"Relief from high heel disco misery" and further discussion on the designer's quest to sell comfort

     Early this morning I stumbled upon a news clip that sparked my interest. Isabella Fendt, a resident of Germany, has recently invented the ballet flat vending machine. This machine, as explained in the video, supplies woman with a cheap ($12) alternative to going bare foot at a night club when her heels hurt to much. This design may come off as a bit ridiculous, but Miss Fendt is on to something. By placing her machine in places where her target audience will most likely be intoxicated, and thus have low inhibition, woman are likely to shell out their money in exchange for quick, accessible comfort.  
     As the news anchor begs in the clip, "why even wear heels?". The answer is simple, they make a woman feel good. What blows my mind is that women are willing to go to great lengths to keep themselves high-standing. Their heels alone might cost them a pretty penny, but now woman are spending even more on costly add-on's to maximize heel comfort. 
     Both Isabella Fendt and companies like Dr.Scholl's are true masterminds. They have taken the truth that woman have and always will wear heel's, regardless of pain, and in response have designed things to supposedly combat this "problem". Their plan is foolproof, women will buy these things. They see an advertisement for "no more heel pain" and they jump on any or all opportunities to decrease the torture they put their feet through. 
     Where Fendt's design trumps Dr.Scholl's and similar companies products, is in the vending machine's accessibility. Now a woman does not even have to plan ahead to prevent her heel pain, she simply has the luxury of buying "cheap" shoes to replace her uncomfortable one's when her feet have met their breaking point. Women will spend their money on comfort, as long as they can look fabulous in the process! 


Cred:
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/living/2010/10/17/disco.shoes.machine.cnn
http://www.sololisa.com/2009/03/how-to-make-high-heels-comfortable.html

Comparing and Contrasting

     Ah, the infamous Harry Potter. Debuting in my life during my elementary school years and culminating towards the end of my high school career, Harry Potter and the release of J.K. Rowling's books, grew up and transformed along with me. The first "Sorcerer's Stone" compared to the last "Deathly Hallows", looks unequivocally outdated and almost juvenile. The design of the first cover blatantly matches the times. Released in 1998, the original Harry is depicted very whimsically, complete with unrealistic human features, and an expression comparable to a Nickelodeon cartoon. The use of warm, rich tones, along with their juxtaposition creates a mood based around the idea of "fun fantasy". This in turn introduces Harry as a bright character with "cool" wizard powers. The cover is appealing to a younger audience. I would surmise the artist's intent was just that; by hooking young children, the series would have the ability to age with its readers. 
     As the books were released many things stayed consistent with their cover design. The same typeface was used for every novel. This resulted in viewers relating said font to the books. The lighting bolt P, used to start off "Potter" is automatically related to the book by people who have even the slightest idea of who Potter is. The artwork also remained very much the same, using the same drawing style, color pallet and having the artwork bleed from the front and back cover to the jacket flaps inside the book.      
     While the artwork is consistent in some ways, I noticed an evolution in the artwork. As Harry grows in the novels, so too does Harry's appearance. Also, the mood of the cover design moves from happy to the other side of the spectrum, dark and mysterious. While "Sorcerer's Stone" is very young, colorful and busy, "Deathly Hallows"depicts an adult Harry, with intense features and one central image of the novel's star. In comparing all seven of the works in a sequence, one can see the artwork's mood becoming more dark and simplified. The design becomes more centered on Harry and less centered on objects, people, and places the books are dealing with. When we come to the last novel all we see is Harry's adult figure. He has grown up before our eyes and has become our central focus as the series comes to an end. Where in the beginning we questioned the fate of fluffy, the three headed dog, or Harry's ability to fly on his broom, by "Hallows" we are focused simply on the fate of Harry alone. 
   In my opinion, I feel the artist's choice to keep aspects of her cover design consistent while allowing her art to transform and grow along side Harry, was a perfect way to execute her job. She managed to create icons to associate the books to, through use of typeface, while also depicting a symbolic message of who the book's focus is on by simplifying the content with each book release. I love to see how this simple idea of wizardly fantasy transformed itself into an epic thriller that now pollutes our big screens every couple years. 


Cred:
1.http://iwritealot.com/2010/04/07/j-k-rowling-harry-potter-and-the-sorcerer’s-stone/
2. http://backseatcuddler.com/2009/01/21/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-starts-shooting/

Design as a Conversation

     

     The Design of an advertisement is meant to be eye-catching or relatable, in order to get the attention of its viewer. In particular, companies' and foundations' advertising against drugs, alcohol and unsafe sex seem to have perfected the use of an ad to shock their viewer and cause them to ask questions, seek answers and debate what they have just experienced.Or, they wish to depict something relatable so one will reflect on their own life, resulting in analysis of the presented information. In essence, they use their ads to spark controversial conversation. 

     In an ad done by the French Council on AIDS Awareness, a woman is portrayed with a massive spider between her legs, that is supposedly performing oral sex on her. The image is shocking and makes one feel the need to cross his or her legs in order to protect themselves from such pain. This imagined pain is thus equated to the feeling of an STD. So now they've got you thinking, "Man, I sure as hell don't want an STD if I am going to be in pain down there" and look you've now started a conversation. Regardless of if you have another to verbally converse the topic with or you are alone rummaging through thoughts in your mind, this striking design has caused you to think longer on their topic than just the brief moment you eyed their billboard on the freeway. Design is used as a catalyst to get people to notice issues that can easily be overlooked if not directly engaged.

     Another way advertisers in this particular field get us talking is through the use of commercials that depict "real life". For example, The "Above The Influence" campaign airs a commercial showing "real footage" of a high-school party where a drunk female is drawn on because she is incapacitated. 

With their target audience being the teenage, high-school set, viewers of that group can imagine a time where they experienced a similar event. This recall alone will spark conversation. A group of highschoolers will undoubtably start ranting over the time they saw so and so passed out and "disgusting" with marks all over their face and how "embarrassing that was". The advertiser designed his or her commercial to do just this. This simple conversation, sparked by fifteen second clip, has got teenagers all over the country talking about these instances. Thus, whether they know it or not, they are becoming more aware, and thus more informed with the consequences of drinking to much alcohol.

     Simple design tricks of creating shock, or appealing to what we humans experience daily, is an advertisers main method of starting a conversation, in essence a domino effect. Through this, minds are sparked, conversation abounds and people become more informed on the controversy.

Cred:

http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1066069
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l5JHDupR24&playnext=1&list=PL24F9BA8F11DEB35D&index=11

Creativity from Without

Georgia O'keefe's work is based on the environment around her. She uses these things to portray her vision of them in a style distinctly her own that so many strive to mimic today. 

     

     Georgia O'keefe, considered one of the great female painters of her age (early 1900's) was an artist inspired by the world around her. In particular, she studied flowers and in her later years, New Mexico. Although O'keefe's subjects were true things found on Earth, she drew inspiration from them in order to create paintings in a category entirely of their own. Using vibrant colors, O'keefe heightens the natural ones found in nature to create intense emotions in the viewer. Intense blues evoke feelings of sadness, while bright reds and vivid pinks remind me of obnoxious, abounding love. The hues alone create a distinct and intense mood. Also, by painting her subjects at a tight crop, the viewer is forced to ruminate on what he or she is looking at. A close analysis of the picture could land the viewer with a varied amount of ideas of the subject. She takes a simple form of a flower and simply by painting it from a macro standpoint, an entirely new image takes shape. O'keefe takes that standard flower form and conveys it to a point of abstraction. Many compare her paintings to the genital regions of the female but she rejects the similarity. In my opinion, it is hard to deny their likeness. 

    As O'keefe reached her golden years and moved to New Mexico, her art moved and transformed along with her. A strong sense of New Mexican culture, landscape and color became the focus of her work. O'keefe compiled what she experienced in her new environment and placed them all in an almost surreal composition. For example, in her painting "Ram's Head White Hollyhock and Little Hills" a massive ram skull floats above a billowing cloud filled sky. And of course, a hollyhock flower (reminiscent of her early floral work) is juxtaposed aside the skull giving the painting its asymmetrical design. 

Cred:

http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/5aa/5aa324.htm 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:O%27Keeffe_Georgia_Ram%27s_Head.jpg

(I did not know this specific assignment was assigned for the due date of 10/12/10, and instead wrote a stone soup post with two "free" posts for the week, I made this assignment up for an opportunity for credit) 

The Box Car

The Nissan Cube, The Honda Element, The Scion xB, The Kia SOL...

     I find it depressing that there are four cars on the market that resemble the shape of my favorite breakfast appliance, the toaster. It all started with the release of the Honda Element in December 2002. When this vehicle was first released I was a mere 4th grader. Being young, my eyes were drawn to this alien car. I asked myself and my parents why anyone would want to drive a car designed to resemble a box? To me, it seemed like a step backwards in the world of design. Is a box aerodynamic? Does it provide greater safety when in a car accident? Is it fuel efficient? While its design does have a five star crash rating, the cube design only grants its drivers 20 miles to the gallon. So not only will you be driving an UGLY car, but you'll also be spending high amounts of cash on gasoline. 
     Just when I thought the element was enough, Scion came onto the scene in 2004 with something even more hideous, the xB. Now Scion really took the term "box car" to heart and trumped Honda by making their version even more geometric with near 90 degree angular design. What really set me off about the release of this car was that I was seeing them EVERYWHERE! Why were people spending money on these cars? What was the appeal? 
     One day during my junior year of highschool I was lucky enough to discover that my friend in fact owned an xB. I was delighted to have my first experience inside the mysterious "toaster". What I found shocked me, the car was entirely crafted out of cheap plastic. The dashboard size overruled the amount of space allotted for driver and passenger. The glove box could hold a single pair of gloves. The backseat had little to no leg room and the overall vibe made me feel like I was in an extremely small car. It was magic! How could they have possibly designed a car that appears so spacious on the outside yet make one feel so confined once inside? Once again I was at a loss, confused by the mysterious box car trend. 
     While Scion went super boxy, Nissan got a bit "artsy" when releasing their Cube in America in 2008. Complete with shag carpet on the dash, asymmetrical rear window, oval shaped drive and passenger windows, 20 color option led lights sporadically placed around the cabin, and random hooks to hook your do-dads to, the Cube plays on the idea of "cool". Now what do I mean by cool? I mean hip, modern, fashionable, young, flashy. This car is obviously designed with youth in mind or even the young at heart. The younger set aren't going to care that in 2010 nearly 46,000 Cubes were recalled, they are going to eat up that fact that their car comes complete with a "trippy light show" at their feet. The Element and Sol are just box cars, the Cube is a piece of art (regardless of how ugly I think it is). 
     There is no denying that these cars all have been created with a strong statement on design. Taking a simple shape and converting it to the design of our most common form of transportation in the United States. I may think it's ugly but I guess there are millions who think otherwise, because the number of box car's is increasing. The demand is obviously enough to continue to produce these vehicles and even create new models entirely. Will every company come to have their own version of this toaster car? 


P.S. everyone should make it a goal to ride in a box car at least once in their life, it's an experience ;)


Cred:
1. http://www.autocarparts.com/c_Honda_Element/
2. http://www.autoincar.com/tag/nissan-cube/

In Regard to White Walls

     So I got this thought... Why are the walls of our galleries and art museums always white? Why is white the go to color of walls?
     My first idea on this, white looks CLEAN, it looks FRESH and it looks SIMPLE. With white walls one's art will POP. The viewer's mind will not be distracted. Also, a colored wall could drastically change the emotion and feel of the room. If the walls were all a gray-blue, people could subconsciously become somber and "blue". Colored walls could also not match the art work and thus detract from the over all design of the space.  
     But why not black walls? The choice against colored walls makes sense to me, but the question over black plagues my mind a bit more. My initial response and what I would guess most people's to be, is that black makes a room feel small. But why is that a problem? Diane Arbus's photographs are all tiny. When I saw them at the Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco past May I was shocked at their size. Although their small size forced me to really get close to her work and examine it with a keen eye, it didn't awe me. To me, that's the type of artwork I would put on a black wall with white frames. Not only would the contrast of black wall to white frame make the work stand out but it would give the illusion of larger artwork. 
     I know, I know, I offer an extremely biased idea on the size of art. In my designer eye, I would exhibit almost all colored photography like Jeff Wall, HUGE and lit up. I can't help but be drawn to his artwork from halfway across SF Moma when it is just screaming in full vibrant force, "come look at me". And putting that stuff against a black wall would make it BIGGER and BADDER (in the sense of the contrast of bold color to dark black walls). 
     I guess what I am getting at is, I want to see a gallery break this norm set by the design world to have stark white walls. I want to be shocked, I want someone to be DIFFERENT and place me in a solid black gallery. I'd love to see people's responses. There would be the ones like me, all hyped up on something so strange and then there would be the conventionalists who would just hate it because "this is not how you design a gallery". And of course, there would be the sea of opinions in between. I'm itching to hear these opinions, ideas and reactions. Someone please design a black gallery or tell me if I am naive and it has been done. In fact, I'm sure it has and I am going to start searching for one now!  


Cred:
http://www.kulay-diwa.com/home 

Stone Soup

       Today I partook in the activity of STONE SOUP. My group wandered out side to a grassy corner and laid down a variety of supplies we had brought from home. Some people brought true-blue art materials while others had scavenged for recycled materials. We were asked to do a quick brainstorm of ideas on what to build and when it came time for sharing I was surprised to find that everyone had the same basic idea; to use the box as a base to build and create something out of. What about this object so obviously compelled us? Was it the fact that it was bigger than all other materials? Or was it its cube-like form? This got me thinking if another group of entirely different people would also come up with this idea of using the box as a starting point. Is the eye drawn to the idea of starting a design with a base? For me, it was exactly that. 

       While others suggested creating concrete objects like a flower covered box or a car, my initial idea was just to randomly decorate the box in a haphazard way, incorporating all the different mediums into one lump of design. What I quickly learned was that the minds of my group held a firm majority in creating a concrete object, in this case a car turned party bus. I loved to see how each mind created a unique piece of the bus all in their own opinion and image. My vision of how the windows should have been executed was far from how they ended up being designed. I was pleasantly awed by how my group-mate used our materials to create windows. They did so in a way that I feel far trumped my idea. This project really proved the beauty of pooling ideas and the success that accompanies group think. 

Cred:

photos taken on my personal iPhone

Form v. Function_ in regard to some magnificent shoes and clothing

     I recently stumbled upon the intriguing shoe designs of Kobi Levi. In particular, his pair of “rocking chair” shoes, caught my interest in two ways. While the cleverness of creating a shoe to resemble that of a rocking chair presented itself as something entirely new and innovative I quickly said to myself, “HOW THE HECK WOULD I WALK IN THOSE?”. Now, with closer examination I have deduced it simply will not work. But then why would someone create such a shoe if it cannot be walked in? This sparked the question in my mind of form vs. function especially in regard to not only woman’s shoes, but also female clothing in general.

     Ladies, how often do you buy a shirt that just doesn’t hide your bra in any way, let alone cover your skin to keep you warm, just because it is so DANG cute? I’ll admit I do this way to often. The look of the article of clothing, majority of the time, trumps a desired function. Yet another example I can think of is my purchase of a pair of van sneakers in a size to small. I could not wait to order these shoes in a size that fit and have now worn them so much my toes have poked holes through the front. Was I considering the function and need to protect my cold toes and keep them dry on a rainy day? NO! The look of the shoe, the design, captivated me. It won me over, like it so often does, and convinced me that I needed them on my feet regardless of what discomfort they might attack me with. Conscious of my appearance, I am controlled by design’s grip. Form prevails while my body suffers from the lack of function in my apparel.

Cred...For the rocking chair shoe design and more of Kobe Levi's work click here:

http://kobilevidesign.blogspot.com/ 

Judging a Book By Its Cover

     When discussing the importance of beginnings in class, particularly in regard to film, this got me thinking of other beginnings and how they have impacted me. The first thing that popped into my head was my shallow habit of judging a book by its cover.

From a young age I’ve been told that familiar line, “don’t judge a book by its cover” and soon discovered not only its literal meaning but also its broader life lesson. While I did take the moral message to heart, the later I did not. Having been an avid reader since kindergarten, I have always possessed a piece of literature. As I became old enough to make my own decisions of what to read I found myself perusing Barnes and Nobel's teen book section for the books with the most appealing cover art. An odd ball of criteria began to amass in my selection of a “good book”. Unfortunately this shallow way of picking out a good read still controls me to this day.

     First and most importantly, the book must have a hard cover. Something durable that I know will stand strong on my bookshelf. The book must also use an intriguing type face that is unique to that work alone. The art must not be cheesy, i.e. like a romance novel. I want to be able to use this book as yet another art piece to decorate my room with. The books I choose to display on my shelf are my opinion of “pretty” and “cool” and are no different than the posters I choose to display on my walls.

     Now, looking at this as a bystander, I would call myself a shallow, uneducated connoisseur of literature. Ironically enough, my superficial method has proved highly successful. There is not one book on my shelf that I have failed to finish or labeled as a “bad read”.

Thus, in my opinion the importance of an eye-catching cover, the BEGINNING of a book, is absolutely essential! Without the intricate design and attention to detail, a novel can be easily overlooked on a shelf. For example, I recently purchased this magnificent pink edition of Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland. Although I have read the book in the past, this edition’s hard cover, eye-catching color, gold trimmed pages and attached ribbon book mark, convinced me to purchase it. In comparison to the beige edition’s cover (on right), how could one not purchase the pink edition? Both contain the same work but the time spent designing the pink edition makes it that more alluring…

cred:

1. http://thehappiestmedium.com/wordpress/wp-ontent/uploads/2010/01/48579814.JPG

2. http://www.alice-in-wonderland-book.com/history.htm

and So it Began... a first notice of design

The magicube...a unique cube covered in six outside graphics and two larger internal ones. Initially discovered as a young child in my old Victorian home, my magicube was decorated with paintings of the past. Reminiscent of the works of Michelangelo, the cube was adorned with chubby cherubs, picking the liar, while hovering over minstrels. Equipped with the mind of a five year old, I saw the art covering my intricate, every folding cube, as extremely detailed and complex. Little did I know, the art casing my knick-knack was from a time far back in history, centuries before I would even begin living.

Created out of eight smaller cubes, my little hands became consumed with the perpetual refolding and flip-flopping of the cube. With each fold a new portrait would amass. I remember becoming so intrigued with all the possibilities of pictorial combination. I would spend lengths of time refolding the small cube, analyzing each combination of images until I discerned by favorite. Although my favorite stayed the same, the cube’s circular folding design convinced my hands and mind to continue “play”.

The crisp edges and smooth sides would glide across my fingers while the blocks would make the distinct “click-clack” as I folded the pieces against one another. The sound reminded of another child-hood toy of mine, the notorious shaking, clapping hands. As time went on the thin pieces of paper creating the creases and joints between the blocks wore and eventually tore, leaving my magicube less fascinating and lacking its original enjoyment.

I do not know where my cube disappeared to, most likely thrown out in the trash due to destruction. Rarely do I see things similar to it in stores but when I do I am unequivocally drawn to the tiny creations. I pick them up and begin that ever-redundant folding process, examining all the images and choosing my favorite. This toy has been designed to mindlessly intrigue its viewer. Because of its early impact on my mind, I will forever search for and enjoy said objects!


Cred: www.chicaandjo.com/2008/05/08/magic-folding-wooden-photo-cubes/