In my first blog I pondered the definition of design and its role in shaping the world around us. I explored the concept of design as a driving force in many diverse aspects of society. At the end of the post I concluded that a cut and dry definition cannot be reached but I posted, “I hope I can further explore the ways that design affects our everyday lives and influences our perception of the world around us.”

Design is literally everywhere----in our residential, commercial, professional, and social lives. There is no place you can go where one does not come into contact with a piece that has been designed by some person at one point in time or another. Design influences every one of our senses making it a full-body experience. We are constantly being communicated with--either consciously or sub-consciously.

These designs exude a personality of their own that influences our perceptions of them based on our personal experiences. In essence, the designs that surround us actually do shape and dictate our perceptions based on the past experiences we have had that we are reminded of because of the design we are taking in.

I have concluded that design is everywhere. Design influences everyone. Design dictates our perceptions. We are influenced by design 24/7. We use elements of design constantly. Design drives our lives.

I took this picture on my trip to the West Indies and am just attracted to the boldness of the complementary violet and yellow colors and the composition of the picture and wanted to share it with you!

Asking the Big Questions

The term sustainability is one which is being thrown around on a regular basis lately. It goes hand-in-hand with the “going green” theme of today’s society. According to the Brundtland Commission (1987), sustainability is the use and development that meets today’s needs without preventing those needs from being met by future generations. Or in other words, don’t start projects or create ideas today that will be detrimental to future generations.

In Nathan Shedroff’s presentation, called Sustainable Innovation, he explores the elements which makes sustainability possible. These being design, sustainability and business. Before recently, individuals usually concentrated on just one of these elements. However, now a comprehensive understanding of all three are the only way in order to make sustainable innovation successful. Shedroff presented the material in a very outright, simple form. This communicates that reaching sustainability is a straight-forward subject that needs to be addressed head on.

Shedroff posed some questions during his presentation which I am going to ponder. These questions are actually quite complex however, so a definite answer will be hard to reach.

--What would a more sustainable world look like??

When I think of sustainability, I think of recycling and less waste. Using old shipping containers for houses and recycling products to use for flooring and decorations. I also think of less physical waste that we produce as a society--composting, reusing materials and products instead of just throwing them away to buy the new thing. Moving towards a sustainable planet will take a conscious effort from each and every person.

--What would a more meaningful world look like??

I feel like this is a more subjective question being that the term “meaningful” is interpreted differently by different people. In this way, if carried out by all, we would all care for our planet more in our own special way because of the special meaning it carries for us individually.

--What would a post-consumerist society look like??

This is a more straight forward topic but in my opinion would be the hardest to change in Western society. However changing this would actually solve all the majority of the problems of sustainability. The mindset of society would have to be completely changed. Society would have to move from always buying the new in thing and disposing of products that still work and instead find happiness in things other than continuously buying material things.

Thoughts to a Process

Objectified. To express an abstract idea into a concrete form. Throughout the entire documentary by Gary Hustwit they explore this idea of design--taking an idea, translating it into and putting it into a tangible construction, and then realizing that people interpret these elements of design in virtually every moment of their lives. And these elements/gadgets need to perform better than its predecessor without people really explicitly knowing it. The ideas are illustrated with continual visual representations of the products, the processes, and interviews with trained professionals in the field.

Design certainly does no longer follow the saying “Form follows function.” In the new modernist era, many elements are now not obviously observed and classified as what they are. Many new modernist furniture and electronics do not obviously state their function--much of them are more of a form of art instead of just pure straight, functionality.

Another idea brought up in the beginning of the movie, is that people are constantly observing elements of design and asking questions about them. I know this to be true because before th

e narrator made this statement, a white chair was being shown in production. Watching this process move towards the finished product I thought, “How is this made?”, “It looks like it is one piece but I can’t be sure...”, “Is the plastic smooth?”, “Would it be cold to the touch?”, “Is the chair ergonomically comfortable?”, etc..., etc...

Design is the search for form--the designers ask the questions and then search out a process to reach the end product. In this search for unity, a designers’ job is not about what has happened but what is going to happen.

Picture courtesy of: http://www.furniturestoreblog.com/2008/05/09/contemporary_chairs_from_bbb_emmebonacina_of_italy.html

Architecture Through the Eras

Throughout history, the styles have dramatically changed in art and architecture as new innovative designs have been constructed. Visual representation of these changes in eras can be found around the University of California Davis campus. Some noticeable buildings which stick out on the campus include the new dorms compared to the old ones, the Arts & Humanities building, otherwise known as the “Death-star”, and the buildings of Dutton Hall.

The new modern colorful dorms outside my window show some of the most recent additions to the campus. These stand out next to the old grey dorms. Though both employ minimalist techniques in their construction, but the old buildings look darker and dingier compared to the new dorms. The new ones give an air of openness because of the colors they are painted and the abundant windows and glass.

Another interesting comparison of buildings is the concrete, grey Death-star and the craftsmanship of the buildings of Dutton Hall. The modern construction of the Death-star does not offer any warmth or welcoming to its viewers. However the natural construction of Dutton Hall is a much more approachable building. The warm colors of the wood shingles and the natural pillars give off a completely different feel than the cold concrete.

Photos courtesy of: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/197/489394900_76c8fd6a4f.jpg and http://studentaffairs.ucdavis.edu/images/duttonHall.jpg

The Color of Light

The element of color is prevalent of every avenue of our lives. We make decisions on what to wear, what to buy, and what to observe based on the color we observe. Color can make one feel a certain way and have a personality of their own--for example, red exudes energy and confidence, yellow is warm and comforting, blue gives comfort and green is harmonious and natural as it is the most frequently occurring color in our outdoor environment.

Color depends heavily on the light that it is exposed to and therefore reflects to our receptor, the eye. For example, a shadow cast on the outside of the next-door dorm painted a creamy yellow-orange color. Even though the color cast by the shadow would actually be a warm grey color if I were to paint the scene, I still view the building as the same creamy yellow-orange color even though in reality it is not. This concept is called the concept of color constancy: a psychological compensation in which despite the visual physical evidence, we view the objects in the colors that we are accustomed to.

Claude Monet played with this concept of light in his color studies of poplar trees and haystacks. Painting the haystacks at different times during the day and seasons of the year, Monet studied the affect that light has on color, how it changes according to that light, and how even though hay is psychologically viewed as “yellow”, many different colors have to be taken into account to make it look real on a 2-dimensional space.

Pictures courtesy of: http://www.topofart.com/images/artists/Claude_Oscar_Monet/paintings/monet062.jpg and http://www.canvasreplicas.com/images/Haystack%20Thaw%20Claude%20Monet.jpg

Vanity

Throughout the entire Design Basics novel by David A. Lauer and Stephen Pentak the portrait of a girl in a three-quarter view named Vanity (Portrait 1) by Susan Moore shows up multiple times and is analyzed according to the concepts of the chapter. Looking at this piece so many times, the repetition of viewing this image made many impressions on me.

Firstly, the image creates a strong sense of texture. Also, the impression of the paint as crackling--raised lighter parts surrounding by receding darker troughs--gives it an antiqued appearance. The smooth, bright, highlighted realism of the eyes and the mouth make them stick out from the rest of the piece because of the vastly noticeable texture contrast.

The composition also should be taken into account in the overall way the piece communicates to the viewer. The three-quarter view of her coyly looking over her shoulder makes the audience wonder what is going on behind her somewhat eerie eyes. However, I do not know if I would interpret her expression as that of being vain. Also, the way that Moore actually crafted the piece makes it seem like the girl is either fading into the background or materializing from it as the edges the edge between the girl and the background is not definite but rather fuzzes and fades into the other.

The Drive of Competition

For today’s consuming society, there are so many products that can be utilized similarly in use and in product. The simple task of buying clothing detergent can prove to be an overwhelming task, filled with many questions you have to answer. Walking down the bright orange aisle, there seems to be twenty different types of Tide detergent alone, advertising the original, color safe bleach, cold wash, ultra concentrated, etc..., etc... On top of that, you have many different scents to choose from. Powder or liquid?? Then turn around and your eyes are overpowered with the bright bold colors of other brands; bright blue Cheer and lime green Gain detergents each offering the same range of options.

Because of the excess of products available to the public now-a-days, designers have to be creative to get people’s attention and entice them to buy their product. Products have to be advertised correctly and creatively in order for them to be a successfully selling product.

For example, analyzing my Tide with color safe bleach alternative, the designers at Tide have created a very eye-catching design. First off, the bright orange color of the bottle is automatically intriguing. Juxtaposed against the bright orange the white cap really pops along with the white and rainbow label advertising the color safe element in many colors. The interesting bottle design and clean flow of the curves made me pick up this exact bottle out of the line-up to buy instead of the many other options. Tide is no longer just an orange box with the letters T-I-D-E sprawled across the front.

This competition has to drive designers to be more and more creative and innovative in order to get their design seen and used and their voice as a designer heard. However, for the consumers, we constantly get to see new and interesting designs utilizing color techniques, intriguing shapes, and the use of new materials.

(Thank you for the picture: http://ai.pricegrabber.com/pi/73/48/72/734872576_125.jpg)