Design in Society: Simple hooded lighting fixtures

          In design, there is a lot of focus on innovation and improving society. They are major objectives of designers, and the simple design of hooded lighting fixtures are an example of utopian design as it tries to improve society economically, environmentally, and health-wise (of individuals and animals alike) by reducing light pollution. Hooded light fixtures and the components that make up its design, such as the type of light bulb used, all contribute to the enhancement of society.

"GlareBuster GB-2000", the original dark sky friendly light

        The "GlareBuster GB-2000" is a outdoor lighting fixture I come upon while I was checking out the Starry Night Lights website which is an online store specializing in lighting fixtures that help reduce and reverse light pollution and promote dark starry night skies.The "forward-throw cut-off" form and shape of GB-2000 is specifically designed so that light is directed to the ground efficiently, which reduces glare and prevents light from escaping into the atmosphere.

          Aesthetically the GB-2000 is not much of a visually pleasing design because it is plain, boxy, and only comes in generic white and bronze color, but being one of the first of its kind, it does the tasks that it is intended to. This is where innovation comes in, and designs with the same objectives are created that meet standards that prevent light pollution that were derived from the GB-2000 and the personal styles of individuals as well. There is a freedom in the many different kind of lighting fixtures with hooded design so it is easy for designers to produce varying styles of lighting fixtures like wall laterns, sconces, shades, etc.

Outdoor Wall Lamp

Wall Sconce

Aluminum Bollard Pathway Light

Lamp shade with Compact Fluorescent light bulb

          As I've mentioned earlier, the use of these dark-sky friendly light fixtures improve society economically, environmentally, and health-wise in humans and in animals. It improves society economically because most of these fixtures use energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs, like the GB-2000, which uses less energy and they have a photocell that makes sure that it only operates at night, so you save money on energy bills. The environmental improvement is something I've already covered, as it reverses light pollution. And lastly, it improves the health of humans and animals. Light pollution affects the natural circadian rhythm of humans and animals in which there is evidence that strongly suggest that there is "an etiology of suppressed melatonin production, depressed immune systems, and increase in cancer rates such as breast cancers," (American Medical Association) due to light pollution.
           The simple hooded lighting fixture does a lot to try to improve society, making it such a utopian design.

Credit/Links:

[All images and products] http://store.starrynightlights.com/

[GlareBuster GB-2000, info] http://store.starrynightlights.com/gb-2000.html

[IDA - International Dark-Sky Association] www.darksky.org
[PDF - American Medical Association - Resolution 501, page 52] http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/475/refcome.pdf

Color Transforms: Pointillism and Paul Signac

"Women at the Well" by Paul Signac
 (1863-1935)

          The painting pictured to the left is by a French neo-impressionist painter named Paul Signac, who helped develop the technique of pointillism. Pointillism uses dots of pure colors juxtaposed together to create an effect of creating an illusion of a mixed color, for example, if you painted a bunch of blue and yellow dots in one area you may create the illusion of green. Signac is a master of this technique and in this way, you can see how color transforms the design of a painting.

          In Josef Albers' Interaction of Color, Albers covered a lot of concepts on color theory that I could barely comprehend as it changed my perspective on how we view colors as he explained them so frankly in my brief skim through the chapters. There were chapters on optical illusions, and chapter XIII on The Bezold Effect (page 33) briefly covered optical mixtures, which is exactly what pointillism is about. The combinations of the colors colors green, yellow, blue, and magenta are prominently used in "Women at the Well" to create hues and shades that provide contrast and make the subjects and background realistic and 3-dimensional.The limited color palette make it a challenge and forces the painter to create optical illusions of color.

          Yellow and white are the main colors that provide light in the image. The cool blue creates a stark contrast to the yellow because they are complementary colors, so their synthesis in the painting make it more vibrant and bright. Their juxtaposition in the painting creates a balance of yin and yang; if you look closely on bottom of the lower half of the painting, the shape of what seems to be a shadow exhibit a kind of balance and so does the top half where the two colors are separated diagonally by the shape of the hill.
          Color transforms everything in the visual world. Albers mentions in his book that the visual perception of color is subjective because it is "almost never seen as it really is," and there are innumerable meanings and perceptions of every single color. "Women at the Well" displays this idea effectively because the hues and shades in the painting are achieved through the brain's perception of the color combinations, whether they subtract or add intensity, and it harmonizes them in allows the viewer visualize the whole painting and its hues and shades instead of each the actual individual colors.

Credit / Links:

["Women at the Well" photo of painting]  http://www.terminartors.com/artworkprofile/Signac_Paul-Women_at_the_Well

[Close up, detail of "Women at the Well"] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointillism
[Paul Signac bio] http://www.paul-signac.com/
[Josef Albers' Interaction of Color] http://www.amazon.com/Interaction-Color-Revised-Josef-Albers/dp/0300018460

Dangerous Design: Four Loko

'Four Loko' Alcoholic Energy Drinks

        'Four Loko' and the fight to ban it from politicians and the government has been a popular topic in college news the past two months. The design of the Four drinks is dangerous to society because it looks like any other energy drink; the colorful and flamboyant design make it visually appealing and attractive. The can form of the 'Four Loko' drink, and the design on it make it look more playful and targeted to a younger age group (college students), compared to other alcoholic beverages which are usually in either in bottles or cans and have more sophisticated designs. The Four Loko drinks are a dangerously potent mix of caffeine and alcohol, as well as taurine and guarana to make up the four main ingredients. The size of the Four Loko can manipulate the drinker into drinking a lot more than the ideal serving size, and thus making the person drunker and affecting their health more negatively. It contains 12% alcohol in one 23.5oz can, which is equivalent to 5-6 cans of beer. In addition to that, since the caffeine reduces the feeling of "being inebriated," more people can unknowingly drink themselves to the point that they black out or pass out. There are instances that have shown seriously adverse side affects from drinking Four Loko drinks that has deemed Four Loko to the a concern to public health, which is why it became banned. There's a video on College Humor that ridicules and emphasizes how bad these drinks are for you:
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1943435
         The exterior design of the Four Loko gives an innocent impression of the actual drink itself. It is misleading design, and formulation of the drink was executed with no good purpose than to mindlessly get drunk faster and promote a culture of substance abuse and/or dependency on caffeine and energy drinks in order to function. It's a dangerous design to society because it makes society worse and provides no real benefit. The side effects of these drinks were most likely intentional, but it shows the lack of design and planning that went into the quality and the objectives of these products. The dangers of combining caffeine and alcohol is knowledge that has been proven to be true before these drinks came into the market, which shows that the company's objective was to make some money out of college students.

The price of Four Loko being $2.69 is another dangerous aspect because of its availability and cheap prices

Credits / Links:
[First image] http://www.shuttervoice.com/18788/four-loko-energy-drink-manufacturers-pelted-with-accusations-and-anti-drug-campaigners.html
[Second Picture, shelf] http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/nov/22/statehouse-live-alcoholic-energy-drinks-banned-sta/

Wayne Thiebaud

Wayne Thiebaud 

          Two Thursdays ago, Wayne Thiebaud was at UCDavis doing an interview with Kenneth Baker. I was curious to see someone like Thiebaud, who I learned about in my Design 1 class, and hear them talk about their experiences. It was slightly surreal to actually have the opportunity to see someone who I learned about in a class. I was able to take notes in my tiny outdated cellphone. The conversation between Thiebaud and Baker helped me understand and differentiate the fine line between art and design a little better.
          Thiebaud often joked around around about how he felt that his choice in becoming a painter was a "vocational disaster" and "worst career move people can make" despite his successes. From his experiences, I start to see that Thiebaud gets a lot of his inspiration and creativity from within and inspiration from reality and its scale because he considers himself a realist. He showed us a painting with a canoe on a river where he pointed out that the scale of the nails and the oar on the canoe were all properly modeled and carefully calculated, and he also pointed out the areas of sharper focus which brings together various perceptional realities as one in the painting. It was really insightful to view a painting through the eyes of a real artist.
          I had to leave the lecture/talk early, but from what I was able to stay for, Thiebaud talking more about techniques in paintings than about the their objectives affect on society. I see that design is more towards a social purpose than a means of expression like in art, but they both always overlap each other in some way and meet in experience.

"Cakes" by Wayne Thiebaud (1963)

Credit / Links:
[Picture of Wayne Thiebaud] http://www.csus.edu/news/100507donors.stm
[Cakes] google images

Response to Coco's new 'do

Conan O'Brien's new show, "Conan"

          I've been reading/looking through the idsgn blog recently, and came upon a entry upon the new logo designs for Conan O'Brien's new show on TBS called, "Conan." I noticed how they used salient characteristics of Conan O'Brien (his trademark red coif-like hair) to create a unique and easily memorable icon and designs. With that, the color scheme always utilizes orange because even the color has become a trademark.  What initially may have seemed to be a joke has manifested into a big campaign by fans celebrating his iconic red hair:

        What incited this campaign was the rivalry between Jay Leno and Conan Obrien after Leno had taken over The Tonight Show. It's interesting to see the simplicity and the creativity of the designs that convey an effective message about their support for "Coco."

The old and new design for his show.

        The new design of the logo is a great difference from the first logo. It is more ambiguous with the use of just one word "Conan" and one big image of Conan's iconic hair. I guess the objective of the new design was to be more direct and "in your face."  The simple black background alludes to the "tonight" show. The use of a small gradient makes the design more aesthetically pleasing and dynamic compared to the first logo, which is necessary because of the simplicity. It gives a different, more flashy mood. The first logo is more professional and aesthetically pleasing in terms of typography with the use of three different fonts. It emphasizes "The Tonight Show" more than the [former] host "Conan O'Brien," unlike the new logo that makes "Conan" the main focus.


Credits/Links:
[Coco's new 'do @idsgn.org] http://idsgn.org/posts/cocos-new-do/

GALAXY S

I've never cared too much about cellphones in the way that many teenagers and college students are so into what's new with cellphone technology in the iPhone, Blackberry, etc. Recently, my parents upgraded my old very reliable Nokia phone into a new smartphone called Galaxy S.  The past couple of days I've been able to play with it and explore its many different features. I can see the appeal of the Galaxy S through its thin and sleek design, as well as its high tech software and extra features. In my opinion, it’s much like an iPhone, except externally, it’s thinner, smaller, and has a slightly different arrangement of icons on the main screen. 

Samsung's Galaxy S

The Samsung Galaxy S is chockfull of specs that make it distinguishable among the smartphones and unique in its own way. It has a 4-inch multi-sensory touch screen with a Super AMOLED display that’s bright, clear, and anti-reflective so that it's visible even in the sunlight. The use of the Super AMOLED (Super Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diod) display is one of first of its kind in the cellphone market, which displays the innovation of the Samsung cellphone designers; the Super AMOLED display is ideal as it is a 20% brighter screen, 80% less sunlight reflection, and 20% reduced power consumption. This is an attractive part of the hardware because of the sustainability objective that all designers should strive to achieve. The Galaxy S also has an impressive 5-mega-pixel camera that does selective focus, has built-in photo effects, and is capable of recording video as well.
          The software and additional features of the Galaxy S make it a truly innovative phone. One feature that I really liked was the Swype capability, where when texting or typing anything on the on-screen keyboard, you can just swipe your fingers over the letters for each word (instead of typing each letter one-by-one) and the phone automatically inputs the word. It saves time for texting, which is already fast, but it allows you to work faster. Of course, you can access internet through this phone as that has become a staple in all smartphones. Another cool feature is the "AllShare" where you can play files from the phone to another player like a TV, play file from a server to the phone, or play file from a server to another player via the phone through a Wi-fi connection.

Galaxy S frontside

Galaxy S  backside

          The exterior of the Galaxy S is rather sexy because of the smooth, reflective surfaces of each sides of the phone. It is simple too, and produced only in one color--black, which makes it good for customizing. It is about the size of my palm and probably fits the normal hand perfectly (personally, it's a little too big for my short fingers but no biggie). Ergonomically, the rectangular shape of the phone does not feel ideal or comfortable when being held; I feel like this aspect of the design could have been changed or further explored upon to make it better fitted to the hand and less comparable to the iPhone phones. The thinness and weight of it, however, is a good thing because it does not make it feel like its bulky unlike other smartphones.
          Overall, the Galaxy S is a great and innovatively designed smartphone. It has set the bar higher for smartphones everywhere.

Credit/Links:

[Galaxy S picture] http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/samsung-i9000-galaxy-s-android-smartphone-in-action-video-24-03-2010/
[Super AMOLED info] http://www.samsung.com/au/smartphone/technology/super-amoled.html
[Galaxy S info] http://galaxys.samsungmobile.com/specification/spec.html?ver=low
[Galaxy S info] http://galaxy-s.t-mobile.com/samsung-android-galaxy-phone
[Galaxy S picture front side] http://www.phoneultra.com/reviews/samsung-galaxy-s/
[Galaxy S picture backside] http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/27477/samsung-galaxy-s-review/

Dave McKean

Stills from his movie, MirrorMask

          Professor Housefield has talked about how important it is to find your very own creative voice, which can take a long time to develop but it'll set you apart from all the other designers out there. Brian Fies was able to find his through Mom's Cancer and he was a late blooming cartoonist. One artist that I know will, or is already, influence my creative voice
          Dave McKean has been an artist that I've learned to admire ever since I started reading Neil Gaiman's works, who, by the way, is one of my favorite authors. He is an established and successful illustrator of books and comic books (he illustrated The Sandman covers), filmmaker and graphic designer (he directed MirrorMask), and musician. Talk about being an all around artist!
          It is amazing to find people so passionate about something to the point that it's so apparent. His distinguishable style is derived from surrealism. He combines contrasting
      



CREDIT/LINKS:
[Info about Dave McKean] http://www.allenspiegelfinearts.com/mckean.html
[Stills from MirrorMask]

[IMBD: MirrorMask] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366780/

Words & Images: PETA's Vegan College Cookbook

          In Brian Fies' lecture last week, he showed us how he had to go through hundreds of different designs to find the right cover for Mom's Cancer when it was being published into a book. It shows how in comics and in design, first impressions are important because it's what a customer sees first and it is the determining factor, out of all the books in a bookstore, that makes a customer want to pick it up or not.
          My last birthday, I received a cookbook from a friend that I had always wanted to get. It was PETA's Vegan College Cookbook. The cover is definitely an attention grabber with its simple layout and color scheme. The olive green, blues, and pink colors really work well and compliment eachother and give a friendly feeling because they are not overbearing. The simple layout of the cover reflect the "easy" concept of the cookbook, in terms of comprehension and the recipes themselves.

Credit/Links:
[PETA book cover design] http://www.addebook.com/biomed/html/foods-nutrition/cookbookrecipespetas-vegan-college-cookbook-275-easy-cheap-and-delicious-recipes-to-keep-you-vegan-at-school_23318.html

Words & Images: Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies

Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies

          Last Tuesday, Brian Fies, the cartoonist who created Mom's Cancer and Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? came to DES 001 and gave us a lecture. He told us about the whole process of how he created Mom's Cancer and the story behind it. It was immensely inspiring to hear his story and how, unintentionally, he was able to create the great adversity that his family had to endure, into something that so many people are able to relate to thus making his comic so successful.

A panel from Mom's Cancer website

          Brian Fies' Mom's Cancer show how words and images interact and work together, through allusion, to convey a concept. The interaction between words and images is a powerful one as it gives meaning to the comic. If words or images were on their own, they wouldn't be as powerful in conveying a message, especially such themes of family, death, cancer, etc. that are touched upon in Mom's Cancer. Fies comments that his comic played between the lines of ridiculous and serious, which in a way reflects how words and images play a role in illustrating Fies' style; he used some dialogue from his own experiences, which are mostly serious, and he used image to portray his own imagination, which was sometimes literal or comedic, to add a little humor to a very serious and personal part of his life. He even added color to some panels to depict a different emotion or mood, in contrast to the overall seriousness of the comic. Words and images are a powerful medium not only for comic readers, but also an expressive medium for the illustrator and writer.

A Panel from Mom's Cancer website.

          When Fies spoke more technically about the creation of each panel of the comic, I found it interesting to see how words were the most important aspect; so words are put in first, and then the art/image is worked around them. It makes sense because it is the words that guide the reader and expresses a more specific message. It makes me think of advertisement design and how art is not enough when imparting a concept because communicating a message is what's important. You have to use the combination of words and images to do this. Though concept is the most important part of a design, it can never be imparted correctly without the medium of words and image.

Credit/Links:
[Brian Fies' blog] http://brianfies.blogspot.com/
[all images/panels] http://www.momscancer.com/
[Buy Mom's Cancer on Amazon] http://www.amazon.com/Moms-Cancer-Brian-Fies/dp/0810958406

Mugged

          Like the objects in the first couple of minutes of the film in Objectified that are handled by many people during their morning routines, mugs fit the same category of mass-produced objects of industrial design. Mugs are an essential part of the daily lives of many people; it holds their drinks and food even (I put eat my cereal in them!) at the very least, and others find other creative ways of using them.

The typical mug.

            The archetypal form of a mug can be described as a white porcelain cup with a handle. Even as a mug, it still derives itself from a cup. It has a circular bottom thus taking a cylindrical shape. Its lines are not sharp, but not exactly curved. Its edges are tapered just enough so that it's still comfortable for holding in your hands and for putting your lips on. In contrast to its cylindrical shape and also a salient characteristic that differentiates it from any regular cup, it has a handle juts out to an oval shape. There is still continuity in the circles between the handle and the base.  Its simple and prime function is to hold hot beverages. Surprisingly, it is not a object that is looked over. More than likely, you will see decorated mugs more than plain ones, but they all have the same general shape.

Moustache mugs by Peter Ibruegger

          Decorated mugs are a big part of our culture. It's one way society self expresses itself most evidently. It has so much blank space on its surface that we are compelled to personalize it to our liking with many different graphics. Some more ambitious and creative people like to alter it a bit more by creating new handles:

Frustration mug

Brass Knuckle mug on Fredflare

Or  altering its main body:

Totem pole mug on Fredflare

         There are many clever and creative ways to personalize mugs to one's fancy. Mugs are an example of a good design because its simplicity allows so much freedom for creativity. In the words of Paola Antonelli (IKEA) who was featured in Objectified, "democratization of design should not exist."

Credit/Link:
Photos
 -[Typical mug] http://askville.amazon.com/Askville-Mug/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=8585480
 -[Mustache mug] http://www.peteribruegger.com/index.php?/new-product/moustache-moods/
 -[Brass knuckle mug] http://www.fredflare.com/customer/product.php?productid=5241&cat=254
 -[Frustration mug] http://www.community-credit.com/cs/blogs/community_credit_news/archive/2006/12.aspx
 -[Totem pole mug] http://www.fredflare.com/customer/product.php?productid=5579&cat=254

OBJECTIFIED: form & content

          Last Thursday, we watched a film about design during the second half of DES001. In the documentary film, Objectified, one of the designers in the movie (who's name I couldn't jot down fast enough) described three phases that a design usually goes through in order to realize some kind of meaningful function. The three phases are form, symbolism and content, and contextual sense. In this blog, I want to focus on how form and content interact in design.
         One of the designers that I was able to jot down was Jane Fulton Suri, a chief creative officer from IDEO, a global design firm; she saw designers as being capable of being "culture generators," and that "they design scenarios based on objects to see the consequences of their choices." In the process of designing things, form is the constraints of the content of a design in the physical world. Designers indirectly influence popular culture by taking certain concepts/content and making them real in many different forms. A very good example of a company that advocates good design explored by the film is Apple, because they think so innovatively. Jonathan Ive, a senior VP at Apple, asks such questions as"why is it like that and not like this???"  when they looks at products, including their own. He emphasizes how you, as the client or the targeted audience, have to connect with the product. The main content of their products are interaction design and with that, they like to continue that concept with its form. For example, the iPod touch and Macbook Pro have a smooth, stylish, sophisticated, yet simple design to reflect the user friendly interface and sophisticated software inside. The simplicity of their physical form makes it more universal because it looks more approachable and appealing. It can be easily personalized, and it has no particular target audience.

MacBook Pro

Ipod Touch

          The quality of their forms, from the Macbooks aluminum body and the iPod Touch's stainless steel back and glass screen, reflects the quality of the software. This is why Apple is revered for having good design in a lot of their products, when form and content meet on the same level.


Credits/Links:
[Objectified film by Gary Hustwit] http://www.objectifiedfilm.com/
[Info about Jane Fulton Suri] http://www.ideo.com/people/jane-fulton-suri
[Info about IDEO] http://www.ideo.com/about/
[Macbook pro] http://www.komplettblog.ie/tag/macbook-pro/
[Ipod Touch] http://www.techerator.com/2009/11/comparison-motorola-droid-vs-ipod-touch/