Sweet Tooth?

Inspiration can be found in many different places from nature to everyday items including food, sweet sugary foods to be precise. While our society idolizes over movie stars and singers, one face reocurse throughout art, more than anyother. Marilyn Monroe was sculpted and then finalized with an exoskeleton of jelly beens. This famous sex icon is made out of 254,093 jelly beans ranging in a variety of flavors, from tuti fruti to buttered popcorn just to name a few. Marilyn Monroe's statue produced out of jelly beans can be located at IT’SUGAR store in Universal CityWalk. This unique method of using jelly beans to portray her every aspect through one element is by far a fascinating design technique. By sculpting her to be curvilinear the fluidity of her design becomes more realistic grasping the viewers interest. Also by tying in Monroe's signature posse it is hard for anyone not to recognize her right off the bat. Famous hollywood icons play a large part in our society from how we act, how we dress, and even how we represent art. This fascinating technique of using candy as the main element has many flocking to IT'SUGAR just to see the 10 foot sculpture. By displaying Monroe's sculpture made-out of jellybeans creates a new mouth watering sensation for the customers that come to the store, inspiring all whom consume these delouse treats.

Popular Icons

While words or objects can mean different things in different context a description of cultural studies does just that. To some it is simply learning and understanding diverse ethnical communities and their behaviors. Although this is logical cultural studies is interpreted as academic research on society as a whole, examining the influences that media has on consumers. While being bamboozled by hundreds to thousands of advertisements a day we give up our individual identities, generating a specific standard of social collaboration. As the main factor in attracting an audience, manipulation and understanding the consumers desires within a design must be integrated as a complete package. Although publicity of Hollywood stars, brand names, and new trends have a large impact on society the design aspect of how to advertise is essential to marketing products. To have a greater impact on the viewer, creativity and innovation are essential to advertising encompassing a majority of consumers rather than targeting a small cliental. Because fame and perfection is admired in our society the generalizations that one must imitate a celebrity’s ideal life style creates an open door for product design through celebrities. For instance, Jessica Simpson is scene in all pro-active advertisements increasing sales. Because her image is everywhere and many can identify with her by also having acne, we fall into the manipulation and deception of the product. Since Simpson is the representative for pro-active uses her image within marketing to trap consumers into buying the product before trying or finding out details about it.
By using multiple design strategies through media to target groups rather than individuals, manufactures have discovered was to produce images that numerous individuals can measure up to. While using popular culture icons such as Hannah Montana and The Jonahs Brothers, close to all children can create a secret identity and admiring these stars. By generating popular icons into design the manufactures and producers target the society into consuming lunch boxes, clothing, and many other material objects. When the media presents trends in fashion, glamour, and popularity we view it as if we could be on top of the world if we fallow all the trends. But in reality of consumer products it’s about manipulating the viewer and creating stimulating designs of famous icons to capture the attention of our culture.

Pop Art

While media took over traditional art and its beauty artist embraced the change creating a new style of design. Around 1955 during the post war in England artist started a new movement, known as Pop Art. Artist such as Richard Hamilton created collages consisting of only mass-produced imagery. Media such as popular icons, specific brands, and house held appliances were mounted together creating an over all combined efficient. Because art tends to echo the period contained by its style the modern mass culture of advertising is portrayed within Pop Art.

By using widely known imagery the viewer becomes personally connected with the collage. Techniques of using what society is socially aware of set the emotional tone for how Pop Art is portrayed. By using images such as a tootsie pop, canned ham, and popular shows Hamilton draws in the viewer by means of understanding modern comforts. Although each individual element is of a different media image, the placement of how they are laid out generates a successful design. Because Pop Art was directly connected to society media elements, Hamilton was able to produce real world imagery through his collages.


Image and other information provided by :

Eighteenth to Twenty- First Century Art. 3rd ed. Vol. 6. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2009. Print. Pg 1151

Piet Mondrian: 2-D and 3-D

The non- representational paintings created by Piet Mondrian are by far amongst my favorite works of art. His abstract designs are created solely by imaginative focus where as most designs are derived through natural objects. Mondrian’s two-dimensional canvases consist of three fundamentals, vertical lines, horizontal lines and colored or neutral rectangular shapes. Within his paintings Mondrian employs the same technical style consisting of the three primary hues red, yellow, and blue along with the three neutral shades black, grey, and white. By combining all of these elements Mondrian achieved stability and balance through defined placement of color, size, position, and grouping.

While Mondrian’s ability to create visually stimulating designs through perpendicular lines and rectangular shapes, his imaginative format indicates harmony and minimalism. Although Mondrian’s work was solely on canvas however other designers have taken this method of abstract art applying it to three-dimensional objects such as, architecture, fashion, and other types of design. In society we look for the new “it” item and as designers our objective is to produce stimulating essentials for the everyday consumer. By utilizing mesmerizing design one can reprocess similar configuration into different mediums, creating an everyday representation of art.

Focusing on Societies Demands

It’s too much, use less, and make it "new". When do we stop and how much is too much? As a designer we must keep this all in mind. We are here to provide for the society, they are the consumers. By being a designer our goal is to focus on the needs and wants of consumers. Because they are the target audience , it is the goal of the designer to create solutions to the world of design dilemmas. Being a designer does not mean that we are the only ones in control, guiding the society. The society also plays a large role in the process of design; they are the one that must respond to our product making it fully affective. Although elaborate decor and ornamental features were popular in previous decades, the modern era is upon us meaning minimalism and simplicity.

By living in a fast paced society surrounded by a world of technology we don’t take the time to appreciate elaborate and detailed designs. We live in a world of large businesses and advance manufacturing, allowing quick production in significant amounts of objects. Although we can not predict the future, our objective as designers is to provide for the society staying one step ahead.

Inspiration: Outside Themselves

Finding inspiration can be said to be found within ones self and the feelings that need to be released. But how does a creator find inspiration outside themselves? While living within a society geared towards the “IT” factor, inspiration outside ourselves can be found no where or around every corner. Its all about where we look and what engages our creative side. As we examine famous artist such as Andy Goldsworthy (above) who has drawn his inspiration from nature, it becomes apparent that his understanding of the beauty that is nature turns out to be pure genius. Although nature is a large inspiration on our society, other artists create just as appealing designs.
For example, in Joseph Cornell’s (left) box designs we are able to grasp the intuitive motivation within a space. By having the understanding that he is a pack rat, it is apparent that by keeping everything and anything is where his inspiration is derived from. Because inspiration varies from person to person, different items and things enlighten our thought process and interests. As designers it is our principle to think outside the box, grasping concepts outside the standard design. Although it might be more difficult to pin point where our inspiration comes from, eventually our designs strength of character will guide us on the path of inspiration outside ourselves.

The Thinking Process:

Being creative can sometimes be a difficult task. At times we just hit a wall and can’t get around it. Although the process of brainstorming seems so simple, we occasionally still don’t know where to begin, having an initial idea. But there are many different strategies that can be utilized to start the thinking process. While staring at a blank surface just draw whatever is on your mind, no matter what it is you can’t make a mistake. By doing this we are releasing our inner self’s, expressing our emotion, thoughts, and unpredictability. Keep in mind it’s meant to be a brainstorm not a master piece. Another brainstorming option is to randomly choose a word out of the dictionary and express it within a design. Because our minds are being engaged to create something from a single randomly chosen word we are instinctively bringing a new life to its meaning.

Thinking in unusual challenging ways we can express creative designs throughout time. Because our minds can never be placed on pause jumping from idea to idea it is sometimes hard to focus. As techniques such as these help direct our minds around the wall we shouldn’t have to illustrate blank portraits.