmness through the mind. By having small groups of people gathering together creates a feeling of collaboration through the conversations being held by the characters. By having little commotion we are able to see the thought behind each individual expression and motions. For example on the right side of the painting we see a group of people gathered around a man presenting an idea to the rest of the group. The expressions of the group members are ever so lightly articulated but we see that they are not in question rather they are expressing a deeper contemplation of their understanding to the subject matter. By using such composures of a natural mind expressing calmness emphasized the true thought behind the characters reactions. Although the painting represents separate sides we see them evenly expressing the same ideals, understanding the reason between both.

As a result of his exploration through order Raphael expresses a division of neo-Platonism in his painting. Through his use of symmetry and proportion, Raphael produces a balanced representation of Plato’s and Aristotle’s theories. While analyzing the image we see that the painting is symmetrically divided, representing the two theories on one side or the other. On the left side Raphael illustrate Plato among other peers who fallow his theory of a high realm. The meaning of high realm in a way is said to be that god is the creator of man; he is the base on all knowledge. Where as on the right side standing next to Plato is Aristotle. While Plato’s half demonstrates Christen belief, the side with Aristotle represents his theory of the real world through observation and experience. His ideas are based off of math being the base of all knowledge. Although the two sides are proportionally equal they use a sense of geometry and comparative balance creating a practical relation between neo-Platonism. This is shown by having each follower of the two philosophers on each side of the painting that which they practice. By dividing the groups Raphael used practical arrangements to produce an importance of order throughout his painting.

Another ideal Raphael represented in school of Athens was rationality. Although Raphael painted the building in the background before it was complete, the overall scale is a close resemblance once built. The use of liner perspective to calculate the measurements was a geometric device used to accurately generate an image of practicality. For instance the building is of much larger scare compared to the characters that occupy the ground levels. In real life the ceiling is around 40 ft tall, Raphael’s art piece embodies this. Many other characterizations in the building portray proportional numerical geometry. This is demonstrated in the arches repeated with hexagons suppressed in the material to create a pattern and use of geometric shape. By using mathematical measurements to create space Raphael’s ideals of rationality are established in his painting creating a real life experience, and a technique for others to fallow and improve.

Raphael is known well for his works done in the high renaissance era. He demonstrated an ability of realism by bringing forward ideals into his art such as explained. The painting School of Athens, is a masterpiece that helped shape the understanding of human emotion and natural world.

Experience Design

Although we all wish we could live in a Utopia it is unrealistic. However as designers we must think about how our actions influence the way we live in the present as well as how our designs will influence the future. During a presentation by Nathan Shedroff at UC Davis on November 18^th 2009 he informed the audience about sustainability. By introducing sustainability into the way we think about design Shedroff asked the question, “What is sustainable design?” While thinking about his question it became apparent that there is no such thing, nothing last forever and we want new and innovative objects constantly. But as Shedroff kept going he purposed three questions for us as designers to think about, for the rest of our lives.

What is a more sustainable world look like?

What is a more meaningful world look like?
What is a post-consumer world look like?

To answer these questions completely and fully is impossible because they have no one solution or answer. However by being the generation’s next designers we can think about these questions gearing our design toward them, improving the future as well as giving people what they want in the present. Another influential and realistic solution Shedroff brought up was to use our everyday experiences to connect to the consumer creating useful designs. By doing this we as designers can help restore values, making the world a more realistic utopia. As materials build up in landfills creating waste and pollution, the four R’s, recycle, reduce, reuse and rethink become a large part of the design process. By gearing our brainstorming towards these themes we can generate a sense of sustainability bettering our world and the way we live in it.

Nathan Shedroff has written three books on experiencing design. His influence in the design world has been notably recognized and is worth learning and discussing about. On his web page he states, "The most important concept to grasp is that all experiences are important and that we can learn from them whether they are traditional, physical, offline experiences or whether they are digital, online, or other technological experiences." By traveling around teaching his thoughts to others is helping us as designers find our own inspiration gearing us towards a better future. Thank you Nathan Shedroff for speaking at UC Davis design program.

(http://www.nathan.com)

Use+Design=Objectified

The film Objectified directed by Gary Hustwit is a documentary based on the design and use of everyday objects. While viewing the film they discussed about standardization and how things are created to conform to everyday life. A question that was presented stated, “How can we design a better experience?” As designers our goal is to improve the experience for the consumer, allowing a pleasant reaction to the object

without even knowing it. Since it is important to understand the needs and wants through experimenting ourselves, it is a necessity to understand how certain objects influence our daily routines. For instance in an inf o com mercial I saw the other day was a tooth paste dispenser (right) that allowed you to only have to place your brush in the slot and the perfect amount of tooth paste would be applied to the brush. Because this device creates a hands free sensation it generates a delightful and less tedious experience with putting the tooth paste cap back on and applying the paste to the brush. By designing objects like these designers are thinking about the consumes needs, simplifying and improving everyday task.

Along with relating to the consumer and their needs we are informed in the film that our objects mean so much to use because they have a story behind them. If we did not have a connection to our object we would not care about how things work, making things easier or being comfortable. As designers we do not only create the form of an object but we design them to benefit our every day needs. By creating things that become better with time and use, consumers constantly refer to specific objects generating a standard in everyday life. As we think about the objects that we could not live without it is easy to see the impact design has on our society and how we revolve around them.

Color Schemes

Because we do not see in black and white, our perception of the world is based on various color schemes. While the basic color wheel begins with the three primary hues of red, yellow, and blue, others are generated through the mixture of certain color combination's. Along with a wide range of different colors the concept of contrast and value can be applied to manufacture difference in tones and shades of hues.



For instance in the picture to the left there is not a great deal of variety in color but instead, a distinct range of value within two colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. While applying and integrating colors that are closely related in hues and are adjacent to each other on the color wheel, we understand that the color scheme is analogous. By only being able to select two hues, for instance blue and purple our range of colors is limited. Because this creates restrictions within mixing we apply black and white, generating further options. While looking at the painting we can see the difference in values that were created by adding small amount of black and white to certain mixtures created by mixing the blue and purple together. Along with generating multiple varieties in hues, tones and values, the placement of these colors creates a vivid composition. By placing lighter tones next to darker ones creates depth within the artwork, allowing lighter colors to move toward to the surface and suppressing darker tones to the back. Since certain hues relate to emotion artist use analogous colors to express feelings through certain color schemes.

By mixing the three primaries together in different amounts neutralizing the intensity of the hues we create tertiary colors. Through using red, yellow and blue mixed together our hues become more natural connecting more to the environment and our surroundings. In the art piece to the right we can see that the hues on the color wheel are not present. But we can still acquaint these new colors with the originals through the percentage of how much is mixed into each color. Along with perceiving original colors within the tertiary colors we can see the use of complimentary colors reacting with each other. Even though we have neutralized the hues into colors such as midnight blue and rustic orange by combine them creates a pleasing contrast within the composition. Because warmer colors such as reds, yellows and oranges are brighter they become more presentable, standing out against the cooler tones such as blue, green and purple. Since tertiary colors resemble nature many artist utilize this color scheme creating landscape and environmental artworks.

Art work by me: Holly Hathaway, Spring 2009 Color Theory