Dangerous Design

courtesy of h2.org

   Off all of the design trends that look idiotic in perspective, the rise in popularity of oversized SUVs like the Hummer seems to rank pretty high on the list. Riding a wave of low oil prices and consumer partiality to spacious cabins, higher ride height, and supposed safety SUVs sold like hot cakes during the 90's to the early 2000's.  However the benefits of the vehicles were eventually outweighed by the rising costs of fuel, a positive development in the end, for SUVs designed more for indulgence rather than genuine function are an example of irresponsible design that has no place in society.
    Though the dangers of the SUV were probably not the intention of the automakers who capitalized on their popularity, profit margins were: automakers could make more money selling an SUV than a compact car. First designed for a niche market, they quickly caught on in popularity. Before the recession hit,  consumers were more likely to indulge, and were convinced that these vehicles were designed for safety and security. However times have changed and society' attitudes have changed
    Though many features of the design were very pleasing to consumers, one can't ignore the fact that most people didn't need such a monstrosity to maintain a comfortable living, and that the perceived "safety"  of the design was an illusion, of all the SUVs, the Hummer had the highest rollover rate and number of drivers killed. Simply put, you are much more likely to be killed if you get in a an accident with an SUV. Many consumers are under the illusion that being in the biggest vehicle in a car accident protects you more. They couldn't be more wrong: the higher masses of SUvs make it harder to stop the car; this increased difficulty in maneuvering the vehicle makes it harder to avoid accidents and increases the number of fatal accidents.         Another huge flaw in the design of the SUV is that its design exempts it from being put through the standard safety regulations: being built on a truck frame makes it a truck, and trucks don't have to go through safety tests because they are supposed to handle like trucks: rigid designs that are unsafe because unlike smaller vehicles they don't have skeletons with build-in crumple zones. Giving consumers a product that handles like trucks that were originally meant for those in a trade or truck drivers is irresponsible and dangerous to society. The dangerous design of SUVs creates a car with more blind spots, poor braking because of increased size and momentum, and a higher likelihood of rollover because of its height. Its huge size makes average drivers overconfident despite the fact that most people don't know how to drive a truck.
    Then there's their dismally low mileage of 10-14 mpg, which should be an outrage if you're only driving to the store for some milk, not bumping over rough terrain or through deep snow. Unless you live in such an environment SUVs are socially useless, and essentially waste huge amounts of fuel and emit a lot of carbon into the atmosphere. Fortunately, rising gas prices and changing attitudes made these vehicles less attractive to consumers and their popularity decreased.
    The many design factors that make it a dangerous car on the road, emit excessive amounts of excessive greenhouse gases and fulfill a superficial need make this design irresponsible and dangerous to society; fortunately, society and the times have changed, and more and more these monstrosities are becoming irrelevant, doomed as no more than a brief fad in history.

http://www.lilith-ezine.com/articles/automotive/SUVs-Are-Dangerous.html

Utopian Design

photos courtesy of cnn.com

    For thousands of years, mankind has designed objects to fit our utopian vision of mastering nature. A landmark moment in the history of design occurred on October 26, 2010, when the Three Gorges Dam, the world's biggest dam became filled to capacity, nearly reaching it full generating capacity of  84.7 billion kilowatt hours. A mega project that took decades to become realized, the design of the dam has now fulfilled its utopian functions of navigation, power generation, flood control, and water diversion.
    Flood control was one of the most important needs this structure addresses: until its construction the Yangtze River Region had experienced some of the worst floods ever recorded, a periodic catastrophe that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed millions of acres of farmland over the last century. The construction of this dam ensures more stability for its millions of residents and fertile acres of farmland.
    Now that the dam is storing water, behind its massive miles long walls, this water can be diverted to the more arid north, reducing the threat of drought and famine and increasing their capacity to grow crops.
    Another utopian benefit of the dam is the dozens of shipping locks and lifts on the dam designed to increase shipping safety. Before, the frequent floods made navigating the Yangtze river was too dangerous. Now navigation and transport of goods along the Yangtze river is increasing,cutting transportation cost and rejuvenating the economy.
    One of the biggest benefits of its design is the massive amounts of power it generates, reducing China's greenhouse gas emissions, which are the biggest in the world, and allowing China to depend less on burning coal and fossil fuels and more on hydro power.
    All these benefits were the intended functions of the design of the dam seem to have been realized, a design that is truly utopian in that it aims to improve life for Chinese society as a whole. However a significant number of consequences such as the displacement of millions of people to make way for it, the destruction of many cultural and geological relics, the potential for landslides, a potential threat to nation security, and a potential for catastrophic consequences if the dam should break is unavoidable. Though this beautiful, powerful design aims to be utopian, drawbacks are inevitable. In a way, all design connects back to the human desire to change our environment to fit our utopian vision, and one must to decide whether the benefits of our designs outweigh their costs before society has to pay for them.

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-26/world/china.three.gorges.dam_1_three-gorges-dam-state-media-worst-floods?_s=PM:WORLD

How Color Transforms Design

photo courtesy of style.com

      This Fritz Hansen Series 7 kitchen chair's strongest asset is no doubt is the beautiful shade of apple green that gives it an air of sophistication and down to earth homeyness. The chair itself is very simple, a very recognizable modern form: a single piece of heavy plastic supported by chrome legs,  a curved seat and back and rounded edges making it a very organic form, with an added function of being lightweight and stackable.  However this is not a mere mass-produced plastic chair from IKEA. On this modern chair is printed an old fashioned Toile de Jouy print from the 1800's, recognizable by its picturesque illustrations of landscapes and figures. However rather than being printed in traditional Toile de Jouy colors of red blue or black, this print is reinterpreted in a shade of green only made available by modern technology. This juxtaposition makes the overall design more aesthetically pleasing and fits in with our modern lifestyle.
    The green has many elements that make it aesthetically pleasing. This cheery but not piercing shade of green is likely to connect to people associations of "earthiness" and "homeyness" with green. It is also not only limited to one hue: the print is represented in many difference tints and shades of green, from the darkest apple green to a practically transparent, almost yellow shade of green. This gives the color palette variety, and makes the print look more 3D. The fact that the print designs are varied, and don't uniformly cover the entire surface and leave white patches between them emphasize the print more than if the chair had been covered in a busy uniform pattern. The most concentrated shade of the green is purposefully placed on the backrest of the chair, the part the viewer will immediately see when first looking at the chair. The lightest shades of the green are located on the seat of the chair, with a very faint fade of green between the two light and darker areas giving it unity.
    Without this specific shade of green, the design of the chair would not have the same effect. If the print had been printed in the traditional black or blue there would have been too harsh of a juxtaposition between the modern form of the chair and the old-fashioned designs. By making the color of the print a more modern pigment, m.ore unity is created between these elements of the chair 
    The simple sophisticated modern design of the chair itself and the color of apple green juxtaposed with a homey old fashioned print make a chic yet homely design that is likely to fit in with many different home interiors, whether they be modern, old-fashioned, or a little bit of both, bridging the gap between old and new and reinterpreting classic designs to fit society's modern needs.

Ergonomic Elements: Buddy Beds

Called “The Rolls Royce of Dogbeds” by Dog World Magazine, Buddy Beds Dog Beds are the pinnacle of luxury in dog bedding. For those willing to spare no expense on their precious pooch, orthopedic Buddy Beds are a must have, providing perfect joint support for man’s best friend. Though most don’t think dropping $250 on a dog bed is justified, those whose beloved pets have benefitted from these orthopedic beds will say that these beds are unparalleled in performance and quality and are a worthy, lasting investment rather than an excessive purchase. A Buddy Bed is a far more thought-out and complex product than a mere dog bed, many ergonomic elements making Buddy Beds a leader in Dog Bed excellence.
    One of their first priorities is safety. Buddy Beds are made of a Certified Non-Toxic Memory Foam, unlike other imitators who use a cheaper foam that may contain harmful chemicals or exude harmful gases. It is a more expensive foam, but that itself ensures the highest level of safety, and their standards have not decreased during this recession. The only products Buddy Beds makes is these dog beds, for they are focused solely on the quality of this award-winning product. Their memory foam comes from the same Bureau Veritas–approved factory that makes products for babies, ensuring the same safety and security we offer our babies for our dogs as well.
   Comfort is a given with these miracle beds. Memory foam gives canines perfect join support, contouring to their every curve. Where generic dog beds create pressure points that cut off circulation where there is no support, Buddy Beds take this discomfort away. Memory foam also reacts to the dog’s body temperature and weight to conform at every angle, becoming softer or firmer where needed. These orthopedic beds also provide comfort for dogs suffering from arthritis hip dyslexia, taking away the pain: the support from the memory foam making it easier for older dogs to get up from bed after sleep.
    Ease of use makes these beds a great investment. They are so simple and straightforward a product that they integrate well into your household. Other dog beds lose their shape, become smelly and full of holes, but these beds are long lasting and easy to care for. Buddy Beds are composed of two pads of memory foam put together with a piece of support foam in between, a waterproof liner, and an outer covering. Their fabric liner makes care easy, protecting the memory foam from liquids, stains, and odors and are anti-bacterial and hypoallergenic. The removable outside covering is durable and machine washable.
    Performance is something Buddy Beds are known for, for their durable design lasts longer than a regular dog bed, which has to be replaced at least once a year. These beds last a lifetime, and never have to be replaced. Awarded the Animal Wellness Seal of Approval by the Animal Wellness Group and rave reviews from dogs and owners puts Buddy Beds ahead of the pack for orthopedic dog beds. They use the highest performing, highest quality 5lb memory foam that never loses its memory over time because it is the densest available. This high quality foam provides more comfort and takes away pain in older dogs, providing complete support, with the supporting foam in the middle layer of the bed preventing the dog from sinking into the foam and hitting the floor, and creating pressure points. This critical, yet expensive step of adding an extra layer makes sure the foam beds function properly.
     Buddy Beds are simple in design on the outside, rounded rectangular blocks in different colors in that come in attractive colors palettes like Colorado Mountain, Beach Blues, or Evergreen Forest. In the Colorado Mountain palette one side is burgundy, while the other is a dark rich brown, giving the customer the choice of color to pick from. Orange or black piping lines the edges. They are rich but understated colors, fitting for a design that is designed so well one doesn’t even notice it was designed. It isn’t tacky like many other dogs beds in garish colors or in the shape of doghouses or dog bones.    One could say it gives your dog some dignity.
  All these elements bring dignity back to the idea of the luxury dog bed. Compared to velvet-covered and gold-leaf decorated Louis XIV imitation four poster beds for privileged pooches, simplicity and high performance are valued above all else, the ergonomic elements in these beds executed to a tee. Buddy Beds are proven to have genuine benefits for dogs who need them the most, and are shown by many reports in reviews to be adored by the dogs that sleep on them.
  It looks like we’ve come a long way from the days of Fido sleeping in the doghouse or on the rug in front of fireplace, and those who can afford them and are willing to pay the extra expense are really getting a great design that is genuinely beneficial for their pet. Though most dogs will probably survive without one, one can’t deny the benefits of it and should seriously consider it if cost is not a problem. Long ago, dogs were wolves, sleeping in the wilderness with no memory foam on which to lay their head. Since then, they’re evolved, some bred to fit into trendy purses. Whether this change indicates that dogs who have evolved alongside humans require human-like comforts, and better design to suit this change is in the eye of the beholder/owner.

Good Design: Makeup Tutorials

     Watching one of Michelle Phan’s makeup tutorials is like looking through a window into a perfect world, where mascara never runs, and foundation never makes anyone look like an oompa-loompa with caked-on makeup. It is no accident then that this YouTube beauty guru is the most subscribed to female on YouTube and the first female to reach 1 million subscribers, for out of the dozens of other self-professed beauty gurus on YouTube she has come out on top, due to her amazing skill, creativity and ability to design makeup looks and video formats that communicate clearly to viewers
    Her videos are like candy, with tutorials like “Seductive Vampire,” “Lady Gaga Pokerface Look,” “Romantic Valentine’s Day Look” and “Makeup For Glasses” one can’t help but keep clicking on the next one. And the next one. You could find a tutorial for any occasion on her YouTube channel, her soothing voice guiding you calmly through the steps to making yourself look beautiful.
    It’s not that she’s just a talented makeup artist and good at designing new makeup looks, it’s also the way her videos are edited that make them so much easier to watch. Her style of video is very slick, professional and edited, with a certain minimalism that includes plain backdrops that reduce distraction, subtitles during and between each step to break down and simplify the process, showing and naming each product clearly up close to the screen, calming electronic/pop/ambient music playing in the background, and a close up point of view with good quality video. Her videos start with a few colorful graphics, then a brief glimpse of what the end result looks like to spark curiosity; however the most important element of her videos is that she uses voiceover, rather than commenting on each step in real time while creating the look on herself.
    This choice in editing is superior to other makeup gurus’ videos that speak instructions to the viewer while putting on makeup. Her style is much more pared down and simple, so that the viewer sees her go through the steps calmly, and confidently, with no facial expressions and getting right to the point. She goes through the exact process you would also go through whilst creating a beautiful makeup look. In this way, she is presenting herself as a blank slate the viewers can project themselves onto rather than allowing moving lips and her individuality to interfere in the viewer’s concentration as they try to create the look themselves.
It is very important that her vides have such a soothing effect because when someone is trying to create a show-stopping makeup look, they want it to be perfect and are likely to be stressing about it on some level.
    All these elements in her videos have helped her become the top YouTube guru, that success leading to her being featured in countless magazines and landing her a makeup deal with the cosmetics giant Lancôme to create videos using their products.
    Phan has taken advantage of today’s technology and social media that makes the tools of design available to everyone, using her Mac computer to shoot and edit her videos, working well within the limitations of the medium of film, combining words and images to make her message clearer, and in a way using her body as a billboard on which to deliver her message to her audience. Phan’s skillful design of her videos democratizes knowledge not previously available to regular people other than professional makeup artists, teaching thousands of women the skills to make themselves feel more beautiful in an age where the amount of information about design on the Internet is becoming more available to millions of people worldwide.

Words and Images: Cartoonist Kevin Kallaugher

   A small exhibit in the San Francisco Cartoon Museum showed a small but spectacular collection of Kevin Kallaugher's political cartoons, known for their stinging wit, exaggerated style, and uncanny knack for being able to bring together the many absurdities of world events and make smart, articulate sense of them. An award-winning cartoonist, he has worked for many news sources in the U.K. and the United States and is the resident cartoonist for the The Economist. His range is wide, from magazine covers, to cartoon strips, to one panel illustrations, and short animated videos. In all of these forms, words and images work together to create an instant visual message that is concise, attention-grabbing and immediately obvious. He doesn't often use use long lines of dialogue, merely labeling caricatures and forms, or using short lines of dialogue in his sequential cartoons. His spare use of words with a short title or label merely serve as a starting off point for the viewer, who is allowed to bring their own associations to that political figure or country.
     In the "What's Wrong With America's Right" cover for The Economist, he uses words to label characters and forms, which are replacing the iconic image of the tea party in Alice in Wonderland with the rise of the Tea Party movement in the United States. The parallels between the tea party in the mad world of Wonderland, and the Tea Party in the chaotic political landscape of America create a very loaded meaning in this illustration, and its no accident that both parties share the same name and spelling. The title words are very subjective in relation to the image, which is also very subjective; however the title takes the message of the image and puts it into precise words so that word and image are both intertwined.
      The lack of words in the rest of the illustration directs more focus to the exaggerated images, to which the viewer will have a stronger response. The unflattering exaggerated features and representations of Sarah Palin, Obama, Fox News, and the Republican Party express perfectly all our negative associations with these figures. Through exaggeration, he is able to articulate our fears and associations. With limited use of words, the viewer is more engaged with the image in that they aren't being dictated to, with more room for individual interpretation.
    Kallaugher's skills in visual communication are nearly unparalleled in how well his marriage of word and image is suited to the act of looking in this attention deficit world: catching our attention immediately and articulately summing up our anxieties and the face of a changing world in cartoons, he is one of the most important voices of today in helping us make sense of our ever more complicated world.

Cindy Ferrera Interview: The Shift of Design

Cindy Ferrara, pattern maker and production manager, in her office on Broadway.

Interview in New York Time Blog: http://runway.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/behind-the-scenes-the-product-specialist/

 In this blog on the New York Times website, Cathy Horyn interviews Cindy Ferrera, a pattern-maker and production manager in the garment industry who has seen the changes between eras of of the fashion industry: the shift of technical skills to overseas manufacturers, and the breaking up of the design process in a society that values convenience and speed above all else. She describes the time when garments were designed and crafted in the Garment district in NYC, and then when China started making them. When production was exported to China, our design process met their assembly-line mentality and history of origami in clothing, and clothes became less about dimension and fitting the body, and more about presentation on the sales floor:
    "The Chinese were unbelievable at presentation of the product. It may look like a pancake but it sparkles!"
     We are not only seeing a change in how manufacturers produce clothing, but how we perceive them, the increase of products with stretch making it unnecessary for consumers to know what good fit and quality is anymore.
    In China is a voracious drive to be the best, the most competitive and an extremely disciplined worth ethic, for example, "A buyer can sit over here and take a photograph of something and then say to someone in China, “This is doing well, give me 15 versions of this.” The buyer can shoot the image and they have these very elaborate systems where they can get the pattern off the image. They can program the machine to knit it and then have a sample in two days."
    Here we see a shift from designing the whole way through to just design and marketing the product, as Ferrera describes: "They have the know-how. What we are going to become is the sellers. It’s our marketing, our Web sites, our warehousing."
    Now that we are focusing more on the marketing,  "we spend most of our time untying communication knots and much less time focusing on the product. There’s more and more attention paid to how to pack the carton—for efficiency, "
    The garment industry seems to focus first and foremost on the last step of the design process: surface, and how it will look on the sales floor, and less on the actual product. Not only do they skip to the last step, but the whole process is broken up, with no one designer overseeing every step along the way, and the knowledge of each step in the hands of different people. It is less important for the designer to understand other steps like medium, structure, concept, and craft after decide what product they want,
    During this shift in industry, it wasn't only manufacturers that went overseas, but knowledge. What does this exportation of knowledge mean for us? What can we expect when we give all control over the construction of a garment to only certain parties? This can't only be happening in the garment industry; with many manufacturers going overseas, knowledge of craft in design must be going too. There is a possibility that we could be giving the reins of innovation to foreign manufacturers, with the risk that with since they have all the knowledge and technology, they too could start designing the end product instead of just producing it. Designers should have an intimate understanding of the whole design process, from drawing board to materials to assembly line, to shipping and marketing and presentation, so that we don't also export disposable products and control over our designs.

Image courtesy of nytimes.com

Words and Images: Nike

Courtesy of nike.com

     In this recent Nike Ad, the image does a fantastic job of using word and images to boost the brand's public perception. Here, the brand is honing in on a specific demographic: athletic women. Nike aims to use words and images to associate the brand with relatable female empowerment more than an unrealistic standard of female beauty. The whole design of the ad just screams strong, defiant, energetic, empowered, beautiful, feminine, and yet is very relatable.
    The diagonal angles of the sentences and words add energetic rhythm to the composition, just like the energetic and athletic woman they portray in the ad. The continuation between the end of one diagonal sentence the beginning of another makes a punchy, angular zig-zag trail down the ad, the non-traditional way of arranging words reflecting this image of an obviously independent-minded woman who refuses to measure herself by other standards of beauty.
    The differences in sizes and colors of lettering also add emphasis to the sentences "I have thunder thighs" and "Just do it." Both are in pink, and "I have thunder thighs" is in the biggest lettering, standing out, just like the thighs of the woman in the ad. All the words are in a traditional serif font, made very non-traditional by being in all caps, and tilted at angles. This makes the font look very assertive and unyielding, just like the thighs of the woman in the ad. The words look almost masculine except for the sentences in pink, but still associates femininity with strength. That quality expressed in words is also represented in images: first of all, the kind of female body that is represented here isn't the typical rail thin model type, but a more every day body type or the kind of body type that that the average Nike customer would see at the gym. The splashes of in-your-face pink and purple in the background and text juxtapose well with the feminine curve of the woman's hip right and then the hard muscle of her thighs. Both words and images, through their visual representations of both boldness and beauty work together to express how strength and empowerment and can still be considered feminine and beautiful. That being said, it implies that through Nike, this everyday woman became stronger, more confident and empowered.
    It seems that more often, the most effective design in advertising is one that communicates directly to the everyday experiences of how that product will fit into our lives, using words and images to communicate that. In this case, words an images express the same thing, complimenting each other by expressing the same strong message in their different mediums.

Form and Content: "Objectified"

images courtesy of objectifiedfilm.com

     In the film Objectified, filmmaker Gary Hustwit, encourages us to notice our surroundings, and the thousands of objects that we interact with everyday in our lives.   He asks us to think about our relationship with these items, of why they look the way they do, how they are designed, who designs them, how they improve our lives, their cost to the environment, and how they are a reflection of us. In the film, the relationship between form and content is shown to be undergoing much change in a fast-paced world.
    Increasingly, form on the outside of designs does not appear to relate to content, for example if someone was looking at a spoon or a chair for the first time ever, they could probably guess through the form what their intended function was. Compare that to an iPhone, where outward appearance doesn't give much clue to function or content, an common aspect of products of the age of microchips.
     Apple is one company whose designs that seeks to pair down form so that it focuses on how you're going to use it, not really expressing its content on the outside so that it seems like a natural, organic aspect of our lives. Their intention is to make products that look un-designed; one way they do that is to simplify form, for example: making six parts of a product into one, and picking materials that express a clear sense of the company' and the content of their products: like slick aluminum surfaces or smooth white plastic frames.
    Designers also have to think about that their design end up in landfills, things shouldn't necessarily be built to be permanent or recyclable. Here, form should be designed with its whole life cycle with consumers in mind, expressing conscious content that is aware of its impact on the environment. All products, not matter how well the designers think they designed them, end up in landfills and one has to think about how those products affect the environment after they've been used.
    It seems that Hustwit is suggesting the future of form and content in design calls for much more conscious design: forms that better accommodate how users are going to experience their content, from first purchase to easy efficient use to disposal and how they impact the environment after they've served their purpose. Conscious design has the ability make the world a better place and improve our daily lives, when form and content work together to solve problems.

Consumer Products: IKEA

courtesy of ikea.com

   
     There is a lot you can glean from careful examination of any consumer product: a reflection of the times and of the attitudes towards design. The IKEA Norden four-seater dining room table couldn't look homier at first glance, a simple chic design for a cool $80. Like a lot of furniture, it boasts perfect symmetry, scale, straight lines  balance, and the absence of a focal point, emphasizing the whole over its parts. However this symmetry doesn't make for a boring piece, for the contrast of the visible lines between the light blond wooden boards emphasize a more rustic look, as if it were a piece you'd find in a country farmhouse.  Each board has asymmetry through the differences in the grain of each board, and knots in the wood here and there add variety, as opposed to a perfectly uniform surface that would seem more cold and clinical. Though these add variety, these repeating elements unify it as well. The different angles of the table also add variety: instead of following the lines of a static cube, the different angles that the legs and the frame make under the top of the table make it look more interesting. 
    Despite all these homey touches, the entire table has a smooth sheen to it, and a protective layer of lacquer protects it and is thick enough so that one can't feel the lines between the each board. Another outside layer is actually the wood of the table itself: only a thin layer of solid wood covering a thick core of particle board. The table, which comes in pieces, is assembled by the consumer, lowering the price. The structure is fairly simple, held together by little screws screwed into particleboard, not solid wood. It's pretty sturdy, and looks good on the outside, but particleboard is not known to hold together as long as solid wood, so I'll probably be buying another one in a few years.
    In terms of the design process, it seems that IKEA really emphasizes the sixth step of production, of polished surface sheen, designing the price tag first and then creating a design that fits it. Though the designers at IKEA probably go back through many of the other steps, this emphasis on the surface first raises many questions. In "making good design available to everyone," it seems they're redefining "good design" as ephemeral, and disposable, nothing but a shiny lacquer over an cheap and empty core. Though more consumers can now afford simple, yet sophisticated products that used to only be available to wealthier consumers, it seems that "making good design on the outside available to everyone" is a more accurate way to put IKEA's philosophy.

The Worst Font in the World?

    

Photo courtesy of espn.com

A few months ago, during all that media coverage of Lebron James' "Decision," Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cleveland Cavliers, wrote a scathing letter about his departure to disappointed fans in Cleveland.

    Somehow, it lacked punch. It wasn't the biting prose and the bruising tone of it. It was the font. Which was entirely in Comic Sans. The ridicule towards Gilbert lasted for weeks, for the use of a font deemed more appropriate for a six-year old.

    But what's so bad about it? Who could hate the friendly font that headed childhood lemonade stands or made typed cards made on the computer look more personal? However, to some its use is offensive, immature and in very bad taste.
     Designed in 1994 by Vincent Connare, who worked at Microsoft as a typographic engineer, Comic Sans exploded in popularity: used everywhere from advertising, store fronts, college exams, and even medical documents. Simultaneously it inspired a backlash, with people ridiculing its use in professional settings and sites like Bancomicsans.com, springing up.

Photo courtesy of passiveaggressivenotes.com

    Written words can never fully recreate the bodily experience of hearing and seeing and feeling  words said to you by someone in person. However words take on a different meaning in Comic Sans; for example is someone sent you an e-mail ending with "I'll see you later," in Times New Roman it would have a very different feel than "I'll see you later," in Comic Sans. However if the intention was truly sincere, that could be made more clear with a friendly font like Comic Sans. Time New Roman, with its perfectly straight lines, curves, and rigid serifs looks less human than Comic Sans, with rounded edges where feet would be, slight irregularities where lines are straight in Time New Roman, and asymmetry in curves. It lacks sophistication and is often printed in bright colors. It captures the imperfection and human presence in handwriting.

Photo courtesy of Rebecca Creger

    It's more misused than it is a bad font, for it does have its place in the world. However, its design makes it impossible for it to give off a serious vibe, something that would not lend a professional manner to a slide-show presentation to a room full of investors, or an angry team owner like Dan Gilbert who public role demands a businesslike professionalism to give him credibility. Otherwise he would just seem like another angry intoxicated fan booing Lebron in his first game with the Miami heat. The importance of recognizing the different roles that different syntax and fonts give you is very obvious in this case. Here, the many aspects of the written word are designed to play different roles in society, roles that will keep being evolving and being misused for decades to come.

See articles:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11582548
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-07-09/tech/comic.sans.cavs.james_1_font-comic-book-letter?_s=PM:TECH

Design As A (Gleeful) Conversation

Courtesy of eonline.com

    
 The combination of Lady Gaga and Yoko Ono makes for a a nice (but weird) musical conversation: one between the past and present, between the boomers and generation X. During this era of music, many types of conversations like that are going on, as music keeps evolving, referring more than ever, to the past.
    Dozens of radio hits sample old songs; these days artists couldn't do without it and some rely heavily on it. Flo Rida's dance hit "Right Round" stole from another 80's dance hit: Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)." Passion Pitt's energetic electronic "Sleepy Head" sampled a vocal from an Irish Folk song.
What if those samples had just stayed in the past? We'd just be looking back at them as another "cheesy" 80's song, or an obscure folk song, instead of them being kept alive in the conversation, relevant and newly appreciated. Take the show Glee: it has spawned more Top 100 hits than the Beatles and nearly all of the songs are old hits they have adapted for a chorus with a pop sensibility. Every time their version of the song shows up on the charts, the original sees an increase in downloads too. Whether or not Glee is a good show, a younger generation gets more exposure to the past and experiences a renewed appreciation for these old songs. 
    The point is, for the sake of keeping good design alive we should always intrude upon sacred ground, otherwise that sacred ground becomes collects dust and is put on a pedestal, where it is mourned for a greatness that will never be matched. Referring to, stealing from, and being inspired by idols of culture and design keeps the conversation alive, otherwise they lose their value and turn into an archaic cliche. A great achievement in design is not just said and done, it should keep evolving with the times so younger generations can appreciate it and benefit from it.
    These days, with the internet exposing everyone to good design, it is almost impossible for a designer to deliver a monologue with product reviews, and people blogging, twittering and facebooking their opinions on the online community. Whether designer like it or not, by designing they are forced to enter the conversation.

Vanishing Traditions: Textiles and Treasures From Southwest China

   
   This exhibition at the Design Museum showcased elaborately embroidered and constructed garments, textiles and ornaments from the Guizhou Province in southwest China. The curator spoke at length about how at risk these traditions are of being lost, given that the province they come from has not indigenous written language and all traditions and crafts are inherited through oral traditions, from one generation passing it down to the other. However with the influx of modern culture and conveniences into this once isolated province, there is little incentive to keep these traditions alive.
     The Guizhou Province was isolated for centuries from the outside world, so life revolved mostly around the family. For centuries, women were the keepers of these traditions, and their sewing skills were of great social importance in their villages. Different styles and details of textiles and garments, (which were all hand made) indicated specific group identity in this Province.

    One culturally important garment was the sleeve panels, a major element on jackets. They are intricately embellished, referring to a  specific village or group. Many families have a large collection of them, collected over generations. They are part of a person's inheritance, making them an important part of one's cultural and ancestral identity.
     Though improved personal well-being came with modernity, so did the loss of cultural purity. With more affordable consumer products, there is less incentive to protect and be a part of their identities when it's more convenient to buy a cheap quality, factory-made garment than spend thousands of hours sewing and embroidering a silk jacket.
    In this case, design identifies one with a certain group or area, and connects one to their ancestral and cultural identity. What does it mean for the people in the Guizhou Province to lose that part of their identity? We are not only losing the culture that comes with that oral tradition of design but the values that come with it. What does it mean when people are no longer willing to commit thousands of hours of care and attention to make those incredibly detailed, beautiful garments? Could that lack of care in design indicate a careless society, rushing forward without looking back, ravenous to consume every new technological convenience that comes our way?
   In a society that is rushing towards uniformity, how to we preserve culture? Cultural purity is impossible, but we should still preserve these traditions, and adapt them to the 21st century, so that they can live on in relevance.

Photos Courtesy of http://designmuseum.ucdavis.edu/

Comparison and Contrast

Courtesy of cnn.com

  aWithout referring to the outrage that ensued when the Gap proposed a new logo, let's compare the old and the new logo objectively. By comparing the two logos to find out how they work and what makes them visually successful, we can better understand Gap's reasons for introducing a new logo. Gap spokeswoman Louise Callagy stated that "the logo change was part of that evolution of the brand from “classic, American design, to modern, sexy, cool,” We can infer from this that Gap is seeking a logo that is "modern, sexy, cool", while the old logo represents "classic American design." Though the success of one of these designs is currently up for debate, let's take a look at both of them to see if they fulfill Gap's goals.
    The old classic logo is in a tall, narrow, classic white serif font, the letters spaced relatively far apart compared to a generic typeface. The word is centered in a navy blue box, the contrast between white letters and dark blue making the logo stand out. Gap's classic logo is a perfect example of visual unity, for all the elements in the old logo seem to belong together, with the matching fonts and serifs in each letter and the perfect symmetry that exists between the word and the box surrounding it. The old whole logo has a very static look to it, like a square laid on a surface that will never move or get knocked over.  If the tall narrow letters had been placed closely together it would have looked visually unstable with the height being taller than the length; the space between the letters gives it a stability and durability and enduring quality. These qualities express iconic and classic in every way, because like a square, iconic is enduring and ever stable.
    Gap's new logo expresses modernity, with its sans serif type face and geometric mechanized overall look.  The new logo lacks visual unity because the awkwardly tacked on small blue square attracts negative attention to itself. As its focal point, the blue square has more visual weight to it than the bit "G" in the logo, throwing off the balance of the composition.Since the composition has an imbalance of visual weight to it, the whole look is hardly one of stability and permanence. The overlapping of the letters with the box in the new logo implies depth, making the iconic blue box seem diminished and far away. The value difference in gradient blue square expresses visually that the iconic blue box is degraded. The shrinking of the blue box and making the letters lowercase in the new logo deformalizes and takes weight away from the meaning of their brand. Asymmetry gives a whole composition like the new logo a less formal look, as well as the lowercase letters and generic Helvetica typeface. Whether that is desirable in a big clothing brand is questionable.
    All the visual elements in the new logo are unsuccessful, even amateurish, therefore one can only conclude that the Gap was not entirely serious about its new logo. A multi-million dollar company can surely acquire the best design team money can buy, one that wouldn't create a logo as unsophisticated as this. Even if Gap wants to sell cool "modern" clothing with their new modern image it still has to coincide with the brand's image of selling classics, albeit ones that are modern and cool.
    However, despite the apparent embarrassment of this whole "fiasco," what did the Gap achieve in the end? Intense media attention on a brand whose sales had been steadily slipping? Customers getting emotionally involved with the brand for fear it would lose its identity? Everybody talking about the Gap again? Those don't sound like bad things to me. The great design isn't in the logo here, but in this brilliant ploy. Even the president of Gap is "thrilled to see passionate debates unfolding" One thing is for certain: this has proven the power of social media and set a precedent for other mega brands to communicate more with a perpetually online society when it comes to matters of brand identity design.

Lampo Leong's "Omega Curve"

    In an age of image overload, and a cynical society it is nearly impossible for great works of art to achieve that mythical quality of a masterpiece anymore. It seems that everything in art has been done already and it is impossible to innovate. In an age without any Picassos, Michelangelos, or Van Goughs, it is comforting to look back to the masterpieces in art history and wonder: What makes them click? What is that quality that we are no longer able to capture in art and design?
    Lampo Leong, an acclaimed painter, calligrapher, and professor proposes a very astute theory in a lecture on a repeating element that gives masterpieces that sense of grandeur and loftiness. In a study of masterpieces of art, he has found a repeating shape in the composition of those paintings. He calls this "the Ω curve," an intentional arrangement of elements shaped like an omega sign. Leong emphasizes that  this shape appears in both western and eastern art, making the composition of each work more lively and powerful. For example Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam, the drape around god curves under on both sides, but doesn't quite touch, just like an Ω. The same is seen in Henry Moore's work:

photos courtesy of brotherjuniper.wordpress.com

    In Eastern art, the shape is found in paintings like Summer Mountains; mountains who aren't mere static triangles, but curve in at the top, giving them a sort of movement and epic quality. The omega is also visible in the brushstrokes of master Chinese calligraphy, the tension between straight and curved lines giving more movement to the piece.

courtesy of seera.com  and nytimes.com

    Leong also incorporates Chinese calligraphy into much of his art, putting the characters on abstract backgrounds and rearranging them. He seeks to express, with an emphasis on form over meaning.

photo courtesy of web.missouri.edu/

    The lecture was very inspiring: the listener seemed to enter that invisible world of energy flow in art and design, understanding more fully what these icons are made of and how important movement is in design. His theory on the omega curve is very clever, and definitely present in many master works. When I examine omega curve arrangements, I see that it's the tension of what's not there(the ends of the curve don't touch even though they seem like they're going to) that gives it its power and sense of motion. Perhaps this design in composition could be used to revitalize art and design and recapture the grandeur and the sublime that society craves.

Stone Soup at UC Davis!

     Stone Soup in Design 1 was a great success. Seven bright minds worked together to create the most bizarre and beautiful sculpture of all. Everyone in our group brought art supplies, and then put our heads together to make the most daring creation. Though we barely knew each other, communication was great as we worked to incorporate our different ideas. It was a great communal feel because every person already had a contribution to the project by the bringing of supplies. Our group of seven was a good number for the task, anymore would have made it hard for everyone to have a voice and the end result would have been more messy and disorganized, with a less refined vision.

    We started off with everyone taking whatever materials they liked and making their own element to be incorporated into the final design. Then we all evaluated what everyone had made and tried to see how it would all fit together. Someone has started with a basic foundation, others with other decorative and structural elements. We started with the cardboard foundation, building more structural elements on top like twisted water bottles and then adding Christmas ornaments, roses and paint splatters. The fact that we were limited to only the supplies we had compiled also gave us a creative challenge to create a sculpture that would stay together using non-traditional structural elements.

    The great thing about stone soup is that it's like combining the creative process and the critique into one so that its a faster path to creation. Feedback on proposed elements of the design is immediate and you get instant advice on how to better incorporate your idea into the design or change it to better it suit it.
    I learned a lot from Stone Soup, most importantly that that the creative input of others is invaluable in the design process. If design was always limited to one person's vision with no input from anyone else, it would make for a very narrow vision indeed and pose a risk for serious design flaws that that designer wasn't called out on. More input and ideas from more people is only a good thing because it results in a more interesting, eclectic and sophisticated result that is more likely to resonate with more people. Great design is not just created by and for oneself, but for other people to enjoy.

Creativity From Without

Image courtesy of foshiznik.com

 

          If a designer's creations came only from inside their head with no influence from the outside world, it would make for pretty boring design after a while. During the late 90's, Jonathan Ives was one designer who was determined to break out of the mould of computer design of the time that emphasized speed and performance over form and approachability. He is one of the most influential designers who has repeatedly redefined our perception of design in technology and how it interfaces with its users by designing beautiful products that are easy to use. Taking inspiration from outside the beige box of what most computers looked like in 1997, he looked to nature and the world around him to design the now iconic iMacs, with their round, candy colored design. Inspirations included a grapefruit, the color of the water at Bondi beach and a visit to a jelly bean factory to understand how to make a plastic shell shape look attractive and inviting. The iMac G4, with its round base, and flat panel screen supported by a rotatable stem was inspired by a sunflower in Steve Jobs' garden, the CD-ROM slot in the base giving it the look of a human face.

courtesy of freefoto.com

courtesy of designmuseum.org

        Those early models may be out of date now, but they have changed forever society's perceptions of what computers can look like, and the ease with which they can be operated. Ives went on to design the iPod, the MacBook Pro, the iPhone, and the iPad; designs that keep redefining our relationship with technology.
    Finding inspiration outside of what is the standard in similar products is one of Apple's greatest strengths: they start with a big idea for a need in society that doesn't yet exist and refine it to perfection. Jonathan Ives is a great example of how great design can change society, but also one that shows where inspiration for great design is found. Finding inspiration outside your consciousness, in the real world is a great thing to incorporate into designing because then to others, your design will be a relateable reflection of the world they see everyday. The most creative design tries to think outside what is already known and considered safe. One should admire what has been done before, but try to find a new design solution that runs ahead of the pack, propelling society forward into a new era of representation in design. 

See Articles:
http://designmuseum.org/design/jonathan-ive
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_39/b4002414.htm

Design: Now a Democracy

      

        Oh if only I had that bag. It has such an "It" factor about it, and it would totally transform me into a sophisticated lady overnight!

No, it's not the next "It" designer bag by Marc Jacobs, it's a handcrafted leather handbag made by a sweet young couple in Morocco. They're selling this bag through Etsy.com, a social commerce site that provides a means through which individuals can sell handmade items like clothes, furniture, art, jewelry, and toys.

It's super cute, but more importantly it's a sign that more voices are being added to the international conversation about design. The people of design are no longer only those who may be considered "authorities" on the subject, or those who have scored a contract with an international retailer.  In terms of fashion, it's no longer only a handful of elite fashion designers, editors, retailers and critics dictating to the rest of us what makes good design this season. These old "institutions" if you may, no longer hold the mythical power they once had. Now, anyone can proclaim themselves as an authority on the subject and start up their own blog or website or tweet to express their opinions of this season's designer collections, without having, say, more "professional" knowledge of what makes good design and innovation.

  Instead of being obscure craftsman with independent websites no one will probably ever see, different sellers' products are displayed on Etsy in the same layout as a big retailer's web site. This new model of selling your own manufactured products seems to be the beginning of a sort of democratization of design.  

Though a lot of sellers on Etsy don't achieve prominent success, some manage to make a living manufacturing their own products instead of trying to convince big retailers to carry their wares. Though Etsy has a long way to go in terms of providing the same grand scale as big retailers, it may mark the beginning of a challenge to professional designers and institutions who have in the past dictated what makes good design. Who are the people of design now? Maybe everyone.

*Photo courtesy of Etsy.com, from the seller chicleather 

Good Design: Supply Networks

video courtesy of youtube.com

     Who doesn't love the instant gratification of online shopping? How packages magically arrive on your door step after a few clicks? The consumption of good design?
    However not many think about the countless resources, the complex processes, and the far-reaching supply networks designed to bring design to you.
    Of the many online retailers, Zappos.com has redesigned this process into a well oiled machine, eliminating almost all the drawback of online shopping. It's almost a mindless act to locate and buy a product at Zappos.com. A few clicks here and there to specify your preferences, starting with "Women's," then "Shoes," "Sandals," brown for the preferred color, and finally "Lowest Price," filtering out thousands of other products to find the perfect pair of Stuart Weitzman Sandals on sale for $46.60. The website's design allows customers to laser in on products, rather than being assaulted by tsunami of merchandise. The design of their business focuses on customer service, with rapid free shipping and returns in under two days. 
    However, most of their happy customers are unaware of the massive supply chains necessary to feed to the appetite of a ravenous generation, used to fast, cheap goods and services. To keep up with these expectations and the rapid pace of technology retailers have to keep redesigning the system.
    For that reason, Zappos.com has begun to adopt new technological designs for getting the product to the customer. Instead of workers going from aisle to aisle in the warehouse to retrieve the merchandise, robots bring the merchandise to the workers so they can just processing order after order after order. This new design has doubled their efficiency in every area, meeting consumers' demand for instant gratification.
     In a society where consumers are overwhelmed with the choice of millions of products and services, retailers have to pounce fast. As an element of commerce, the design of supply systems must be as streamlined as possible to deliver products to a customer who is more savvy, pickier, and probably has one of the shortest attention spans in history. Designers don't just create consumer products anymore, they have to design the processes that get them to the right person at the right place at the right time in a society that demands immediacy. Clearly, we are going to have to be continually be redesigning this circulatory system that transports goods to fit society's growing needs.

First Encounters With Design

http://designconsciousnessconsciousdesign.blogspot.com/ 

    My favorite cotton bed sheets were one of the oldest in the house: given to my mom in the late seventies they had become one of the most loved. The colorful Japanese-inspired flower print was playful and inviting for us kids to snuggle in and build forts with. The soft fabric was light and cool enough to sleep in on summer nights. The dreamy, vibrant and exotic pattern was chic enough to make into long cape when playing Princess. To me, those sheets evoke childhood feelings of comfort and intimacy.
    Maybe it is my childhood bias, but when I look at those sheets now I see an undeniably perfect design. There is no way that if us kids had favored the sheets with the black geometric patterns instead, that we would have experienced the same feeling of content and comfort. Sleeping on colorful flowers and organic forms has got to be more conducive to comfort and relaxation than lying on a print of Escher's crazy geometric optical illusions. What girl wouldn't rather lie in a field of pretty flowers like Snow White?
    Someone definitely knew what they were doing when they designing this print. However, beyond providing the roof of child's fort, these prints were bringing a taste of a different culture into American homes in the late seventies, when floral prints were huge. That was a time when the influence of Japanese culture was spreading because of their booming economy. Japanese fashion designers like Hanae Mori were also becoming more prominent, putting Japanese prints into the spotlight. However these weren't the only designs being exported to America. Given the success of Japanese businesses over American ones, there was much head-scratching over what made the Japanese business management model superior to American ones. This led to many managerial strategists studying the Japanese design of business structure  to adapt them to American corporate culture.
    Clearly, good designs can result in many different benefits to more than one group of people: improving business models and thus increasing salaries and material comforts, providing satisfaction to an adult trying to keep up with the latest trends, or giving comfort to a child. Good design is much more than a pretty dress or a print, often times being a valuable indicator of the societal trends or needs of the time.