Reading Reflection 02

The reading from the last two weeks in design covered identities, systems, and the introduction of McDonough and Braungart's Cradle to Cradle. To me, chapter 7 in Heskett's book on identities was the most interesting out of all of the selected readings. The first paragraph of the chapter contains the sentence "The constuction of identity, however, goes much further than an expression of who someone is; it can be a deliberate attempt by individuals and organizations, even nations, to create a particular image and meaning intended to shape, even pre-empt what others perceive and understand." I was able to easily understand what Heskett meant by this because it related to my English writing course that I took last quarter about rhetoric and identity in technology. For example, when a person creates a Facebook page, or a page on any other social network for that matter, they have the ability to create whatever image of themselves that they want through the use of their profile picture and the information that they write about themselves. They may put up a picture of them at a huge party with all of their friends in order to create one image, or a picture of them with all of their family at home for an entirely different image. When this picture is selected, the individual is usually very aware of the self-image that they are putting off to others. This same concept works in a very similar way in the design of a company's "identity" or logo. They may choose to convey whatever kind of characteristics about themselves that they want to stand out. Page 96 in the book states that "Image is a projection of how a company would like to be understood by customers..." but also that "...image is credible only when supported by a good product or service."

Chapter 8 in Heskett's book is about the design of systems. One example that is given of this type of system is the design of road sinage. The format of this system was created so that the viewer or user is able to very quickly recognize the sign and read it without having to lose too much focus off of the road that they are driving on. Page 100 says that "Above all, the effectiveness of any system will depend upon its overall coherence, with clear standards enabling users rapidly to understand and navigate their way through without undue problems. Another example that is given in this chapter is the design of icons for computer programs that create easily understood visual shorthands for the user. A good design should be clear and relatively simple while also being able to be differentiated from other icons. All of these things need to be taken into consideration as the designer of any type of system.

Lastly, the introduction to McDonough and Braungart's Cradle to Cradle, which is titled "This Book is Not a Tree, talks a lot about designing for a safer, more enviromentally friendly world while also introducing the two authors and how they came to know one another. To me, the most interesting part of the chapter was their statement on page 16, "Ants have been incredibly industrious for millions of years. Yet their productiveness nourishes plants, animals, and soil. Human industry has been in full swing for little over a century, yet it has brought about a decline in almost every ecosystem on the planet." Now, although ants and humans really can't be very well compared on the same scale, this idea was still somewhat of a slap in the face to humans as to what we are doing to our environment that we live in. I am interested to read the rest of McDonough and Braungart's book to see where else they take their idea of "remaking the way we make things."

Found Faces!

All of the following pictures were found in various places around my house except for one that was taken in my dorm room. I have to admit that some are better than others...my personal favorite is the Wii wheel remote :]

Course Reflection 02

I can honestly say that the last two weeks in design 200 have been filled with great topics, videos, and assignments that were fun and intersting to be a part of. I really liked the structure and topic of the 5th class on April 11th. The IDEO video was very cool to see and I liked how well the quick lecture about the design process and methodologies behind design applied to the video and lesson. I was amazed by the number and range of different products that the group develops each year and how well they worked together as a team in the environment that they were in. My favorite part about the next class on the 13th was also the video. Design for accessibilty to the entire range of people with disabilities may not be something that you think of when you think "design." It was very interesting to see how much thought has to go into this issue and to watch the video of the new wheelchair design coming to life. Next, the 7th class was by far the most fun class so far. Working in groups to solve and take funny pictures by the answers to our "clues" made for a very creative and effective assignment. Lastly, the 8th class on April 20th was also very interesting and the videos were, again, my favorite part. It was almost mind-blowing to see all of the different things that people have come up with and invented over the last few years and to hear the extremely varying ranges of places that their inspiration came from such as bumble bees and whales. This class is definitely covering "design" from every angle and I truly am very interested to see what else we will learn this quater.

Assignment 03 - Scavenger Hunt

Team Members and Links: Golnaz M. and Joesph L.

Process and Methodology: In order to obtain the information that we needed to complete assignment 03 we looked up anything that we did not already know on our phones as we walked. We already knew some of the information from our in class "field trip" tour in the second week. Also, Golnaz is an architecture major and was aware of many of the designers' names and contributions from previous work she has done. The pictures were then taken on a cell phone and emailed to the other two of us after we had completed the assignment. We worked well as a great team :]

Clue 01: The Barcelona Chair. This chair was designed by Mies van der Rohe for Germany’s exhibition of the Barcelona World Fair in 1929. The design of the chair was inspired by this fair and by folding chairs of ancient times.

"Barcelona Chair of Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe." Barcelona.com: Barcelona Travel Guide. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

Clue 02: The chair that I am sitting in this picture is called the Cross Check Chair and was designed by Frank Gehry. The inspiration for this chair came from apple crates that Frank used to play on as a child. The magazine that I am reading is called Design Solutions.

"Gehry Cross Check Chair." Hive - Modern Design for the Home. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

Clue 03: This photo was taken outside of the Wexner Center for the Arts. When this building was originally built, the skylights that were constructed allowed too much light into the building for its function as an art gallery. This mistake could have potentially caused a lot of damage to much of the artwork in the gallery. Also, the building contained a poor climate control system. In order to fix these problems, the Wexner Center underwent a major renovation and was then reopened in October 2005.

"Wexner Center for the Arts." Ohio History Central - An Online Encyclopedia of Ohio History. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

Clue 04: The architectural detail that we found the most interesting was the amount of arches that he incorporates into his designs.

Clue 05: The design for the original William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library was selected in 1910 through an architectural competition. Since its original construction, the library has been renovated or expanded three times. The third renovation on the building began on January 10, 2007 and cost $108 million dollars.

"William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

Journal 03 Peer Dialogue 01

The first blog that I visited out my 2 face-value group was Golnaz's. Her blog was very simply done and efficiently laid out. While scrolling down the page, the first thing that really caught my eye was her pattern image of the aerial view of landscape. When you think about it, it really is amazing to see how, as Golnaz stated, we have this subconcious need as humans to keep everything in an order or pattern. I also really liked her photo of a bee's honeycomb nest as an example of a pattern. She took a very creative view on ideas for her journal post on paterns.

Scrolling a little bit farther down the page led me to Golnaz's first course reflection. I agreed with a lot of the things that she stated in her post, and more specifically, I also really enjoyed the fieldtrip around campus and getting to see firsthand some of the things that we had just talked about in class in the previous lecture. Lastly, in Golnaz's "about me" post she talked about how she works for a translation and interpretation agency. To me, that sounds like it would be a very interesting experience to have!

You can view all of Golnaz's blog by clicking HERE.

The next blog in my face-value group is Kris D's and can be found HERE. The layout of his blog is very simplistic but yet unique at the same time. I like how everything is centered and how it almost looks like a newspaper. Outside of the layout however, there really isn't too much posted content to comment about yet. His introduction about himself though was very witty and funny to read. I can definitely relate to the coffee addiction, but I haven't quite reached the liter a day level yet! Also, facebook definitely has to be a curse of some kind...I always seem to end up on it when I'm supposed to be doing homework and I honestly have no idea how. I also like Kris's take on what he would like to get out of this class. The last sentence of his introduction post says that he mainly wants to be able to determine if something was well or poorly designed. I don't know why but I never thought to look at that as something to take out of the class until reading his post.

Kris's second post is a link to a long list of patterns titled "Soviet Fabrics of the 20's-30's." There seemed to be a lot of common color themes in many of the patterns and some of them were very intersting to look at. His last post was a random link to an article about installing "toepeners" which wasn't required for any of the assignments so far but was actually a very good and interesting idea!

The last design blog on my list was created by Joseph L. Joseph has taken this class before in a previous quarter and has many more posts on his blog than the other two members of my face-value group. However, I started by only really viewing his posts that began on April 9th up until now. Like Joseph, I am also interested in the computer graphics part of the design field and was glad to find that I wasn't the only one in my group with that interest. Joseph's assignment three was short and to the point and I really liked the 2nd and 3rd pictures that he attached as part of his post, although, I would fix the layout of the last picture since it overlaps on the words a little. Lastly, Joseph makes some very good points that I could easily agree with on his reading refelction 01. It really is mind blowing to think about how much of this world is "designed" and how it wouldn't be the same without all of the different things that this field has contributed. If you want to read further into any of Joseph's posts, his blog can be found HERE.

Reading Reflection 01

After reading the first six chapters of John Heskett's Design, I have learned a lot about many of the ideas and principles behind the different types of design. Chapter one starts out by simply answering the question "What is design?" One of the things that I gathered from this chapter as I was reading and highlighting key points was the sentence "Very few aspects of the material environment are incapable of improvement in some significant way by greater attention being paid to their design." It's thought-provoking to realize that design can cover so many different parts of life and really can't be defined by just one thing. A quote on page four reads that "Part of the reason why design can be used in this arbitrary manner is that it has never cohered into a unified profession such as law, medicine, or architecture..." This concept is an underlying point behind all of the following chapters in that design is never just one thing. The next chapter goes on to describe and explain how design has grown and changed over many years to be the new concept that it is today. To be completely honest, chapter two was somewhat boring and factual, but did do a good job summarizing different points through history and across different countries. Chapter three then moved into describing the differences between the words function, utility, and significance in relation to design, with the words "utility" and "significance" being broken down from "function." Although this doesn't really relate to the points of the chapter, one of the most interesting things that I took out of this section was the part about the CEO of Coca-Cola finding out that the pronunciation of the company's name translated to mean "bite the wax tadpole" in Chinese. They then had to go and change the Chinese characters on the packaging so that it could be adapted to mean "tasty and evoking happiness" instead.

Chapter four was mainly about product/industrial design and covered a range of different products and companies with some of their designs. One quote that I found to be interesing in this chapter relates back to the points made in the first chapter: "Most principle disciplines, such as architecture and engineering, have a body of basic knowledge and theory about what the practice is and does that can serve as a platform...The absense of a similar basis in design is one of the greatest problems it faces." This absense of a starting point is exactly what causes the requirement of designers to be creative "think outside the box" people. I just found it to be interesting that there was such a solid reasoning behind why.

After concluding the chapter on industrial design, Heskett moves in to chapter five to talk about visual communication design. To me, this chapter was the most interesting since visual communcations is the field of design that I am looking into. I was interested in learning about April Greiman who has been labeled as a "pioneer in the use of computers in design" as well as a "fountainhead of modern typography," and Milton Glaser, who I wrote about for assignment 02. The chapter also discussed design in relation to advertisement which very specifically realated to my major in marketing and what I would like to do in a job after college.

Lastly, chapter six covered the last major subdivion of design, interior space. This subdivion however, can be broken down even farther into the decorative layout design of spaces as well as those who are interested in "the original creation of spacial concepts and layouts." The most interesting fact that I took from this chapter was the statistics that were presented on page 70: "On a population basis, the Netherlands...has one interior designer per 89,000 people in comparison to one to 8,700 in the USA." It's amazing to think about how much this profession has grown and escalated in the U.S. even in comparison to another country that is known to be an example of "design consciousness." Overall, the fist six chapters of this book were informative and interesting, but also somewhat dull at times. However, as someone who is interested in pursuing design as part of a career, I would definitely consider it to be necessary to read.

Assignment 02

Milton Glaser - (longer)

Milton Glaser, born in 1929, is one of the most well known graphic designers in American history. He is a creative icon and an inspiration to many people. His education in the graphic arts began at the High School of Music and Art and then continued on through his graduation at The Cooper Union, both of which are located in New York. Immediately upon his graduation, Glaser went to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, Italy on a Fulbright scholarship (Bryony Gomez-Palacio, Armin Vit 170). Soon after, Milton returned to the U.S. and went on to co-found one of the most-influential design groups, Push Pin Studios. After being with Push Pinfor 20 years, Milton left the group and went on to co-found New York Magazine in 1968, establish Milton Glaser, Inc. in 1974, and then team up with a mannamed Walter Bernard in 1983 to form the publication design firm WBMG (Area of Design). Throughout his career, Milton Glaser his designed hundreds of posters and prints along with publications, packaging, advertisements, and so much more. He has contributed anextremely substantial amount to the design world and continues to do so today through his writing, lectures, interviews, and summer courses, which sell out year after year without fail (Bryony Gomez-Palacio, Armin Vit 170).

I believe that it is safe to say that Milton Glaser is most well known for his “I ♥ NY”design, which has been duplicated, copied, and produced aninnumerable amount of times. Personally, I find Milton Glaser to be an extremely influential person and am amazed at how much of a contribution one man can make to a field. He has received many awards throughout his lifetime, one of them being the “2004 Lifetime Achievement Award from the SmithsonianCooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, for his profound and meaningful long-term contribution to the contemporary practice of design”(Area of Design). Hislist of achievements and awards goes on and on and goes to show that he is truly a successful, accomplished person.

One of the most interesting things that I read about Glaser was his list of “Ten Things That I Have Learned.” In order, the list reads: 1.) You can only work for people that you like, 2.) If you have a choice, never have a job, 3.) Some people are toxic, avoid them, 4.) Professionalism is not enough, or the good is the enemy of the great, 5.) Less is not necessarily more, 6.) Style is not to be trusted, 7.) How you live changes your brain, 8.) Doubt is better than certainty, 9.) On aging – It doesn’t matter, 10.) Tell the truth (Area of Design). To me, this list and the descriptions that he gives under each item show a person that is verywise in his years and has experienced a lot in his long life. Of this list, I found his points in numbers five, seven, and eight to be the most interesting. For example, if you really think about it, less really isn’t more at all. However, this phrase has become so popular and overused simplybecause it contains a paradox within itself which, as Milton states, “is resistant tounderstanding.” In his description he gives the example that there is simply no way that a plain blue rug is “more” or better than a beautiful Persianrug with all of its beautiful colors and designs as the phrase would lead you to believe. In his seventh point, Milton describes thehonest idea that how you live changes your brain. He describes that a friend of his stated “…the brain is susceptible, in a way that we are not fully conscious of, to almost every experience of our life and every encounter we have.” All of these points prove that Milton is truly an intelligent man that many can look up to. Milton Glaser, today at the age of 81, continues to, and will always be, an icon in the field of Graphic Design.

Works Cited:

Gomez-Palacio, Bryony, and Armin Vit. Graphic Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design. Beverly, MA: Rockport, 2009. Print.

"Milton Glaser | American Icons." Area of Design. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. .

"Posters & Prints." Milton Glaser. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. (for pictures)

David Carson - (shorter)

Graphic design artist David Carson has been named as one of the most influential graphic designers of our time by many different sources. However, until the age of 26, Carson wasn’t interested in graphic design at all. David began as a great surfer and was even professionally ranked as number eight in the world at the pinnacle of his career. He graduated as a sociology major from San Diego State University and taught as a high school teacher in Grants Pass, Oregon. It wasn’t until he was considered an “elder” in surfing that he began to discover graphic design through a two-week workshop he took part in at the University of Arizona in 1980. In 1983 he was presented with his first opportunity to completely design a magazine, Transworld Skateboarding, from start to finish. He moved on to also work on the Musician, Beach Culture, and Surfer magazines. Then, in 1992, his career was brought into full swing when he was hired as art director of Ray Gun magazine where he worked on 30 issues over only three years and “deployed an enthralling number of typographical maneuvers that challenged every single rule imagined, infuriating one part of the design profession and invigorating the other” (Bryony Gomez-Palacio, Armin Vit 170). In 1995, Carson established his own design firm and has since then done work for brands such as Levi’s, Microsoft, and Pepsi. Furthermore, his first book, The End of Print, is the top selling graphic design book of all time and has been printed in five different languages (David Carson Design). Not only has Carson continued to put out more books on graphic design since then, but he has also received numerous rewards for all of his work. For example, The International Center for Photography chose Carson as “Designer of the Year” for his use of photography in design (David Carson Design). Today, Carson continues his work as he lectures all over the world and holds workshops for anyone who is willing to learn (Bryony Gomez-Palacio, Armin Vit 170).

For me, the most interesting part of David Carson’s story is the fact that he didn’t start out with any visible interest in graphic design at all. Yet, he still was able to become one of the most well-known and respected graphic designers of our time. The typography in his work is extremely unique, well done, and unlike anything else. He is a great influence on many people from surfers to graphic designers and continues to be today.

Works Cited:

Gomez-Palacio, Bryony, and Armin Vit. Graphic Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design. Beverly, MA: Rockport, 2009. Print.

"Bio, David Carson." Dcd. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. .

Pictures:

David Carson Photo. 2009. Photograph. Group of One. 30 Dec. 2010. Web. 12 Apr. 2011.

Don’t Mistake Legibility for Communication. Photograph. ARSGrafik. Web. 12 Apr. 2011.

Photograph. Beiträge Aus: Design. 2 Oct. 2009. Web. 12 Apr. 2011.

Trek. Photograph. Pantagruel Design. 6 May 2008. Web. 12 Apr. 2011.

Marian Bantjes - (shorter)

Typographer, visual communicator, illustrator, and writer Marian Bantjes began her career in 1984 when she began working as a book typesetter. Later, in 1994, Marian began her own design firm where she personally employed a group of 12 people to work with her (Bantjes). During this period she mainly worked as a typographer where she began to develop her deeply feminine artistic style (Stanić, Lipavsky 332). Then, in 2003, Marian left her firm and went to work on her own experiment in “following love instead of money” (Bantjes). At this same time, Marian began writing for a weblog titled “Speak Up” which didn’t take long to gain the attention of designers across America. Since then, Marian has designed numerous amounts of works ranging from covers and layouts in the Print magazine to working for clients such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Penguin Books (Stanić, Lipavsky 332)(Bantjes).

I am personally drawn to Marian Bantjes’s work because of her feminine style and thoughtful ornamental patterns and designs that she weaves into the majority of her work. I also really appreciate her outlook on life where she designs for the love of design and not simply to make money and please others. Today, Marian is currently a part of the Canadian Society of Graphic Designers, Alliance Graphique International, and is also a speaker and teacher at many conferences and events held worldwide.

“If I want to explore a new direction professionally, it is helpful to try for myself first.” – made out of sugar

Works Cited:

Stanić, Elena, and Corina Lipavsky. Atlas of Graphic Designers. Beverly, MA: Rockport, 2009. Print.

Marian Bantjes. Web. 13 Apr. 2011.

(also used for pictures)

Journal 02 - Part 2

I found my sixth pattern in a friend's room that lives on my floor. She has a large bin to keep her things in and I really liked the simple two-color paisley design of it. I'm usually not a very big fan of paisley designs on anything but I liked the simplicity of this one.

This seventh pattern was also found on booths at the Ohio Union after getting lunch one weekday. I was drawn to this pattern because of the complexity of the many different geometric shapes and how they all fit together. I particularly like the way there are three different line thicknesses used throughout the pattern.

So, apparently I spend a lot of time at the Union, since this is the fourth pattern on my list of ten that was found there. This particular pattern was on one of the pillars near the doors on the campus side of the Union. I like how the colors appear to be random, but yet all flow well together. I also like the transparency of the different squares.

These repeating yellow lines on roads are always around us but yet are most likely never thought of as an actual pattern. I was walking back from playing in a kickball game with friends and I stopped while crossing this street to snap this picture. It's extremely simple, but seen almost every single day.

I found my final, tenth pattern in my dorm floor's study room on one of the fabric chairs that look like they would be comfortable, but really aren't. I was drawn to this pattern by the way the inside rectangles are placed in seemingly random places inside of the colorful squares.

Journal 02 - Part 1

This first pattern was found at the Ohio Union as the material on the seat backs of the booths. I was

eating lunch after class that day and thinking about the journal assignment for this week when I saw the seat back in front of mine and figured that this pattern would be the perfect start to my list of ten. It isn't a very complex pattern but I really liked the colors and how well they went together.

My second pattern was found on the 2nd floor of the RPAC near the meeting rooms. I happened to have my camera with me on my way to an intramural tennis meeting when I realized that the sparkly red design on the floor would make a great addition to my list. I really liked the red color that was used and how well it matched with the theme and colors of the rest of the building.

This pattern is my personal favorite out of the list of patterns that compiled for this post. This pattern was found on my best friend's purse that she was carrying one day last week. I like the colors it uses, the simple but yet abstract design of it, and the way that the colors do not stay completely within the lines.

My fourth pattern was found on my way out of the Ohio Union on the panels that divide the Union market food area from the seating area. This panel occurred in alternating pieces of glass that were also different sizes. I really liked how the bamboo-looking design was built inside of the glass. If you were to run your hand over the surface, it would feel completely smooth, as opposed to how it may appear.

The pinwheels in the South Oval! If you didn't get a chance to see them today (Sunday), I would definitely recommend walking by the south oval to see the bright blue pinwheels arranged in straight lines coming out all the way around the center of the smaller oval. I couldn't help but include this in my list of patterns because I loved the way that the sun caught the shimmery silver side of the pinwheels as they spun around on this windy day.

Course Reflection 01

The first four design classes that I have attended this quarter have been very interesting and have been a great introduction into the basics of all things design related. As my first design course, the simple ideas and definitions presented to me have really started to jog my mind and expand on my idea of exactly what design is. When I think of "design" the first thing that comes to my mind isn't usually a chair. However, this class is beginning to allow me to realize how much of a part design truly plays in our world - even with how the subject has contributed to the simple evolution of a chair. After we learned about the designers contributions to the evolution of the chair, it was really cool to get to go to the Knowlton Library and see all of these chairs that we had just talked about, in person.

The most interesting thing that I have learned so far, as simple as it may be, is the layout of exactly what the three different disciplines of the design field create and what their primary concerns are. I am the most interested in visual communication design and when we learned how many different things these designers have the ability to create, from brand logos to books or package designs, I was surprised by how much narrower I had originally pictured the field as being. I am definitely looking forward to what else I will learn this quarter.

Introduction

So, before you read any of my posts on this blog you might want to know a little bit about me and who I am. My name is Miriah and I'm from a small town south of Cleveland, Ohio where I live with my mom, dad, sister, and three cats. Some of my interests include tennis, skiing, scrapbooking, jewelry-making, and really just all things "crafty," which is where design comes in. I chose to take Design 200 in order to start off my plan to minor in visual communcations design. I have taken one previous graphic design course in high school and really enjoyed it, although it didn't give me very much experience. As far as this course goes, I hope to learn more about the basics of design and to build a good foundation of information that will help me to succeed in later design courses that I plan on taking and in my future with my career. I heard about this class through an osu design minor link that I found online and by talking to my advisor, who also happens to be a visual communications design minor. I can't wait to begin my minor with the start of the Design 200 course.