Nathan Shedroff's "Design is the Problem"

In "Design is the Problem," Nathan Shedroff discusses the ways that design influences society through sustainability, design, and business. He says that sustainable design is, "Design and development that meets today's needs without preventing those needs from being met by future generations." What Shedroff is saying here is that designers need to create content for today's issues in a form that won't make things worse for our children in the future. In order for this to be so, the form that designers must keep in mind when creating products is to design products in a form that can be "reduced, reused, recycled, and restored." In other words, they need to be economically friendly. These products need to use up fewer materials while simultaneously providing more meaning for society. Designers need to design products for society today that don't hurt it in the future. The content of these products is derived from designing techniques such as prototyping, ethnographic techniques, and critique.  The final form is adapted to suit the business world after it goes through some checks like total quality management, SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), the Doblin Value Model, and other things.  Great designers concerned with sustainability must do a lot to design the best form that a product should take to both suit society's needs while simultaneously not harming the planet.

(image thanks to:   http://sustainabilityninja.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/feature-images/government-industry-sustainability.jpg )

Headbands

A recent rise in fashion has been shown in the area of headwear, namely headbands.  They are used in society for many different purposes from holding back a person’s hair to merely just being an accessory.  For example, in the television show Gossip Girl, Leighton Meester’s character Blair Waldorf utilizes headbands in the first two seasons very well.  In practically every episode she wears a very sophisticated headband that is an accessory that adds to her classic “school girl” look.  On the other hand, a lot of athletes wear headbands mainly for the purpose of keeping their hair out of their face.  There are many different types of headbands that are either pre-made, like the more fashionable ones tend to be, and home-made ones, like the ones athletes make out of pre-wrap.  Headbands come in all sorts of shapes and sizes for people to accessorize themselves with.  They can be made of different materials, like plastic or nylon, and they can either be stylized and fancy or just plain-looking.  Society uses headbands to either make a fashion statement by distinguishing themselves from others, or to just merely make sure that their hair doesn’t bother them as they participate in an activity.

image thanks to:  (http://kuwait-style.com/images/2008/10/10-14-08-GOSSIP-GIRL-BLAIR-HAIRBAND-STYLE.jpg) 

"Objectified" Film

Henry Ford once was quoted in saying that, "Every object tells a story if you know how to read it."  The film "Objectified" reveals many honest truths about how objects are designed for society.  One type of society that they are designed for is industrial; whose main goal is mass production.  In this type of processing, however, the content of the objects becomes less unique since so many are being produced with the same shape and form so quickly and less precariously.  The film also discusses how the goal of design is for it to create a better experience for someone; so, basically, how to improve the content of products.  One way in which designers do this is through CAB (Computer Aided Design), which is where the ergonomic details of products are perfected.  The film also says that it's important for designers to have a sense of what is and what is not important when they are designing the content of a product for society.  These designers believe that design is the search for form, what form should an object take? They need to think about what happens after a product is designed and how people will use it.  They need to know these things because they don't want to make useless objects that only end up in landfills. 


(image courtesy of:  http://www.typeneu.com/v2/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/objectified.jpg )

Video Game Consoles

What do Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii  all have in common?  They are video game systems whose physical designs are very important for consumers.  The gaming society buys consoles based upon a number of different factors, one of which is the size of the console.  When game systems are made, the designers take into account the fact that even though they have a ton of hardware to work with; they need to get it into the smallest, sleekest form possible.  They know that the consumers do not want to buy a huge product that is cumbersome, in the way, and a pain in the neck to move around.  It is so important, in fact, that the designers will make newer versions of older consoles that are smaller and may also hold more data and such.  For example, Playstation 3 has just come out with 2 new versions of the original PS3 system, one that has the biggest hard drive yet, but it is also the sleekest and smallest of the PS3 models.  These designs are very important to the gaming society because when a consumer comes down to deciding between systems with similar games, like Xbox and Playstation, they may base part of their decision on which one looks better, or which one is smaller and easier to take with you back and forth between you and your friend's house. 

(image thanks to: http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/6356/consolesizes6cv.jpg )

Color Theory

Color theory is defined as the study of color and the role it portrays in design or art.  The important thing that you should know about color theory, first of all, is that it is not an object but actually a characteristic of light.  A little bit of history for you is that this aspect was first demonstrated by Sir Isaac Newton when he showed how a prism broke up light into its different hues.  In truth, objects do not actually have color, but they do reflect certain rays of white light, giving them their colors.  There are many different parts to color theory including additive system, subtractive system, and the color wheel.  Additive system is a way of mixing colors where the colors start more black-oriented and are mixed to where they end up being lighter and more white-oriented.  Subtractive system is where colors are mixed and the result tends to lead more towards a darker or black color.  The color wheel consists of colors that are arranged in a way that shows their relationships.  It consists of primary colors (red, blue, and yellow), secondary colors (purple, orange, green), and tertiary colors (a combination of a primary and a secondary color).  Color theory is used by designers to determine which colors are more complementary of each other so they will be more appealing to society.  For example, the traditional Christmas colors, red and green, are complementary colors that appeal to society.  Color theory is a HUGE part of design and will forever remain that way.

Cover Art

Have you ever noticed a book solely based upon its cover art?  You had no idea what the context of the book was, who the author was, or even what the title of the book.  Your eyes were just captivated or your interest peaked by what was on the cover of the book.  Designers use many different types of styles in which to capture society's attention when it comes to cover art.  Some book covers are loud through their sparkles and flashiness while others are just strange and may just have a picture of an object on them.  For example, the Twilight series have covers with objects on them like, hand holding an apple, a chess piece, and more. Other books like the Alex Rider series are flashy and just draw in your eyes right away.  Designers help authors choose many different ways in which to represent their books.  That cover art is important because it must draw in readers while also showing off some piece of the context of the book.  It gives society hope that what they are about to indulge themselves in will be worth their time and to their enjoyment.  Designers use these cover arts to capture society's attention through either intrigue, fascination, or other reasons. 

(images thanks to:

http://www.stliz-hs.org/images/uploads/image/10299664.jpg

http://luinriel.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/breakingdawn.jpg )

Accessories

Accessories are everywhere.  They surround us.  They are practically even apart of us.  People generally use accessories to add to outfits that they are wearing.  They wear them to give their look that extra "pizz-azz" or subtle feel of elegancy.  They come in all sorts of styles, colors, shapes, and sizes.  It is even found that most people believe that accessories "make or break" an outfit.  They also personalize it, too.  For example, a girl may have this fantastic gold and sparkly dress that, when worn alone is descent, but when a small purse or a necklace or a bracelet is added to the outfit, her outfit seems to all of a sudden become complete.  People everywhere have the same types of clothes, somewhat.  We all wear a popular brand, so someone else is very likely to have that same shirt or pair of jeans you are wearing.  How do you differentiate yourself from them?  The answer is yet again, accessories.  A person could add some jewelry or sunglasses or a jacket, practically anything to "accessorize" their outfit.  One way in which society uses accessories is to design their outfits for themselves so that they may have their own style and be independent.

(picture thanks to:  http://lh3.ggpht.com/_38VmJuTPeWE/SZxfksIYJfI/AAAAAAAAN9k/u-aj320QeRI/s800/the%20red%20carpet.jpg  )

Quilting Patterns

Yesterday, I went to my local art gallery and in it was a quilting exhibit.  As I examined all of the many different styles, I noticed that each one had a pattern or rhythm to it.  This is to say that each quilt had a motif that was repeated in a consistency throughout the piece.  A few different ones stood out to me over the others, however.  One pattern seemed to have little people repeated throughout it.  Another didn't repeat its colors, but it had a flowing rhythm to it that reminded me of falling rain.  A third quilt had a specific pattern of repeated black and white diamond-like figures.  All of these quilts consisted of certain patterns or rhythms that made each of them a unique design for society to view.  Patterns are all over society from repeated parking lot spaces to the windows that line a huge city building.  My friend Morgan discovered a really cool rhythmic pattern with the Nilla Wafer boxes.  If they are lined up next to each other, they create a flowing pattern of wafers.  Patterns are both fun and fascinating.  Since they are all around us in society, they are easily enjoyed but can also  be overlooked for that reason unfortunately, so keep an eye out!

(quilting image provided by my phone)

(Nilla Wafers image provided by my friend Morgan)

Abstract Art

Today I was pondering the idea of abstract of non-objective art.  Abstract art is not an image of something; it is an expression of something like feelings or an emotion.  I was wondering, though, how this particular type of art is determined to be unique and brilliant or confusing and, well, crap.  For example, normally, a figure painting of a person would be considered good if it resembled the person it was depicting.  How do you depict emotions, though, in a way that is considered artistically brilliant or good? Sometimes, the ways that artists do abstract art to me looks like a child may have done it.  On the other hand, artists like Olga Burtseva, Joseph Giunta, and, of course, Pablo Picasso has greatly influenced society with their uniqueness.  Their paintings are just so amazing and beautiful.  When you get the chance to observe one of these paintings, you just can't help but feel in awe of the design presented to you.  Now, you may not quite understand the design, but you know it's there and you can just feel that something was happening when the artist painted it.  These and other abstract artists put their emotions and feelings on display for society to look at and observe.

(image of Picasso's "Musketeer with Pipe" thanks to:  http://www.picassoandmatisse.com/paintings/picasso/big/picasso_Musketeer_with_Pipe_and_Flowers_1968.jpg)

Statues

I was thinking about statues today.  They are everywhere in every town, and most of the time they are there as a dedication or representation of something.  Their purpose to society is that they are little reminders of how great someone once was or an important event that took place at that location.  Sometimes, though, in my opinion, they are just pointless pieces of art.  For example, I went to this Target one time and on your way into the shopping center was a statue of a rust-colored cowboy wrangling a giant silver horse.  Now, on one hand, it was intriguing to look at; but on the other hand, it was just way too big and I had no idea what it had to do with Target.  To me, it was a pointless piece of art.  Personally, if I were to erect a statue in front of a Target I would have it mean something like a memorial to a person who helped build it or donated to it or something.  I just don't like random things where they don't belong.  They just don't make sense.  Economically speaking, it is a waste of money, too.  Statues should be designed to have meaning and placed in place of significance in society where they won't cause confusion or stipulation.

image thanks to:  http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/3562/statue1bb.jpg)

Speakers

I was brainstorming about speakers today, mainly the ones that are for home entertainment systems or to attatch to something, not stereo speakers or the like.  Their designs are so unique.  They don't always try to be small scale.  In proportion to their environment, they can either overcome it and become the main focal point of the room or they can be unseen and blend in with room.  Speakers carry a unique three-dimensional aspect to them.  They are designed to fit into places like corners, or to be mounted on walls, or just sit on top of something.  It depends upon what service they are to perform.  For home theater entertainment, usually they are minute so that they can be discretely placed around the room while giving a theatrical sound experience.  At concerts or shows, however, they are so large that they cover enormous amounts of space on a stage.  Speakers are designed to be sleek and unnoticeable or be huge and just be there to be really loud and obnoxious.  Usually they are black, though, so that they do not take away from wherever they are placed, even at concerts.  The musicans don't want the audience to stare at the huge bright pink speakers the whole time instead of them.  They completely serve their purpose in society.

(image thanks to:  http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/hk07/Gryphonsystem.jpg )

Haircolors in Society

I was looking at different hairstyles today, namely ones with colorings that were unnatural (i.e. hot pink, blue, green, etc.). I myself have a strand of pink colored into my hair. I was wondering why people do this. How do they choose what color and where to put it? Also, what does it mean to them? Personally I got my streak of pink because I wanted to show a little bit of edginess in my style, and I only got a little bit so that it wouldn't be overwhelming. Some different styles that I have seen though are to get streaks randomly throughout your hair, color just the bottom half of your hair, or even dye all your hair. The only types of people I have generally seen do any sort of coloring like this are punk-rock type people, gothic people, and it is also big with oriental people who are more fashionable. I've noticed that the gothic kids and oriental people generally do some of the hair a certain color, while the punk kids are most likely to color their whole head. These different colors are ways for people in society to design something for themselves. They choose the color and the places that it goes. They create their own unique design to show off to everyone else. 

( Haley Williams of Paramore picture above thanks to:  http://static.wix.com/media/aeef24e1aa424078e7cae060d6563468.wix_mp ) 

Headphones

Music is huge in society, so how one listens to it is also important.  This made me think about the way that headphones are designed.   There are so many different ones designed in so many different styles.  First off, there are ones that cover your whole ear and ones that go in your ear.  The ones that cover your ear are much more cumbersome in their design but since they easily seen, they have been made to be fashionable and more aesthetic.  For example, Skull Candy headphones are big sellers for these types of headphones.  For headphones that go into your ear, there are two main varieties.  There are the regular kind that usually fit pretty well and the noise-canceling kind that have a type of plug or rubber suction on the end of them.  These are designed to be a lot sleeker and usually to blend into the wearer so that no one really sees that they have headphones in.  They are all very good in their own ways but in order for the in-ear ones to be better for society, I believe that there needs to be a way so that the cord is shorter or less likely to twist and create such a mess.  Either way though, since music is such a large part of society, the way that it is designed for people listen to is very important.

 (skullcandy picture thanks to:  http://vitalmove.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/skullcandy_headphones.jpg )

Icons, symbols, labels... etc.

I was on my laptop looking at all the desktop icons and I thought to myself how when I look at each picture or symbol, or whatever, it has a deeper meaning to me.  For example, I see a blue lowercase "e" with a gold circle around it and I know that if I click on that icon, I will open up the Internet Explorer application.  I see a music note on top of a CD and I know that that icon opens up into iTunes.  It fascinates me how society has been trained to identify with pictures or symbols or icons to remember things.  Why wouldn't the laptop just have a list of words stating each program, instead of the icons?  My personal opinion is that it is more efficient.  Design has been used by society to make work or anything more efficient.  For example, it is much quicker for me to look for a blue letter "e" than to look for the words "Internet Explorer" that is jumbled in with a bunch of other words.  These icons that society identifies with are to make life simpler.  These icons can be empowering, like the symbols on flags, or they can be unique so that people notice them and remember them better than other ones.     

(Internet Explorer logo thanks to:  http://dennisdeacon.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/internet-explorer-logo.jpg) 

Flyers, Posters, and the Sort

I was looking at the cork boards that were outside of my class earlier today. You know, the ones that have all of the different advertisements to catch a person's eye so that they will hopefully attend a certain event? So I looked and observed all of the different ones that were there. Some of the flyers were huge while others not so much. Some of them were bright colors while others preferred to have huge pictures or icons on them instead. All of them seemed to catch my eyes in different ways. I was thinking about how designers choose to create these flyers or advertisements for society to view. How do they decide whether or not to make it a large or small flyer, or put it on a neon colored paper, or use a huge symbol? I would imagine that they use whatever is related to the project/event that they are trying to promote. They could put a huge picture of the person they are trying to promote or a clever phrase to advertise a TV show or movie. For example, if I was doing advertising for the Sacramento Kings I would do a flyer which, for the most part, would definitely have a huge Kings logo or at least be on purple paper, since that is one of their major team colors. I believe a designer creates a flyer around whatever their advertising.

(advertisement thanks to: http://www.esongtalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/taylorswift_fearlesstour.jpg) 

Inspiration from the Outside

I believe that a lot of times artists create their own masterpieces with little difficulty because they just think of a project they want to do and make it so that it is their own.  Simple enough right? Well, what if they need to create something entirely of their own imagination.  They have to design a project entirely from scratch.  What do they do then?  They can look for inspiration somewhere other than themselves.  An artist could just be doing anything on any particular day at any place when all of sudden, WHAP!  Inspiration smacks them in the face.  Another time an artist can find inspiration in places other than within himself or herself is when they hit a, well, a rut.  They can't think of anything to do for a project so they go out, and instead of waiting for art to find them, they seek out art.  They know that they need to look at the amazing world around them to find new inspiration for which they can draw from and use to create something unique.  They know that their fire for creativity needs a spark that can only be done by an element that is not found within themselves.   

Artistic Exhibits...Everywhere

I went to my local design museum, and as I was browsing, a particular piece stood out to me.  The piece was of all these sharply cut black shapes made into a 3-D format.  What was intriguing, though, was that some of the shapes overlapped each other, while at the same time, jutting out at different lengths to create the 3-D appearance.  As I stood there, all I could think about was, "What would make someone think to create something like this?"  I had no idea.  I myself would never think to design a project like this.  The way it was designed was fantastic and amazingly unique.   One just feels the need to stop and observe this piece of artistic creativity.  It just shows how differently people's artistic minds operate, and all the different things that one can imagine.   Society is comprised of all sorts of different ideas from people's artistic imaginations.  It is just so amazing to me to think about how  we  are in a world full of creativity and uniqueness.  Everywhere a person goes, they are observing someone's unique creations or artwork.  From buildings, to courtyards, to athletic stadiums and such,  these are all people's creations.  Now that's  pretty cool.

The "Self-Design"

Today I was thinking about how I love the color pink, specifically magenta. I love to accessorize with it whenever I can. I was thinking about how this color influenced my everyday life. After I thought about it, I realized that most of what I wear or use as an accessory has something to do with the color pink. While looking around my room, I even noticed that I only bought certain items due to the fact that they were pink. My style of outfits usually revolves around pink, too. I believe I do this, along with many other individuals, because I am trying to portray my own personal style, or what I like to call my "self-design." I myself prefer the more punk-styled look, so that is the style and colors that I choose to design myself with. Other people's "self-designs" are also shown by what colors they mainly wear. Just by looking at their clothing and accessories, you could probably determine their favorite color and maybe even see what style they like to design for themselves. I love seeing people's own personal styles. I find it to be a nice trait when someone knows which colors work for them, and which ones don't so that they don't stylize themselves with outfits that are well let's just say not for them. Sometimes I just want to go up to those people and style them myself or at least tell them to never wear that again. Unfortunately, that would be considered rude by society even though I am merely being honest. Oh well, I guess I will go and create another "self-designed" outfit for this afternoon!

The Starbucks Icon

Okay, so lately I have been thinking about icons and symbols and one of the more popular ones came into my mind. The ever-classic Starbucks logo, which is posted to the left here thanks to (http://blogs.menupages.com/southflorida/Starbucks-logo.gif). As I thought about the icon and its meaning to society, I thought about what it means to see the icon. First, I want to take a look at the icon itself. When you take a close look at the label, what is it? I see maybe a mermaid with a crown and a star on her head. The icon, to me, really isn't that spectacular. Why would they choose green, black, and white for their colors? They don't particularly stand out compared to a bright blue or red? Why use the mermaid-woman too? What does she do for the design? I'm not quite sure, but what I know is that when I see this icon I know that I am seeing a proud drinker of what is probably the most "fashionable" beverage companies. Personally, Starbucks' coffee is very strong and bitter, so why do people, including myself, drink it? I know I drink it and I believe other people do so because of the fact that you can show everyone around you that you are cool and modern because you drink Starbucks. It's like saying that you have good taste in brands.